Byron Cohen/FXIf you fall into a basement made specifically for performing unspeakable acts or horror and carnage but no one hears you, did it really happen?
For Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson), yes. Yes, it certainly did happen. On tonight's American Horror Story: Asylum, our brave reporter—who only wants to escape Briarcliff's torture and get back to her girlfriend, Wendy (Clea DuVall)—fell, literally, into the evil clutches of Bloody Face, who was finally unmasked. Plus, Grace (Lizzie Brocheré) and Kit's (Evan Peters) relationship reaches a whole new level, and Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) is officially losing it. Lots to talk about, so let's get started with tonight's recap.
Bloody Face, Who Art Thou? Oh, you're Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto)? Dammit! We so wanted him to be a hero, but it turns out, the good doc is actually the horrible monster behind the serial killings. Dr. Thredson comes through with his promise to get Lana out of Briarcliff, and he basically walks her right out of the asylum. He takes her to his house, claiming that once everyone at the hospital realizes she's missing, the first place they'll go is Lana's residence. We finally breathe a sigh of relief for our spunky reporter, until she (and we) notice that a lamp in his house has a nipple on it. And that the bowl holding the mints looks like a skull. And now Dr. Thredson has a reeeally creepy look about him. When Lana excuses herself to go to the bathroom (read: find a way out), she stumbles upon his room of disturbing equipment used for putting together skin furniture. And right after she starts to panic, zoom! Dr. Thredson opens a trapdoor and she falls down a chute and into the basement.
The horror isn't over yet. A body is lying on the floor of the basement, and when Lana turns it over, she has to stare into the face of her cold, dead girlfriend. Thredson then joins her, puts on the Bloody Face mask, and basically promises awful things for Lana in the future, and those things involve Wendy's corpse. If Asylum goes the Human Centipede route, we're out. (Not really, we can't stop watching.)
Anne Frank's Fate: Anne (Franka Potente) is sedated after shooting Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) in the leg, which brings her husband to Briarcliff to reveal her true identity. Turns out Anne's name is actually Charlotte, and she is suffering from psychosis caused by postpartum depression and an unhealthy obsession Holocaust. Her husband takes her back home, but brings her right back faster than you can say "girl, you tried to smother your own child!" Which is what actually happened. Dr. Arden, seemingly wanting revenge, suggests a lobotomy to cure the crazies. After the procedure ,Charlotte becomes a Stepford wife, tending to her husband and acting robotically happy. She is the process of cleaning up her room at home that was dedicated to Holocaust articles and photos, meaning she is indeed giving up her quest to kill Dr. Arden. The last shot of the episode is a zoomed-in look at one of the photos, showing what appears to be a young Dr. Arden, standing proudly behind Hitler. The Nazi is still in the building!
Sister Jude's Spiral: Obviously Anne Frank/Charlotte's diagnosis as an unstable person puts a wrench into Sister Jude's plan to reveal Dr. Arden as a Nazi. So she calls off Sam Goodwin (Mark Margolis), the Nazi hunter she hires in the beginning of the episode, but something tells us he may be back. Dr. Arden also informs Sister Jude that he'll be pressing charges against her, since Anne/Charlotte got possesion of a gun under Jude's watch. As Dr. Arden puts it: "You're through, sister. And you know it." He is now primed to take over Briarcliff.
After that situation, a guard informs Sister Jude that Lana has escaped, which is the straw that breaks the nun's back. Jude changes into a pretty dress and heels, and picks up a guy at a bar. She ends the episode sneaking out of a bedroom after a one-night stand. You go, girl.
Grace Is on Team Alien: Since Kit now believes that he might actually be the Bloody Face, Dr. Thredson decides to help him out by recording Kit's confession, you know, so he can hear his own voice say the words. Right. That'll come back to bite Kit in the ass. While Grace is waiting for her sterilization procedure, she sees aliens, and she wakes up in an altered state on what looks like an operating table. Kit's supposed-to-be-dead wife, Alma (Britne Oldford), appears before Grace, and she is with child! Alma tells Grace not to fight what's about to happen, it will only make it worse. Much like what we saw with Kit, the aliens perform operations on Grace, slicing open her belly and doing things that basically make her to scream and writhe in pain.
Later, Kit sees Grace bleeding from between her legs and assumes Sister Jude went through with the sterilization surgery. Grace, in a daze, tells Kit that she saw his wife, that she's not dead, and that everything Kit said before about aliens is true. She tells him this right as Kit is arrested for the Bloody Face murders. After all, they have a taped confession!
Burning Questions
- With Sister Mary (Lily Rabe) putting Shelly's deformed body near a school to be found, does that mean the demon wants someone to discover what is happening at Briarcliff?
- Who out there guessed that Dr. Thredson was Bloody Face?
- Did the aliens impregnate Grace and Alma?
- When Dr. Thredson tells Lana he wants her to tell his story, what exactly does that entail?
- Will we have an exclusive Q&A with Sarah Paulson tomorrow morning? Yes, we will! Check back for scoop on what's ahead for Lana, Dr. Thredson and why next week will be the most memorable episode yet.