American Horror Story: Asylum - S2E12 - Continuum

Tweet

Previously on American Horror Story: Asylum: “Spilt Milk“.

Last week, Kit finally got out of Briarcliff after the police found out Dr. Thredson was actually Bloody Face and had committed all of the murders Kit was accused of committing. On top of that, Kit basically extorted Monsignor Timothy into also releasing Grace. Kit and Grace arrived at Kit’s house, only to find Kit’s wife Alma was not only still alive but also had a baby. That meant Kit now had two wives and two babies. This week, we come right out of the gate with Kit having seemingly killed someone; presumably either Grace or Alma. Maybe he actually shouldn’t have been released? Just an observation.

As it turns out, this opening scene was taking place at some point in the future, as we’re then shown a time preceding the murder where Kit, Grace, Alma, and the two kids are living as one big family, with seemingly a couple of years having passed since their time in Briarcliff.

Alma has moved on and tried to forget all about the aliens and the past, but Grace has chosen to dwell on it; she is constantly drawing pictures of the “abductors” (it’s reminiscent of Close Encounters of the Third Kind). Grace is obsessed with the aliens and sees them as something to be “grateful” for; Alma, on the other hand, isn’t fucking insane. Meanwhile, Kit is stuck in the middle-he’s sexing both of them up, though, so something tells me he’s okay with it. The townspeople are not okay with it, apparently; someone tries to burn down their house, and the police are racists.

Plot twist!

We catch up to the first scene of the episode and, it turns out, Alma kills Grace! I may have been a little premature in labeling her “not fucking insane”. Her reason for doing this? Grace’s obsession with the aliens, of course! Now Kit has to clean this shit up. This is why you stay out of three-way relationships, even against the insistence of aliens.

After these years, we see Judy Martin/Sister Jude is still in Briarcliff, but she’s been renamed “Betty Drake”, after the monsignor faked her death. Speaking of Monsignor Timothy, he is being made a Cardinal, which means he’s finally leaving Briarcliff. The asylum is being donated to the state. Monsignor Timothy says he now promises to get Judy/Jude/Betty out of the asylum. Before this can happen, though, Judy discovers she has a new roommate; it’s the dark angel (Francis Conroy), but she isn’t “the dark angel”. Instead, she’s just another inmate, but Judy is freaked the hell out and thinks “the dark angel” has come for her. This “dark angel who isn’t the dark angel” is basically taking over like this is a prison yard; she’s shanking people left-and-right. Well, she just shanked one guy, but isn’t that enough, really?

It’s at this point where we see that Alma has been committed to Briarcliff, presumably because she chopped Grace down like a cherry tree?

Now shit gets super-freaking confusing (as if it wasn’t already). Judy wakes up to see the dark angel standing over her-the actual dark angel, complete with adjustable, Buzz Lightyear wings-but this also isn’t the dark angel! It’s actually Judy’s new roommate… two years later! The monsignor is long-gone, Pepper is long-dead, and I’m feeling more insane than Judy.

Now we jump over to Lana’s life, where she has now written a best-selling book about her ordeal in Briarcliff. She’s visiting a library to do a reading from said book and an autograph-signing. During the reading, she hallucinates a confrontation with Dr. Thredson and Wendy, wherein Lana is having an internal struggle with her thirst for “fame”. Lana has become “celebrity” in the worst sense of the word; she’s a diva and has walked away from her commitment to bring down Briarcliff. Kit visits Lana and tells her about Alma, who has now died while in Briarcliff. While Kit was visiting Briarcliff to identify Alma’s body, he saw Judy watching “The Flying Nun” on television and claiming it is her life story; she’s still a little insane. After hearing about this, Lana is surprised to hear Judy is still alive, but she doesn’t seem to care enough to want to go help her get out of the asylum.

Whiz-Bang-Zoom: Over 40 years into the future

Bloody Face Jr. visits a bookstore looking for a first edition of Lana’s book, but the proprietor of this establishment is not interested in selling her autographed copy. Don’t worry, though, once she hears that Bloody Face Jr. is Lana’s son and plans to use the book in a borderline hilarious/murderous prank against his mother, she’s more than willing to part with the novel.

Frankly, this was the worst episode of the season. I liked it, but it was essentially just a series of good scenes that, when put together, tried to tell way too many separate stories. I mean, until now, the season took place roughly within a single year, but this episode decided to go off the rails on a crazy train of years-long time jumps. 1967? 1968? 1969? I need Doc Brown to help me out here. It just came out disjointed and confusing. Who knows, though? Maybe that’s exactly how they wanted the viewers to feel?