American Horror Story: Asylum -- A Review

Non-Political Post (spoiler avoidance system engaged)

The second season of American Horror Story was quite simply a triumph. Featuring unique characters, careful plotting, and often stunning visual imagery, American Horror Story : Asylum  was never predictable, never boring, and never featured the kind of villainy often found in today's media. The characters were carefully developed so when someone did something, either awful or humane, the action was in service to the character, not in service to the plot, which meant the story flowed easily back and forth through time and space and character.

The first season of American Horror Story  was not as satisfying. By the end of the season I cared not one whit what happened to the characters, nor did I care much what happened with the, mostly, predictable story. Right now, I only have vague recollections of it; I think Asylum will stay me a good long time for many reasons.

Either the writers have paid attention to professional wrestling or they learned the lesson elsewhere: you must have at least one character that the audience can empathize with, and if a villain can develop heroically, well so much the better. American Horror Story: Asylum learned this lesson in both of its forms: good becomes evil and evil becomes good, and the viewer is witness to both-- again in service to the character.

Before I watched this series, if someone had told me they were going to mix God, religion, angels, demons, lunatics, ghost busting,and aliens and make it work sensibly, I would not have believed it. But bear in mind the word "horror" in the title, American Horror Story: Asylum is often brutal, bloody, and explicit so don't go there if modern horror ties your sensibilities in knots. I loathe spatter movies and torture porn so I would never recommend it if fell into that category. It is tough but not in service to gore.