American Horror Story has made quite the impression in the TV world, with controversial topics and storylines that continue to draw fans in. After Murder House, the second season, titled Asylum, had a lot to live up to, and creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk didn't disappoint.
Murphy and Falchuk brought back favorites from the first season and put their own spin on alien abductions, a so-called "religious" asylum, and a serial killer who was vicious to his very last breath. Beyond Asylum's iconic movie references and excellent costuming, this second deserves a second look at how far the characters rose and fell from their ranks. In fact, here are the first and last sentences of each main character's script in Asylum.
Sister Mary Eunice McKee
"Pepper, leave the lady alone." - "Take me."
Above welcoming Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson) to Briarcliff, Sisters Mary Eunice McKee (Lily Rabe) gives her a reality check after she interacts with a memorable patient named Pepper (Naomi Grossman). Even though Winters didn't mind saying 'hello' to Pepper, Sister Mary Eunice McKee (Lily Rabe) briefly mentions her background, which gives Winters and viewers a sense of how dangerous the patients really are.
Of all the characters in Asylum, Sister Mary Eunice is the most wholesome. She cares about those around her and the patients that often get neglected or abused. She's never the same after Satan possesses her, and she's ready to move on to the afterlife when Shachath (Frances Conroy) comes for her. To end her suffering and wrong-doings as a possessed woman, she finally receives some reprieve from her situation. Of all the characters Rabe has played, her rendition of the good and bad complexities of Sister Mary Eunice is her best performance on AHS so far.
Sister Jude Martin
"Told you I would come find you, Sister Mary Eunice. Brush yourself off, Shelley." - "Please, after you."
Sister Jude Martin (Jessica Lange) has had a tumultuous past, and because of it, she's extremely bitter and forceful. She enjoys control over the patients, and it's first evident when Sister Mary Eunice and Lana Winters come to meet her. She's shaving the head of a deviant patient named Shelley (Chloë Sevigny) and is caught off guard when she sees the women.
Sister Jude's final scene is a flashback at Briarcliff in 1964. She's escorting the bright-eyed Lana Winters out of the building, but before she leaves, she gives her a warning of sorts about looking in the face of evil. The final scene in the series has foreshadowing qualities that warn Winters to stay away from Briarcliff, a place that has more terrifying layers that no one should see.
Dr. Arthur Arden
"When the monsignor brought me out of retirement to run Briarcliff's medical unit, we made a gentlemen's agreement." - "What do you smell now, Monsignor?"
Besides Bloody Face (Zachary Quinto), Dr. Arthur Arden (James Cromwell) is the ultimate evil in Briarcliff. His persona takes cues from Christopher "Dr. Death" Duntsch, a real-life doctor and killer, and conducts terrible experiments on patients that don't behave. After Sister Jude confronts him and questions his motives, he nonchalantly mentions the agreement he and Monsignor Timothy Howard (Joseph Fiennes) originally made.
After Sister Mary Eunice is laid to rest, Monsignor Timothy Howard mentions that God permits a dead body to smell like a sweet perfume or roses as a sign of sanctity. When Arden asks Howard what he smells when it comes to Sister Mary Eucine, he mentions that all he can smell is death and decay.
Lana Winters
"Lana Winters from the Gazette. I'm doing a story on your bakery, and I have an appointment with Sister Jude." - "You don't have any idea what I'm capable of."
Lana Winters had a motive from the get-go, and that was to investigate the rumors surrounding Briarcliff. She knew suspicious activities were going on, but at first, she hides her true intention when she steps onto the asylum's grounds.
Her last (and first) conversation with Sister Jude is in 1964 when she first enters Briarcliff's halls. The scene is a flashback to a time before she committed as a patient and before she was a prisoner of Bloody Face. Her tour with Sister Jude is tense, and it's clear Sister Jude wants her nowhere near her asylum. When she tells Winters that her ambitions are too big, her reaction is fitting and challenging, based on the situations she's endured throughout the season.
Kit Walker
"That'll be three dollars even." - "I don't know who she was talking about."
Before Kit Walker (Evan Peters) became intertwined with Briarcliff, aliens, and having children, he ran a gas station and was madly in love with his wife, Alma (Britne Oldford). After a man challenges Walker to his high gas prices, his laid-back persona is revealed, and it's clear he's a good guy in the season.
After his stint in Briarcliff, Walker is a changed man and reunites with Lana Winters after Alma and Grace have died. When they sit down to discuss his time with Sister Jude Martin, he discusses a time right before she died. Since he's never had a brush with death, he's never seen Shachath in the flesh, which is who Sister Jude was speaking to.
Grace Bertrand
"There's a rule for everything here. I learned them all the hard way, trust me." - "Alma needs to understand that. We need to open our..."
Grace Bertrand's (Lizzie Brocheré) first scene is at Briarcliff when she offers a piece of advice to Kit Walker. Right before he tries to turn off the common area's record player, she warns him to step away. She's learned the hard way when it comes to the rules around the joint, and to be nice, she stops him before he makes the same mistake.
Grace Bertrand's last scene in Asylum isn't pretty, and it's moments before Alma Walker takes her life. Post-Briarcliff, Grace, Kit, and Alma are living together with their blended family. While Grace wants to welcome the aliens back into their home, Alma wants nothing to do with them. Out of rage and jealousy, Alma ends Grace's life with an ax, but right before, Grace tries to persuade Kit to be on her side about the otherworldly visitors.
Dr. Oliver Thredson
"Gentlemen. I can handle it from here." - "Face it, Lana. You're only interested in one thing: fame."
Dr. Oliver Thredson's first scene is in the episode "Tricks and Treats." He's allegedly sent to Briarcliff to offer treatment to the patients, and when he first meets with Kit Walker, he's flailing wildly and resisting the orderlies who brought him to Thredson's office. Kit's impression of him is that he's the man who has the hold on if he's sane or insane.
Oliver Thredson's last appearance in the season appears in a brief flashback Lana has. After she's found fame and has moved on from her horrific experience in Bloodyface's/Oliver Thredson's basement, he still haunts her thoughts with his presence. At a book signing, he appears behind her and says what every viewer has been thinking all along.
Monsignor Timothy Howard
"You are a rara avis, Sister Jude." - "Happy Easter."
Monsignor Timothy Howard has Sister Jude's affection and is her superior. He and Sister Jude set up Briarcliff together, and secretly, he's aware of Dr. Arden's disgusting experiments. His first scene finds him at dinner with Sister Jude, where he praises her for the feast.
Timothy Howard is appointed Cardinal of New York by the end of the season, and although he has good intentions at times, his lust for power and affluence clouds his judgment. After Lana Winters exposes his awareness of Dr. Arden's experiments, he knows his time in the church is over. He composes himself after being approached by Winters and a film crew and wishes them a happy holiday.
Pepper
"Play with me! Play with me!" - "Stacking us up like cordwood."
Pepper is one of the most memorable patients at Briarcliff. Even though she comes off as happy and friendly, her backstory is murderous and terrifying. She first approaches Lana Winters and comes off as an innocent woman, but Sister Mary Eucine quickly lets Winters know who she is and what she's done.
Pepper's last line is technically after her death, and in a hazy dreamworld Sister Jude makes up while she's a Briarcliff patient. Pepper can now speak coherently and isn't acting silly at all. When Jude lets her know she's been assigned a roommate during a card game, Pepper's reaction tells viewers that Briarcliff is adding new patients and fast.
Shelley
"Do you think I'm full of shame and regret for what I've done now, Sister? You could shave me bald as a cue ball, and I'll still be the hottest tamale in this joint." - "Kill me."
Shelley has been diagnosed as being a nymphomaniac. After she sought revenge on her husband for cheating on her, she's admitted into Briarcliff. Shelley has no shame in her appearance or for her desire for passion, and when she's first introduced, she's found with Sister Jude as her hair is being chopped off.
Shelley went through the wringer at Briarcliff, and because Dr. Arden despised women who owned their sexuality, he conducted terrible experiments on her. While he had been doing this all along, this is the first time viewers get to see the damage he's done. When Anne Frank/Charlotte Brown (Franka Potente) escapes from Dr. Arden's grasp, she opens the wrong door and reveals Shelley's condition. Her last words are saddening and horrific.