American Horror Story: Asylum, the descent into hell

The anthology series by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, American Horror Story (AHS)already has 8 seasons behind him. The last, Apocalypsegenerated some expectation due to the novel element of the crossover. However, the feeling, in general, is that of having seen a dispensable installment, which has had its good moments, but is not up to par with other seasons. Therefore, today I am going to remember what, in my opinion, is the best of all: AHS: Asylum.

Given the anthological nature of the series, we find brilliant seasons and others that bore us supremely. It is true that this can be very subjective and will depend on each person’s personal taste. But if we look at any ranking that circulates through the network, surely, AHS: Asylum appears among the top positions.

Asylum It manages to mix so many things in a single series that it is fascinating. There are plots that are more powerful than others, but what matters is the result; and, in this, Asylum It comes out very well. It is a season that, in short, adapts well to all tastes, we have supernatural elements, murders, mystery, aliens… It combines the main themes of the horror genre in just 13 episodes. Besides, It is the season that has the greatest relationship with psychology.

Asylum It is the most ambitious season because, as we have mentioned, it covers almost all possible branches of horror cinema. Due to its complexity and the breadth of its subject matter, one might expect a disjointed season. But, Against all odds, he managed to connect the plots without collapsing.

Asylum It is the second season of the series, something that also works in its favor. Well, other equally applauded seasons, such as Roanokehave not fallen in love in the same way due to exhaustion and the progressive loss of fans of the series. After the success of the first delivery, Murder Housesome expectation had been generated to know what would come next. Asylum He took a well-deserved first place that, after 8 seasons, it seems that no one is going to take away from him.

And there, at the top, we find this fascinating season that gave us some of the best performances in the series. Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson) is one of the most beloved and remembered characters. Virtually all the female characters shined with their own light, without detracting from Kit Walker (Evan Peters) and the incredible Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto).

The narrative sense is complex, we will not deny that, it is difficult to connect each episode and each story that is presented to us. There are countless guest characters and plot lines. But it achieves its goal and immerses us in the horrors of being human.

It takes us to the place where atrocity reigns, where humanity vanishes and the environment suffocates. In our head, The damn song in French doesn’t stop playing, Dominic, that repeats like a loop reminding us where we are: in the paradise of madness.

In some episodes, the chaos is such that you no longer know if the characters have lost their minds, if it was the scriptwriters, or if it is you who is going crazy. Asylum It is delirious, it is madness in its purest form, it is breathed in the atmosphere, it emanates from the walls of Briarcliff (the mental institution in which the action takes place) and, of course, it is also palpable in its form, in its disorder.

Thus, in the middle of the labyrinth that is Briarcliff, we meet a series of characters who, unfortunately, have ended up in the worst of places. Madness has not always been seen in the same way, this was already warned by Michel Foucault in his History of madness in classical times.

What we see in Asylum It’s really creepy, Can a young journalist be labeled mentally ill for being a lesbian? Can a nymphomaniac be held in an institution for mentally ill criminals?

If we dig a little into the past, we will quickly realize that many of the things that we take as normal today, in the past were a huge problem.. Furthermore, we must not leave aside the fact that Briarcliff is in the hands of the Church and, as a consequence, many behaviors, especially those linked to sexuality, will be repressed.

Physical punishments and electroshocks that cure homosexuality were the order of the day. Most of the patients found in Briarcliff not only suffer from some disease (or what was then a disease), but there are also criminals.

In a forgotten place far from the rest of mortals, people who have committed atrocious acts and have some indication of mental illness are confined. Doesn’t it remind you a little of Shutter Island? Everything that is not worthy of being in society is excluded and subjected to the worst of horrors..

The point is that, although there are patients who are true criminals, we also find people like Lana whose only crime is being homosexual (and wanting to know too much). All of this well hidden and locked away between cassocks, a murderous psychiatrist and a Nazi doctor who only sees his patients as despicable beings to be experimented on.

despicable characters American Horror Story

Asylum It immerses us in that underworld of madness, of the old asylums in which everything was possible, although here, taken to the extreme. Because it is American Horror Story and we don’t like half measures; It’s all or nothing, that’s how horror is set up in Briarcliff. By subjecting the characters to confinement in a gloomy and almost putrid place, all situations are taken to the extreme, pushing people to the limit and leading us to the worst case scenario.

And the moral of all this hell is that the crazy is always excluded and, once it has been classified as such, it will be difficult to get rid of that label and, surely, no one will listen to it. Therefore, this environment is the ideal one to take the atrocity to its most far-fetched state, since it is unlikely to come to light.

So, What we find is that there is no hope, there are hardly any characters who know goodness. Even the young and innocent Mary Eunice, the only nun who knows what compassion is, turns out to be possessed by the devil (all very normal).

Sister Jude, on the other hand, is dedicated to repressing the sexual behavior of the inmates. while she wears red underwear and sexually fantasizes about Monsignor Timothy Howard. Monsignor, in turn, turns a blind eye to the doctor’s experiments in exchange for money; He is willing to do anything to become a cardinal.

Everything that is objectionable, that is taboo, appears in the characters of Asylum and, curiously, the least despicable turn out to be the patients. The condensation of absolute evil is embodied by a psychiatrist, Dr. Thredson, who at first seems to be trying to help his patient, Kit Walker, but all he wants from him is for him to be convicted of the murders he has committed. own doctor.

We were introduced to Briarcliff as an institution where the worst criminals and mentally ill people hide. In some ways, this is true, only, In the end, they have turned it around and it turns out that the dangerous ones are not the patients, but those who run the institution. And after thinking coldly everything that configures AsylumI can’t do anything other than wonder if we crazy people are the spectators or, simply, we have succumbed to a kind of catharsis.

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