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| episode = 1
  
| episode = 1
 
| image = [[File:201 Briarcliff.jpg|250px]]
  
| image = [[File:201 Briarcliff.jpg|250px]]
−
| caption =
+
| caption ="All monsters are human."
 
| premiere = 2012-10-17
  
| premiere = 2012-10-17
 
| writer = [[imdb:nm0591101|Tim Minear]]
  
| writer = [[imdb:nm0591101|Tim Minear]]
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| next = "[[Tricks and Treats]]"
  
| next = "[[Tricks and Treats]]"
 
}}
  
}}
  +
{{Episode/Guests
−  
  ⚫
| special = [[Chloë Sevigny]] as [[Shelley]]
−  
  +
| supporting = [[Adam Levine]] as [[Leo Morrison]]; [[Jenna Dewan Tatum]] as [[Teresa Morrison|Teresa]]; [[Clea DuVall]] as [[Wendy Peyser]];[[Mark Consuelos]] as [[Spivey]]; [[Britne Oldford]] as [[Alma Walker]]; [[Naomi Grossman]] as [[Pepper]]
  ⚫
|[[imdb:nm1113895|Joe Egender]] as [[Billy]]; [[imdb:nm1042751|Mark Englehardt]] as [[Carl]];[[imdb:nm0336802|Marc Aden Gray]] as Dad<ref>credited as, but referred to as Jack</ref>;
  ⚫
[[imdb:nm1157315|Gloria Laino]] as [[The Mexican]]<ref>credited as, the patient dancing in Rec Room</ref>; [[imdb:nm0761572|Henry G. Sanders]] as Willie; [[imdb:nm5329907|Casey Wyman]] as [[Daniel]]
  ⚫
}}
 
{{Episode/Music
  
{{Episode/Music
 
| 1:song = [[wikipedia:There Goes My Baby (The Drifters song)|There Goes My Baby]] | 1:performer = [[wikipedia:The Drifters|The Drifters]] | 1:youtube = ehFWRG5gHyI| 1:spotify = 3cfN34fxSbtaJ5HmSDrdAX
  
| 1:song = [[wikipedia:There Goes My Baby (The Drifters song)|There Goes My Baby]] | 1:performer = [[wikipedia:The Drifters|The Drifters]] | 1:youtube = ehFWRG5gHyI| 1:spotify = 3cfN34fxSbtaJ5HmSDrdAX
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== Synopsis ==
  
== Synopsis ==
−
In present day, a newlywed couple, [[Teresa]] and [[Leo]], explore the now-abandoned [[Briarcliff Manor|Briarcliff Manor,]] a former insane asylum in rural Massachusetts. Flashback to 1964 shows [[Kit Walker]] being committed there, accused of being infamous serial killer "[[Bloody Face]]". Kit protests his innocence and flashes of his scattered memory suggest something far more sinister responsible. At Briarcliff, Kit befriends [[Grace Bertrand|Grace]], a fellow inmate believed to have murdered her family. Journalist [[Lana Winters]] trespasses onto Briarcliff, intent on exposing its mistreatment of inmates, so she can gain a better career for her and for her lover [[Wendy Peyser]], a teacher. She is confronted by the tyrannical [[Sister Jude]], who has her committed to the asylum because of her homosexuality. A bitter rivalry is ignited between Sister Jude and [[Dr. Arthur Arden]] , who uses torturous experimentation and murder in his quest to discover an ultimate immunity in the human body, so he can let humans survive even through a nuclear warfare. In present day, Teresa and Leo are attacked and pursued through Briarcliff by Bloody Face.
 +
In 2012, a newlywed couple, [[Teresa]] and [[Leo]], explore the now-abandoned [[Briarcliff Manor|Briarcliff Manor,]] a former insane asylum in rural Massachusetts. A flashback to 1964 shows [[Kit Walker]] being committed there, accused of being the infamous serial killer "[[Bloody Face]]". Kit protests his innocence and flashes of his scattered memory suggest [[:Category:Extraterrestrials|something far more sinister]] responsible. At Briarcliff, Kit befriends [[Grace Bertrand|Grace]], a fellow inmate believed to have murdered her family. Journalist [[Lana Winters]] trespasses onto Briarcliff, intent on exposing its mistreatment of inmates, so she can gain a better career for her and for her lover [[Wendy Peyser]], a teacher. She is confronted by the tyrannical [[Sister Jude]], who has her committed to the asylum because of her homosexuality. A bitter rivalry is ignited between Sister Jude and [[Dr. Arthur Arden]], who uses [[Raspers|torturous experimentation]] and murder in his quest to discover an ultimate immunity in the human body, so he can let humans survive even through a nuclear warfare. In present day, Teresa and Leo are attacked and pursued through Briarcliff by Bloody Face.
   
 
== Plot ==
  
== Plot ==
   
 
=== '''2012''' ===
  
=== '''2012''' ===
−
Leo and Teresa are two horror junkies visiting reputedly haunted sites on their honeymoon. They explore the Briarcliff Manor Sanitarium, an abandoned mental institution and once a tuberculosis hospital where many thousands died. Teresa having afetish for the haunted, the couple begins having intercourse inside of the building. Teresa interrupts the session after hearing something move inside of the asylum, promising to make it up to Leo if they go investigate. They track down the sound to a locked door with a food hatch, through which Leo sticks his arm where it is severed by an undetermined cause.
 +
Leo and Teresa are two horror junkies visiting reputedly haunted sites on their honeymoon. They explore the Briarcliff Manor Sanitarium, an abandoned mental institution and once a tuberculosis hospital where many thousands died. Teresa having a fetish for the haunted, the couple begins having intercourse inside of the building. Teresa interrupts the session after hearing something move inside of the asylum, promising to make it up to Leo if they go investigate. They track down the sound to a locked door with a food hatch, through which Leo sticks his arm where it is severed by an undetermined cause.
   
−
With Leo in shock and bleeding, Teresa promises to go find help. She runs to the main door only to find it chained and padlocked from the inside. She discovers a hidden tunnel and while running through she encounters Bloody Face, wearing a mask of human skin.
 +
With Leo in shock and bleeding, Teresa promises to go find help. She runs to the main door only to find it chained and padlocked from the inside. She discovers a hidden tunnel and, while running through, she encounters Bloody Face wearing a mask of human skin.
   
 
=== '''1964''' ===
  
=== '''1964''' ===
−
Kit Walker is a gas station worker making a lean living with his wife, Alma. Unfortunately, fear of social ostracism has forced them to keep their marriage a secret, as Kit is white and Alma is black. A series of unexplained explosions, extremely bright light, loud noises and apparent anti-gravity occur during which Alma disappears and Kit is knocked out.
 +
Kit Walker is a gas station worker making a lean living with his wife, Alma. Unfortunately, fear of social ostracism has forced them to keep their marriage a secret, as Kit is white and Alma is black. A series of unexplained explosions, extremely bright light, loud noises and apparent anti-gravity occur during which Alma disappears and Kit is knocked out.
   
−
Lana Winters is an ambitious journalist sent by her paper to report on the commitment of the famed serial killer "Bloody Face" to the sanitarium. Sister Jude, the asylum's authoritarian and sadistic administrator, does not take a liking to Lana or her persistent questioning. Unknown to anyone, Sister Jude harbors sexual feelings for the sanitarium's founder, Monsignor Timothy Howard, an ambitious priest aiming to become Pope. When the alleged murderer steps out of the police car, it's revealed that Kit is the so-called perpetrator, accused of skinning three women – including Alma – alive and he is being held pending determination if he is sane to stand trial. He denies ever killing anyone, blaming Alma's disappearance instead on extra-terrestrials, which Sister Jude does not believe.
 +
Lana Winters is an ambitious journalist sent by her paper to report on the commitment of the famed serial killer "Bloody Face" to the sanitarium. Sister Jude, the asylum's authoritarian and sadistic administrator, does not take a liking to Lana or her persistent questioning. Unknown to anyone, Sister Jude harbors sexual feelings for the sanitarium's founder, Monsignor Timothy Howard, an ambitious priest aiming to become Pope. When the alleged murderer steps out of the police car, it's revealed that Kit is the so-called perpetrator, accused of skinning three women alive – including Alma – and he is being held there pending determination if he is sane to stand trial. He denies ever killing anyone, blaming Alma's disappearance instead on extra-terrestrials, which Sister Jude does not believe.
   
−
Kit later encounters the inmates of the institution in the common area, including a nymphomaniac named Shelley who has sex with the orderlies at night. Grace, a seemingly sane patient, warns Kit not to turn off a loud French recording of "Dominique", as the orderlies require it be played. Spivey, a bully in the asylum, picks a fight with Kit by spouting off racist remarks about Alma. The two begin to fight and are broken up by Sister Jude blaring a screeching whistle. The guards drag Kit to solitary confinement.
 +
Kit later encounters the inmates of the institution in the common area, including a nymphomaniac named Shelley who has sex with the orderlies at night. Grace, a seemingly sane patient, warns Kit not to turn off a loud French recording of "Dominique", as the orderlies require it to be played. Spivey, a bully in the asylum, picks a fight with Kit by spouting off racist remarks about Alma. The two begin to fight and are broken up by Sister Jude blaring a screeching whistle. The guards drag Kit to solitary confinement.
   
−
Sister Jude has a conversation with Dr. Arden, the physician of the institution's medical unit. She has a strong distrust of him, mainly due to their differing ideologies based on religion and science, respectively. She wonders why all of the patients who recently disappeared had no family or friends, to which Arden contends that they all died and were cremated. Later, Dr. Arden secretly sedates Kit and vivisects him, extracting a metallic object from his neck that grows legs and flees while Kit has apparent flashbacks to alien abduction. Grace visits Kit in his cell. They get to know each other a little bit more and talk about their alleged crimes, to which they both claim innocence. Grace allegedly killed her entire family.
 +
Sister Jude has a conversation with Dr. Arden, the physician of the institution's medical unit. She has a strong distrust of him, mainly due to their differing ideologies based on religion and science, respectively. She wonders why all of the patients who recently disappeared had no family or friends, to which Arden contends said patients were the dregs of society, thus they had no one who cared for them, and that they all died and were cremated. Later, Dr. Arden secretly sedates Kit and vivisects him, extracting a metallic object from his neck that grows legs and flees while Kit has apparent flashbacks to alien abduction. Grace visits Kit in his cell. They get to know each other a little bit more and talk about their alleged crimes, to which they both claim innocence. Grace allegedly killed her entire family with an axe.
   
−
Sister Mary Eunice is sent by Dr. Arden with a bucket of offal to feed something in the woods. Lana encounters her there and joins her as she flees back through the secret tunnel. While sneaking around the asylum Lana is attacked by something in one of the isolation rooms, when she sticks her arm in through a feeding door as does Leo in 2012, and is knocked out. Upon waking, she is locked in a sanitarium room as its newest patient. She learns from Sister Jude that she visited Lana's partner, Wendy, and blackmailed her. Threatening to out both Wendy and Lana, thereby ruining Wendy's teaching career and having Lana committed for her homosexuality anyway, Sister Jude has Wendy sign papers committing Lana to the asylum.
 +
Sister Mary Eunice is sent by Dr. Arden with a bucket of offal to feed something in the woods. Lana encounters her there and joins her as she flees back through the secret tunnel. While sneaking around the asylum, Lana is attacked by something in one of the isolation rooms when she sticks her arm in through a feeding door and is knocked out. Upon waking, she is locked in a sanitarium room as its newest patient. She learns from Sister Jude that she visited Lana's partner, Wendy, and blackmailed her. Threatening to out both Wendy and Lana, thereby ruining Wendy's teaching career and having Lana committed for her homosexuality anyway. Sister Jude has Wendy sign papers committing Lana to the asylum.
   
 
== Featured Characters ==
  
== Featured Characters ==
 
=== Billy ===
  
=== Billy ===
 
{{Infobox/Character/mini
  
{{Infobox/Character/mini
  ⚫
|appearances = [[Welcome to Briarcliff]] ; [[I Am Anne Frank: Part 1]]
−
| name = Billy
  
−
| image = [[File:Billy.jpg|155px]]
 +
|name = Billy
  +
|story = Asylum
⚫
| relationships = [[Kit Walker]] ("friend")
  
  +
|image = [[File:Billy.jpg|155px]]
−
| portrayer = [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1113895/?ref_=nv_sr_1 Joe Egender]
 +
|portrayer = [[imdb:nm1113895|Joe Egender]]
−
| species = Human
 +
|species = Human
⚫
| appearances = [[Welcome to Briarcliff]] ; [[I Am Anne Frank: Part 1]]
  
  ⚫
|relationships = [[Kit Walker]] ("friend")
⚫
}}
  
−
'''Billy''' is a recurring guest character in [[Asylum (story)|Asylum]]. He has a perhaps tenuous friendship with [[Kit Walker]].
 +
|type = Human|cause_of_death = Presumably killed by the bomb from the nuclear holocaust in April 2020 (Reversed by [[Mallory]] using [[Tempus Infinituum]])|caption = "We're just gonna scare him, come with us."}}'''Billy''' is a recurring guest character in [[Asylum (story)|Asylum]]. He has a perhaps tenuous friendship with [[Kit Walker]].
   
−
With a small crew in tow, Billy visits Kit Walker at his job to enlist his aid, and his boss' gun, to terrorize a black man that purportedly propositioned a friend's sister. Later, although Billy isn't shown, Kit believes that the group of men who try to set fire to his house are Billy and his friends since it was Billy's truck and he is heard laughing. The police however are skeptical about this.
 +
With a small crew in tow, Billy visits Kit Walker at his job to enlist his aid, and his boss's gun, to terrorize a black man that purportedly propositioned a friend's sister. Later, although Billy isn't shown, Kit believes that the group of men who try to set fire to his house are Billy and his friends since it was Billy's truck and he is heard laughing. The police, however, are skeptical about this.
   
−
In an alternate alien-free accounting of events by [[Dr. Thredson]], Billy and friends follow Kit home after their visit to the garage and harass him to the point of homicidal rage.
 +
In an alternate alien-free accounting of events by [[Dr. Thredson]], Billy and friends follow Kit home after their visit to the garage and harass him to the point of homicidal rage. {{-}}
−
{{-}}
  
−  
−
== Guest Stars ==
  
⚫
* [[Chloë Sevigny]] as [[Shelley]]
  
−
* [[imdb:nm1747013|Adam Levine]] as [[Leo Morrison|Leo]]
  
−
* [[imdb:nm1564087|Jenna Dewan Tatum]] as [[Teresa Morrison|Teresa]]
  
−
* [[imdb:nm0245112|Clea DuVall]] as [[Wendy Paisa]]
  
−
* [[imdb:nm0176175|Mark Consuelos]] as [[Spivey]]
  
−
* [[imdb:nm4162863|Britne Oldford]] as [[Alma Walker]]
  
−
* [[imdb:nm1113895|Joe Egender]] as [[Billy]]
  
−
* [[imdb:nm1042751|Mark Englehardt]] as [[Carl]]
  
⚫
* [[imdb:nm0336802|Marc Aden Gray]] as Dad<ref>credited as, but referred to as Jack</ref>
  
−
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1303594/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t15 Naomi Grossman] as [[Pepper]]
  
⚫
* [[imdb:nm1157315|Gloria Laino]] as [[The Mexican]]<ref>credited as, the patient dancing in Rec Room</ref>
  
−
* [[imdb:nm0761572|Henry G. Sanders]] as Willie
  
−
* [[imdb:nm5329907|Casey Wyman]] as [[Daniel]]
  
   
 
== Quotes ==
  
== Quotes ==
 
* {{Line|[[Teresa Morrison|Teresa]]|Legend has it that once you were committed at Briarcliff, you never got out.}}
  
* {{Line|[[Teresa Morrison|Teresa]]|Legend has it that once you were committed at Briarcliff, you never got out.}}
  +
 
* {{Line|[[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'd still be the hottest tamale in this joint!}}
  
* {{Line|[[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'd still be the hottest tamale in this joint!}}
  +
 
* {{Line|[[Timothy Howard|Monsignor Timothy]]|The tonic for a diseased mind lies in the 3 P's: productivity, prayer, and purification.}}
  
* {{Line|[[Timothy Howard|Monsignor Timothy]]|The tonic for a diseased mind lies in the 3 P's: productivity, prayer, and purification.}}
  +
⚫
* {{Line|[[Sister Jude|Sister Jude]]|You're out of your depth, Miss Lana Banana.}}
  
−
* {{Line|[[Sister Jude|Sister Jude]]|I wonder: did her dark meat slide off the bone any easier than your other victims?}}
 +
* {{Line|[[Sister Jude|Sister Jude]] ''(to [[Lana Winters]])''|You're out of your depth, Miss Lana Banana.}}
  +
  +
* {{Line|[[Sister Jude|Sister Jude]] ''(to [[Kit]] regarding [[Alma]])''|I wonder: did her dark meat slide off the bone any easier than your other victims?}}
  +
 
* {{Line|[[Grace Bertrand|Grace]]|What you put out into the world comes back to you.}}
  
* {{Line|[[Grace Bertrand|Grace]]|What you put out into the world comes back to you.}}
  +
−
* {{Line|[[Sister Jude|Sister Jude]]|Mental illness is just a fashionable name for sin.}}
  
  ⚫
* {{Line|[[Sister Jude|Sister Jude]]|Mental illness is the fashionable word for sin.}}
  +
 
* {{Dialogue|[[Kit Walker|Kit]]|I'm not crazy|[[Grace Bertrand|Grace]]|Too bad for you.}}
  
* {{Dialogue|[[Kit Walker|Kit]]|I'm not crazy|[[Grace Bertrand|Grace]]|Too bad for you.}}
  +
−
* {{Line|[[Kit Walker|Kit]]|There is no God. Not one that would've created the things I saw.}}
  
  +
* {{Dialogue|[[Sister Jude]]|Here, you will repent for your crimes to the only judge that matters: the Almighty God.|[[Kit Walker|Kit]]|There is no God. Not one that would create the things I saw.|[[Sister Jude]]|Your story about [[:Category:Extraterrestrials|little green men]]? That won't do here.|[[Kit Walker]]|They weren't human, they were monsters.|[[Sister Jude]]|All monsters are human. You're a monster.}}
⚫
* {{Dialogue|[[Kit Walker|Kit]]|I thought [[Sister Jude|Sister Jude]] ran this place.| [[Arthur Arden|Arthur Arden]]|So did she.}}
  
  +
−
* {{Dialogue|[[Kit Walker|Kit]]|mood1=About the aliens|They weren't human, they were monsters|[[Sister Jude|Sister Jude]]|All monsters are human.}}
  
  ⚫
* {{Dialogue|[[Kit Walker|Kit]]|I thought [[Sister Jude|Sister Jude]] ran this place.|[[Arthur Arden|Arthur Arden]]|So did she.}}
⚫
* {{Line|[[Sister Mary Eunice|Sister Mary Eunice]]|mood1=regarding Sister Jude's whipping cane|It's not big enough, sister.}}
  
  +
  ⚫
* {{Line|[[Sister Mary Eunice|Sister Mary Eunice]] ''(about Sister Jude's whipping cane)''|It's not big enough, sister.}}
   
 
== Cultural References ==
  
== Cultural References ==
−
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedlam_(film) Bedlam] - Wendy mentions this film
 +
* [[wikipedia:Bedlam (film)|Bedlam]] - Wendy mentions this film.
−
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Jones Jennifer Jones] - Sister Jude claims this movie star is a ' true lady'
 +
* [[wikipedia:Jennifer Jones|Jennifer Jones]] - Sister Jude claims this movie star is a 'true lady'.
−
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy John F Kennedy] - Timothy mentions the deceased president
 +
* [[wikipedia:John F. Kennedy|John F Kennedy]] - Timothy mentions the deceased president.
−
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Abelard Peter Abelard] - Dr Arden mentions this french philisopher
+
* [[wikipedia:Peter Abelard|Peter Abelard]] - Dr. Arden mentions this French philosopher.
−
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lana_Turner Lana Turner] - Sister Jude claims Lana Winters is named after this movie star
 +
* [[wikipedia:Lana Turner|Lana Turner]] - Sister Jude claims Lana Winters is named after this movie star.
−
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_Bernadette_(film) The song of Bernadette] - Sister Jude mentions this film
 +
* [[wikipedia:The Song of Bernadette (film)|The song of Bernadette]] - Sister Jude mentions this film.
   
 
== Notes ==
  
== Notes ==
−
* [[Zachary Quinto]] ([[Oliver Thredson]]) is credited, but does not appear.
 +
* [[Zachary Quinto]] ([[Oliver Thredson]]) is credited but does not appear.
 
* From Teresa's iPhone: Briarcliff was built in 1908, the largest tuberculosis ward on the East Coast. 46,000 died there. The corpses were shuttled out through the "death chute". The Catholic Church purchased and converted it into a sanitarium in 1962.
  
* From Teresa's iPhone: Briarcliff was built in 1908, the largest tuberculosis ward on the East Coast. 46,000 died there. The corpses were shuttled out through the "death chute". The Catholic Church purchased and converted it into a sanitarium in 1962.
 
* Location hints: Lana's license plate is from Massachusetts. Her paper, "The Gazette" seems to have a local scope, as they are covering a story regarding a small bakery. She mentions Canada geese. Kit is delivered to Briarcliff by a vehicle bearing Massachusetts State Police license plates. Chicopee and Provincetown (towns in Massachusetts) are mentioned in the episode. We can probably assume Briarcliff is also in Massachusetts.
  
* Location hints: Lana's license plate is from Massachusetts. Her paper, "The Gazette" seems to have a local scope, as they are covering a story regarding a small bakery. She mentions Canada geese. Kit is delivered to Briarcliff by a vehicle bearing Massachusetts State Police license plates. Chicopee and Provincetown (towns in Massachusetts) are mentioned in the episode. We can probably assume Briarcliff is also in Massachusetts.
 
* This episode is a reverse of the series [[Pilot]] episode (the Pilot flashing back to a past event before showing the present, while this episode shows the present before flashing back to the main storyline of the second season).
  
* This episode is a reverse of the series [[Pilot]] episode (the Pilot flashing back to a past event before showing the present, while this episode shows the present before flashing back to the main storyline of the second season).
−
* Two music cues from Pino Donaggio's score for the 1976 film version of [[wikipedia:Carrie_(1976_film)|Carrie]] are used in this episode. ''Bucket Of Blood'' is used three times, as [[Lana Winters]] approaches the asylum; as Lana is watching [[Kit Walker]] being delivered to the asylum; and as [[Sister Mary Eunice]] appears to be feeding someone or something in the woods. ''For The Last Time We'll Pray'' is used as Lana makes her way inside the asylum.<ref><small>{{cite web|url=http://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/blog/index.blog?entry_id=1441584|title='CARRIE' CUES & ECHOES OF 'SISTERS'<br />AS 'AMERICAN HORROR STORY' BEGINS ITS SECOND SEASON|date=October 17, 2012|work=De Palma a la Mod}}</small></ref>
 +
* Two music cues from Pino Donaggio's score for the 1976 film version of [[wikipedia:Carrie_(1976_film)|Carrie]] are used in this episode. ''Bucket Of Blood'' is used three times, as [[Lana Winters]] approaches the asylum; as Lana is watching [[Kit Walker]] being delivered to the asylum; and as [[Sister Mary Eunice]] appears to be feeding someone or something in the woods. ''For The Last Time, We'll Pray'' is used as Lana makes her way inside the asylum.<ref><small>{{cite web|url=http://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/blog/index.blog?entry_id=1441584|title='CARRIE' CUES & ECHOES OF 'SISTERS'<br />AS 'AMERICAN HORROR STORY' BEGINS ITS SECOND SEASON|date=October 17, 2012|work=De Palma a la Mod}}</small></ref>
−
* According to producer [[imdb:nm0591101|Tim Minear]], the "true" story of interracial couple [[wikipedia:Betty and Barney Hill abduction|Barney and Betty Hill]] inspired the alien abduction subplot and the characters of Kit and Alma Walker.
 +
* According to producer [[imdb:nm0591101|Tim Minear]], the "true" story of the interracial couple [[wikipedia:Betty and Barney Hill abduction|Barney and Betty Hill]] inspired the alien abduction subplot and the characters of Kit and Alma Walker.
   
 
== Raised Questions ==
  
== Raised Questions ==
−
* {{answers|What really happened to Alma}}?
 +
* What [[:Category:Extraterrestrials|actually happened]] to [[Alma Walker|Alma]]?
−
* {{answers|What is the true identity of Bloody Face}}?
 +
* What is the [[Oliver Thredson|true identity]] of [[Bloody Face]]?
−
* {{answers|What severed Leo's arm}}?
 +
* [[Johnny Morgan|What]] severed [[Leo Morrison|Leo]]'s arm?
−
* {{answers|What has Arden created in the woods}}?
 +
* [[:Category:Raspers|What]] has [[Arthur Arden|Arden]] created in the [[Briarcliff Woods|woods]]?
−
* {{answers|Is Sister Eunice really stupid, or just pretending}}?
 +
* Is [[Sister Mary Eunice|Sister Eunice]] really stupid, or just pretending?
−
* {{answers|Is the chip in Kit's neck real or was it all just inside his head?}}
 +
* Is the [[Micro-Bot|chip]] in [[Kit Walker|Kit]]'s neck real or was it all just inside his head?
−  
   
 
== References ==
  
== References ==
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{{Navbox/Episode}}
  
{{Navbox/Episode}}
   
−
[[de:Willkommen in Briarcliff]]
 +
[[de:Willkommen in Briarcliff]]
−
[[es:Welcome to Briarcliff]]
 +
[[es:Welcome to Briarcliff]]
−
[[fr:Bienvenue à Briarcliff]]
 +
[[fr:Bienvenue à Briarcliff]]
 
[[pt-br:Welcome to Briarcliff]]
  
[[pt-br:Welcome to Briarcliff]]
  +
[[ru:Добро пожаловать в Брайрклифф]]

Revision as of 21:27, 8 November 2019

"Welcome to Briarcliff" is the first episode of Asylum. It premiered October 17, 2012.

BlueNoteEpisode Music
PerformerSongLinks
The DriftersThere Goes My BabySpotify logo vertical blackYouTubeLogo
Richard EinhornVoices of Light V: Pater NosterSpotify logo vertical blackYouTubeLogo
Sœur SourireDominiqueSpotify logo vertical blackYouTubeLogo
Frankie RoseMoon in My MindSpotify logo vertical blackYouTubeLogo
Frank Fafara Lovemaker, LovebreakerSpotify logo vertical blackYouTubeLogo

Synopsis

In 2012, a newlywed couple, Teresa and Leo, explore the now-abandoned Briarcliff Manor, a former insane asylum in rural Massachusetts. A flashback to 1964 shows Kit Walker being committed there, accused of being the infamous serial killer "Bloody Face". Kit protests his innocence and flashes of his scattered memory suggest something far more sinister responsible. At Briarcliff, Kit befriends Grace, a fellow inmate believed to have murdered her family. Journalist Lana Winters trespasses onto Briarcliff, intent on exposing its mistreatment of inmates, so she can gain a better career for her and for her lover Wendy Peyser, a teacher. She is confronted by the tyrannical Sister Jude, who has her committed to the asylum because of her homosexuality. A bitter rivalry is ignited between Sister Jude and Dr. Arthur Arden, who uses torturous experimentation and murder in his quest to discover an ultimate immunity in the human body, so he can let humans survive even through a nuclear warfare. In present day, Teresa and Leo are attacked and pursued through Briarcliff by Bloody Face.

Plot

2012

Leo and Teresa are two horror junkies visiting reputedly haunted sites on their honeymoon. They explore the Briarcliff Manor Sanitarium, an abandoned mental institution and once a tuberculosis hospital where many thousands died. Teresa having a fetish for the haunted, the couple begins having intercourse inside of the building. Teresa interrupts the session after hearing something move inside of the asylum, promising to make it up to Leo if they go investigate. They track down the sound to a locked door with a food hatch, through which Leo sticks his arm where it is severed by an undetermined cause.

With Leo in shock and bleeding, Teresa promises to go find help. She runs to the main door only to find it chained and padlocked from the inside. She discovers a hidden tunnel and, while running through, she encounters Bloody Face wearing a mask of human skin.

1964

Kit Walker is a gas station worker making a lean living with his wife, Alma. Unfortunately, fear of social ostracism has forced them to keep their marriage a secret, as Kit is white and Alma is black. A series of unexplained explosions, extremely bright light, loud noises and apparent anti-gravity occur during which Alma disappears and Kit is knocked out.

Lana Winters is an ambitious journalist sent by her paper to report on the commitment of the famed serial killer "Bloody Face" to the sanitarium. Sister Jude, the asylum's authoritarian and sadistic administrator, does not take a liking to Lana or her persistent questioning. Unknown to anyone, Sister Jude harbors sexual feelings for the sanitarium's founder, Monsignor Timothy Howard, an ambitious priest aiming to become Pope. When the alleged murderer steps out of the police car, it's revealed that Kit is the so-called perpetrator, accused of skinning three women alive – including Alma – and he is being held there pending determination if he is sane to stand trial. He denies ever killing anyone, blaming Alma's disappearance instead on extra-terrestrials, which Sister Jude does not believe.

Kit later encounters the inmates of the institution in the common area, including a nymphomaniac named Shelley who has sex with the orderlies at night. Grace, a seemingly sane patient, warns Kit not to turn off a loud French recording of "Dominique", as the orderlies require it to be played. Spivey, a bully in the asylum, picks a fight with Kit by spouting off racist remarks about Alma. The two begin to fight and are broken up by Sister Jude blaring a screeching whistle. The guards drag Kit to solitary confinement.

Sister Jude has a conversation with Dr. Arden, the physician of the institution's medical unit. She has a strong distrust of him, mainly due to their differing ideologies based on religion and science, respectively. She wonders why all of the patients who recently disappeared had no family or friends, to which Arden contends said patients were the dregs of society, thus they had no one who cared for them, and that they all died and were cremated. Later, Dr. Arden secretly sedates Kit and vivisects him, extracting a metallic object from his neck that grows legs and flees while Kit has apparent flashbacks to alien abduction. Grace visits Kit in his cell. They get to know each other a little bit more and talk about their alleged crimes, to which they both claim innocence. Grace allegedly killed her entire family with an axe.

Sister Mary Eunice is sent by Dr. Arden with a bucket of offal to feed something in the woods. Lana encounters her there and joins her as she flees back through the secret tunnel. While sneaking around the asylum, Lana is attacked by something in one of the isolation rooms when she sticks her arm in through a feeding door and is knocked out. Upon waking, she is locked in a sanitarium room as its newest patient. She learns from Sister Jude that she visited Lana's partner, Wendy, and blackmailed her. Threatening to out both Wendy and Lana, thereby ruining Wendy's teaching career and having Lana committed for her homosexuality anyway. Sister Jude has Wendy sign papers committing Lana to the asylum.

Featured Characters

Billy

Billy is a recurring guest character in Asylum. He has a perhaps tenuous friendship with Kit Walker.

With a small crew in tow, Billy visits Kit Walker at his job to enlist his aid, and his boss's gun, to terrorize a black man that purportedly propositioned a friend's sister. Later, although Billy isn't shown, Kit believes that the group of men who try to set fire to his house are Billy and his friends since it was Billy's truck and he is heard laughing. The police, however, are skeptical about this.

In an alternate alien-free accounting of events by Dr. Thredson, Billy and friends follow Kit home after their visit to the garage and harass him to the point of homicidal rage.

Quotes

  • Teresa: "Legend has it that once you were committed at Briarcliff, you never got out."
  • 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'd still be the hottest tamale in this joint!"
  • Monsignor Timothy: "The tonic for a diseased mind lies in the 3 P's: productivity, prayer, and purification."
  • Sister Jude (to Kit regarding Alma): "I wonder: did her dark meat slide off the bone any easier than your other victims?"
  • Grace: "What you put out into the world comes back to you."
  • Sister Jude: "Mental illness is the fashionable word for sin."


  • Sister Jude
    Here, you will repent for your crimes to the only judge that matters: the Almighty God.
    Kit
    There is no God. Not one that would create the things I saw.
    Sister Jude
    Your story about little green men? That won't do here.
    Kit Walker
    They weren't human, they were monsters.
    Sister Jude
    All monsters are human. You're a monster.



Cultural References

Notes

  • Zachary Quinto (Oliver Thredson) is credited but does not appear.
  • From Teresa's iPhone: Briarcliff was built in 1908, the largest tuberculosis ward on the East Coast. 46,000 died there. The corpses were shuttled out through the "death chute". The Catholic Church purchased and converted it into a sanitarium in 1962.
  • Location hints: Lana's license plate is from Massachusetts. Her paper, "The Gazette" seems to have a local scope, as they are covering a story regarding a small bakery. She mentions Canada geese. Kit is delivered to Briarcliff by a vehicle bearing Massachusetts State Police license plates. Chicopee and Provincetown (towns in Massachusetts) are mentioned in the episode. We can probably assume Briarcliff is also in Massachusetts.
  • This episode is a reverse of the series Pilot episode (the Pilot flashing back to a past event before showing the present, while this episode shows the present before flashing back to the main storyline of the second season).
  • Two music cues from Pino Donaggio's score for the 1976 film version of Carrie are used in this episode. Bucket Of Blood is used three times, as Lana Winters approaches the asylum; as Lana is watching Kit Walker being delivered to the asylum; and as Sister Mary Eunice appears to be feeding someone or something in the woods. For The Last Time, We'll Pray is used as Lana makes her way inside the asylum.[3]
  • According to producer Tim Minear, the "true" story of the interracial couple Barney and Betty Hill inspired the alien abduction subplot and the characters of Kit and Alma Walker.

Raised Questions

References

  1. ↑ credited as, but referred to as Jack
  2. ↑ credited as, the patient dancing in Rec Room
  3. ↑ 'CARRIE' CUES & ECHOES OF 'SISTERS'
    AS 'AMERICAN HORROR STORY' BEGINS ITS SECOND SEASON    . De Palma a la Mod (October 17, 2012).

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