With how much I’ve been enjoying American Horror Story: Freak Show so far this season and as a bit of a companion piece to the article I posted yesterday about Coven, I decided to dive back into American Horror Story Season 2, Asylum, and take a look at the craziest moments from what I think is easily the show’s best season. Did all of it work? No, not at all. Some things (like those pesky aliens) may have been better left in the writers’ minds than on the page. However, unlike Murder House, which didn’t really click with me till near the end of its season, and Coven, which tried to focus on too much and didn’t really end up doing anything with any of its characters throughout its 13 episodes, American Horror Story Season 2 did a very good job of providing compelling characters, like Kit and Lana, while also amping up the crazy factor. And speaking of crazy, these are the craziest moments from American Horror Story: Asylum.
Dr. Arden warms up.
When Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe) dies after the demon inside of her is exorcised, Dr. Arden (James Cromwell), the insanely experimental M.D. at Briarcliff, who also just happens to be a Nazi, decides to follow his love into the incinerator. Even though we were aware of Arden’s feeling for Sister Eunice and of his deeply repressed desires for her, it was nonetheless shocking to see the both of them head into the flames together.
Shelley becoming…well, whatever she turned into.
Poor, poor Shelley. An institutionalized nymphomaniac played Chloe Sevigny, Shelley falls victim to one of Arden’s crazy experiments, as the doctor wishes to not only use her as a lab rat but also punish her for her lustful behavior. We only see some of what transpires in Arden’s exam room, but it’s the end result that’s horrifying, as Shelley is transformed from a confident, outgoing woman into a scarred, crawling mutant. The visual of her is still one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen on television in recent years.
Dr. Thresdon reveals his true self.
The reveal that Dr. Thresdon (Zachary Quinto) was Bloody Face was both a shocking and welcome twist in American Horror Story Season 2. Not only did it give the show a truly twisted villain that our characters, specifically Lana (Sarah Paulson), had to battle against, but it let Quinto embrace his dark side again. And anyone who’s seen Quinto as Sylar in the first season of Heroes knows just how good he is when he gets to be evil.
Aliens. All of the aliens.
The aliens in American Horror Story Season 2 were responsible for so many “out there” moments that I just decided to lump them all together. We have Alma’s abduction, Grace’s pregnancy, Pepper’s sudden intelligence, and then what appears to be Kit’s abduction in the finale. Despite the sheer weirdness of it all, the aliens, for me, were by far the weakest part of Asylum.
“The Name Game.”
Sister Jude’s (Jessica Lange) performance of “The Name Game” may be a dream sequence, but it takes the top spot for me as the craziest moment from American Horror Story Season 2. The reason? Purely because there was nothing weirder (or more fun) in Asylum than getting to watch Lange, Sarah Paulson, and Evan Peters actually crack a smile as they got to dance and enjoy themselves. The brightness and joy of that scene is so strikingly different than every other moment that comes before it and after it, and it’s clearly the most bizzare but also one of the best parts of American Horror Story: Asylum.
Photos via FX
Totally agree that Season 2 was AHS’s best season. It had the best characters and best story. Also loving this season of AHS too.
Thanks for reading and commenting! And yes, let’s hope Freak Show can keep it up and be as good as Asylum.