In last night’s episode of American Horror Story:Asylum, demon-possessed Sister Mary Eunice is terrified to learn that a Dark Angel has descended upon Briarcliff, Kit attempts to reunite with Grace once more and Sister Jude tries to reconcile with her bitter past. After last week’s Origin of Monstrosity, which served more as a bridging episode, Dark Cousin accelerates the story forward.
The introduction of the Dark Angel as a major player is a nice touch. From her interactions with Mary Eunice and the way she offers death as a release from the horrific world the characters are immersed in makes her a nice rival for Mary Eunice and may prove as a fold to the demon’s wicked plot. Then again, this is American Horror Story and nothing is usually as it seems on this show, so I wouldn’t be so quick to count her as a hero. Her interaction with Sister Jude at the diner offers some interesting insight into the nature of her character. She claims to be an angel of the God, a God that has a plan for Sister Jude. This episode provides a big turning point in Sister Jude’s arc, as she discovers the girl she thought she killed in a hit-and-run accident years ago is still alive, and that her grief and bitterness has all been for nothing.
Also in this episode Lana escapes from Bloody Face after he sexually assaults and then tries to kill her. In the grueling moments leading up to her escape, she also sees the Dark Angel. Rather than affirm her desire for peace, she rejects the Angel’s advances and keeps on fighting. Unfortunately for her, she ends up back at Briarcliff where no one gives any credence to her declarations that Thredson is Bloody Face. Of course, Mary Eunice knows this, as we learn from a flashback of the earlier exorcism episode. Before entering Mary Eunice, the demon tells Thredson that he admires the good doctor’s work.
Kit’s attempt to escape ends in one final reunion with Grace, before she takes a bullet for him and accepts the Dark Angel’s offer of peace through death. She had a rough episode, and I was happy to see that she at least went out with some dignity.
This was a solid entry to the show’s second season. The Dark Angel is portrayed by Frances Conroy who also starred as the older version of Moira O’Hare in the first season. I dug the reveal that Sister Jude’s victim was still alive, the insertion of the Dark Angel as a character, and the death of Grace. Lily Rabe as Sister Mary Eunice continues to be the highlight of this season, and in my mind, does for Asylum what Jessica Lange did for the first season.
Next week: Unholy Night.
Filed under: American Horror Story, General Tagged: american horror story, Angel, Asylum, biff bam pop, Dark Angel, Dark Cousin, Frances Conroy, James Cromwell, Jessica Lange, lily rabe, Lucas Mangum, Mary Eunice, Sister Mary
