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American Horror Story
Checking In
Directed by
Ryan Murphy
TV-MA
S5 • E1
Oct 7, 2015
64m
7.9
7.0
Add Show to Watchlist
Detective and family man John Lowe investigates a chain of gruesome murders in Los Angeles. A mysterious tip points him to the enigmatic Hotel Cortez.
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Where to Watch American Horror Story - S5 • E1
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+3 more
Cast of Checking In
Kathy Bates
Iris
Sarah Paulson
Sally McKenna / Billie Dean Howard
Evan Peters
James Patrick March
Wes Bentley
Det. John Lowe
Matt Bomer
Donovan
Chloë Sevigny
Alex Lowe
Denis O'Hare
Liz Taylor
Cheyenne Jackson
Will Drake
Angela Bassett
Ramona Royale
Lady Gaga
The Countess Elizabeth Johnson
Max Greenfield
Gabriel
Mare Winningham
Hazel Evers
Anthony Ruivivar
Richard Ramirez / Miguel Ramos
Jessica Belkin
Vampire Girl
Christine Estabrook
Marcy
Richard T. Jones
Det. Andy Hahn
Shree Crooks
Scarlett Lowe
Helena Mattsson
Agnetha
Kamilla Alnes
Vendela
Lennon Henry
Holden Lowe
American Horror Story - S5 • E1 Ratings & Reviews
The NitPic
Angela L. Harmon
Concluding the episode as "Hotel California" plays was a bit groan-enducing and totally on the nose, but really, so is American Horror Story. Yet somehow, the song and the show, still work.
Baltimore Sun
Lacy Baugher
The overall feel of Hotel is fairly similar to Murder House, which also featured time jumps, unexplained creepy dudes in rubber suits, ghosts, demon children and an obsession of fish-eye lens camera shots.
Digital Spy
Sam Ashurst
Overall, this is an excellent hour of television - stuffed with jaw-dropping moments, tense set-pieces and Lady Gaga at her grandest. Now we've checked into American Horror Story's Hotel, we're not sure we're ever going to want to leave.
New York Times
E. A. Hanks
If Hotel will have a problem, "mediocre ambition" is not likely to be it.
Wall Street Journal
Michael Calia
Perhaps it's a bit on the nose, but Murphy and crew had to do it: The Eagles' "Hotel California" plays as Lowe leaves... "You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave," indeed.
TV.com
Ryan Sandoval
If you haven't noticed, American Horror Story is great at first episodes.
TV Fanatic
Paul Dailly
"Checking in" was a solid opener. It had everything you'd expect from this crazy show and more. Let's hope the show has a more consistent run this time round.
Tampa Bay Times
Chelsea Tatham
This season of Murphy's anthology series is all about decadence, perversion and sensationalism.
PopMatters
Leyla Hamedi
The end result is a confusing mishmash of somewhat familiar stories, desperately trying to work as a cohesive unit but still not hitting the right resonance with one another.
Paste Magazine
Ross Bonaime
"Checking In" isn't a good start for American Horror Story: Hotel. Already we're seeing the odd season's penchant for attempts to freak out its audience, rather than creating an interesting horror story with a decent plot.
New York Magazine/Vulture
Brian Moylan
There is no way in hell that the Hotel Cortez could actually exist in modern-day Los Angeles, because if it did, I would be booking a room faster than you can type Kayak dot com into whichever internet browser you prefer.
IGN Movies
Matt Fowler
If the idea is to just give us a procession of "WTF?" moments, then mission accomplished.
Entertainment Weekly
Darren Franich
There's a long and gloriously unhinged musical montage, set to "Tear You Apart" by She Wants Revenge. We meet a pair of perfect decadents who reside in the hotel's penthouse. They are Lady Gaga and Matthew Bomer.
AV Club
Emily L. Stephens
There's something enticing about the hotel, and about American Horror Story, despite their shortcomings.
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