American Horror Story: Asylum - S2E4 - I Am Anne Frank

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Previously on American Horror Story: Asylum…

The episode begins with some mysterious woman dropped off on the asylum’s doorstep. She’s presumed Jewish because she used a broken bottle to stab some guy who had made an anti-Semitic remark. Sister Jude asks her if she lost someone in the war, and mystery woman starts whistling. I wonder if she’s Anne Frank. I’d guess we’re supposed to think she’s Anne Frank. Let’s wait and see if she’s Anne Frank. I bet she isn’t, but with this show, who really knows what to expect?

Dr. Arden still has Shelley strapped to his death table, with her new-found leglessness. That’s still freaking horrifying. Just BAM, no legs. That’s why you should never fall asleep around doctors. Okay, I may be exaggerating the threat, but only by a little.

Grace tells Kit about why she’s in the asylum. Apparently, someone set her up for some murders so they could steal her family’s farm. Kit believes her, obviously, since he’s the guy trying to convince everyone aliens killed his wife. He’s the king of unsubstantiated imprisonment. In the first of a string of meetings, Dr. Threadson tries to tell Lana that he can help her get out because she doesn’t belong there, but she doesn’t seem interested in that. I’m not sure why, but it might have something to do with the fact that the catch is that she must agree to go through “conversion therapy”. That’s right; she isn’t crazy, but she’s gay, and we can’t have gay people walking around all willy-nilly in the streets of 1964. What? Like they’re humans or something? No way!

Turns out the new girl actually is Anne Frank-at least she says she is-and she has plenty of other things to say, like the fact that Dr. Arden was at Auschwitz. Whether she’s actually Anne Frank or just some crazy woman who thinks she’s Anne Frank, it wouldn’t be all that shocking to hear that Dr. Arden is a Nazi. In fact, it kind of makes more sense than everything else going on. It could be the most logical thing happening in this “godless place”, as Lana describes the asylum. Needless to say, Sister Jude isn’t believing “Anne Frank’s” story (for now), even though it is a very convincing story, complete with black-and-white flashbacks reminiscent of Schindler’s List. As it turns out, Arden was basically a perverted Oskar Schindler who “saved” girls. So far this season, Dr. Arden has resembled a perverted Dr. Frankenstein and now a perverted Oskar Schindler. I think all we really know is that Dr. Arden is a pervert.

Meanwhile, Dr. Threadson continues his meetings with each of our ragtag gang, with Kit. He tells Kit that he doesn’t believe he’s insane, but if he deems him sane, Kit will be put to death. Dr. Threadson doesn’t want this to happen, so he will lie and say Kit is actually insane (how nice of him, right?), but only if Kit admits he is guilty of killing his wife and some others. Dr. Threadson has constructed a story about what Kit actually did that is nearly as convincing as the story given by our mysterious “Anne Frank” (and it doesn’t have any aliens in it, go figure). This causes Kit to question his sanity; he questions his sanity so much that he just has to… make bread! What is with everyone in this asylum angrily making bread? Grace interrupts his bread session, though… so he pounds on her… you know, with the sex. While doing the hanky stanky, Kit and Grace are caught and taken to Sister Stupid and Sister Jude. Sister Stupid (who has been decidedly less stupid since getting all possessed up by that demon) keys Kit into the fact that Grace was lying earlier; she absolutely killed her family, but she did it for a good reason: she was being molested.

Lana had a bit of a breakdown/hallucination where she sees herself behind a podium, telling her expose of the asylum to the world, complete with a chronic masturbator played by an actor who is really, really into his job. He’s got quite the “method” to his profession, if you know what I mean. After this, Lana decides she will take Dr. Threadson up on his offer to get her out of the asylum (and back in the closet, as it were). What follows is an extremely uncomfortable scene of the “conversion therapy” where Dr. Threadson induces Lana to vomit while she’s looking at pictures of naked women. It’s horrible, and you would say “Why is a television show inventing this horrendous treatment of homosexuals?” Well, it’s not. This actually happened to gay people, when homosexuality was ridiculously classified as a “mental illness”. The scene doesn’t stop there, though; oh, no. Next, Dr. Threadson brings in a guy who strips nude; then Dr. Threadson instructs Lana to touch herself while touching the man’s penis. Yes, this is how gay people were treated. I don’t mean to get all Mr. Serious Suspender Pants on you, but I think it’s important to note that a primetime television show is finally willing to put the treatment of homosexuals into a context that sees it lined next to the treatment of Jewish people in Nazi Germany. I think it would be difficult for anyone to film that scene, but I’d imagine it was slightly more trying for Sarah Paulson and Zachary Quinto, since they both happen to be gay.

Anyway, the “therapy session” didn’t go so well, but Dr. Threadson says he still wants to get Lana out of the asylum. This is the worst part of this entire situation: Dr. Threadson seems to actually be the most decent person on the show, and he’s still a prisoner of the times with his shitty approach to homosexuality and mental illness. Although, the fact that he’s apparently the most decent person on the show makes me think he’s probably going to turn out to be some psychotic killer, or maybe he’s an alien?

More great news for Dr. Arden: you remember that prostitute he attacked when she found his stash of nudie pictures? Well, she called the police, and those police are investigating Dr. Arden. Apparently, they are thinking Dr. Arden may have done the things Kit is accused of, too. More things that are not surprising! Sister Jude takes this information to Monsignor Timothy (Joseph Fiennes). She goes straight to the “He’s a Nazi!” argument, instead of the “He’s fucking creepy, and you know it” argument. You’d think that’s why the Monsignor immediately dismisses her as a drunken fool, but you’d be wrong. You see, Monsignor is actually in cahoots with Dr. Arden. WHAT?! Say it ain’t so! (yeah, I said “cahoots”).

Grace’s story, together with Dr. Threadson’s story, has convinced Kit that he must have killed his wife but just can’t remember it. He goes to Sister Jude to confess, but she doesn’t seem to want to accept the confession; she’s still not ready to fess up to her crimes from 15 years ago, and she’ll be damned if he will confess before she does. You can’t really blame her; I wouldn’t want to be out saned by some dude who says he was abducted by aliens, either.

The episode ends with Dr. Arden dragging our “Anne Frank” into his insani-lab, presumably to fuck her up like he did with Shelley. Where is Shelley, anyway? Dr. Arden says he wasn’t at Auschwitz; he is from Scottsdale, and he is very adamant about that fact. He must really like Scottsdale. As it turns out, though our “Anne Frank” is a talented pickpocket, and she lifted a gun off one of those officers who were walking around earlier. She shoots him in the leg (which seems very reasonable, all things considered), and then she hears a banging from behind a locked door. After coaxing the key from Arden, she opens it to be met with a writhing creature on the floor, pleading for her to “Kill me!”. I guess we found Shelley.

Bonus, coincidental trivia: Joseph Fiennes’ brother Ralph Fiennes was in Schindler’s List.