There are two types of “American Horror Story” episodes. The first type jumps from plot to plot to plot and gives so much information that you either get lost or get bored. The second type is more of a fluff episode. It boasts very little plot development and exists mainly for thrills or tone setting (or an actor’s vanity). How Murphy hasn’t learned to balance these things in one episode is beyond me, but I digress. Last night’s episode, “Devil’s Night,” was the second type of episode; next to zero plot development but a ton of fun.

“Devil’s Night” is a who’s who of serial killers. This is an idea I can definitely get behind. Every Halloween, James March holds a ghostly, murderous dinner party with some of the most notorious serial killers of our time. Regardless of the episode’s camp or exploitation, it’s just a really fun idea. I also love the postulation that March was the one to give all these killers tips on how to be a better at their, umm, craft. From what I’ve seen of these killers in various documentaries and such, the actors did a fairly awesome job of portraying them and I wish like hell we could have seen more of them.

But here’s what I really loved about “Devil’s Night”: the idea that a hotel is the sum of all its past guests. One of the reasons a hotel was chosen as the “spooky” setting for this season lies in the fact that we have little control over what happened, will happen, or could happen in our hotel—even more frighteningly, our own personal hotel room—when we make the choice to stay there. In reality, hotels are creepy or gross because they are the sum of the current guests and shoddy cleaning. But what the show has done is turn these very realistic phobias into extreme and supernatural ones. Which makes for some kickass entertainment. Plain and simple.

Before I go on my Chloe Sevigny/Gaga rant, I must praise Even Peters once more for being so perfect at everything he does. As far as the main cast is concerned, Peters has the lion’s share of moxie. He plays the time period of his character to perfection, his gusto is frightening, and every time his façade betrays him and we catch a glimpse of the pure evil underneath the well-fitted suit and perfectly manicured mustache, I’m in awe. Peters was made to play March. And I truly believe he will save this season.

I can’t figure out how to segue into my dislike of Sevigny or her character so I’ll just jump right in. I really, REALLY dislike Sevigny and her stupid ass character, Alex. At the end of “mommy” last week, Alex finally runs into her missing son at the Hotel. I expected big things from that plotline this week. Instead, I’m thinking to myself, why doesn’t she take her son, missing for two years, to the hospital? Why doesn’t she turn the hotel and its owners in to the police for holding her son? Why in HELL doesn’t she tell her husband? I understand that we are asked to suspend quite a bit of disbelief for shows in general, especially horror shows, and double especially for Murphy’s shows. In light of that, there should be some basic beliefs we shouldn’t have to suspend and basically Alex blew through all of  them last night. Instead of asking any appropriate people any appropriate questions about her son, she goes straight to the woman who took him and decides (in what couldn’t have been more than a few hours of deliberation) to suck her blood…suck the blood of a stranger…a stranger who ADMITS to kidnapping her son. She does this literally before even talking to her husband just once about what’s going on. That’s poorly plotted. Lots of bad writing decisions being made right there. There’s just no excuse for that kind of laziness in a show that is five years old.

Luckily that part of the episode was pretty minor. Overall, I really enjoyed “Devil’s Night” for exactly what it was supposed to be: a throwback to infamous killers. The mood and tone were sexy and dangerous, the guest appearances (both actors and historical characters) were thrilling and for the most part, the acting was really good. I felt like, for once, the pacing was spot on. Which is not something you’ll hear me say often about an “American Horror Story” episode. I’ll give Murphy this: his “AHS” Halloween episodes are usually pretty awesome.

Stray Observations:

Mare Winningham simply blew my mind. She makes my hands tremble with how perfect she plays her role. I also really liked that she had a past beyond March and that is had to do with the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders. It was a nice little easter egg, but also utterly heartbreaking.

I was skeptical about “AHS” bringing in an adaptation of Aileen Wuornos, as I’ve always seen her as a victim as well as a killer, but I dug it. Lily Rabe did a great job and it didn’t feel overly exploitive.

I want it to be revealed that both John and Alex have been heavily drugged this whole time and that’s the only reason they are not reacting like the reasonably smart, well-educated, and street-wise people that they’ve been set up to be.