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

First aired October 29th, 2014.

Edward Mordrake (played by Wes Bentley) is continuing his search for a freak to add to his ghostly coterie. He visits the tents of several people in the freak show and forces them to relive their most painful memories.

Mordrake visits people like Paul the Illustrated Seal (played by Mat Fraser) and Legless Suzi (played by Rose Siggins). He eventually makes his way to Elsa’s (played by Jessica Lange) tent where she thinks he is a talent agent who’s come to offer her work after her performance last episode. She dismisses his claims, believing it’s a prank, but Mordrake has his ghostly followers pull off her false legs. Flashbacks show her working as a successful dominatrix in Germany, and while seedy, Elsa still thought of herself as a star of the profession. However, her real pain came from a German fetish film she made where she was drugged and had her legs amputated with a chainsaw. She was saved by a soldier who had fallen for her but she wanted to die because the film received wide circulation and cost her any chances at being a star. Mordrake’s second face whispers that Elsa is the one they are looking for and she begs to be taken, feeling that her chances for fame are over. Then, Mordrake hears the sound of a piano playing and goes to investigate.

I liked how the opening took the time to explain the backstory of several recurring characters like Paul and Suzi (how Suzi lived with the shame of accidently killing a man after stabbing his leg in a jealous rage and Paul coating his body in tattoo’s in defiance of being called a monster because of his arms). I also like that it told us how they came to the freak show, making them actual characters instead of using them as background pieces to look at. Elsa’s flashbacks gave very good insight into her and to why she craved fame so badly. She took that saying “break a leg” a step further and lost both of them. I would have thought her legs had been lost in a tragic accident. That Texas Chainsaw Massacre snuff film was a real shocker. I also liked how Mordrake took her down a few pegs when he called her out for belittling the freaks in her show to build herself up. While I’m sure the experience humbled Elsa, she’ll be back to her old ways in no time.

Jimmy (played by Evan Peters) and Maggie (played by Emma Roberts) are on their way back from town when his bike breaks down. While walking, they see Twisty (played by John Carroll Lynch) chase down Bonnie (played by Skyler Samuels) after another escape attempt. They follow him to his bus but get knocked out by Dandy (played by Finn Wittrock). Dandy has all the hostages outside by a fire for a show where he intends to cut Maggie in half but Jimmy breaks free and knocks Dandy out. Everyone makes a run for it but Twisty knocks out Jimmy and takes him to the bus. Maggie sends Bonnie and the others toward the road and uses herself as bait to distract Dandy when he comes after them. Twisty is about to kill Jimmy when Mordrake appears and demands to know Twisty’s story and he gives Twisty the ability to talk despite missing his lower jaw.

You have to hand it to Bonnie, that girl is resourceful. She’s managed to escape in almost every episode. I was glad that Twisty was finally integrated with the show’s main story and was eager to see how they clashed. Dandy has definitely crossed the line from annoying brat to psycho, while still retaining most of that spoiled personality. I think everyone was really just scared of Twisty and thought Dandy was more annoying than scary. Everyone got away too easily though. Whenever Bonnie made an escape attempt she had to really fight to get out. During that macabre show, Jimmy was the only person who was tied up and everyone was able to run away with no problem. But it did allow for Twisty’s backstory to get fleshed out and I was excited to learn what made this killer clown tick.

Twisty was a somewhat mentally challenged man who worked as a circus clown in 1942. He was loved by children. However, some of the freaks in the circus were jealous of the attention and convinced Twisty that he was wanted for child molestation and he fled the circus to Jupiter. No longer able to be a clown, he tried to build a children’s toy and brought it to the local toy store. He ended up scaring the boy and his mother (the same boy he would later kidnap). The owner (also a future victim) also labels Twisty a child molester and he goes back to his bus depressed and puts a shotgun in his mouth. Now sporting his signature mask, Twisty attempts to join the freak show but is ignored and dismissed. He thinks they are taking the children away from him, which further fuels his hatred for freaks. He kidnapped the boy and killed his family because, in Twisty’s view, he was more fun than they were, and Bonnie was taken to act as a babysitter of sorts.

Mordrake’s demonic second face declares Twisty is the freak they were searching for. Twisty is stabbed to death and his spirit is taken while Jimmy looks on. The next day, the police collect the body and laud Jimmy and Maggie as heroes. Most of the town comes to appreciate the freak show for getting rid of the killer and they all buy tickets to the next show. Dandy escaped with Twisty’s mask and went home, murdering his housekeeper, Dora (played by Patti LaBelle), and signaling his new role as the series antagonist.

I’m really disappointed that Twisty was killed off so early into the season. He was a great villain, although it was a memorable way to go out. His backstory was very interesting and but it felt very rushed since he was killed shortly afterward and it seems unfinished. The premiere showed Twisty angrily watching everyone at the freak show and now that we know why I would have liked to have seen them all clash. That said, learning that all of Twisty’s actions were planned out and not random acts of violence make them seem less scary somehow.

Dandy so far has been comedic relief and, while killing Dora showed he’s giving in to his darker instincts, I’m not sure he can carry the role of the main antagonist. Fortunately, there are other storylines that have been laid out for the rest of the season.

While the town has now come to embrace the freak show (at least for now), Jimmy hasn’t forgotten that the police murdered one of them during their investigation. Jimmy let one of the officers know that he intends to make sure they answer for it, which should bring some conflict as the season goes on. There’s also the arrival of Maggie’s partner in crime, Stanley (played by Denis O’Hare), who is posing as Hollywood movie producer. He’s intent on making his own fortune at the expense of the freaks and is even willing to kill some of them to make that possible.

Quotes & Thoughts

“My talent has been known to render men speechless, but you’ll have to get over it if we are going to work together.” “’Tis not your talent that renders me speechless, ’tis your delusional ignorance. You’re a tattered waste of oxygen who boasts herself with contempt for others.”

R.I.P. Twisty: You were a kind and gentle soul, but also a complete psycho. Perhaps you’ll find some kind of peace in Hell with Mordrake.

“Enough of this. I’m not afraid of you, you little made-in-the-shade white boy! You can barely wash your own ass.”

Dandy should have washed or disinfected that mask before he put it on.

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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