By Lisa Carbone ‘14
EE Staff Writer
A new year, new story. Last year’s American Horror Story became an anthology series in which every season has a completely new story and new characters, all having nothing to do with the previous season. This year’s story is appropriately called Asylum taking place at the fictional Briarcliff Mental Institution in the year 1964. Another smaller storyline takes place in the present day. The show also has actors returning from the previous season in completely different roles that includes, Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Zachary Quinto, and Sarah Paulson.
In the main story, Briarcliff is employed with Sister Jude (Lange), Monsignor Timothy Howard (Joseph Fiennes), Sister Mary Eunice (Rabe), Dr. Arthur Arden (James Cromwell), and visiting doctor Dr. Oliver Thresdon (Quinto). Patients at Briarcliff include accused serial killer Bloody Face, Kit Walker (Peters), admitted in the pilot episode Lana Winters (Paulson), and Grace (Lizzie Brocheré) who is accused of killing her father and stepmother.
This year American Horror Story: Asylum delves into psychological terror instead of the horror like last year. So far, this season has proved to be equal to its predecessor and goes into completely new terror with familiar faces we, as viewers, grew to love in season one. The inclusion of actors from last year mixed with new actors gives the show a sense of familiarity that we would not get if it had all new actors.
By bringing back favorites like Tate Langdon, Nora Montgomery, Chad Warwick, Billie Dean, and Constance Langdon, the show gives viewers the chance to go into this season with a clean slate. All of the actors are playing the opposite of their previous roles, now giving viewers new people to root for. With the show already planning on a third season, be prepared for more scares and a new level of creepiness. American Horror Story: Asylum airs Wednesdays at 10 o’clock on FX.