American Horror Story: Asylum

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AUTHOR // Rachel Campbell

If you thought the first season of American Horror Story was crazy, then prepare yourself because season two is downright insane.

Although the second round of fright shares some of the same actors as season one, FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum has gone in a completely new direction with way more sex and gore. Oh, and aliens. Season two’s premiere begins in modern day with a pair of newlyweds played by Jenna Dewan- Tatum, as in Channing Tatum’s wife and co-star in “Step Up,” and Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and “The Voice.”

The couple is embarking on their own personal “Haunted Honeymoon Tour” in which they visit the 12 most haunted places in America in order to “screw [their] brains out in every single one.” Let’s just say there was a reason Briarcliff Manor was included on that list.

Briarcliff opened as the largest tuberculosis ward on the east coast in 1908 before being bought by the Catholic Church and turned into a sanitarium for the criminally insane in 1962, the latter being the focus of the show.

Viewers are transported back to 1964 where gas is 30 cents per gallon and interracial marriages and same-sex couples are kept a complete secret.

Evan Peters, who played Tate Langdon in season one, returns as Kit Walker, a gas station employee. Peters’ new role is much more calm than last season’s to say the least, but he still gives an impressive performance. Passion is shown for Alma, his African American wife, whom he returns home to each night. On one particular night, a home invasion occurs. Literally.

Aliens exist in season two and aid in the reason Kit is arrested. He is believed to have murdered several women and obtains the nickname “Bloody Face” for supposedly wearing a mask made of flesh. It’s quite Poster courtesy of FX. grotesque. Just ask the newlyweds.

Kit is to be admitted to Briarcliff Manor until it is determined if he is fit to stand trial. Here enters Jessica Lange, Constance from season one, as Sister Jude, the head of Briarcliff. Lange shines from beneath her nun attire in this new role where she takes no gruff in ensuring order.

Sister Jude does everything she can to keep things together, whether it deals with a lustful patient (Chloë Sevigny) or a doctor (James Cromwell) who is hiding something. She also must cope with returning actors Lily Rabe and Sarah Paulson as her naive employee and a pesky journalist respectively.

Paulson, who played a medium and is friends with Constance in season one, portrays Lana Winters, a writer on the hunt for an inside look at the mind of Bloody Face. Because of this, Lana and Sister Jude are certainly not friends this time around.

While Lana may be trying to unearth secrets, she’s also trying to keep one of her own. Lana lives with a female teacher named Wendy who is portrayed by Clea DuVall, the passed out girl Rachael Leigh Cook turned into a clown in the bathroom of that party in She’s All That. Lana and Wendy are way more than friends and things take a turn for the worse when Sister Jude figures this out.

But Sister Jude is not so innocent when it comes to the romantic front. She meets with the priest who appointed her to her position to discuss issues concerning the doctor and disappearing patients. During their discussion, she envisions herself in slinky red lingerie while sitting on his lap.

No one is safe from corruptness in American Horror Story: Asylum. Get committed Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.