S02E01 Welcome to Briarcliff (2012)

Sex :   Violence : 

Director Bradley Buecker
Writers Tim Minear
Starring Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Sarah Paulson, James Cromwell
Genre Pyschological
Tagline None Listed
Country

Review

"I wonder, did her dark meat slide off the bone any easier than your other victims?" - Sister Jude Martin

In 1964 Briarcliff Asylum is about to receive its latest infamous quest, Kit Walker aka "Bloody Face", an alleged serial killer considered unable to stand trial due to insanity. In Kit's defence an alien abduction might be the cause of his wife, Alma, dying or it could be local Redneck Billy who wouldn't be best impressed that Kit and Alma are an interracial couple. Anyways hot on Kit's admittance to Briarcliff Lana Winters tries to gain access to interview "Bloody Face", that doesn't work out so well as Lana does run into a psychopath and is herself admitted to the Asylum as Sister Jude shows she has something to hide.

And just when you thought the plot couldn't get any more complex resident Doctor, Arthur Arden, is getting his Island of Dr. Moreau on, experimenting on patients and churning out monsters. Doc Arden and Sister Jude are at war over the purpose of Briarcliff, while assorted loonies are victimised by the staff and the whole institution is descending into one of Dante's circles. Can Kit keep his sanity, prove his innocence, and survive what promises to be hell on Earth, lets pop Dominique on the stereo and find out.

Damn you horror, damn you to hell! It's been something of a battle to get my wife to go anywhere near the genre, she can't see the whole being scared thing as legitimate at the best of times, pointing out helpfully that the world is a scary enough place without adding to the mayhem. Considering we have Islamic terrorists, serial killers, the Tony Abbott Government I kind of get her point. And I guess her introduction to Stephen King, via a book I brought her when we started dating, did involve a young kid having his arm ripped out of the socket. Over the years however I have managed to edge her into some of the quieter horror moments culminating in her actually enjoying Shaun of the Dead, The Sixth Sense etc. So what does horror do to pay me back for bringing a new member to the fold, it decides to graphically show some dude having his arm ripped out of the socket on a television show! We're talking major setback here, and one of the weaknesses of American Horror Story: Asylum, there's some graphic violence going down in a season that isn't about graphic violence. Say what, as schizophrenic as some of the inhabitants of Briarcliff! So yeah gore hounds rejoice, we're taking some gore in the first scene of the new season of AHS (American Horror Story).

Just when you thought it was safe to turn on the TV AHS brings the carnage

On the bright side, for the hardened horror crew, Asylum has got away from Murder House, my fear being that we would return to the house for a few seasons prior to everyone getting bored with ghosts about the house and the show being cancelled. While Murder House had problems it was still pretty decent television with Jessica Lange simply knocking it dead, no pun etc. Season two of AHS takes us to an Asylum for new story lines and completely new characters, though some of the acting staff are instantly recognisable from last season.

Naturally Asylum isn't going to be a straight forward nuthouse with a few nasty secrets we could expect from the typical horror jaunt into the midnight hour, oh hell no, we're already talking multiple story arcs and dipping toes into a number of tropes. First up we have your typical psycho killer, Bloody Face, who would seem to have taken up residence in the abandoned Catholic medical facility, and who is still operating in the present. Next we have alien abduction, hey was that an anal probe, and associated deaths. Naturally we have staff who seem to exist only to victimise the patients, can we expect a full revolt from the inmates going forward? Fingers crossed there, I don't expect any happy endings for Sister Jude or Doc Arden. And the topping on this particular cake of chills Doc Arden doing the medical experiments that either kill those being experimented on or at best turn them into things you really don't want to run into after dark. You got the feeling your scary dance card is current full as well?

As expected the production values are top notch in the second season of AHS. Briarcliff both past and dilapidated present are well past creepy, you can readily believe that something sinister lurks in the halls of the imposing building. Equally all the 1960s sets seem authentic and I didn't note any prop appearing to be out of time, clearly the props department have a fine eye for detail and keeping it all in period. With decent acting and good directing the scene surely is set for one heck of a good season.

Interesting AHS doesn't shy away from a couple of social issues that are still prevalent in the modern era. Interracial marriage is still an issue in some quarters, but Asylum happily shows the viewer just how bad the situation was for couples back in the 1960s, which stands as a salient warning to those of us in the present to keep a weathered eye out for evangelical extremists trying to tamper with politics. Deliver unto Caesar people, keep your bible in your back pocket where it belongs. We also get the lesbian relationship, which is pretty much behind closed doors, well hello Tony Abbott's Australia. In both cases minority groups are the victims of an overwhelmingly blinkered white society, not sure if this will be an ongoing theme or just adding some spice to the broth.

Clearly the Producers of AHS listen to some of the criticism aimed at the first season and have forced things up a notch for Asylum. There's a lot of violence going down, as mentioned earlier in the episode, and a slight hint of things being sexed up in season two, even Ms Lange gets down to her blood red slip at one stage. Horror isn't a genre to play it safe in, there's a few too many options now available to fans to allow timidity to enter the equation, I've got a feeling AHS is well aware of this, things are going to get pretty heated through the season is my gut feeling.

Oops almost forgot to mention Lana Winters, the journalist falsely admitted to Briarcliff. Yet another divergence from the Writers which promises some interesting developments, can Lana escape Sister Jude or will insanity eventually find her? After Kit, Lana is the most innocent person in Briarcliff, I guess the two characters are the supposed stand ins for the audience to identify with, I'm already rooting for both of them, though given this is the horror genre I'm expecting the worse.

Excellent introduction to Asylum, the first episode already has multiple storylines setup, conflicts galore, and a generally feeling that things could go well off the reservation in coming episodes. Hold onto your knickers kids we could be in for a pretty hectic ride, full recommendation on this one, AHS has truly found its voice, albeit that voice is screaming in terror, go on admit yourself for the season, Asylum promises such dark things to show you!

ScaryMinds Rates this episode as ...

Strong start to season 2, bring it on!