"Dark Cousin" is the seventh episode of the second season of the FX anthology television series American Horror Story.
In the episode, several asylum patients wish to die, one of which is Grace (Lizzie Brocheré) causing the Angel of Death (Frances Conroy) to appear, which does not sit well with Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe).
Before also planning to use the angel's services, Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) attempts to make peace with the parents of the girl she hit years ago.
After Lana (Sarah Paulson) is able to get away from Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto), she is injured in a freak car accident and taken back to Briarcliff.
Kit (Evan Peters) escapes custody to break Grace out of the asylum, but she is accidentally shot by Frank (Fredric Lehne).
Michael Rymer was nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Television Film for his work on this episode.
Mary Eunice's true personality briefly calls out to Shachath, begging for freedom, but the Devil regains control.
In a November 2012 interview with Entertainment Weekly, series creator Ryan Murphy spoke about the inspiration for "Dark Cousin", "Well the episode is one of my favorites because I think it just has great performances and I really love what it's about.
I love Franny [Frances Conroy] and she and I were presenting at the Creative Arts Emmys and I said, 'I think I have something really good for you, sort of the opposite of what you did last year.'
"[1] "Dark Cousin" was watched by 2.27 million viewers and received an adult 18-49 rating of 1.3, an increase from the previous episode.
The critical consensus reads, "Forgoing the regular camp, "Dark Cousin" makes some poignant historical references while serving up a hefty dose of creep and gore.