The Best Redemption Arc According To American Horror Story Fans
The "American Horror Story" universe has very few outright heroes. Almost no one is unequivocally good, but almost no one is completely evil, either. Many characters start out seemingly completely irredeemable, only to get a redemption arc as the season progresses. The Countess from "Hotel" seems like an unrepentant killer, but we learn that many of her actions are taken to keep her found family together. Okay, a found family of killer ghosts, but still.
Some of these redemption arcs work better than others. For example, fans were mixed on how "Apocalypse" tried to redeem Tate Langdon. He ends "Murder House" isolated from the ghost girl he loves, because he'd sexually assaulted her mother and did a mass murder. Good reasons not to trust someone! But "Apocalypse" asserted that these things aren't exactly Tate's fault: The house made him do it. Some fans liked the happy ending for our star-crossed lovers (that was probably undone by the all the time travel), while others thought taking away Tate's agency in his choices made an interesting character less compelling.
A few "AHS" redemption arcs have been considerably better-received, though.
Fans really feel for Sister Jude
On Reddit, two contenders stood out for best redemption arc: Sister Jude from "Asylum" and Madison Montgomery from "Coven." Like so many other things in "AHS," it's a showdown between Emma Roberts and Jessica Lange.
Hell changes Madison Montgomery. She goes from being a shallow witch who casually murders out of spite to someone who fights to stop the Antichrist. That reconciliation between Tate and Violet? Mostly thanks to Madison. Her redemption arc, however, takes place over two seasons. It also might have been undone by Mallory at the end of "Apocalypse." So Sister Jude stands tall as the possessor of the best redemption arc of "American Horror Story."
When we first meet Sister Jude, she is a stern disciplinarian. She believes that mental illness isn't real and that all the patients in her care are actually sinners in need of God's wrath, and she's a big fan of canings. But over the season, we learn that she is motivated by guilt over her past. She also winds up a patient at the very asylum she once ruled with an iron fist. Jude develops compassion and tenderness after hitting rock bottom, apologizing for her role in others' trauma and trying to make amends. Her end is a real tearjerker, something viewers wouldn't expect from how she starts the season.