History Trivia / AmericanHorrorStoryAsylum

* AbsenteeActor: A full cast list is run in the opening credits, but Zachary Quinto (Dr. Thredson) does not show up until episode 2, and Joseph Fiennes (Monsignor Howard) does not appear in episodes 3, 5, and 7.

* FanNickname:
** For the series itself, there's "American Horror Story: ''Ass''ylum", due to the many, many ass shots in the show between the canings and the clothing the prisoners wear, among other things.
** The show is also being called "American Whore Story", thanks to Dr. Arden's exclamation of "Whores get nothing!"
** Lana Banana for Lana, based on what Sister Jude said when they first met. Seeing as how Lana's TheWoobie, it works well.
* [[IronyAsSheIsCast Irony As He Is Cast]]:

* ActorAllusion:
** Welp, it's the not the [[spoiler: first time [[{{Series/Heroes}} Zachary Quinto]] played a scarily calm SerialKiller. It's also hard to watch Thredson's origin story and not think of Sylar's own parental and abandonment issues. Except that the extent of Thredson's crimes and his clear lack of remorse makes Sylar look positively angelic in comparison.]]
** A subtle one: [[spoiler: Johnny Thredson is talking to a shrink about his urges to skin women. The shrink is played by Brooke Smith, who played Catherine Martin in ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', so it wouldn't be her first experience with such a guy...]]
** Creator/JessicaLange (Sister Jude) received an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of a wrongly institutionalized woman in the 1982 film ''Frances''. At the start of this series, Sister Jude runs the insane asylum. [[spoiler: By the end, she's a patient there, who's been wrongly institutionalized for years]]. There's also one dialogue where she said that she dealt with "[[Film/KingKong1976 even bigger monsters]]".
* CastingGag: Several of the recurring actors in season 2 have character arcs that relate back to season 1.
** In ''[[Series/AmericanHorrorStoryMurderHouse Murder House]]'', Zachary Quinto played a CampGay ghost. In ''Asylum'', he is a psychiatrist on the cutting edge of homosexual conversion therapy.
** In ''Murder House'', Jessica Lange's [[spoiler: daughter is killed by a hit and run drunk driver.]] In ''Asylum'', she plays a woman who [[spoiler: dons the cloth of over the guilt of her own drunken hit on run of a young girl]].
** In ''Murder House'', Evan Peters plays [[spoiler: an outwardly innocent kid who is actually guilty of committing a Columbine-esque massacre.]] In ''Asylum'', he plays [[spoiler: an outwardly guilty kid who is actually innocent of being a serial killer]].
** In ''Murder House'', Dylan [=McDermott=] played a psychiatrist [[spoiler: treating an AxCrazy mass-murdering patient.]] In ''Asylum'' he plays [[spoiler: an AxCrazy serial killer whose first major on-screen action is to murder his psychiatrist]].
** In ''Murder House'', Frances Conroy plays a ghost tormented by her inability to pass on. In ''Asylum'', she plays the Angel of Death Shachath, guiding others peacefully into the afterlife.
** In ''Murder House'', Sarah Paulson plays a medium who immediately indicates that she's a RichBitch. In ''Asylum'', [[spoiler: her character eventually morphs into one.]]

* YouLookFamiliar: Several first season actors return to play different parts.

** A subtle one: [[spoiler: Johnny Thredson is talking to a shrink about his urges to skin women. The shrink is played by Brooke Smith, who played Catherine Martin in TheSilenceOfTheLambs, so it wouldn't be her first experience with such a guy...]]

** Joseph Fiennes is cast as Monsignor Timothy Howard, one of the very few characters in the show who is actively against bloodshed and violence and merely wishes the best for everyone; it is this alongside his good looks that makes him the secret object of Sister Jude's desire. This gels not only with Fiennes' previous roles as young romantic heartthrobs in films such as [[ShakespeareInLove Shakespeare In Love]], but also with the fact that his more well-known elder brother Ralph Fiennes has pretty much played almost every bad guy it's possible to be interested in, from Pharaoh to Nazi to Genocidal Snake-Man Wizard. It makes a weird metafictional sense that he'd have an easily-upset younger brother, adored by the girls.

* [[IronyAsSheIsCast Irony As He Is Cast]]: Dr. Thredson advocates behavior modification to treat and cure homosexuality. Zachary Quinto is [[StraightGay openly gay.]]

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[Series/BreakingBad Hector Salamanca]] hunted Nazis in his spare time.

* ViralMarketing: ''Asylum'' follows in the first season's footsteps, with videos released on the show's website, Website/YouTube channel, and Facebook page. Highlights included nuns dressed in white, buckets of body parts, a form of therapy known as a hydrobath that was used during ''Asylum'''s timeframe, several patients screaming, lots of forest (and things that lurk within), and a figure known only as Bloody Face. Some are set to [[RealSongThemeTune "Que Sera Sera"]].

* ActorAllusion: Welp, it's the not the [[spoiler: first time [[{{Series/Heroes}} Zachary Quinto]] played a scarily calm SerialKiller. It's also hard to watch Thredson's origin story and not think of Sylar's own parental and abandonment issues. Except that the extent of Thredson's crimes and his clear lack of remorse makes Sylar look positively angelic in comparison.]]

** Creator/JessicaLange (Sister Jude) received an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of a wrongly institutionalized woman in the 1982 film ''Frances''. At the start of this series, Sister Jude runs the insane asylum. [[spoiler: By the end, she's a patient there, who's been wrongly institutionalized for years]]. There's also one dialogue where she said that she dealt with "[[Film/KingKong even bigger monsters]]".

** Jessica Lange (Sister Jude) received an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of a wrongly institutionalized woman in the 1982 film ''Frances''. At the start of this series, Sister Jude runs the insane asylum. [[spoiler: By the end, she's a patient there, who's been wrongly institutionalized for years.]]

* {{Expy}}: Bloody Face is a combination of Ed Gein (one of history's most infamous serial killers who skinned his victims and had severe mommy issues) and [[spoiler: [[Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]], because his civilian identity is the court-mandated psychiatrist.]]

* ActorAllusion: Welp, it's the not the [[spoiler: first time [[{{Series/Heroes}} Zachary Quinto]] played a scarily calm SerialKiller.]]
** It's also hard to watch [[spoiler: Thredson's origin story and not think of Sylar's own parental and abandonment issues. Except that the extent of Thredson's crimes and his clear lack of remorse makes Sylar look positively angelic in comparison.]]

* {{Expy}}: Bloody Face is a combination of Ed Gein (one of history's most infamous serial killers who skinned his victims and had severe mommy issues) and [[spoiler: [[Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]], because his civilian identity is the court-mandated psychiatrist.]]

* {{Expy}}: Bloody Face is a combination of Ed Gein (one of history's most infamous serial killers who skinned his victims and had severe mommy issues) and [[spoiler: Hannibal Lecter, because his civilian identity is the court psychiatrist.]]

* {{Expy}}: Bloody Face is a conglomeration of Ed Gein, [[Film/{{Psycho}} Norman Bates]], [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs and Buffalo Bill]], with [[spoiler: his civilian identity similar to Hannibal Lecter.]]
** Considering that Norman Bates, Buffalo Bill and Leatherface, who was conspicuously missing from this list, were all inspired by Ed Gein, does that not just make Bloody Face Ed Gein + Hannibal Lecter?

* {{Expy}}: Bloody Face is a conglomeration of Ed Gein, [[Film/{{Psycho}} Norman Bates]], [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs and Buffalo Bill]], with [[spoiler: his civilian identity similar to Hannibal Lecter.]]

* A subtle one: [[spoiler: Johnny Thredson is talking to a shrink about his urges to skin women. The shrink is played by Brooke Smith, who played Catherine Martin in TheSilenceOfTheLambs, so it wouldn't be her first experience with such a guy...]]