There’s nothing more upsetting, entertainment-speaking, than waiting with anticipation for your favorite show to return only to be let down by the direction it takes in the newest season.

The fifth season of American Horror Story,titled “Hotel,” began airing on October 7. With many previous seasons’ overwhelming success, especially with a mass audience of high school teens, this season was assured to do the same. However, by the first three episodes, I was already entirely disappointed.

On a positive note, a big advantage for viewers is every season is an entirely different plotline. I personally did not jump onto the American Horror Story bandwagon until last year when “Freak Show” premiered. So over the summer, I was able to catch up on the other seasons on Netflix. AHS primarily features the same actors/actresses, although main actress Jessica Lange retired last year and has been replaced by pop sensation singer Lady Gaga.

Do not get me wrong: the cast and directors of American Horror Story are phenomenal. From the capability of adapting a new character each season within the actors to the incredible special effects and makeup, American Horror Story offers a unique experience that many other thriller/horror shows don’t. However, this season simply just doesn’t meet up to my expectations. The mass of random unnecessary events weakens the plot and makes it hard to understand (which is already difficult enough with how many characters there are).

The current season, “Hotel,” features John Lowe, a detective drawn to the Hotel Cortez after multiple “Ten Commandment Murders” throughout the entire city. After the abduction of his son, Lowe inevitably faces both inner battles as well as the ones that reside within his detective work, family, and marriage to now distant wife Alex.

Previous seasons, such as season one of “Murder House” and last year’s season of “Freak Show,” used figurative language and symbols to help further portray a character’s inner identity while additionally foreshadowing future events. Because of thoughtful planning of symbolism, viewers were able to make knowledgeable predictions while staying on their toes.

However, I feel as though this season relies merely on sexual situations that take away from the truer purpose of the potential-filled plot. Lady Gaga, who stars as the vampirical Countess of the hotel, uses physical encounters with men within the hotel to fill the gap left by previous lovers. Although this is arguably used effectively to display her weakness within such an authority-filled role, other extremely graphic encounters, (which won’t and shouldn’t be put into detail), are arguably entirely unnecessary to the overall plot.

After talking amongst peers, I realized I wasn’t the only one that felt this way. Senior Mallory Ranck had a similar perspective.

“When I first started watching American Horror Story, I absolutely loved it,” said Ranck. “I thought the first three seasons had excellent plot lines. The show was mysterious, daring, a little romantic, and a bit disturbing (although nothing I couldn’t handle). … [Now], the number of sexual and disturbing scenes was and continues to be outrageous. The plot line is hard to follow, and I can’t watch ten minutes without seeing sexual situations on my TV… I hope to see American Horror Story focus more on the horror and mystery in the future, but for now, it has me turning off my TV.”

All in all, I highly recommend the American Horror Story series; however, this season just isn’t living up to expectations. Hopefully the rest of the season, (and ones in the future), can bring back the incredible use of symbolism and storytelling that so many fans love.