American Horror Story: Freak Show – “Massacres and Matinees”

First aired October 15th, 2014.

Episode two of Freak Show introduces new characters and sets up season-long story arcs. There will be lots of chaos as the show moves forward, and AHS hasn’t lost its capacity for shocking visuals.

Strongman Dell Toledo (played by Michael Chicklis) and his hermaphrodite wife, Desiree Dupree (played by Angela Bassett), have come from Chicago looking for work after their previous show closed (and Dell became wanted for murder). Elsa (played by Jessica Lange) decides to add them to the show but Dell has a complicated history with Ethel (played by Kathy Bates). They were married and he’s Jimmy’s (played by Evan Peters) father, but so far Jimmy doesn’t know about that. When Jimmy was a baby, Dell attempted to kill him because of his fused fingers, but Ethel forced him to leave at gunpoint. Although Elsa runs the show, Dell doesn’t appreciate being given orders by a woman and starts making changes, the first being starting a matinee during the day. Elsa is against the idea as she believes night shows add mystery but, since the town has a curfew due to the recent killings, that’s impossible. He makes conjoined twins Bette and Dot (played by Sarah Paulson) the new headliners where Dot shows great singing talent. The show brings a good crowd and Dot’s performance is a hit. Dell is pleased with himself but Elsa is not too thrilled.

The flashback that showed Desiree using her unique physique to pleasure a man continues the trend that “normal” people are secretly intrigued by people considered “freaks”. It’s a nice sendup of how in real life people have secret desires they keep hidden because they are considered out of the ordinary by society. Dell managed to become one of the most evil characters on the show in just one episode, not an easy task considering there’s a homicidal clown on the loose. But on the upside, he may save the show with his business savvy ways, unless everyone pisses him off and he ends up killing all of the performers. I liked how he regretted having Jimmy not because he had a birth defect but because Dell never wanted a child at all. That’s the first time Jimmy was hated for who he was and not what he looked like. It’s the opposite of what he wanted, but you have to start somewhere.

Unfortunately, their recent success is in trouble when the police come searching for the cop Jimmy killed in the premiere. So, they dig up the body and burn it, but Jimmy keeps the badge. Jimmy believes that if people could see that the “freaks” are normal people who just look different they would be more accepting. Predictably, everything goes wrong and everyone is frightened by their appearance and mannerisms until they are eventually forced to leave. Dell (who was going around town posting flyers) sees them and pummels Jimmy for his actions. Later, the police show up at the camp ground after an anonymous tip named Dell in the cop’s murder. Jimmy planted the badge in Dell’s trailer but Dell saw him doing it and hid it in another performer’s bed. That person was subsequently taken away and killed by locals who dumped the body at the campground. Elsa’s bad mood after Bette and Dot’s performance was shown to be mostly from jealousy because they had the spotlight she desperately wanted. Bette is also jealous of the attention her sister is getting and Elsa uses that to her advantage. She slips into their tent while Dot is asleep and manipulates Bette into taking the spotlight back from her sister and gives her a knife to do so.

Jimmy’s intention was good, but even the nicest of people would have trouble fitting in when they don’t have legs or unfused fingers. However, most of the people in the diner, while obviously scared of the “freaks,” were turned off primarily by how they behaved. You’d think Jimmy would have told them that hitting a waitress and screaming loudly aren’t the way to conduct yourself in public. Someone also should have told Jimmy that if you’re going to frame someone it’s best to do it when they aren’t nearby and able to see you. Once again, Jessica Lange plays a character who is jealous and wants power and she still makes it a compelling story to watch. Pitting Bette and Dot against each other should be fun to observe. Since they’re literally attached at the hip, they’ll have nowhere to hide from each other. There isn’t much that Bette can do with that knife that wouldn’t hurt herself as much as Dot, but I’d like to see what she comes up with.

Meanwhile, in a lavish mansion, Gloria Mott (played by Frances Conroy) is doing everything she can to please her spoiled son, Dandy (played by Finn Wittrock). She refuses to listen to her maid, Nora (played by Patti LaBelle), who claims he has been mutilating neighborhood cats. Dandy tries to convince Jimmy to let him join the show, believing he belongs there, but Jimmy scolds Dandy and tells him to go back to his comfortable life. Gloria tries to cheer him up by hiring a clown who turns out to be none other than Twisty (played by John Carroll Lynch), who she met after he finished killing two more people. Instead of murdering them, Twisty assaults Dandy and runs off with a few of his toys and brings them to his captives. When he takes a severed head out of his bag, Bonnie (played by Skyler Samuels) hits Twisty in the head with a makeshift weapon and his mask falls off, revealing that the lower half of his face is missing. She and the kid make a run for it and while Twisty recaptures him. She runs into Dandy who had followed Twisty into the woods. Dandy brings Bonnie back and tells Twisty that they need to be more careful about security if they want to have any fun.

I was disappointed at first when Twisty didn’t violently murder the Motts while he had the chance. He’d killed countless people already and decided to spare this whiny annoying brat. But when his psychotic characteristics came to light I started to become more intrigued by Dandy. If he would have spent the entire season as the whiny spoiled rich boy demanding gin from his crystal baby bottle (he actually has one), I would have grown bored of him fast. The promo for the next episode showed Dandy is his own clown costume, so he’s going to need his own name. I would go with Bitchy the Clown; it pairs nicely with the name Twisty and accurately describes his personality. Twisty really doesn’t need the mask. He looked scarier without it. Missing the lower half of his face would explain why he’s so pissed off. I’m sure there’s a great story behind that and I can’t wait to see what it is.

Quotes & Thoughts

“I’m married now. She’s a real lady and a star.” “You wouldn’t know a real lady from a goat’s ass.”

Why the hell would anyone in their right mind try and hire Twisty? He doesn’t look the least bit jolly or festive, just plain scary.

“People don’t come to see freaks in the heat of the day. They come in the evening when the darkness moves in and speaks of mystery, the unknown. When logic loosens its vice grip and the imagination comes out to play.”

Dandy’s adult baby bottle was hands down the most hilarious thing in the whole episode. I nearly died laughing when I saw it.

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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