"Chutes and Ladders" is the second episode of the fifth season of the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

television series ''

American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' (''AHS'') is an American horror film, horror anthology series, anthology television series created by Ryan Murphy (producer), Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the Cable television, cable network FX (TV channel), FX. Th ...

''. It aired on October 14, 2015, on the

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network FX. The episode was written by

Tim Minear Timothy P. Minear (; born October 29, 1963) is an American screenwriter and director. He has been nominated for four Emmy Awards (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017) for his role as an executive producer on ''American Horror Story'' and ''Feud''. Life and ...

and directed by

Bradley Buecker Bradley Buecker is an American television and film director, producer, and editor. He is well known for his work with Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for their series ''Glee'' and ''American Horror Story''. Career Buecker's first credited job in t ...

Plot

Will Drake, the new owner of the Cortez, hosts a fashion show in the hotel starring model and actor Tristan Duffy. Tristan quits the show and gets into the elevator to leave the hotel. The elevator stops on floor 7, which is dark and appears deserted. Tristan meets Mr. March. The Countess turns Tristan into a vampire, and the two engage in a relationship. Donovan becomes jealous, resulting in The Countess ending their relationship. Iris tells Detective Lowe the history of the hotel. Lachlan Drake shows Lowe's eight-year-old daughter Scarlett a room that contains coffins for The Countess' vampire children. Scarlett recognizes her brother, Holden, in one of the coffins and later finds Holden in the secret room playing video games. She takes a photo with him to prove to her parents that he is alive, but they do not believe her. When Scarlett shows them the photo, Holden's face is blurred.

Reception

"Chutes and Ladders" was watched by 4.06 million viewers during its original broadcast, and gained a 2.2 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. It also generated 225,000 tweets seen by over 2.97 million people, ranking first for the second consecutive week. The episode received positive reviews from critics, earning an 77% approval rating based on 13 reviews, with an average score of 7.4/10, on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

. The critical consensus reads: ""Chutes and Ladders" adds welcome backstory to ''Hotel'' growing mythology while still packing plenty of shock value."

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Speculative fiction/Horror, Television 2015 American television episodes American Horror Story: Hotel episodes Television episodes written by Tim Minear