American Horror Story: Freak Show – “Pink Cupcakes”

First aired November 5, 2014.

The episode opens with Stanley (played by Denis O’Hare) and Maggie (played by Emma Roberts) attending a museum opening featuring people from the freak show as exhibits. It turns out to be a fantasy of Stanley’s who is gleefully anticipating making a fortune from people in the show.

Stanley uses his alias as a talent scout to continue visiting the campground and tries to entice Elsa (played by Jessica Lange) with the promise of her own show, but she denounces television as the downfall of entertainment. However, her tune changes when the crowd hates her song so much that people heckle and throw food at Elsa during the performance. The next day Stanley drives off with Bette and Dot (played by Sarah Paulson) after giving them the same offer. He tries to get the girls to eat some pink cupcakes laced with poison. Bette eats one and, shortly afterward, dies. Dot is left crying in pain next to her lifeless sister until Stanley finally kills her, their bodies later shown on display at the museum. The whole sequence turns out to be another one of Stanley’s fantasies and, in reality, Dot turns down the cupcakes for both sisters in order to watch their weight for their television debut. Elsa goes to their tent to congratulate Bette and Dot on their success and offers to bring them into town to buy a new wardrobe. Dot is skeptical about Elsa’s intentions but Bette is happy to accept. That said, the twins realize something is up when they notice Elsa is driving them away from town.

Elsa must truly be delusional if she believed someone would offer her a television show after such a horrible performance. I really liked the fantasy sequences interspersed throughout the episode because they helped distort what was real what wasn’t. When Bette and Dot seemingly died at the hands of Stanley, it appeared to be real. The visual of Dot lying next to her dead and decomposing sister was a frightening image, especially Dot crying in pain and trying to mentally speak with Bette. It also gave viewers an idea of what is in store for anyone Stanley and Maggie do manage to capture; being dissected and stuffed in a tank of water like a zombie head in The Governor’s sitting room. Since the show has gained so much popularity lately, it might be harder now for them to kill and ship any of the freaks to the museum. I know Elsa wants fame more than anything, but I don’t know if she’s evil enough to murder the twins to keep them from stealing her spotlight. Elsa’s plan could be to drive them far away and try and convince them to go off and explore the world, or at the very least hope they don’t find their way back to the show.

Although the show has been thriving, several people are dealing with personal problems. Jimmy (played by Evan Peters) is still lauded as a hero but continues to feel the stigma of being a “freak” when Maggie rejects his romantic advances. He goes to speak with Desiree (played by Angela Bassett) and things get heated. Jimmy uses the “hidden talent” he has with his hands but stops when Desiree begins bleeding. Ethel (played by Kathy Bates) brings Desiree to the doctor where she is informed that, despite her belief that she was born a hermaphrodite, she is 100% female. In actuality, what she thought was a male organ was the result of a hormonal imbalance that can be easily removed. She is also told that the bleeding came from a miscarriage.

Dell (played by Michael Chiklis) is revealed to be a closeted homosexual who visits an underground gay bar to see male prostitute Andy (played by Matt Bomer). Dell wants Andy to leave his line of work and gets possessive and jealous at the mention or thought of him with other men.  Andy is happy with the way things are and notes that Dell is still married. Hurt by this, Dell leaves, going home to Desiree who explains what the doctor told her, as well as her intention to have an operation to remove her excess body part and have children with someone else. Desiree leaves Dell and goes to bunk with Ethel. Ah, but Dell won’t let her go that easily. He goes to the doctor and breaks several of his fingers, threatening to hurt his family if he goes through with Desiree’s operation.

Poor Jimmy can’t ever catch a break. Even when he’s considered the town hero people can’t look past his hands. What’s interesting about Desiree is that she got what most of these “freaks” have always dreamed of, a way to remove the thing that makes them considered freaks. True, she will always have three breasts but most guys would be into that and now there is the hope of starting a family. I always thought Desiree was staying with Dell because she felt nobody would accept her. Who knew the feeling was mutual? Desiree’s condition made her the perfect woman for a closeted man like him and the realization that she could become a total woman scared him. Although from what we’ve seen, even when he thought she had male parts he couldn’t get past the fact that she was also a woman, and thus wasn’t able to become aroused. Dell being in the closet also explains his explosive temper, but there was a more vulnerable side to him in this episode. He seemed to genuinely care about Andy and wanted better things for him than selling his body, but growing angry to the point of near violence kept Andy from getting too serious with him. Things will always work out that way because, instead of trying to work things civilly with Desiree or Andy, Dell goes right for the violent solution. He can’t go around breaking the fingers of every doctor in the country, so he’ll have to come up with another plan.

Gloria Mott (played by Frances Conroy) discovers the body of her maid, Dora (played by Patti LaBelle), in the dining room. Gloria immediately knows her son, Dandy (played by Finn Wittrock), is responsible and grounds him for the rest of the day while she figures out how to clean up the mess. She blames his “condition” on his father and he blames it on her for not supporting his acting career. Gloria has some men dig a hole several feet deep in their backyard, secretly burying Dora there, and plants flowers on the sight. The next day, Dora’s daughter, Regina (played by Gabourey Sidibe), calls. She’s looking for her mother, Gloria lies and claims Dora is out, but the guilt gets to her and she breaks down crying.

Dandy, meanwhile, has fully embraced his new role as a serial killer, dreamily anticipating the future murders he will commit. He goes to the same gay bar, where he picks up Andy and takes him to the abandoned bus. After they strip to their underwear, Dandy brutally stabs Andy while wearing the smiley face mask that once belonged to Twisty (played by John Carroll Lynch). However, Dandy’s technique is still rusty, since Andy is still alive even when he starts cutting his body up to be dissolved in acid.

The episode ends with Elsa arriving at the Mott mansion with Bette and Dot, plotting to get rid of them by taking up Gloria on her offer to buy them in the season premiere.

It’s a good thing the normal punishment for murder isn’t sending people to their rooms, otherwise people would be doing it more often. Dandy’s hatred toward his mother is easy to understand since she ignored him throughout his childhood and constantly treats him like a child now that he’s grown, but that doesn’t excuse him from being a thundering loony.

The scene of Dandy in his underwear working out and musing about killing people was a nice homage to the character Patrick Bates from American Psycho. I like that Dandy is continuing to evolve into a more dark and sinister character while still retaining the spoiled persona that makes you love to hate him. You would think it wouldn’t be that hard to kill someone. His frustrated reaction to Andy still being alive after being stabbed and dismembered was hilarious. Though I still regret losing Twisty, I think Dandy might prove to be a capable villain. He did have the sense not to wear his clown costume anymore since the cops are looking for that. Even so, he is still a long way off from being anywhere near as scary as Twisty. He should, at the very least, be an entertaining villain.

I thought Elsa was going to drive Bette and Dot in the middle of nowhere and kill them, but their fate turned out to be much worse. Also, Dandy now has his own live-in hostage to torture and eventually kill, even if that could earn him another day or two in his room.

Quotes & Thoughts

“The body will decompose down there and give life to these flowers. In spring, you will look down at the blanket of color and say she did not die in vain.”

If nothing else, Gloria may come to appreciate Dandy’s murderous habits if her garden starts to grow in nicely.

“How are you still alive? You’re making me feel bad, stop it!”

Since the sound was muted, I can’t tell if Elsa’s performance went so bad because she had stage fright and fumbled on the words, or if people genuinely thought she had no talent.

“This body is America: strong, violent and full of limitless potential. My arms will hold them down when they struggle, my legs will run them down when they flee. I will be the U.S. Steel of murder.”

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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