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[by Michelle Z]
“American Horror Story,” an A-listed TV show in the U.S., has been a wonderful way for me to kill time. This show includes four seasons: The Murder House, The Asylum, Coven, and The Freak Show. Each of these seasons is distinct from the others though the cast stays the same. Out of all the seasons, The Asylum captured my attention the most, not only because of the utterly amazing title, but also because of the twisted stories it recounts.
The season begins when a horror freak couple decides to travel around the U.S. to visit horror sites. When they come upon the asylum, they step in only to realize that they are trapped and hunted by ruthless killers. Soon after the couple lies dead on the floor of the asylum, the story draws us back into the past, and retells the history of the asylum. It was intended to be a place for the mentally handicapped, but because of shielding, inequality, and other reasons, the asylum detained many psychopaths. Behind the artificial veneer, the story slowly starts to reveal the ‘devils’ and the ‘angels’ of the show.
The first scene of Briarcliff (the asylum’s name) brings the audience to a therapy room where people have been treated with sadism as the so-called therapy for their “illness”. As the story progresses, the ways to maltreat innocent victims increase, and the suspense the story creates grows accordingly. However, there are so many things going on within one episode that I lost track of the plot. First, there’s the finding of Bloody Face only to realize that he wasn’t the actual Bloody Face. Second, there is the casting of the devil onto a sister. Third comes the barbarous experiment of Dr. Arden. Then there’s the forced “incest” between Lana and Thredson, and many other stories that are happening within. Personally, I think if the director of this TV show were to focus on one story instead of 10, then it would be so much better because the audience would have a clearer understanding of what The Asylum is trying to show. I’ve watched this season of American Horror Story two times (without skipping episodes or any parts) and I still couldn’t follow the plot of the story.
Although the idea of The Asylum greatly interests me, I’m still not able to summarize the story and identify the topic of it clearly due to its lack of focused plot. Is this story about moral clarity, about discrimination against freaks, or is it trying to reflect the biased political viewpoints the 1960s had on homosexuality? I don’t know, since the The Asylum does its job of introducing the topics partially, but falls flat on giving further information about any of them.
Despite all the flaws, American Horror Story: The Asylum is a highly recommended show for people who are interested in horror. They have magnificent special effects that will make you feel as if you were there, going through what the characters are going through, experiencing all their pain and pleasures. The scenes usually include a decent amount of gore, which may sound disgusting to some, but will be oddly satisfying for the group of people who are highly captivated by the idea of terror. I am the type of person who is very interested in horror; watching creepy scenes gratifies me in such a way that even I would call it twisted. The Asylum, out of all the seasons in AHS, is one of the most graphic seasons, but I liked it, and I recommend this season of AHS to everyone who is just as twisted as me.
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