RECAP: 'American Horror Story: Asylum' Outdoes Itself With 'Spilt Milk'

Ryan Murphy said in an interview last week that American Horror Story’s latest episode “Spilt Milk” had the “most disturbing opening scene” they’ve ever filmed. Coming from the creator himself, it was probably going to be bad. It is.

Bloody Face’s son, Johnny (Dylan McDermott), is visited by a prostitute he found online. She’s lactating because she recently had a baby and says Johnny needs “mothering.” Remember how Bloody Face, starved of a mother’s love, assaulted Lana in an earlier episode? You know where this is going.

Back in the 60s, Kit shares a few tender moments with Grace and their son in Briarcliff's common room. Grace wants to name their baby Thomas, after her grandfather, and says he will change the world. This still does not provide a clear explanation of Kit’s connection to the extraterrestrials. Kit asks about her abduction and Alma. Grace remembers flashes from her time with the aliens, remarking that they are kind, but far from perfect. It is assumed that Alma has died, based on a surreal shot of her body sinking into a black pool. Kit asks Grace to marry him. Their happiness is short-lived, however. Only seconds after his proposal, a nun from the local orphanage comes to take their baby away.

Meanwhile, Sister Claudia, Sister Jude’s superior, helps free Lana from the asylum. During the climactic escape, Kit grills Dr. Thredson on how to get his son back while Lana slips past them—out the door and into a waiting taxi. Did you breathe a sigh of relief too? The split screen between Lana’s trepidation and Kit’s desperation to divert Thredson’s attention was particularly affective.

But wait! Just as Lana gets into the taxi, Thredson wanders outside. The music swells as he registers Lana in the backseat. She presses his taped confession to the inside of the window and flips him the bird while the car pulls away. One thousand points, Lana. Bloody Face, zero.

Later that day, Thredson returns home in a panic, only to discover Lana in his living room, calm, collected and wielding a gun. She says the police have the evidence of his murderous past and are on their way.

The scene begins to alternate between the past and the present Bloody Faces. Johnny, recently fed, lounges on his couch with the prostitute and admits he has serious issues with his mother.

Thredson sips from a martini glass as he describes to Lana how he mutilated and killed her girlfriend Wendy. Johnny, in a violent rage, starts to strangle the prostitute. Police lights flood the living room as Thredson reaches for his own gun hidden in the liquor cabinet. He says he’ll probably end up with life in prison and never make it to the electric chair. Lana doesn’t want to wait—she fires. The first Bloody Face falls.

An indeterminate amount of time begins to pass after Thredson’s death. Lana visits Wendy’s plaque in a stark white columbarium. She and her friends exchange pleasantries, but they are as empty as the box that bears Wendy's name. Do Lana’s friends have any idea what she went through? There is a dramatic disconnect between Lana’s life before she was committed and her life post- suffering. After reporters interrupt them, Lana dons Jackie-O glasses and leaves in a flurry of activity. “Read my book,” she tells the journalists pursuing her car.

Back at Briarcliff, Monsignor Timothy looks grim as he reads the newspapers headlining the asylum horrors. He vows to keep quiet until the controversy dies down, but Jude has other plans. She confronts him in her half-mad state, pointing out his misguided and greedy nature, and admitting she is “more sane as a madwoman” than she was as head of Briarcliff. Timothy, in constant denial of the truth, condemns her to solitary.

Kit is released, courtesy of Lana’s expose. After a successful bargain with the monsignor, Kit and Grace regain custody of Thomas and return home. The house is still in disarray from when Kit was abducted in the first episode, but Grace doesn’t mind. Just as they are settling down, a noise comes from the bedroom. Kit grabs a baseball bat, prepared to defend his new family, only to find Alma—holding another newborn. Is it Kit’s baby? Somebody call Maury!

In a gloomy bedroom, Lana prepares to have her child aborted. Just as the abortionist is about to proceed, Lana is plagued by memories of her abuse and stops the procedure. “No more death,” she cries, even if it means giving birth to another future murderer. Months later, she returns to Briarcliff to get a testimony from Sister Jude. Monsignor Timothy reveals the terrible news that Jude hanged herself in her room. Lana doesn’t believe him, and she’s right. Past the basement bakery, hidden in a dirty stone room, is Sister Jude, perched on a ledge and mumbling to herself.

More months pass. Lana is in the hospital as a new mother, and her nurse can’t settle the crying infant. Lana hesitates, a victim again, but takes her son and begins to nurse him. She looks up at the ceiling, as helpless as she was chained in Bloody Face’s basement, and sees the crucifix above her hospital bed. The only difference is that from her perspective, the cross hangs upside down.

Ironic much?

Catch a preview of next week's episode below: