Last night’s episode was a completely different experience for me: I actually found the camera work to be cliched and predictable, and the writing was intriguing and made me excited for the next episode.
Sister Jude has returned to Briarcliff and her habit, but alas it is not to last. Monsignor Howard and Arden are up to some sort of shenanigans, so Howard decides that Sister Jude’s talents would be best put to use at a home for wayward girls in Philly. The show surprised me in that Howard had previously not been aware of Arden’s human experiments, but it did imply that there is even more naughtiness going on in the asylum than what we have previously seen. Howard discovered the mutilated Shelley in a TB ward and murdered her with his own rosary. Whether he did this out of mercy or self preservation is unclear, but it led him to confront Arden. Arden revealed that he is creating the next step in human evolution by injecting patients with a cocktail of TB and syphilis, ew, but the monsters in the yard remain unseen and seem to have been forgotten by the writers in lieu of focusing on newer monsters.
Jenny was introduced tonight. Jenny is a preteen sociopath, and if she is a recurring character I’m interested to see where this is going, but if she was a one-off, it was a moderately cheap ploy to develop the Demon!Mary Eunice story. Cheap or not, Mary Eunice claimed to be the devil which is by far the most interesting development of the entire season.
Thredsen’s origin story was a large part of the episode, and it leaves me pondering the line between rip-off and homage. It’s reminiscent of the Buffalo Bill character from “Silence of the Lambs” in many ways, but differs in that Thredsen has no gender issues, only Mommy issues. I really would have liked to see a more interesting cause for his illness than “mommy didn’t love me,” but the scenes between Lana and Thredsen were terse and unnerving solely due to the performances. And here, unfortunately, is where my beloved cinematography failed me. The shots were hand held and quivering, and Thredsen constantly shifted in and out of focus. I do not like my metaphors to smack me in the face.
And speaking of, Arden’s Nazi history is no longer questionable, and the phrase “for the greater good” was spoken several times out of its historical context. Yes, American Horror Story, we know that’s what Hitler said. The reference was the opposite of sly. And Demon!Mary Eunice singing “You Don’t Own Me” to a crucifix? Geh.
Despite my complaints, this episode has actually established conflicts that are relevant to a central plot instead of gasp moments that seem to have no purpose. Sister Jude appears to be backed in a corner, Arden and Mary Eunice have the asylum, and Lana’s fate with Thredsen has not yet hit hopeless. For the first time this season I am excited to see how events unfold – and based on the sneak peek for next week’s installment we are in for some of the best imagery of the season.