The Story- In 2012, the imposter BloodyFace killers are brutally slaughtered by an unknown assailant. A mysterious man calls in to report the murders, while Teresa is nowhere to be found.
Back at Briarcliff, a distraught mother brings her daughter Jenny (Nikki Hahn) to Sister Jude. Jenny is accused of murdering her best friend Josie, but Jude has bigger problems to worry about. Dr. Arden is a shark that smells blood in the water, seeing a chance to finally get rid of his nemesis. Unbeknownst to Jude, Sister Mary Eunice has her backed into a corner, and Jude is about to lose Monsignor Howard as her only ally.
Meanwhile, Dr. Thredson explains his past to Lana.
My Thoughts- Getting an in depth look at Thredson’s dark past provides the creepy and unsettling moments in this episode. It’s not just his underground torture chamber, but the flashbacks showing what led him to become BloodyFace. We learn that Thredson was abandoned by his mother at an early age, and he’s been looking to fill that void for years. Thredson was transfixed with the corpse of a woman at med school, he had an unusual obsession with skin that played a part in making his mask, and Thredson believed Lana was “the one” he’s been looking for all these years.
Thredson, being a devious and cerebral villain, carefully and meticulously planned everything out. From stalking Lana before their encounter at Briarcliff, to tricking Kit into confessing to the murders, including Alma, to take the heat off him as Bloody Face. This is a sick and twisted individual, and Zachary Quinto does a great job of showing his dark side here. He’s cold, ruthless, and calculating. And you get to see just how distributed Thredson is, when he catches Lana secretly working on her escape by cutting her chains.
Paulson is phenomenal in this episode. Lana is still traumatized over Wendy’s death and learning about Thredson’s true identity. Paulson also did a great job of showing emotion and a soft side, when Lana is trying to pander to Thredson’s need for a mother figure, so he can hopefully lower his guard and trust her.
It looks like Sister Jude is just about done here. Arden has leverage over her after being shot by Anne Frank, and on top of that, Monsignor Howard is choosing to save his own butt. It’s weird. Seeing those flashbacks with Arden and Howard, when Arden was the director of the tuberculosis ward at Briarcliff. You got the sense Howard might’ve truly been a good man. But his unholy alliance with Dr. Arden came back to bite him.
Howard basically gave a deformed Shelley a mercy killing by strangling her with his rosary. But he really didn’t do it to put Shelley out of her misery. No, no real compassion was there when he murdered her. It was to help Arden get rid of his dirty laundry, and to protect himself from getting caught in the crossfire. It’s a sad ending to Shelley’s story. She could never catch a break, and you really have to wonder, if she would still be alive if she hadn’t run into Dr.Arden on the night of the storm.
With Arden threatening to take Monsignor Howard down with him, if he followed through with his plans to expose him, Howard decided to send Jude away to be the director of a home for wayward girls.
To make matters worse, Jude’s plan to get Arden’s fingerprints for Sam Goodman backfires, when Sister Mary Eunice double crosses her. Mary Eunice murders Goodman, Jude’s last ally, to protect Arden.
On one hand, I kind of wanted to feel bad for Jude in this episode. Not only did she put Monsignor Howard on the highest of pedestals, she genuinely loved and respected the man. He turned his back on her to protect himself and a sick freak like Dr. Arden. And she still doesn’t know about Mary Eunice plotting against her.
But can you really feel sympathy for Jude? She was always such a cruel and cold person, a dictator who took pride in showing no mercy. So maybe you start getting the feeling karma has finally come to collect after everything she’s done.
Lily Rabe continues to excel with her performances as the possessed Mary Eunice. Not only is Mary Eunice becoming more devious, but you can tell she’s settled into her new dark persona. Dancing to You Don’t Own Me, and celebrating in Jude’s lingerie really shows the old Mary Eunice is gone. She had no remorse whatsoever for what she did. She also made sure to keep some of the evidence proving Arden was a Nazi war criminal, just incase Arden had second thoughts about trusting her.
You also get to see a glimpse of what led to her bitterness about trying to fit in and being a good person. The robe prank from college, where Mary Eunice was the only in the nude after everyone else was supposed to be naked was truly cruel.
Jenny’s story seemingly concludes with her killing her family with scissors. The same story about blaming it on a man with a beard and a coat. Makes you wonder if it’s a demon and if that’s Mary Eunice had such a close connection with her?
The mystery of the modern day Bloody Face continues, as Leo is dead and Teresa is held captive by Bloody Face. The voice on the mysterious phone call to the police is clearly not Thredson’s voice, so there’s another mystery for who’s behind the mask.
The tide strongly turns in favor of the bad guys in this episode, and that includes Monsignor Howard. Spivey was Arden’s latest victim for his experiments, so you have to believe he’s done for.
Grace is completely broken after the procedure and she has her first encounter with aliens. Lana’s life could end at any moment as Thredson’s prisoner, and Kit is stuck in a hopeless predicament in prison after Thredson’s betrayal. The only small sign of hope is Alma might be alive. Grace was able to see her with her own eyes, so Kit still has a reason to fight. A lot of intriguing cliffhangers to think about, and the acting from everyone was superb in this episode.
Rating- 8/10
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