American Horror Story: Asylum Finale Recap – Madness Ends

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A show that I have been simply obsessing about this season has been FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum! I got into the series a season behind, I caught up on season one (American Horror Story) on Netflix, but you so don’t need to have seen season one to fully enjoy the second.

This season the main location was Briarcliff, an asylum for the criminally insane, set back in 1964. The asylum was ran by the stern Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) with a dark past that slowly was discovered throughout the season. Behind the walls of the asylum lived serial killers, a Nazi, a possessed nun, mutants, alien invasions, chronic masturbaters and a trapped journalist. Along with Lange this season starred Sarah Paulson as “Lana Winters”, James Cromwell as “Dr. Arthur Arden,” Evan Peters as “Kit Walker,” Lily Rabe as “Sister Mary Eunice,” Lizzie Brocheré as “Grace,” Zachary Quinto as “Dr. Oliver Thredson,” and Joseph Fiennes as “Monsignor Timothy Howard.” WARNING: This recap may be a bit confusing if you have not seen the entire season.

Byron Cohen/FX

In the finale of season two , which aired Wednesday, January 23, the madness finally ends and tries its best to close the plot line of the remaining characters. We find Lana Winters (Paulson) in the present day giving an interview  for a Kennedy Center Honor piece about her legendary career. In the interview we find that she succeeded in closing Briarcliff and exposed all the people who ignored the torture of the patients, i.e. Monsignor Timothy Howard, in the asylum.

As the interview continues we find out what happened to all the remaining characters as Lana drops some major bombs. She reveals that she lied about killing the child that was conceived out of rape with Dr. Thredson. She explains she saw her son Johnny once as a young boy in a playground at school. Lana goes on to reveal Monsignor Timothy Howard committed suicide, Sister Jude was released to Kit and she enjoyed the remainder of her life happy with Kit and his children but not until she overcame months of detox and confusion after being released from the asylum. Kit was later diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer at the age of forty and was taken by the aliens in his home.

The finale showdown between a grown up Johnny aka present day Bloody, played by Dylan McDermott, and Lana takes up the last moments of the episode. Johnny has been searching for his mother a long time in efforts to kill her. Lana turns the tables and ends up killing Johnny by shooting him in the head. The episode ends with a flashback of Lana and Sister Jude having a conversation in 1964 about Lana wanting to write a story about Briarcliff. Sister Jude gives her a stern warning along the lines that if you look into the face of the devil, he’ll look back.

After reading interviews and watching the episode that revealed the plot for season three, expected to air in October of this year, I am convinced that the theme will be witches and witchcraft. Creator Ryan Murphy told Entertainment Weekly that the upcoming season will be more romantic with much more comedy. What could be more funnier than a love spell gone wrong!? Murphy is also in the works of bringing back season one cast member Taissa Farmiga, who played Violet Harmon. I’m really excited for that because I love, love, loved Farmiga’s character Violet! I know it’s only January but I’m going to need October to hurry up and come!

To get a full recap of the season two click here. Now I have some questions for you! What did you think of the season finale? What parts were missing for you? And what do you think the theme for next season will be?