Tamal Kundu
‘American Horror Stories’ is an FX on Hulu spin-off of ‘American Horror Story‘ and is set in the same universe as the original show. The main difference between the two shows is in the format. While the original takes an entire season to tell a story, the spin-off offers a new story in every episode. The second season premiere links the show with the third season of the original series, ‘Coven.’ In contrast, season 2 episode 2, titled ‘Aura,’ stands on its own. The episode’s title refers to a smart doorbell device that the protagonist, Jaslyn (Gabourey Sidibe), insists on installing despite the reluctance of her skeptic husband. Soon, she is proven right when her past comes back to haunt her. Here is everything you need to know about the ending of ‘American Horror Stories’ season 2 episode 2. SPOILERS AHEAD.
American Horror Stories Season 2 Ep 2 Recap
The episode begins as Jaslyn watches the infomercial for Aura. It terrifies her before offering the solution for a problem that she didn’t know she had until moments ago — just as any infomercials generally do. Jaslyn wants to get it for her own home, but at $200, it runs the risk of jeopardizing what her husband Bryce (Max Greenfield) keeps asserting as the plan. She is eventually convinced by an older store patron whose words about how unsafe the present is as opposed to the golden old days make her even more paranoid.
It turns out that Jaslyn’s fear of home invasion stems from past trauma. She and Bryce have recently moved to a gated community, where they should feel secure. Still, Aura is installed on the door, and Bryce even tries to see if it’s working by pretending to be a home invader.
Jaslyn runs an online jewelry shop, while Bryce seems to be a middle manager in a corporation. After Bryce leaves for a departmental meeting in the evening, Jaslyn remains alone at home. Suddenly, there is a strange man at her door, saying her name and demanding to be let in. Panicking, Jaslyn calls the police. However, when the police arrive, and Bryce returns home, no one is there. Moreover, Aura didn’t catch anything, nor did the CCTV camera of one of their neighbors.
The next time the man shows up, Bryce is at home. And again, their neighbor’s camera shows that no one is there. When Bryce ventures outside with a fireplace poker in hand, he doesn’t find anyone. Bryce concludes that someone has hacked into their Wi-Fi system. Jaslyn later realizes that she actually knows the man. He is Dayle Hendricks, the janitor at her high school. Suddenly, she remembers his inappropriate behavior after she complimented him just to make her friends laugh. Jaslyn goes to speak to his sister before deciding to let him in the next time he shows up. Hendricks is revealed to be a ghost. He apologizes for his past behavior, prompting Jaslyn to apologize to him as well because she was unkind to him. This seems to free Hendricks from his guilt. He disintegrates and vanishes.
However, soon enough, another person shows up at Bryce and Jaslyn’s door — this time a woman. She pleads with them to let her in. As Jaslyn doesn’t know her, she deduces that the woman must be connected to Bryce’s past and is once more proven right.
American Horror Stories Season 2 Episode 2 Ending: Is Bryce Dead?
Yes, Bryce is dead. As mentioned above, Jaslyn is proven right that the woman is connected to Bryce’s past. Bryce is not just a typical clueless husband that we often see in horror films; Greenfield makes his character as ridiculous and insufferable as possible. The result of this is that Bryce’s behavior pretty much gives away where the ending will go. Jaslyn is afraid that it was Bryce who killed the woman, Mary Jeane Burkett. She is initially proven wrong. Mary Jeane apparently died in a hit-and-run incident, and the driver has since been caught and convicted.
Evidently, the all-vision ultra-sensory technology that the narrator of the infomercial speaks about at the start of the episode has given Aura the feature to capture the image of the dead while they are in front of the camera. It happens with both Hendricks and Mary Jeane. Bryce initially says that Mary Jeane was his fiancée, and her accident happened right after he broke up with her and left her. This turns out to be a lie. After Jaslyn lets Mary Jeane in, she is revealed to be carrying a baby in her hands.
It turns out that Mary Jeane was pregnant at the time of her death, and Bryce knew about it. Moreover, she was still alive after the accident. Bryce killed her by breaking her neck with his boot, as neither she nor the baby was part of his plan. In the present, Bryce tries to attack Jaslyn with the fireplace poker from before, fearing that she will reveal the truth to the world, prompting Mary Jeane to kill him with her powers. Like Hendricks, Bryce subsequently disintegrates.
Three months later, Jaslyn now lives in an apartment block where every door has Aura. So, the building manager has installed one on her door as well, though Jaslyn never asked for it. The moment she turns it on, she sees Bryce on the other side of the door, demanding to be let in so they can talk about his plan.
Read More: How Are American Horror Story and American Horror Stories Different?
