American Horror Story: Freak Show – “Edward Mordrake (Part One)”

First aired October 22nd, 2014.

It’s that time of the year for the AHS two-part Halloween special. This year the show focuses on the legend of Edward Mordrake (played by Wes Bentley). Edward Mordrake was a man in the 19^th century born with a second face on the back of his head that drove him insane, and he’s ready to stir up trouble at the freak show.

The legend among carnival performers is that performing a show on Halloween will summon Edward’s spirit, and his demonic second face won’t leave without taking someone back to Hell with him. Elsa (played by Jessica Lange) decides to practice her act, regardless of the legend, after being told she is second banana to twins Bette and Dot (played by Sarah Paulson). She sings a rousing performance of Lana Del Rey’s “Gods and Monsters” and halfway through Edward shows up and begins his search. He ends up in Ethel’s (played by Kathy Bates) trailer with the ghosts of other freaks he’d taken and begins questioning her to see if she’s a “pure freak” that he can take. She’s forced to relive painful memories, such as her ex-husband, Dell (played by Michael Chiklis), convincing her to leave a successful cabaret act to do Shakespeare, which ruins her career. Dell even sells tickets to Ethel giving birth to Jimmy (played by Evan Peters) and passes the baby around trying to get people to pay to touch him. Ethel breaks down and tells Edward she’s ready to go to Hell but his second face claims Ethel isn’t the one and they continue their search.

I love when AHS takes real life history and people and puts an original and horrifying twist on it/them. My favorite was with Anne Frank in season two. Although Edward may not have been a real person (that’s been disputed by people), his condition is real, but the rare few who have had it didn’t live long. Edward is the carnie version of Bloody Mary, except that he can pick and choose his victims. The sad irony, however, is that he killed himself to be rid of his demonic head and ended up being a slave to it forever in death.

The flashbacks really helped flesh out Ethel’s character and made it clear just how much she suffered throughout her life. That scene with her hunkered by the tree in the agony of childbirth while people gawked was uncomfortable to watch. I think the fact that Edward was summoned by Elsa’s need to perform and prove herself foreshadowed that her need for stardom will bring them all down. She is determined to be a star even if it kills them all and so far she’s off to a good start.

Unfortunately, even though Edward spared Ethel, she doesn’t have long for this world. Her alcoholism caught up with her and she’s dying from cirrhosis with six months to a year left. Ethel tells Dell that she’s dying and they reminisce about the past, she asks Dell to watch over Jimmy when she’s gone but never reveal that he’s the boy’s father.

Bette and Dot are also going through a rough patch. They have a shared dream where a doctor separates them at Dot’s insistence. Dot believes that staying conjoined will mean neither of them can have a chance at happiness. She wants to find a doctor willing to separate even though it will mean one if not both of them will die. Sadly, they may never get the chance to work this out because they’re on the radar of a man named Stanley (played by Denis O’Hare) and his partner Maggie (played by Emma Roberts). Stanley and Maggie are con artists who try to pass off artifacts from freaks for profit, but their latest “find” is rejected from a museum they try to con. Even so, the owner is desperate for new exhibits and doesn’t care how they’re acquired, so they target Elsa’s freak show. Maggie goes undercover as “Maggie Esmerelda” and passes herself off as a fortune teller. When she meets Bette and Dot she informs Stanley and they make plans to take the twins.

Ethel got a rough break in life, as did Jimmy, being exploited from the moment he was born. What’s worse is Ethel probably could have been saved but she didn’t go to doctors often because until now they treated her disrespectfully. That said, regardless of the fact that Dell is Jimmy’s father and he had a moment of compassion, she shouldn’t have asked him to go anywhere near her son. Sooner or later Dell’s temper will come flaring up and that won’t be good for anyone.

Bette and Dot can have telepathic thoughts so having the same dreams makes sense, although it’s a bit over the top. You would think these girls who share everything could at least have one thing they could keep separate.

I think Stanley and Maggie should make great additions to the cast. They represent another reason why “normal” people are dangerous. While most people ostracize the freaks because of fear and ignorance, Stanley sees dollar signs and wants to exploit them. It could be argued that Elsa is doing the same thing, but she’s giving them a place to be themselves whereas Stanley wants to mount Bette and Dot like a stuffed deer. Of course when everyone finds out what they’re up to, they’ll end up like that cop from the premiere, but I doubt their deaths will be as quick.

Meanwhile, Twisty (played by John Carroll Lynch) has been engaging in his own Halloween fun in a nearby town. He stalks a little girl while she trick or treats with her family and later that night kidnaps her brother from their home in front of her. Back in Jupiter, Gloria Mott (played by Frances Fisher) is preparing Halloween fun for her son Dandy (played by Finn Wittrock), but he throws a tantrum at the costume she made him. Their maid, Dora (played by Patti LaBelle), confronts him about his behavior and the dead animals she found and warns that she isn’t afraid of him. Dandy makes his own clown costume and confronts Nora with a knife but she just scoffs at him. Infuriated, he goes to Twisty’s bus and tortures the hostages, welcoming Twisty when he brings the latest captive.

Now that there aren’t any victims on the streets at night in Jupiter, Twisty just goes to the next town. Eventually people will have to make the connection of the scary clown popping up everywhere, right? That bus isn’t very big either, so he’s going to have to start killing some of these people or he’s going to need a bigger bus. Dandy becomes a more loathsome character with each episode. I don’t understand how Twisty can stand him. Perhaps being a psychopath is lonely, but if it were me, I would have killed Dandy after an hour in the same room. He’s not evil in the same sense as Twisty, he couldn’t even cut his maid when she confronted him (or make a good comeback). In the end, Dandy is just a spoiled little boy who I hope will get what he deserves by the end of the season: a slow and painful death.

Quotes & Thoughts

“We should probably discuss our salary since we are now the star attraction.” “How dare you! I have been a star for decades now! You are nothing, nothing but a two-headed freak stumbling around the stage squeaking out a crummy tune.”

That little girl may have not had a reason to be afraid of clowns before, but she sure does now. Hell, I was never fond of clowns and I’m even less thrilled about them after seeing Twisty.

“Oh you going to kill me? Go on, do it. Just like I thought, you couldn’t have possibly killed those people. You don’t have the guts.”

I loved the homage to the original Halloween when the camera angle was inside Dandy’s clown mask.

“I got to cut out. I can’t do this. The freaks, they’re everywhere: pinheads, stump girl, seal man. Even when I close my eyes I still see them. They give me the heebee jeebies.”

If you enjoyed Manny’s review, you can find the rest of his work right HERE on Sci-Fi Bloggers. You can also follow him on Twitter @KN_Manny.

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