Well, AHS did some things very actually indubitably well tonight. So let’s talk about that stuff first.
Jessica Lange is moving up in my own personal royal court of actresses. She’s up to kick-ass duchess right about now. I feel that “quiet badassery” is a term I’ve used before, but it just sums her up so perfectly. The flippant toss of cigarette ash at a demon, the cool and steady stare at a nun-weilded cucumber (yes, they were using it for “that” purpose, le sigh) – that is why I call this The Jessica Lange Show.
Pepper the Pinhead. WOW. The FX makeup and the ADR for this character were tight and gorgeous. For reference, here is a comparison between the character and the actress:
I mean, that’s good stuff. And Grossman’s performance is threatening yet subtle – as if you were to take Kevin Spacey from “Se7en” and combine him with Fox Mulder and there you go. That’s her. And she’s terrifying enough to make even Arden stop in his tracks when attempting to harm Grace’s baby.
I am not so blind as to call Thredsen’s entrance in this episode “genius,” or even particularly original, but man did it work on a level that I suspect the creators actually wanted it to work. Before the hiatus, Thredsen had disappeared from his closet and his whereabouts (and partner in escape) were unknown. But as he strutted in to Briarcliff’s rec room to the tune of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’s “I Put a Spell on You,” this man was erotic and just damn cool. Did I fall trap to the show’s style over substance, or did they really make a monster sexified? As it turns out, Demon!Mary Eunice was his co-conspirator and had in fact presented him with a full time job at the hospital. Much to the chagrin of Lana and Kit, of course.
The cinematography in this episode was not up to par with the first few episodes of the season, but there was some interesting shadow play, especially in the scenes with the Monsignor and Demon!Mary Eunice. Oh yeah, and the priest and the possessed nun had sex. Have I just been defiled by all the warped authors I’ve read in my life? Most of this show is so house marm shockable that it just doesn’t even register as filth to me, which is probably why I was so impressed with the Thredsen intro – I felt icky for thinking him hot. So again, well done on that.
Monsignor Howard confessed his sin and his realization to Jude, but only after she’d been ECT’d to the point of drool and dementia. She nonetheless managed to give one coherent penance to him: “Kill her.” And he did. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it four thousand times again, I do not like to be smacked over the head with my metaphors, and I so would have rather seen Mary Eunice fall to the floor crumpled and vulnerable versus Christlike, but we are watching AHS, so you take what you can get. It was a beautifully framed and shot with stark color contrasts and a lovely slow motion dawning of relief on the young nun’s face, but the crucifixion pose was the ball bat over my head that made me frown a little.
The real surprise of the show, and some of the best writing, came from a sequence of events for which I shall not reveal the climax. When the show does something this well, I don’t like to ruin it for those who haven’t watched. Monsignor Howard and Dr. Arden were discussing the disposal of Mary Eunice’s body, and the tension built soaringly. Lingers, pauses, and brilliant acting let the viewer know that her “funeral,” as it were, would not go without event, but its actual turn remained a mystery to me until the last possible second. It was a surprise, and left me wondering what direction the show will take.
But. Oh, lord, the “but.” Twenty minutes in, and shortly after Jude’s torture in the ECT room, there was an actual – like, I can’t even type it – an actual, flirty, bubblegum song and dance number. Was it meant to horrifying? With Jude’s pink lipstick and inmates pounding their heads bloody, microencephalitics bobbing in time, and others dancing as though pulled from a Tool video, probably. It. Was Not. It was displaced, schlocky, and served zero purpose in forwarding the narrative. Nay – what’s more zero than zero? Whatever the answer, that’s the purpose the musical number served. You can watch it here. You totally should. Seriously.
Next week’s previews, with more flash forwards and Mark Romanek shots, left me unenthusiastic. But I will remain as open minded as I usually am. Which is, you know, not very.