Friday, May 23, 2014

Zachary Quinto in "American Horror Story: Asylum"

 Zachary John Quinto (born June 2, 1977) is an American actor and film producer. Quinto grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was active in high school musical theater. In the early 2000s, he guest starred in television series and appeared in a recurring role in the serial drama 24 from 2003 to 2004. In 2006, Quinto acted in the sitcom So NoTORIous and portrayed series antagonist Sylar in the science fiction drama Heroes from 2006 to 2010. He played Spock in the 2009 reboot Star Trek, and its 2013 sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness. He is also known for his roles in the FX horror anthology series American Horror Story (2011–2013).


 American Horror Story: Asylum, the second season of the American FX horror television series American Horror Story, originally aired from October 17, 2012 to January 23, 2013. Announced on October 31, 2011, the premise of the second season marks a departure from that of the series' first season, featuring all new characters and a new location. Thus, American Horror Story has been deemed an anthology series. American Horror Story: Asylum begins in 1964 at the fictional Briarcliff Mental Institution, following the stories of the patients, doctors and nuns who occupy it, and intercuts with events in the past and present.


 The season garnered seventeen Primetime Emmy Award nominations, more than any other show. The performances of Jessica Lange, James Cromwell, Zachary Quinto, Sarah Paulson, and Lily Rabe were particularly praised, with Cromwell winning the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor as well as Quinto winning the award for Best Supporting Actor and Paulson winning the award for Best Supporting Actress at the 3rd Critics Choice Awards.


 Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Thredson


 Dr. Oliver Thredson (Zachary Quinto) is a psychiatrist at Briarcliff Institute whose approach to treatment creates conflict with that of Sister Jude's. He is first brought in to examine Kit to see if he is mentally fit to stand trial, and convinces him to plead guilty in order to avoid the death penalty. Thredson quickly becomes appalled at the dated treatments practiced at the asylum. Sister Jude, having already taken a disliking to him, demands him to leave within two weeks after he accidentally implies that he had planted an old newspaper article on the young girl Jude believes she killed, despite the fact that it had actually been planted by the possessed Mary Eunice. Lana begins to trust Thredson, and asks him to deliver a letter to her girlfriend Wendy. Thredson tells her that when he visited Wendy to deliver the letter, he found her house empty. He decides to help treat Lana's homosexuality through the use of aversion therapy, but abandons the treatment when he concludes that she is sane. Thredson records Kit confessing to the murders, even though he doesn't believe nor remember that he ever committed them. After resigning, Thredson sneaks Lana out of the asylum, leading her to believe that he intends to help her reveal the horrors committed there. After the two arrive at his house, Thredson reveals himself to be "Bloody Face", and informs Lana that he has killed her girlfriend Wendy. Thredson tells her that he was abandoned by his mother as a child and yearns for a "replacement", believing that she is "The One." He keeps her locked up in his basement where he rapes her. After a failed escape lands Lana back at Briarcliff, Thredson reappears to thwart her plans of exposing his true identity. He explains that no one would believe her due to her mental history, and that he has destroyed all the evidence that could link him to the murders. Lana wants to kill him, but Kit says they have to wait until they can prove that he is the killer, so that Kit can be cleared. They put him in an abandoned storage space where Lana visits him in "The Coat Hanger". She informs Thredson of her pregnancy, but threatens to abort it if he doesn't admit to killing the three women. 


After finishing his confession, Thredson discovers that Kit had taped the whole conversation. Lana later escapes with the tape. Mary Eunice frees Thredson, and she offers him a permanent position at the asylum. Thredson reveals that he intends to murder Lana after she has given birth, only keeping her alive until after she has breastfed the baby. Thredson makes a deal with Kit to help get him out in exchange for the tape. After arriving home, he finds Lana in his house with a gun and she tells him that the police have in fact been given the tape. He seems relieved that his "secret" is out. She mentions that he will now be put to death for his crimes and he scoffs at her, saying that no court will give him the death penalty as he is certifiably insane. He tells her that he will spend the rest of his life in prison and she shoots him through the neck, saying prison is too good for him. For his performance, Quinto won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Movie/Miniseries Supporting Actor and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie in 2013.

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