Wow! Things really came to a head in this episode. By the end, each thread has reached vital turning points, but let’s start at the beginning.
Setting things in motion is Sister Jude’s hiring of the Nazi hunter, which is a brief scene that distracts from the cliffhanger that ended last episode. The action picks up again with Anne holding Arden at gunpoint. She is thwarted by Sister Mary Eunice and one of the guards. It isn’t long after this that we meet her husband who says that her real name is Charlotte and she’s been exhibiting these strange behaviors since seeing a stage play of Anne Frank’s story. Her actions became more extreme after giving birth to her son. He relays that she gave herself the Auschwitz tattoo.
This was only the beginning of the episodes shocking revelations.
There’s a great scene between Kit and Grace, where they’re talking to each other from opposite sides of a cell wall. Images of them touching despite the physical barrier really resonate and perfectly lead up to their separation at the hands of Sister Mary Eunice. She pardons Kit of his sterilization, but says that Grace’s will still be carried out. It is then that Grace is visited by the extraterrestrials and sees that Kit’s wife is still alive.
Everything tied together nicely by the end, one thing leading to another. From Kit’s pardon, he’s tricked into a confession by Dr. Thredson, which leads to his arrest at the end of the episode. Thredson’s motives are revealed when he takes Lana with him to his house and confesses to her that he is the killer known as Bloody Face. Lana’s disappearance leads to Sister Jude leaving her position at Briarcliff and relapsing not just into alcohol use but also promiscuity. After Anne/Charlotte’s husband brings her back, she is lobotomized and transformed into an obedient housewife. It is in her home that we see a series of holocaust photos, and the final shot shows Arden with Hitler, confirming Sister Jude and Charlotte’s suspicions.
I think this was the best episode of the season thus far as it masterfully displays the importance of cause-and-effect in story structure, and does a good job of tying this two-episode arc in with the overarching storyline of this season.
Next week is “The Origins of Monstrosity.”
