Saturday, January 26, 2013

American Horror Story: Asylum


When I first started watching American Horror Story last year I wasn't very complimentary.  Check that review out here.  After the season ended I had to write a mea culpa.  You can read that here.  By the end of the season Ryan Murphy and crew had completely won me over.  I thought, and still think, it was brilliant.  Now, we come to American Horror Story: Asylum, which just wrapped up it's season


How history repeats itself.  I was very excited because many of the same cast of season one were returning, including the amazing Jessica Lange.  Set in 1964 (but really jumping all over space and time), Asylum concerns itself with "horrors of the mind."  Set in Briarcliff, a Catholic-run insane asylum, AHS: Asylum covered all sorts of horrors: Nazi experiments, discrimination, rape, torture, alien abduction, serial killers, face ripping (yes, more fucking skinning.  I am tired of this trend.  It grosses me out.), demon possession, electro-shock therapy: shit, there is even a killer Santa Claus.  A little over the top?  Yes.


There was so much going on in this season, and so much that was totally repulsive, that, again, I really disliked it.  I stuck with it, although I felt that once again Murphy had gone off the deep end and was just throwing as much "scary" shit on screen that he could think of to see what sticks.  I was pretty annoyed for about half the season.


Then, just like last time, something happened.  I got it: I saw where he was going, I saw the bigger picture, and I saw the humanity of the work.  After all is said and done, I loved it.  Not as much as season one, but pretty close.  I still could have done without the aliens however.  I loved Kit's story, but felt it could have been told without the alien element.  I did love the demon possessed Nun however.  More of that please.

Now enjoy the best scene from the whole season.  You are welcome.


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