Retrospective: American Horror Story: Asylum, S2 Ep 9 – “The Coat Hanger”

Air date: Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 10pm ET/PT on FX

Rating: ★★★★★

**Warning:  Spoilers herein.**

Can Monsignor Howard save Leigh?

What.The.Hell. There is a junior Thredson (Dylan McDermott)??? Please, no. After the hell Lana (Sarah Paulson) has gone through? I’m assuming she’s the mother, because I cannot fathom Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto) being free as a bird after she traps him in a room at Briarcliff, with plans to murder him. The episode title is quite apt, as Lana attempts to abort the fetus inside her. I’m delighting in the twists and turns, but where are the writers taking us? I can’t quite see how this is going to end up, which makes the show all the more enticing. (Of course, I expect the heroine, Sister Jude (Jessica Lange), to win out.)

So, I thought Sister Jude killed Leigh (Ian McShane) last week, but she only managed to cut his neck. Weak! What more havoc will that evil incarnate wreak at the asylum? If you haven’t watched “The Coat Hanger” yet, you’ll find he does plenty. Sister Jude might be in shackles now, stripped of her clerical standing, but she’s allowed some room to roam the asylum. I’m counting the days until Sister Jude uses her wits to turn the place upside down. Just because she’s out of her nun’s habit doesn’t mean her power as a woman has diminished any.

Meanwhile, Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) figures out—a little too conveniently—that Kit (Evan Peters) is somehow connected to the flashing light in the Death Chute when he attempted to dispose of Grace’s (Lizzie Brocheré) dead body. First, Kit’s wife, Alma (Britne Oldford), and then Grace? How does he manage to make the connection so quickly, even if he thinks he sees an alien footprint? Not only does the doctor manage this, but he wants to invite the “aliens” by killing Kit and bringing him back to life, in an attempt to learn their “eugenics” experiment. It seems like the writers rushed a bit through this storyline—Kit’s story isn’t that compelling because what I really want Lana and Kit to do is slaughter Dr. Thredson and find Alma. I want to yell, “Hurry up already,” but my patience will be rewarded, I’m sure. Right now, I’m convinced Alma is alive because … ta-da! Grace is alive—and pregnant. With whose baby, do you think? The best part is that Pepper (Naomi Grossman) appears, as a sort of watcher over Grace. This might be a sign that Pepper plays a larger role than we think.

Can I just say what an idiot Monsignor Howard (Joseph Fiennes) is? Aside from the actor committing a large faux pas when making the Sign of the Cross (DUH, you go left and then right, not right and then left! Or was this a writer’s mistake?), he comes across as naïve and power hungry. Does he really think Leigh has repented just because he asks Sister Jude for forgiveness and kisses her forehead? Sister Jude knows it’s all an act so why doesn’t the monsignor? I mean, it’s practically written on Leigh’s forehead just how dastardly he is. The entire scene where Leigh prays in the church and the monsignor baptizes him in holy water is sort of hilarious because what happens is obvious.  Where does the monsignor end up? Well, not dead, but definitely in a compromising position. Let me just say, he looks like he’s wearing diapers. What a darkly comical scene! The scene sort of makes fun of the monsignor’s willful idiocy.

Let’s not forget Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe). The devil is practically raging through her, teasing the monsignor with her knowledge of Sister Jude’s red teddy and telling Lana she knows about her pregnancy. Not only that, but it will be a boy! What is surprising, though, is there were no scenes between the Sister and Dr. Arden in this episode. Wouldn’t she have been interested in exploring the aliens’ human experimentations with him? More than likely, she’s part of it all.

The next new episode of American Horror Story: Asylum airs January 2. Until then, happy holidays!

American Horror Story: Asylum airs Wednesdays, 10pm ET/PT, only on FX Networks.

LIKE the show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/americanhorrorstory.

Follow American Horror Story: Asylum on Twitter: @AHSFX.

You might also like to follow co-creator Ryan Murphy @MrRPMurphy, Director/Producer Brad Falchuk @BFalchuk, Dr. Thredson @ZacharyQuinto, Lana Winters @MsSarahPaulson, Spivey @MarkConsuelos, and Kit Walker @tweetsonurface.

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