Three episodes into the latest season of this fantastic horror story, and we are really getting into the nitty gritty of things.
With a storm looming down on the asylum, which is not just a metaphor for the coming escalation of drama but a great catalyst for the progression of many our characters stories, the inmates are treated to an airing of The Sign of the Cross in an attempt to subdue them throughout the ordeal.
Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) is meanwhile haunted by the little girl she killed, or possibly only injured, in 1949 after driving home drunk.
This culminates in her getting very drunk on the communion win and having a rather public breakdown in front of the entire asylum.
The sequence is fantastically acted, as usual, by Jessica Lange, and again brings up the question of who is actually mentally ill?
The storm and the film also give a good catalyst for another of the main story-arcs this episode, the attempted escape of Lena (Sarah Paulson), Grace (Lizzie Brochere), Kit (Evan Peters) and Shelley (Chloe Sevigny).
Lena is convinced of Kit’s innocence after Dr Thredson (Zachary Quinto) tells her that Wendy (Clea Duvall) is missing and there are signs that she has been killed by the woman killer, but the police do not want to investigate because they are sure that they have the right man in Kit.
Shelly is separated from the others after she has to make a diversion for them, a fatal mistake.
She is taken by Dr Arden (James Cromwell, who is quickly becoming the most sinister character in this years line up, and we again get an impression of just how twisted he is, leading to easily the most gruesome final scene of the season.
The others actually make it out of the asylum and we finally get a good look at what is in the woods, and wow is it twisted: cannibalistic deformed monsters, who are chewing on the remains of the Mexican who was killed by possessed Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe).
This leads to a terrifying chase scene which could have verged on the comical but managed to stay on the horrifying side of that cliché.
After three episodes, I think now is the time to share a few of my theories about show.
At the moment, and working just with the information from the last three episodes, I think that the whole season could be a homage to the 1960 French film, Eyes Without a Face (Les Yeux sans Visage) by Georges Franju.
There are a few very similar threads to the film which is based around a mad-scientist who kills women in an attempt to transplant their faces onto that of his horribly disfigured daughter, who was badly injured in a car accident.
Already you can see two or three very obvious similarities. The mad-scientist could easily be Doctor Arden, who undoubtedly has experimented on patients in the past.
The car accident in which a little girl is badly hurt is also referenced in AHS: Asylum and is the catalyst for Sister Jude’s life as a nun.
There is a woman-killer on the lose, who skins them and removes their heads, this is by no means a huge leap away from the modus operandi of Dr Genessier in Eyes Without a Face.
Aside from this there are also the creatures in the woods, undoubtedly some of Dr Arden’s creations, a reference to the deformed daughter?
A more cryptic clue could be the endlessly playing French song, Dominique by the Singing Nuns, in the common room.
I may be adding two plus two and making 25 here but so far it’s as good a theory as any, and may give us some answers about who Leatherface is and why Dr Arden is experimenting on the patients.
Could Letherface be another of his creations? One that he is desperately looking to somehow “improve”? Or is he just a twisted psychotic madman with a grudge against women?
Let me know if you have any theories of your own and what you think of mine.
Owen Jack Williams 