American Horror Story: Freak Show – “Tupperware Party Massacre”

First Aired December 10th, 2014.

Everyone is still reeling from the sudden death of Ethel (played by Kathy Bates). Her death particularly affects her son, Jimmy (played by Evan Peters), and her ex, Dell (played by Michael Chiklis).

Jimmy has continued to stay drunk 24/7 and is hooking up with the freak show’s newest member, Ima Wiggles (played by Chrissy Metz). His behavior starts to repulse everyone, especially Maggie (played by Emma Roberts), who can’t stand to be around him. Jimmy goes to the home of a wealthy socialite to pleasure the ladies with his hands but is too drunk to perform. He sees a vision of Ethel and is berated for his behavior. He breaks down completely before being evicted by the women.

Meanwhile, Dell is starting to feel guilt over killing Ma Petite (played by Jyoti Amge) and his closeted homosexuality. He writes a suicide note for Jimmy and prepares to hang himself when Ethel appears to him. She scolds Dell for being a coward but he goes through with hanging himself. Luckily for him, Desiree (played by Angela Bassett) shows up and cuts him down in time.

Ethel might be dead, but it looks as though she’ll be sticking around for the rest of the season in spirit. This downward spiral Jimmy is going through is emotionally gut-wrenching. I wouldn’t expect anything less after he lost his mother. I’m glad that it seems he is going to start picking up the pieces though; Jimmy stumbling around drunk isn’t much fun to watch after two episodes.

There is more to Dell’s character than meets the eye and I hope we get to explore that before the season ends. I want to see more of Dell’s backstory surrounding his homosexuality and how that affected him growing up (whether or not he faced ridicule or persecution because of it and if that’s why he would rather die than let that secret be known). Maybe Dell can go from being a character people love to hate to a lovable, relatable antihero.

Bette and Dot (played by Sarah Paulson) have been staying in a motel after being hidden there by Ethel. Elsa (played by Jessica Lange) and Stanley (played by Denis O’Hare) show up, claiming a mob murdered Ethel and is out hunting freaks. The twins are taken to a remote cabin for their “safety” and are promised an operation to separate them. Stanley, of course, plans to murder the twins while Elsa believes they are really doing the operation as she’s against killing them. Bette finally decides to go through with the surgery and hopes that, if only one of them can make it, Dot can survive and live her normal life. However, Dot has a realization: they are family. They belong together. After that, the girls decide against the surgery and go back to the camp.

The twins attempt to jointly seduce Jimmy but he gently rebuffs them because he loves Maggie and they leave.

Jimmy must truly love Maggie if he’s able to pass up the love of not one but two beautiful women. It was awkward how Bette offered to shut her eyes to give him and Dot “privacy” that wouldn’t have been comfortable for him.

Bette and Dot deciding against the surgery was the only option, I’m surprised nobody saw it before. Sure they didn’t go through with it because they didn’t want to be apart, but logistically they can’t survive without each other.

Elsa apparently lost her taste for murder all of a sudden, but that’ll change when someone else gets in her way. It’s amazing how she swallows every lie that Stanley spins because of her hunger for fame.

Stanley is pulling out the stops to keep the charade going since obviously the twins would sell for a large price. Apparently, Stanley is also a “freak” because he is very well-endowed. I have no idea if this is going to be a factor on the show, but it keeps being brought up.

Dandy (played by Finn Wittrock) found a way to cope without the twins: he killed a woman selling makeup and tied her head to his mother’s corpse, crafting a mock Bette and Dot. When a drunk Jimmy confronts him about his role in the murders, Dandy promises to make him pay for taking the twins from him, and later he slaughters the women Jimmy had been servicing moments after he leaves.

When Regina (played by Gabourey Sidibe) comes to the mansion claiming to have went to the police, Dandy cheerfully confesses to killing her mother and all his other murders and invites Regina to bathe with him in a tub full of blood. Regina is thoroughly frightened and eventually Dandy allows her to leave. She returns with a detective. Dandy believes he is a god and is above the law because he has inherited his mother’s fortune. He offers the sleuth a million dollars if he kills Regina and the man shoots her without blinking. Later, Jimmy is arrested for the murders of the socialite women that Dandy murdered, fulfilling his revenge.

So, it turns out money can buy you anything, even the freedom to commit serial murder. I love that, with each new episode, Dandy’s psyche gets more and more warped while he still maintains that spoiled, rich-kid persona. That creepy puppet corpse he made was reminiscent of how Norman Bates treated his mother’s corpse. He also gets credit for using the family fortune as a get-out-of-jail-free card.

I was incredulous at how easy Dandy was making it for his crimes to be traced back to him, but little did I know he had a plan. All the money in the world can’t protect him forever though. He can bribe one cop, sure, but he can’t pay off the whole force. Dandy will have to keep finding scapegoats to frame in addition to whoever he bribes looking the other way. Jimmy will probably be the first of several freaks to be framed for murder. This could be his vengeance against the freak show altogether for refusing to let him join way back in the beginning of the season.

Quotes & Thoughts

“I cannot begin to tell you how it felt, that kind of control over their lives. Their trust, their fear, their pain and confusion. I believe I am living my destiny.”

If Dandy has to pay bribes for each murder committed, he’ll go broke fast without a proper budget, or if he doesn’t go easy on the killing.

“I’m your God, Jimmy, and I’ve decided that you need to suffer. I’m going to destroy you and everything you love. It will be so much fun.”

The freak show hasn’t put on a show for a while now. Have they lost all of their customers already?

If you enjoyed Manny’s piece, 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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