The Origins of Monstrosity

"The Origins of Monstrosity" is the sixth episode of the second season of the FX anthology television series American Horror Story. The episode, written by series co-creator Ryan Murphy and directed by David Semel, aired on November 21, 2012. This episode is rated TV-MA (LSV).

"The Origins of Monstrosity"
American Horror Story episode
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 6
Directed byDavid Semel
Written byRyan Murphy
Featured music"You Don't Own Me (feat. Claus Ogerman)" by Lesley Gore
Production code2ATS06
Original air dateNovember 21, 2012 (2012-11-21)
Running time41 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

In the episode, a 911 call directs the police to the modern-day asylum. At the past asylum, little Jenny Reynolds (Nikki Hahn) becomes a new patient after her mother (Amy Farrington) believes she has killed someone. Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) finally gets evidence of Dr. Arden's (James Cromwell) horrific past, but puts someone's life and her career at stake as Arden, Monsignor Howard (Joseph Fiennes), and Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe) indirectly form an evil union. Lana (Sarah Paulson) remains a hostage of Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto), but is told what set him off onto his dark path. Chloë Sevigny guest stars as Shelley.

Plot

Flashing forward to 2012, the police arrive at Briarcliff, where by phone, present day Bloody Face explains he only killed the three bodies who impersonated Bloody Face. The police find Leo's body and missing severed arm. After learning Leo was on a honeymoon, they search for Teresa, who Bloody Face has captive.

A mother drops her daughter Jenny off at the asylum, believing the girl has killed a friend. Sister Mary Eunice sympathizes with her, reflecting on a previous humiliation. Mary Eunice supports Jenny's dark side. Later, Jenny kills her entire family and, when asked by the police who has killed them, she gives the same lie to the police as when she killed her friend.

Dr Thredson tells his captive Lana about his past; he is an orphan with abandonment issues, who relates the first corpse he skinned, a woman who resembled his birth mother, but decided to only skin living corpses afterwards due to the odor of formaldehyde. He treats Lana as a maternal figure, something Lana goes along with. While Thredson takes a phone call from Kit, who enrages him by calling him a liar, Lana attempts to escape, but Thredson finds out, and prepares to kill her, but Lana stops him by acting as a mother figure.

Monsignor Howard is called to a hospital about a disfigured patient, who is Shelley. Howard chokes Shelley to death with rosary beads to cover up his asylum's mistreatments, realizing Arden did this. He then confronts Arden about his "research". Arden tells Monsignor Howard that his studies will make "superhumans" who will survive almost anything. He blackmails the monsignor to keep his work a secret and to fire the suspicious Sister Jude.

Sam Goodman has called Jude to tell her he has found evidence that Dr. Arden was, in fact, Nazi war criminal Hans Grüper. However, he needs Arden's fingerprint to complete the case, which she manages to get. However Mary Eunice goes to Sam's apartment and stabs him in the neck with broken glass. Jude finds him dying, and he reveals a nun stabbed him. Mary Eunice shows Sam's evidence to Arden, using it to bribe him.

Reception

"The Origins of Monstrosity" was watched by 1.89 million viewers and received an adult 18-49 rating of 0.9, marking the series' lowest numbers,[1] until "She Gets Revenge" from the fifth season.

Rotten Tomatoes reports a 91% approval rating, based on 11 reviews. The critical consensus reads, ""The Origins of Monstrosity" is not as engrossing as its predecessor, yet several plot machinations serve to fill in the gaps."[2] Joey DeAngelis of The Huffington Post thought the episode was of high quality, calling it "my favorite episode of the season (or maybe even the series)." He then praised many aspects of the episode, including the cast, stating, "Since episode one, the show has been built on these strong female characters. It doesn't matter whether they're battling for good or evil. Lily Rabe, Jessica Lange, and Sarah Paulson are in a whole league of their own."[3] Geoff Berkshire of Zap2it called the episode "overly talky...and not quite as compelling as the rest of the season so far."[4] Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club stated, "What's disappointing is that "The Origins of Monstrosity" is a dull and listless episode. It's easily the most boring episode this season, and it spends lots of time offering origin stories for characters who either already had them or didn't particularly need them."[5]

References
  1. Bibel, Sara (November 26, 2012). "Wednesday Cable Ratings: 'Moonshiners' & 'Duck Dynasty' Win Night, 'American Horror Story', 'Restaurant Impossible', 'South Beach Tow', 'Conan' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
  2. "The Origins of Monstrosity – American Horror Story: Asylum, Episode 6". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  3. DeAngelis, Joey (November 22, 2012). "'American Horror Story: Asylum' Recap: Babying The Devil In 'The Origins of Monstrosity'". The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  4. Berkshire, Geoff (November 21, 2012). "'American Horror Story: Asylum' episode 6 recap: 'The Origins of Monstrosity'". Zap2it. Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  5. VanDerWerff, Emily (November 21, 2012). "The Origins of Monstrosity". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.