Bloody Face has some serious mommy issues.
This week, FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum dove into the backstories of some of its most monstrous characters. What made Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto) turn into Bloody Face? What triggered Sister Mary Eunice’s (Lily Rabe) anger? Why does Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) use Briarcliff patients as his own personal lab rats? “The Origins of Monstrosity” gives us some much needed insight into the lives of these characters before they entered Briarcliff’s door.
As per usual, there were plenty of WTF moments to go around, but there were five that truly stood out. And no, none of them have to do with aliens.
Note: Spoilers if you haven’t watched Wednesday’s episode, “The Origins of Monstrosity.”
1. Bloody Face has mommy issues.
“She was about your age when she abandoned me,” Thredson tells Lana (Sarah Paulson). He grew up “in the system” without any love or affection and most importantly, little to no human contact. And thus begins his terrible obsession with 33-year-old women and their flesh. He just wants to be loved, y’all!
As for Lana — poor, poor Lana — she now has to act like Thredson’s mother if she wants to stay alive. He told her she “was different than the rest.” He believes she understands him and his psycho behavior. After all, behind every psychopath killer is a super emotional sob story.
2. Dr. Arden and The Monsignor make a Faustian pact.
After last week’s shock ending, we know Arden isn’t exactly who he says he is. In fact, his real name is Hans Gruber, and he’s a former Nazi. But when he came to the states, he changed his name to Arthur Arden. Soon after, he began working at Briarcliff, which was a tuberculosis ward at that time. Under Arden’s supervision, thousands of patients died from the disease.
Then, in 1962, the Catholic Church bought Briarcliff under Monsignor Howard’s supervision, it became an asylum. However, before the ink dried on the deal, Arden convinced the Monsignor to let him experiment on a few of the patients in order to help his TB research.
However, flash forward to 1964, and the Monsignor realizes what Arden has been doing to his patients. Essentially, Arden has been working toward making a super immune system — one that could never weaken. To do so, he picks out patients “who otherwise surve no purpose” in life – ”Briarcliff is a receptacle for human waste,” he says — and injects them with a bacterial combination of TB and syphilis. His latest victim is Spivey (Mark Consuelos), who we found out is a sex offender. He says he’s doing it in the name of science: ”I’m not a monster! I’m a visionary.” You see, Arden just wants to prepare humanity for impending atomic warfare.
When the Monsignor is called into the hospital to give Shelley (Chloe Sevigny) – seriously deformed and dying — her last rites, he realizes what’s been going on in Arden’s lab. Heartbroken at the sight of Shelley, Monsignor goes to Arden and demands he leave Briarcliff. However, Arden has dirt on Monsignor, so the two make a Faustian pact, one Howard knows is morally wrong. Arden also instructs the Monsignor to fire Sister Jude (Jessica Lange).
3. Sister Jude is exiled from Briarcliff.
Sister Jude’s days at Briarcliff really were numbered — and to be honest, she should consider herself lucky. Between Dr. Arden’s human experimentation, alien invasion and THE DEVIL, no one in that mental institution is safe. But something tells me Sister Jude will be back. (She did, in fact, leave her favorite red nightie.)
No, but seriously, Sister Jude is on the brink of getting into a sparring match with the Devil. Last week, Sister Jude went to a Nazi Hunter to see if he could dig up any dirt on Arden. This week, the Nazi Hunter dropped a bomb on Sister Jude: Dr. Arden is Hans Gruber — and he was at Auschwitz. But in order to turn Arden into the authorities, the Nazi Hunter needs his fingerprint to confirm his identity. So Sister Jude grabs a bottle of Cognac goes to Arden’s lab one last night to toast to his good fortune — with Sister Jude out of the picture, Briarcliff is under Arden’s control now.
With his dirty glass in hand, Sister Jude goes to the Nazi Hunter. Unfortunately, Sister Satan got to him first. As he bleeds out on the bathroom floor, he manages to tell Sister Jude about “the nun” that did this to him. Oh snap. It’s time for some nun vs. nun action!
4. Sister Mary Eunice is blackmailing Arden.
Sister Satan has been busy this episode. Not only did she convince a small child to murder her entire family in cold blood — WITH A KNIFE — but she also had time to foil Sister Jude’s plan, dance around in her nightie AND blackmail Arden by hiding some of his Nazi evidence. Sister Satan says she making sure Arden doesn’t double-cross her, and of course, Dr. McCreepy turns this into an opportunity to say things like, “You don’t love me. I’m too ugly, too old.” Oh boy. Does he have mommy issues too? No, wait, he’s just a Nazi.
I don’t really know what Arden and Sister Satan are planning, but I really hope Pepper comes back and punches Dr. Arden in the face. We all know Pepper is this season’s true hero.
5. Bloody Face has Teresa.
Back in present time, we discover Bloody Face — OG Bloody Face, we think — killed the “impostors” who murdered Leo (Adam Levine). He leaves a haunting 911 message, and is it just me or does that sound like Zachary Quinto? Or was that actually Dylan McDermott?!
And poor Teresa (Jenna Dewan)! Bloody Face has taken her from the crime scene and onto his lamp shade-making table. Uh oh. Sorry Jenna, but didn’t you say you love horror films? Let’s call this payback for getting Adam Levine killed.
Now, is this the real Bloody Face? Or Bloody Face 2.0?! What do you think?
Buzz Moments:
OMG!: Teresa is on Bloody Face’s table, so does this mean Dr. Thredson is still out there murdering women? Or are we dealing with a copy cat serial killer? That voice sounded awfully familiar. I’m thinking this could be where Dylan McDermott comes into play. But what happened to Lana?! The questions are endless, and frankly, it makes my head hurt thinking about all of them.
Awk-ward: Poor Lana. Trying to convince a deranged man that you’re his mother in order to say yourself from being skinned alive? Yikes.
Hotness: Sister Satan may be a cold-hearted b****, but she sure knows how to put on a good show. No only did she fulfill Spivey’s, um, fantasies, but she also danced around to Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me” in Sister Jude’s red lacy negligee. Do you hear that Jesus? You don’t own Sister Satan.
Fab-u-lous: Yes, it may have made me horrifically anxious, but watching Lana come face-to-face with her own death and her fight to survive was harrowing. She could have easily given up, but Lana’s not going down without a good fight, even if that means she has to play along with Dr. Thredson’s delusions.
Can. Not. Wait.: To see Sister Jude go head-to-head with Sister Satan. Even with her faults, Sister Jude has proven to be the real hero of the show. She’s now the only person who can help save Briarcliff from Arden and Satan’s corruption. On another note, we still really need to resolve this whole alien storyline. Do they actually exist? And why do they only appear after Kit has sex with someone?! Plus, will Lana find a way out of Bloody Face’s basement?
Celebuzz Meter (1-10): 8 — Not nearly enough Kit (Evan Peters) for my liking.
American Horror Story: Asylum airs Wednesdays at 10 PM on FX.
Watch all of our interviews from the American Horror Story: Asylum premiere below.
