[Warning: This story contains spoilers from Wednesday's "Nor'easter" episode of FX's American Horror Story.]
Apparently anything goes when there's a storm is brewing near Briarcliff.
As if the institution for the "criminally insane" weren't bad enough for using corporal punishment to "cure" inmates for violating social mores, a wicked nor'easter literally brings out the devil in Sister Eunice -- and her cohorts at the asylum.
During Wednesday's American Horror Story, Lily Rabe's gentle nun was revealed to be the devil in disguise, as she murders one of the more religious inmates, stabbing her repeatedly with a scisors and taking her remains into the forest near the facility and feeding one of Dr. Arden's (James Cromwell) creatures.
As if that weren't enough, she's also having fun psychologically torturing Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) for the 1949 hit and run that prompted her to give up booze and devote her life to the church. After Jude confronts Arden about Eunice presenting her with a tube of her old lipstick, Jude and Arden clash, with the screwy doc deeming Eunice as being "corrupted" by Briarcliff.
And that's just the beginning of the insanity during the episode, which also featured Shelley (Chloe Sevigny), Kit (Evan Peters), Grace (Lizzie Brochere) and Lana's (Sarah Paulson) attempted escape. Here are the nine biggest reveals from the episode.
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1. Bloody Face was so famous in his day that apparently he inspired a line of copycats, complete with specially designed masks. Turns out two imposters fatally kill Leo (Adam Levine) and his new bride (Jenna Dewan-Tatum) before the actual Bloody Face goes after them.
2. Dr. Arden has made a strange scientific discovery with metallic pieces that appear to be drawn together to form a spider-looking alien -- the same one that came from Kit. Arden believes he's being spied on by anyone and everything by Jews, Nazis and more.
3. Arden tells Sister Jude that he believes Sister Eunice has been "corrupted" by Briarcliff -- and Shelley. Of course, Jude thinks he's trying to protect himself from Eunice's story that he enlisted her to screw with Jude about her shameful past. Arden, however, is actually talking about Eunice's thwarted sexual pass at him. "If she's been corrupted, it's because of you," Jude says.
4. Jude gets a call from a little girl purporting to be the same one she struck in 1949 as the girl's shattered eyeglasses strangely appear on her desk. The cost: Jude goes back to the bottle and ties one on and uncorks a whole tirade to the moviegoers about her guilty past.
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5. Threadson, at Lana's encouragement, goes to visit Wendy (Clea Duvall). What he discovers is the same MO from Bloody Face's cases and tells Lana that he's not certain Kit is Bloody Face.
6. With Jude drunk and everyone distracted by the movie screening and storm, Kit, Grace and Shelley plot their escape -- with Lana not far behind joining them to confirm their exit strategy after she confesses to being wrong about Kit. With a former Marine standing guard, Shelley volunteers to distract him so the group can flee -- but not before telling Lana to make sure she writes the story that blows the lid off the abuse at Briarcliff. "Don't forget about me," she says.
7. With the nor'easter in full force, a drunk Jude searches for the missing patient and instead encounters what can best be described as an adult version of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.
8. Arden, having just gone postal on a religious statue, stops Shelley from escaping and attempts to rape her. He winds up knocking her out with a paperweight after she ridicules his impotence. After she comes to the following day, she learns she's being held hostage in Arden's lab -- where he's amputated both her legs. Making matters worse: everyone thinks she ran away, so it's not likely anyone will find her.
9. After finding the missing inmate out in the forest, Kit stumbles onto either a group of lightning-fast walkers from The Walking Dead or an apparent group of cannibals (are these the Raspers?!) out in the forest after they escape the asylum. Freaked out beyond belief, Kit, Lana and Grace flee back to the asylum.
Do you think Kit and company will find and help Shelley? What are your theories about the mysterious creatures inside and around Briarcliff? Hit the comments with your thoughts. American Horror Story airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit
