RECAP: ‘American Horror Story: Asylum’ The Madness Ends – Or Does It?

American Horror Story: Asylum’s second season finally came to a close last night after 13 episodes of gore, insanity and unbelievable cruelty. So how did Ryan Murphy wrap everything up? Despite some glaring, albeit expected plot holes, the last episode was oddly satisfying.

“The Madness Ends” begins with the events of the pilot episode four months ago: horror buff newlyweds, played by Adam Levine and Jenna Dewan-Tatum, visit the asylum for their honeymoon. Johnny (Dylan McDermott), who broke into the institution while listening to his mother’s audio book on Briarcliff, wreaks havoc on the couple, sawing off the husband’s arm and skinning the wife.

In the present, Lana (Sarah Paulson) is a famous reporter and seasoned author of six bestsellers. She’s being interviewed in preparation for the Kennedy Center Honors but refuses to discuss the Bloody Face ordeal. She would rather focus on shutting down Briarcliff. In a flashback, we see Lana sneak into the asylum with two cameramen and film the grotesque conditions. Later, she finds and frees Sister Jude (Jessica Lange). Unfortunately, this did not come to pass. In reality, Jude had vanished long before Lana arrived. In the present, Lana takes a break from the interview, and Johnny – of all people – hands Lana a drink. She doesn’t seem to recognize him, but we do.

In another flashback, Lana visits Kit (Evan Peters) after she shuts down Briarcliff. She brought cameras to capture their reunion, but Kit wants to talk to her without the publicity. He admits that in 1970, Sister Jude was released to his care. Kit was the ultimate good Samaritan, bringing the ailing woman home and nursing her back to health. It wasn’t easy, but his children succeeded in stopping her mood swings – at one point, they took her out to the woods and returned with a nearly sane Jude, who became their adopted grandmother. Six months later, on her deathbed, Sister Jude went peacefully with the Angel of Death, whom she no longer feared.

After Briarcliff closed, Lana pursued Cardinal Howard (Joseph Fiennes) for answers regarding Dr. Arden’s (James Cromwell) experiments, and her accusations eventually led to his suicide. Timothy’s overwhelming guilt finally got the best of him. In the present, Lana reveals that, contrary to what she wrote in her book, Bloody Face’s baby did not die in childbirth. She gave him up for adoption, and followed his progress in the 70s. She never had any other children, but she did become the godmother to Kit’s children. Kit got remarried, and Thomas and Julia became a Harvard professor and a neurosurgeon, respectively. Kit was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in his early 40s and was abducted once again by the aliens before he died, unbeknownst to Lana.

After the interview crew leaves, Lana calmly asks Johnny to come out of hiding. “Let’s get this over with,” she says grimly. In a tense heart-to-heart, we learn that Lana knows he’s her son because detectives visited her to discuss his crime sprees, and Johnny knows Lana is his mother because he found Dr. Thredson’s taped confession on eBay. Johnny pulls a gun on Lana, but she soothes him into submission. Johnny sobs about the people he's hurt. “It's not your fault. It’s mine,” Lana says as she brings the gun to his head and fires. The second Bloody Face collapses.

Flashback to 1964, during the pilot episode. Lana grills Sister Jude on an interview with Bloody Face. Jude turns and sums up the whole show, “When you look in the face of evil, evil’s gonna look right back at you.” The scene fades out with an overhead shot of Briarcliff’s stairway to Heaven as the delightfully creepy common room tune “Dominique” begins to play. So ends American Horror Story: Asylum.

Though some plots remain uncertain (anyone still puzzled over the aliens’ involvement?), the characters, for the most part, got what they deserved. And if that’s not a successful ending, I don’t know what is.

This is the end for Briarcliff, but American Horror Story will continue on for a third season! Peters, Paulson, and Lange are all slated to return as brand-new characters in the next installment, which will hopefully debut this fall. – Jill Wronski

Watch the promo for the finale below: