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''American Horror Story: Asylum'' is the second season of the American FX horror television series ''American Horror Story,'' created by Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy. It originally aired from October 17, 2012 to January 23, 2013. The premise of the second season marked a departure from that of the series' first season, featuring all new characters and a new location, thus marking ''American Horror Story'' as an anthology series. The season begins in 1964 at the fictional mental institution, Briarcliff Manor, following the stories of the staff and inmates who occupy it, and intercuts with events in the past and present. Returning cast members from the previous season of the series include: Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange, Dylan McDermott, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Zachary Quinto, and Lily Rabe. Like its predecessor, ''Asylum'' was well received by television critics and fans. The performances of Jessica Lange, James Cromwell, Zachary Quinto, Sarah Paulson, and Lily Rabe were particularly praised. The season garnered seventeen Emmy Award nominations, more than any other show, including Outstanding Miniseries and four acting nominations for Lange, Paulson, Cromwell, and Quinto, with Cromwell winning for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie. In addition, Quinto and Paulson won their respective supporting categories at the 3rd Critics' Choice Television Awards. Despite being formerly anthological, some of the cast members reprise their roles in the series' fourth cycle, ''Freak Show'', such as: Lily Rabe, Naomi Grossman, and John Cromwell, the latter portraying a young version of Dr. Arthur Arden, also known as Hans Grüper. ==Plot== The second season follows the patients, doctors and nuns who occupy Briarcliff Mental Institution in Massachusetts in 1964, intercut with scenes from the present. Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) and Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe) maintain the institution that was founded by Monsignor Timothy Howard (Joseph Fiennes) to treat and house the mentally and criminally insane. Psychiatrist Dr. Oliver Thredson (Zachary Quinto) and scientist Dr. Arthur Arden (James Cromwell) treat the patients within the facility. The patients, many of whom claim to be unjustly institutionalized, include lesbian journalist Lana Winters (Sarah Paulson), accused serial killer Kit Walker (Evan Peters), and alleged murderer Grace Bertrand (Lizzie Brocheré). As the season unfolds, information is revealed about everyone's past, present, and personal lives. Sister Jude was once a philandering nightclub singer who unintentionally killed a young girl in a drunk-driving hit and run accident in 1949. This led her to become a nun and she was later selected to work at Briarcliff. Sister Mary Eunice is a shy and innocent nun who fears Sister Jude. Later, she becomes possessed by the Devil during an exorcism of another patient and becomes a cruel and willful woman. She anonymously taunts Sister Jude about the drunk-driving accident. Sister Jude is terrorized by the memory and goes to see the family of the dead girl. While there, she learns the girl survived the accident with only a few broken bones. Sister Jude figures that God had a plan for her all along, and decides that it is her job to destroy all the remaining evil at Briarcliff. The evil includes the sadistic scientist Dr. Arden and the secret serial killer Dr. Thredson. Arden is a former Nazi whose experiments have produced "Raspers", mutated former patients, who lurk in the woods surrounding the institution, and who are fed the flesh of dead patients. He and Sister Jude often clash with their differing views of how the facility should be run. Dr. Thredson is a psychiatrist assigned to evaluate accused serial killer Walker, although it is revealed that Thredson actually committed the murders Walker is accused of, and got himself assigned to Walker’s case to make sure he could pin the murders on him. Walker believes his wife Alma (Britne Oldford) was kidnapped by aliens and Thredson makes it his mission to pin her disappearance and possible murder, among others, on him. Walker is duped into taping a confession and is arrested for the murders. He later escapes custody. Thredson also tries to "reform" another patient that has been wrongfully committed. Lana Winters is an ambitious journalist who attempts to expose Briarcliff's mistreatments. She is in a relationship with girlfriend Wendy (Clea Duvall), who is blackmailed by Sister Jude into committing Winters. When Lana asks Thredson for help contacting Wendy, it is revealed he is the killer and has also murdered Wendy. At first, Thredson tells Winters that the killer is still on the loose. Thredson agrees to help Winters escape the asylum, but she learns his dark secret and that he sees her as the mother he never had. He keeps her prisoner and tries to turn her into his mother figure. He rapes her, and is later going to kill her for his "indiscretion". A struggle ensues and she escapes, only to end up back at Briarcliff. She later learns she is pregnant with Thredson's baby. Meanwhile, believing his wife is dead or missing, Kit Walker has taken up with inmate Grace Bertrand. She is accused of murdering her family and it is revealed that she actually did commit the murders, but her father was sexually abusing her and her stepmother ignored the abuse. She and Walker get caught having sex before his arrest and they are separated with the intent to be sterilized. However, she is abducted by aliens and is later returned, very pregnant and ready to give birth. Walker has allowed himself to be caught and brought back to Briarcliff to help Grace. He negotiates with Monsignor and arranges for Grace, himself and their baby to be released. The three arrive at his old home to find his wife Alma, alive and with her own baby. While all this is going on, the possessed Sister Mary Eunice is able to get Sister Jude deposed and committed. Mary Eunice takes over Briarcliff, with Dr. Arden's help. She nurses the weakened Monsignor Howard back to health and he tries to perform a failed exorcism on her. She sexually assaults him but later tires of all that is going on and Howard kills her by throwing her off the third floor balcony. Dr. Arden, after becoming loyal to Mary Eunice, cremates her while immolating himself. Lana Winters successfully captures a confession from Dr. Thredson, but decides to corner him in his house to say she has turned the tape over to the police. He states, because he is insane, no jury will convict him and that she will be his last victim, grasping for a gun in a drawer. She shoots him in the head, stating "Prison is too good for you". In the present, she has become a famous television investigative reporter and gets Briarcliff closed down for its inhumane treatments. Winters reveals that Monsignor Howard committed suicide after she threatened to expose his neglect of the patients in Briarcliff. She also reports that Kit Walker took in Sister Jude, after Alma was committed to Briarcliff for killing Grace Bertrand for talking about the possibility of the aliens coming back. Alma later dies in Briarcliff. Jude's dementia worsens and she is taken into the woods by the children, where it is assumed they help her mental state. Her mind gets healed for a while but she later grows frail and dies. Kit Walker is later abducted after he contracts pancreatic cancer. Winters' grown son Johnny (Dylan McDermott) has vowed vengeance against her, the mother who never loved him, especially when she claims he had died at birth. He shows up at her home and threatens to kill her, finishing his father's work and making him proud. She ultimately convinces him that he is not like his murderous father, and in this moment of his near-regret, she is able to take the gun from him and shoot him in the head. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「American Horror Story: Asylum」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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