Clues (videos)

Clues are short promotional videos (some of them distinct from the ones on the two promotional webpages) that FX produced to promote the series and give clues as to the story line.

Murder House Clues[]

Discussion[]

• Cello: Rubber Man is sitting behind a woman (only her belly is visible). He is playing her pregnant belly with a bow as if it were a Cello.
• Baby: A dead baby with blue lips in a baptism gown.
• Couples: A couple, likely referencing Violet and Tate, make out on a table that could be in a morgue. She is wearing White underwear, he is wearing Black underwear. He is on top. The song line "Don't touch me please, I cannot stand the way you tease" from the song "Tainted Love" is playing in the version by Hannah Peel.
• Coffin
• Lying Down : Rubber Man melts through the ceiling, over a young pregnant woman in lingerie (as seen in the promotional poster); he stands looking over her.
• Fire
• Stairs
• Melt: This is the same as the "Family Portrait" video, but with music and without blood. Tate is lying on the beach in a swim trunk with closed eyes. His arms are either amputated or under his body in a very twisted way. While in the "Family Portrait" song, he convulses and becomes more and more bloody, he here remains almost still. The song line playing over the video in this version is "Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me, Till I come marching home" from the WWII Song by the Andrews Sisters.
• Red Cello
• Rubber Bump
• Another promo video entitled "Belly" (but not called "clue"): A baby in a belly seems to try to claw its way out of the belly.

Asylum Clues[]

Discussion[]

The analyzes of these teasers are interpretations and assumptions made by editors. Where a connection is confirmed, it will be noted in the linked page. Featured prominently are a nun in white garb (referred to as the White Nun, assumed to represent the "innocent" Sister Eunice) and a nun in dark garb (referred to as the Black Nun, assumed to represent the "corrupt" Sister Jude).

• Special Delivery: This teaser symbolizes the White Nun feeding the Raspers, but other details can represent something else. When lowering, she leaves her hips tilted in a not very Catholic position, and the sound of bells ringing is heard, indicating that it is not so far from the Asylum.
• Blue Coat: This teaser shows the Black Nun praying through out the scene, and the White Nun carrying a blue coat, hanging it on the wall and then sitting, looking at all sides as if she were being watched. This represents Mary Eunice working behind Jude's back and planting evidence to remind her of her guilt through later episodes in the show.The blue coat resembles that of Missy, the girl Sister Jude killed in a hit-and-run-accident. It is noticed that the white nun wears black leather boots, again not very Catholic, and does not use a lanyard with the Christ's cross. When the White Nun leaves the coat its arms are stretched like a cross, symbolising how the hit-and-run accident led to Judy Martin taking up the Catholic faith and becoming Sister Jude.
• Hydrobath: This teaser shows a tub containing a white cloudy liquid in which body parts surface. The open covering of the tub closes itself, zipping like a body-bag. The Hydrotherapy room was where Lana and Grace first began to discuss the possibility of escaping Briarcliff; later, it was where Kit hid the tape incriminating Dr. Thredson as Bloody Face. It was also referenced several times in episodes in order to threaten patients, and Shelly favoured it as a place to have sexual encounters.
  • In the poster, the Hydrobath is open, and the White Nun floats in the white liquid, seeming to melt into it, hands clasped in prayer. As the Hydrobath is shown vertically rather than horizontally in this image, the open covering also seems to recall the shape of an open vagina.
• White Rose: This teaser shows a white rose, which opens showing a woman screaming in demonic form. The flower can represent the untouched woman's hymen, who upon "opening" like the flower (or being brutally raped) makes her scream in demonic form. The angelic music might also symbolise the theme of hidden darkness within seeming innocence throughout the show - e.g., the Demon inside Sister Mary Eunice, or Grace's axe-murdering past.
• Ascend: The White Nun ascends the staircase, pausing to look around her as she did in "Blue Coat", then continues up; below her, a possessed woman descends the stairs on the other side. The possessed woman's position - walking on all fours, upside-down, with her head hanging downwards - references Regan in The Exorcist, and echoes similar shots of a possessed girl ascending stairs in the opening credits of Asylum. Possibly this might represent Sister Mary Eunice's true self rising to heaven while the Demon descends further into hell. It may also represent Mary Eunice's slow rise to power moving in synchrony with her growing inner corruption.
  • Notably, in a promotional poster, the Black Nun (representing Sister Jude) is ascending, while the woman descending is crawling on her belly rather than on her back. This may represent Sister Jude attempting to help Msgr. Howard ascend in the Catholic Church through their work at Briarcliff, even as the Asylum grows more corrupt inside. Alternately, it might represent how Jude's attempts at becoming a more virtuous person at the beginning of Asylum are thwarted as she gives way to mental unrest and ends up as a damaged patient by the end. 
• Glass Prison: A figure is seen from behind a blurry glass wall, trying to force their way through a letterbox opening. This could either signify the struggle of numerous characters to leave the Asylum, or the fate of Leo, whose arm was ripped off when he shoved it into a similar letterbox opening.

• Red Rave: The video at first seems to be showing a modern-day rave party, but the partygoers are deranged Asylum patients. While dancing, they pass a bucket filled with human remains amongst them - symbolising the "Raspers" living on a diet of human organs set by Dr. Arden.

• White Rave: As with "Red Rave", patients dance in a crowd. As they writhe, the White Nun appears, borne over them. As her arms are outstretched and her expression peaceful, this may represent Sister Mary Eunice's death in The Name Game at the hands of Msgr. Howard. Additionally, the modern music may also represent Mary Eunice's interest in music while under the Demon's control.

• Taste: A close-up of a tense patient's face is accompanied by calm music until she opens her mouth, whereupon the music becomes harsh and angry. A red pill is laid across her tongue, and her mouth closes, and the music becomes calmer. Pulling back, we are shown that the pill was administered by the aging hand of the  Black Nun. The patient lowers their head submissively. This possibly signifies the numerous medications (such as horse tranquiliser) that Sister Jude used to keep the patients at Briarcliff docile and unresponsive, as referenced in Spilt Milk.

• Bandages: A pale girl in a red dress wearing bandages on her wrists takes her hands from her face, looking upwards. Pulling back, we see she is standing in the forest surrounding Briarcliff, the bandages unravelling in the wind. Suddenly, the bandages tense, pulling her back towards Briarcliff like a doll. As Sister Jude is shown wearing red lingerie under her habit and contemplates cutting her wrists in Dark Cousin, this could represent her original self before she joined the church, Judy Marten. However, it may more generally represent the numerous attempts to escape Briarcliff over the show - and the tendency of patients such as Lana or Kit to be drawn back to the Asylum after they have left. 

• Fork: A small dinner fork prods at human flesh, nearly piercing it. This possibily signifies the probing done by the Extraterrestrials.

• Stitches: An old-fashioned sewing machine is shown at work, with no-one using it, in broad daylight. Close-ups show us that no material is being stitched. 

• Save Us: The White Nun, carrying a bucket, sits down in a chapel; the Black Nun does the same. The camera cuts to a frightened woman, in a straightjacket and secured by taut bandages leading off-camera. Along with the title, this may imply the restraint and maltreatment patients suffer at the hands of Sister Jude and, later, Sister Mary Eynice.

• Hellevator: A young woman is shown chained by her hands and feet to a white bed in a white room; as the camera moves away, she shakes and writhes, and sounds effects are used to suggest descent in an elevator. This may represent the gradual descent into madness undergone by many characters in the show. Additionally, the camera angle resembles that used for Grace's breakdown in I Am Anne Frank: Part 2 .

• Slipping: The Black Nun approaches a bed as the opening lyrics of "Que Sera, Sera" play. As she slips off her black robe, a red one is revealed beneath. In Welcome to Briarcliff , and episodes following, Sister Jude's red lingerie was taken as a symbol of her inner lust for the Monsignor and her very un-Catholic past. Additionally, the song recalls Jude's childhood troubles with her mother, as mentioned in I Am Anne Frank: Part 2.

• Veiled: A long veil is panned over from left to right by the camera, eventually revealing a woman beneath it; the sound effects seem to imply cracking ice, crumbling stone or a neck breaking. Given the resemblance to the Virgin Mary, this may foreshadow Dr. Arden smashing the statue of Mary in Nor'easter, or the continued pressure placed on Sister Jude and Sister Mary Eunice as Catholic nuns to be humble, chaste and obedient.

• Spinning: As more lyrics from "Que Sera, Sera" play, a patient spins merrily around in the woods, while another older patient holds a daisy morosely. This may imply the numerous occurences over the show in which a character enters an elaborate fantasy world in order to cope with their tragic situation.

• Exam: A woman's frightened face is seen screaming under bright white lights and buzzing electric noise. This could represent the electroshock therapy administered to Lana and later, Sister Jude, or the exams undergone by Alma and Grace under the gaze of the Extraterrestrials.

• The Woods: White mist enevelopes the forest surrounding Briarcliff. Suddenly, creatures begin to run from behind each tree, but merely hide behind the next tree after a few seconds. This represents Dr. Arden's creatures hiding secretively in the woods. 

• Spiral: The camera descends down a spiral staircase not unlike Sister Jude's "Stairway to Heaven"; patients lie or crouch across it. The Black Nun begins to ascend the staircase, encountering a patient, who looks up guiltily. This probably represents the stern punishments meted out by Sister Jude towards patients, especially after ascending the "Stairway" to her office.

• Awakening: As with the "White Rave" video, the White Nun is surrounded by hands and arms grasping at her. She ascends through them, smiling, but is then drawn back down into their midst. This may represent the few moments in which Sister Mary Eunice breaks through into her true virtuous self, in Dark Cousin and The Name Game.

• Door: A figure that at first seems to be the whiteNun walks down a long hallway towards a door. However, upon stepping into the light we see it is the black Nun. She turns, picking up a white bowl from a table placed near the door and leaving with it, as a single hand presses violently against the small window of the door. A clock ticks in the background. This may represent the way that Sister Mary Eunice treted Sister Jude after she locked her in the asylium.

• Face: A silhouette with long, straggly hair leans forward, breathing loudly over the faint noise of a news broadcast. In the background can be seen hanging a leathery sheet. As the figure leans in closer, we see a toothy grimace. This figure is undoubtedly Bloody Face, though it is unclear whether it is Dr. Thredson or Johnny Morgan.