Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s anthology series, American Horror Story (AHS), already has eight seasons, the last, Apocalypse, generated some anticipation for the new crossover element, however, the general feeling is to have seen a consumable installment, which has had good times, but that is not up to the other seasons, so let’s remember what , in the opinion of many, is the best of all: American Horror Story: Asylum.
Given the anthological character of the series, there are bright seasons and others that bother us, it is true that this can be very subjective and depends on the personal taste of each one, however, if you look at a ranking that circulates on the net, certainly AHS: Asylum is one of the first messages.
- Asylum manages to mix so many things into a single series.
- With a fascinating result.
- There are stronger plots than others.
- But what matters is the result.
- In this.
- Asylum did very well.
- It is a season that.
- In short.
- Adapts well to all tastes; Do we have supernatural elements.
- Murders.
- Mysteries.
- Aliens?It combines the main themes of the horror genre into just 13 episodes.
- Besides.
- It’s the season that most closely relates to psychology.
Asylum is the most ambitious season because, as we said, it covers almost every possible branch of horror cinema. Because of its complexity and the breadth of its theme, one would expect a disconnected season. However, against all odds, he managed to connect, all the plots without getting lost.
Asylum is the second season of the series, which also works for you. Other equally acclaimed seasons, such as Roanoke, have not been as successful due to the show’s exhaustion and gradual loss of fans. After the success of the first edition, Murder House, there was no expectation of what would come next. Asylum won the well-deserved first place that, after 8 seasons, seems unmatched.
Then, at the top, we found this season fascinating that brought us some of the best performances in the series. Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson) is one of the most beloved and memorable characters. Virtually all female characters shone in their own light. without denigrating Kit Walker (Evan Peters) and the incredible Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto).
This is one of the seasons in which we can better appreciate the evolution of the characters; a coherent and non-absurd evolution, as in the hotel.
Narrative sense is complex, we will not deny it; It’s hard to link every episode and every story presented to us. There are countless characters and stories, but the series fulfills its mission and immerses us in the horrors of the human being.
This brings us to a place where atrocity reigns, where humanity has disappeared and the environment is suffocating. In our heads, Dominique’s damn French music keeps playing, repeating itself like a spiral reminding us where we are: in the paradise of madness.
In some episodes the chaos is so great that you don’t know if the characters have lost their minds, if it was the writers or if you’re going crazy. It is delusional, it is madness in its purest form, it is breathed into the environment, emanates from the walls of Briarcliff (the mental institution in which the action takes place) and, of course, it also feels in its form, in its disorder.
In this way, in the middle of the maze that is Briarcliff, we find a series of characters who, unfortunately, found the the most. Madness has not always been seen in the same way, as Michel Foucault has already shown in his “History of Madness in the Classical Age”.
What we see in Asylum is really scary: can you call a young mentally ill journalist for being a lesbian, can you confine a nymphomaniacal to an institution for mentally ill criminals?
If we dig a little deeper into the past, we will quickly realize that many of the things we consider normal today were a big problem. Moreover, the fact that Briarcliff is in the hands of the Church should not be overlooked and, therefore, many behaviours, particularly those related to sex, are repressed.
The physical and electroshock punishments that cure homosexuality were on the agenda. Most patients found in Briarcliff not only have a disease (or what was then a disease), but there are also criminals.
In a forgotten place away from the rest of the mortals, people who have committed horrific acts and have signs of mental illness are imprisoned. Don’t you remember a little bit? Everything that is not worthy of belonging to society is excluded and subject to the worst horrors.
The point is that if there are patients who are true criminals, we also meet people like Lana, whose only crime is being homosexual (and wanting to know too much). All this well hidden and kept under lock and key, a murderous Nazi psychiatrist and doctor who views his patients as despicable beings and uses them in his experiments.
Sex, blasphemy, blood, death and corruption make up a series that ultimately does not suit all audiences and the stomach.
Asylum immerses us in the underground world of madness, old asylums where anything was possible and taken to the extreme. In American Horror Story, there are no half inks; or all or nothing, that’s how horror takes shape in Briarcliff. By locking the characters in a dark, rotten place, they take all situations to the extreme, setting people aside and dragging us to the worst-case scenario.
The lesson we can learn from this story is that the madman is always excluded and, once classified as such, can hardly get rid of that label. Nobody’s going to listen to you. For this reason, this environment is ideal for bringing atrocity to its wildest state, as it is unlikely to be discovered.
So what we realize is that there is no hope. Even the young and innocent Mary Eunice, the only nun who knows what compassion is, is possessed by the devil (this is all very normal).
Meanwhile, Sister Jude is dedicated to suppressing the sexual behavior of prisoners while wearing red underwear and having sexual fantasies with Bishop Timothy Howard. Monsignor, in turn, turn a blind eye to the Nazi doctor’s experiments in exchange for money; is willing to do anything to become a cardinal.
Everything reprehensible and taboo appears in the characters and, curiously, the least despicable end up being the patients. The condensation of absolute evil is interpreted by a psychiatrist, Dr. Thredson, who initially seems to try to help his patient, Kit Walker. , but all he wants is to be convicted of the murders committed by the doctor himself.
Briarcliff has presented himself to us as an institution where the worst criminals and the mentally ill are hiding, in a way it is true, but in the end we realized that the most dangerous are not the patients, but the ones who run the facility. And after thinking coldly about everything Asylum sets, we can only wonder if we are the fools, the spectators, or if we simply succumb to a kind of catharsis.
“All monsters are human. “? Sister Jude, AHS: Asylum?