How Will Lily Rabe's Character Tie Into American Horror Story: Freak Show?

By Maggie Panos

News broke last week that American Horror Story alum Lily Rabe will appear on Freak Show. Not only is she returning, but she's also reprising her role of Sister Mary Eunice from Asylum. This means she'll be the second character to appear on two seasons, alongside Pepper (Naomi Grossman), who also originated on the show's second season. This is very exciting, but we have so many questions! Let's review what we know and get to theorizing about how Sister Mary Eunice will tie into this season.

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What We Know

  • According to Entertainment Weekly, "The reason for Sister Mary's return involves Pepper and how she ended up going from the freak show to Asylum's titular institution, Briarcliff. Rabe's appearance will be on AHS's 10th episode, which is their big Winter cliff-hanger."
  • Freak Show takes place in Jupiter, FL, in 1952, while Asylum takes place in Massachusetts in 1964. That means there's a 12-year gap between seasons.
  • We never hear much about Sister Mary Eunice's past on Asylum, except for a story she tells about being tricked into skinny-dipping at a pool party as a teenager.
  • Pepper is admitted to Briarcliff after being accused of drowning her sister's baby and cutting his ears off. Pepper disputes this, saying that her sister's husband actually drowned the baby but that freaks get blamed for everything.
  • Sister Mary Eunice's last name is "McKee," so just keep your ears open for that name.
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Questions We Have

  • Is Mary Eunice a Sister during the time that Freak Show takes place?
  • Is she visiting from Briarcliff, or does she live in Florida?
  • Does she attend the freak show as a patron and become involved with saving them?
  • Will Pepper's brother Salty be dead by this point, or will he go to Briarcliff too?
  • Why would the other freaks just let Sister Mary Eunice take Pepper?
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While we don't have a ton of information at this point, we can theorize. From all we know about Sister Mary Eunice, she's a really good person before she becomes inhabited by a demon. Maybe Mary Eunice is from Florida, attends the freak show, and befriends Pepper. Years later, when Pepper is accused of murdering her nephew, Mary Eunice (having become a Sister) makes sure she ends up at Briarcliff, where she can be looked after. Whatever happens, I'm sure it will be more twisted than we could imagine — especially given all we recently learned about the freaks' backstories.