Preview of American Horror Story: Asylum – Episode 2: Tricks and Treats; Ryan Murphy Offers a Few Hints of What’s Coming
EW
http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/10/18/american-horror-story-asylum-ryan-murphy-premiere-exclusive/
/aug12/ahsas.jpg
We haven’t heard much feedback yet as to what you guys thought of “American Horror Story: Asylum,” but we thought Episode 1 was a great beginning with some interesting characters and can’t wait for Episode 2.
Below you’ll find the preview for Episode 2, “Tricks and Treats,” along with a few comments from showrunner Ryan Murphy as to what’s ahead for viewers this season. These are just the highlights so be sure to hit the EW link at the bottom of the page for more.
“American Horror Story: Asylum – Episode 2: “Tricks and Treats” (airing October 24th at 10:00 pm e/p)
The staff summon an exorcist to deal with a possessed farm boy, while Sister Jude’s dark past is revealed.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You kept the same music for the opening credits but new visual elements. Are these perhaps clues to the mystery surrounding Briarcliff?
RYAN MURPHY: Yes, I think they’re clues. I think the show in its subject matter has a little more gravity in terms of social significance this year so some of them aren’t so much clues as metaphors. For example, the girl walking up and down in the staircase, in Episode 2 you will definitely know what that’s about.
The editing and the energy felt very different… like it’s supposed to keep you off-balance, like you don’t know what you’re seeing. Is that what you were going for?
RM: When Brad [Falchuk] and I did Season 1, it was definitely influenced by masters like [Stanley] Kubrick. This year … I was really influenced by [Brian] De Palma… specifically Dressed to Kill and Carrie. There’s a lot of slow motion, there’s a lot of languid filmmaking. In the first episode, as a tribute to Brian, we actually used two big pieces from Carrie’s score. …De Palma’s work … is very fever dream. Look at that last scene of Carrie—was it real? Was it a dream? So yes, it was very influenced by his work particularly. Also it was very influenced by [Dario] Argento. The other great thing about it is Brad Buecker, who edited all the shows last year, who’s my right hand man, is also a brilliant director. The first two were edited and directed by Brad. It’s very interesting when an editor directs. It’s much more I think a psychological thriller as well… This year we’re really exploring the idea of madness, and I think madness, for people caught in that web, it must feel like a hallucinogenic nightmare reality.
Related Story: A Look Ahead at American Horror Story: Asylum; Dylan McDermott Returns!
Are you going to direct an episode?
RM: I really want to. It’s hard with three shows… I have a really nifty plan for the last episode of “Horror Story” this year. If I can make that work, I will. I want to.
Will the search for Alma and her disappearance be a driving mystery the whole season?
RM: It continues for the whole season. It’s an interesting idea, which is for the audience basically to find out were the aliens real, or were they all in his mind? We studied a lot about alien abductions, particularly the year we’re writing about. We say in the first episode that 1964 was a very important year in which religion and science collided. Right around the time of the space program is when a lot of people claimed alien abduction theories. I’ve always been obsessed with alien abduction theories because one of my best friends tells me over and over again that she was abducted and experimented on. So it’s a fascinating thing to write about.
We saw the alien limbs. But will we see its face?
RM: Yes. We overshot the shit out of it. What we did last year with the Infantata is you saw it for literally like three frames. It’s a very similar experience where we don’t show many of the creatures in the woods, which are called Raspers. We don’t show too much. We want you to get invested in the story, but we do show more.
One person we do see is Bloody Face. So is the modern day Bloody Face the same from the 1960s?
RM: It could be. You definitely get the answer to that.
Will Leo and Teresa [Adam Levine and Jenna Dewan] bookend every episode?
RM: No. We made the decision to do a period piece, but I really wanted to examine the Bloody Face legend. So this year we do sort of have a story within a story. The 2012 stuff is not in every episode. We skip around a little bit. But it’s definitely part of the storytelling engine and all designed to completely wrap up in the very last episode and the very last scene. I think it’s cool to tell a very modern story within a period frame work. I love the new Briarcliff dissolving into the old Briarcliff.
Ian McShane is coming on…
RM: I’m really excited about the Ian McShane part… This is an interesting year in “American Horror Story” in that after Episode 9 we go on a holiday break and then come back in January. So I really wanted [a] two-episode climactic thing, and I wanted someone who could go head-to-head with Jessica Lange. We’ve written him a really amazing part… They’re Episodes 8 and 9.
And Frances Conroy? She’s playing someone angelic.
RM: Yes. I don’t want to give that away because that doesn’t happen ’til I think Episode 7, but it’s one of my favorite episodes. Frances appears there and then comes back and forth throughout the season.
Can you tease next week’s episode, “Trick and Treats”?
RM: It’s our Halloween episode, and it’s about the powers of Satan. It’s about a boy who is or is not possessed who suddenly, strangely knows a lot about Sister Jude’s secrets.
The returning cast members for “American Horror Story” Chapter 2, known as “Asylum,” include Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Dylan McDermott, Lily Rabe, and Frances Conroy, who are joined by newcomers Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan, Clea DuVall, James Cromwell, Franka Potente, Mark Consuelos, Lizzie Brochere, Joseph Fiennes, Chloë Sevigny, Mark Margolis, Amy Farrington, and David Chisum.
Set at an East Coast asylum for the criminally insane, “AHS” Chapter 2 revolves around Lange’s new character — a nun — and a doctor at the institution, played by Cromwell, and is about sanity and tackling real-life horrors.
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Enter the asylum known as the comments section below!
Categorized:
