Fans of American Horror Story were understandably upset when beloved character Queenie was killed and trapped at the Hotel Cortez. And, for a couple of seasons, that looked like the grim end to her storyline. Nonetheless, after some hijinks in season 8, Apocalypse, she was able to escape.
Queenie (Gabourey Sidibe) is first introduced in season 3, Coven, as a witch at Miss Robichaux's Academy. She is a math prodigy who grew up in the inner city foster care system. She's also the descendant of both the Salem witches and the voodoo priestess, and a self-proclaimed "human voodoo doll", able to transfer self-inflicted wounds and pain to others. After an incident at the fast-food restaurant where she worked, in which she dipped her arm in boiling grease and transferred the pain to an irate customer, Cordelia Foxx (Sarah Paulson) found her and took her in.
In Hotel, season 5, Queenie checks into the Hotel Cortez while staying in Los Angeles. While there, she feels a lot of "bad juju" in her room. Later, while freshening up in the bathroom, Ramona Royale (Angela Bassett) jumps out from behind the shower curtain in order to drink her blood. A struggle ensues and, just as Queenie is about to finish Ramona off with her powers, James March (Evan Peters) appears and stabs her. Unfortunately, Queenie's powers are ineffective on ghosts and she dies in the hotel, her spirit forever trapped, where she ends up playing cards with March for eternity. Or is she? This looks like the end for Queenie until events in Apocalypse, season eight change the course of American Horror Story's timeline.
American Horror Story: Queenie's Escape From The Hotel Cortez
When Cordelia, now the supreme and most powerful witch at the coven, hears of Queenie's death, she travels to the Hotel Cortez to rescue her. After March tells her that he's glad he killed her as she's the only one worth playing cards with at the Hotel, Cordelia tries to free Queenie's soul from the hotel. She soon discovers that it is a place of pure evil and a demonic portal that links directly to Hell, and is unable to liberate Queenie. She considers this her greatest failure.
After that, still in season 8 of American Horror Story, Michael Langdon, the antichrist, uses his powers to free Queenie in order to gain the trust of the witches coven and to become the first male supreme. However, when Queenie and others discover that Michael is the antichrist, she tries to kill Michael, but Michael is able to defeat her and this time he also destroys her soul. Again, it looks like the end of Queenie. Her death is reversed, however, when Mallory is able to go back in time and kill Michael before Queenie's death takes place. On Mallory's first day at the academy, she is able to convince Queenie to stay in Venice instead of Los Angeles, thereby preventing her death and saving her soul from being trapped at the Hotel Cortez.