“American Horror Story: Asylum” Season 2: Episode 1 Recap

Posted October 17, 2012 by Jamie in TV News

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

The official description for “American Horror Story: Asylum” makes no secret of the freakiness that viewers are in store for this season:

“A church-run haven for the criminally insane, ruled with an iron fist by Sister Jude (Jessica Lange), a nun with a troubled past… From Nazis and serial killers, to mutants and aliens, no one is safe inside these walls.”

The second season takes place in a new setting – Briarcliff Asylum in Massachusetts. Although the story changes this time around, expect to see lots of familiar faces from the season 1 cast: Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Zachary Quinto, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe return, along with AHS newbies Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, James Cromwell, Joseph Fiennes, Chloe Sevigny, Lizzie Brochere and Clea Duvall.

The premiere episode,”Welcome to Briarcliff”, serves as an introduction to the season’s major characters, and fills in the details of how some of them end up in the Asylum.

Our welcome tour starts off as two exceptionally good-looking lovebirds, Leo (Adam Levine) and Teresa(Jenna Dewan-Tatum), are exploring the decrepit, abandoned grounds of Briarcliff. We learn that they are in the midst of a “haunted honeymoon,” touring (and making out in) the 12 most haunted places in America. They read the history of Briarcliff aloud, and we learn about a killer called Bloody-Face. Their kinky makeout session quickly turns gruesome as Leo reaches into a mail slot and something rips his arm off.

We jump back in time to 1964, where we see Kit (Evan Peters) is an easy going gas station attendant. We learn that Kit is secretly married to a lovely African-American woman (Britne Oldford)…and then we see him abducted by what appear to be aliens. I didn’t see that one coming. We later see Kit being hauled into Briarcliff, accused of being the Bloody Face serial killer. His wife was apparently found skinned and cut to pieces after his abduction. During an exam, the evil Dr. Arthur Arden (James Cromwell) finds a lump in Kit’s neck, slices it, and unleashes some sort of alien insect.

Next we meet reporter Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson) who comes to Briarcliff presumably to report on Sister Jude’s (Jessica Lange) famous bakery. In fact, she wants to get the scoop on Bloody Face. She convinces one of the sisters to let her have a look around, where she wanders the asylum halls and hides from Sister Jude. A bloody hand pulls Lana into the “death chute” and she later wakes up strapped to a bed and various contraptions. Sister Jude tells her that she “had an accident.” We learn that her lesbian lover has agreed to commit her under threat of exposure by Sister Jude. Looks like Briarcliff just got another new resident.

Meanwhile, Teresa tries to go get help for Leo, who is bleeding out, but she instead encounters (eek!) Bloody Face.

There are several takeaways from the “Asylum” premiere. One thing we learned from this episode is that we can probably expect some jumping around in time. Another is that, in the midst of all the carnage, “American Horror Story” adds story depth by tackling social issues like racism and homophobia. Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have set up a season that promises to take the terror to a whole new level while also throwing in some quirky surprises. For example, some nuns wear silky red lingerie under their robes. Who knew?

Watch the new season of “American Horror Story: Asylum” Wednesdays on FX.