TV Review: AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM – Season 2 – “I Am Anne Frank

By SEAN ELLIOTT / Contributing Writer

Posted: November 28th, 2012 / 12:13 AM

James Cromwell and David Chisum in AMERICAN HORROR STORY - Season 2 -"I Am Anne Frank Pt. 2" | ©2012 FX/Byron Cohen

Stars: Zachary Quinto, Joseph Fiennes, Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe, Evan Peters, Lizzie Brochere, James Cromwell, Jessica Lange, Chloe Sevigny, Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Clea DuVall
Writer: Brad Falchuk, series created by Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk
Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Network: FX, Wednesdays @ 10 PM
Original Airdate: November 14, 2012

With “I Am Anne Frank: Part 2” some new layers are introduced to AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM and some things that I debated about in my last review have come to be truth.

Last episode ended with Anne Frank (Franka Potente) training a gun on Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) and getting ready to pull the trigger so he pays the price for his Nazi war criminal days. Of course, she didn’t pull the trigger and this episode starts with her dragging him into Sister Jude’s (Jessica Lange) office to present the doctor to her. This gets Anne caught by the guards, and then her story really heads south. We find out she isn’t Anne Frank (boo) and that she’s actually a mentally unwell recent new mother. Her husband wants her home with him and the baby, and “Anne’s” story comes to a tragic end at the hands of Dr. Arden with a lobotomy needle. Now, my question is, do people who had a lobotomy in those days really return to life so real and normal? She seemed very normal, docile, and content at home at the end, and I find it really had to believe that would be the case.

Of course, there was the lingering shot on the Nazi picture with a young Dr. Arden clearly visible, so maybe the Nazi hunter Sister Jude hires in this episode will stay on the trail and get the evil doctor in the end.

Remember last time I made the deduction that Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto) is really Bloody Face? Yup. I was right. The good doctor secrets Lana (Sara Paulson) out of Briarcliff and whisks her away to his place, only to have her confronted with Ed Gein furniture, bowls, and household goods made from humans. This is not a big shock to me. In fact, Quinto as an actor is no stranger to killing people and taking their heads apart. He played Sylar in NBC’s HEROES for multiple seasons, after all.

I like the fact that as Bloody Face, he has a SAW-like torture chamber located under his very domestic looking home, and now that Lana is in his clutches will this be the last we see of her? Plus, who is the Bloody Face of the future we saw in the first couple of episodes of this season?

Kit ( Evan Peters) is up the creek in this one, since he played right into Dr. Thredson’s hands and gave him a recorded confession for all of the Bloody Face murders. Very Machiavellian of the Dr. to plan ahead like that. Of course, Kit has to survive since he now knows that his wife is alive and still being held by the Aliens. Yes. That sentence sounded a bit ridiculous to me too, even as I was writing it.

Related:TV Review: AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM – Season 2 – “Dark Cousin”

Related:TV Review: AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM – Season 2 – “I Am Anne Frank – Part 1”

Related:TV Review: AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM – Season 2 – “Nor’easter”

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Related: Exclusive Photos from the AMERICAN HORROR STORY PaleyFest 2012 event
Related Link: The Status on AMERICAN HORROR STORY Season 2
Related Link: TV Review – AMERICAN HORROR STORY – Season 1 – “Afterbirth” – Season Finale

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