Come one, come all to the new weekly TV Recap of American Horror Story: Freak Show in which every Thursday I take a look at the latest happenings in Fraulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities. What will the fourth season of Ryan Murphy's anthology series bring and what will we remember from this delightfully oddball group of characters? Join me as I look at the Top 5 Characters of the week, recap important events, and share overall thoughts on the series as well as any other interesting tidbits worth of mention.
Top 5 Characters of the Week
1. Twisty the Clown (John Carroll Lynch)
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| John Carroll Lynch |
Importance: Prepare to sympathize with the killer who has freaked you out for a few weeks now. As Edward Mondrake (Wes Bentley) makes his rounds, he lands on Twisty and the story gets really sad very quickly. In an episode focusing on freaks who have sinned, none are more tragic than Twisty's fall from grace. All that he wanted to do was entertain children. Then some dwarfs turned him into an outcast by accusing him of pedophilia. One failed suicide attempt via a shot gun wound later and the mangled mess of a clown has turned evil. He is unable to repent and thinks that he is doing right. It is tragic and somehow warrants his death entirely.
Best Scene: It is in the story that things begin to unwind. However, there's something tragic that comes in the later half. Where becoming an outcast is sad enough, being kicked out of a toy store for being a pedophile is only the start. The gun shot wound is the lynch pin in this tale that creates the scar that is unable to heal. He is miserable and has lost his grasp of humanity. He cages people up in a rundown bus and the simpleton logic begins to turn into a vicious attack. The origin story is sad, but nothing quite matches the moment of realization that his days were over as a performer as he walked away from Fraulein Elsa's tent and began a life of crime.
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| Wes Bentley |
2. Edward Mondrake
Importance: Is he just a character for exposition or something deeper? In truth, he is likely just an excuse for the writers to unveil every characters dark secrets. It gives us a peek into people the freaks' lives that lead them here and it is all so sad. Even if his only purpose in the entire episode is to kill somebody, he manages to keep the suspense rolling for as long as possible. As he says goodbye to each person, there's a contemplation of who he will seek next. By the end, there's little that could be done in the episode without him, though he doesn't do much else when you think about it.
Best Scene: He is a good listener. He listens to the freaks tell their stories and he responds in a deadpan manner. As it is likely to predict, Twisty's story is the most tragic of everyone's and thus his reaction is unnerving. In the moments following the conclusion of his story, Mondrake gives his full opinions of Twisty. Right as the audience is about to sympathize with him, Mondrake pulls him away and returns him to a "happy" life in which he has a face and clean clothes. It is eerie, but the right move to make. It will jeopardize the rest of the show potentially, but his reasoning was very much valid.
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| Finn Wittrock |
3. Dandy Mott (Finn Wittrock)
Importance: Having teamed up with Twisty, he is officially a psychopath. He is more outward about his motives than Twisty and it makes him rather creepy. However, when he loses his captives and is forced to run from the police, he becomes a nuanced terror that strikes fear by killing his maid and donning the mask of the recently deceased Twisty. It is time for Dandy to rule the serial killer market. Hope you're ready for that.
Best Scene: After donning the mask, he has fully embraced his sadistic side. His first attack is on his maid, who has been taunting him for most of the series to date. With Halloween behind them, she finds it ridiculous that he keeps dressing up. Still, with his new found mask, he commits a murder that is satisfying to him. The nagging maid who was always against him seems like the perfect person for him to vent his frustrations out on. Where will things go from here?
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| Evan Peters |
4. Jimmy "Lobster Boy" Darling (Evan Peters)
Importance: To put it bluntly, he gets the freaks the respect that they deserve. After getting kidnapped by Twisty and Dandy, he managed to help them escape their treacherous trap. Everything is going well, even if he can't get over Meep's death and isn't entirely satisfied with the police force just yet. Yep, even when Lobster Boy has his success story, he has to have another grudge not too far off. Though kudos for him on making things safe for everybody involved. He may have actually improved business in the process.
Best Scene: It is the moment of catharsis for Fraulein Elsa (Jessica Lange) and the gang as Lobster Boy has solved their problem with the townspeople. He is the hero and everybody respects him. People want to shake his hand. With Twisty out of the picture, things may be looking to return to normal. However, he still hates the police for killing Meep and there's still a whole bunch of episodes left to go. Something will have to go wrong. Maybe the police murder from episode 1 will come back to bite him. Either way, things are at peace for now.
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| Jessica Lange |
5. Elsa Mars
Importance: Seeing as she is one of Mondrake's victims, it makes sense why she would have a back story in this episode. In fact, it gets really weird really quick. Apparently, she used to be a German dominatrix that was into some really fetishistic stuff involving toilets. It is bizarre, kinky and kind of explains her personality. When she was in charge, everybody loved her. After she lost her legs, not so much. She had to build her own army and thus her freak show was formed.
Best Scene: Much like everyone else's story, the best moments are the saddest. After meeting up with the wrong people, Elsa falls victim to having her legs sawed off. It leaves her defenseless and useless. Considering her current control of the show, it is astounding that she actually managed to recover from everything as effectively as she did. Still, those uncomfortable moments of watching her legs disappear is a tragic moment that makes this episode overall a downer, but one that helped to get exposition out of the way rather quickly.
Overall Thoughts
I get why this episode is important. I really, really do. There were things that needed to get out of the way eventually. For many, the back story of Twisty was a prominent one that has fueled a lot of his menace. Why was this lunatic chasing everyone? It all came together in a crescendo of sadness. Following Ethel Darling's (Kathy Bates) story last week, Mondrake's purpose became clearer. While the novelty of him serving as an excuse for exposition waned from time to time, it still managed to fill in all of the gaps. I wasn't as wild about learning Elsa's story. However, since it was there, it might as well be told. This show seems to embrace going into weird corners of these characters.
Though if we can be honest, unless Dandy pulls a hat trick in the remainder of these episodes, I am skeptical about the series' potential. Like most, Twisty was a character that was magnetic every time he was on screen. True, his death was powerful, but without him, Dandy just seems like a masked lunatic. It isn't that I am opposed to a townsfolk breaking the mold, but Dandy has always been a mediocre character to me. Yes, I have featured him prominently in the Top 5 Best Characters on any given week, but he has worked in doses. As the series' premiere villain now, I am annoyed by the idea of him flailing his limbs and that replacing the quiet horror of Twisty. I am really concerned about this aspect of the show, which still works, but is borderline caricature at times.
Even then, the episode was kind of a mediocre outing because it was essentially exposition piece after exposition piece. They're full of memorable moments, but you kind of wish that there was more to the episodes. By the end, Twisty's death is the only big thing that happened this week. That isn't a big problem, but in terms of pacing, I really wonder if things stand any chance of getting better. I liked the structure of the past few episodes, but this felt rushed and an excuse to show off technical flourishes. It is fine, but come on.
It's time to raise speculation on the new guy who just came to the show and befriended Elsa and her troupe. Is that guy going to be good, or is he just in for the kill? It seems like while things are going well, it's all a front for something big. There's still jealous characters and other people trying to break apart the show. I want to believe that Dandy will be part of this plan, though he really is starting to be a convincingly annoying character in my immediate memory. Let's hope that this show can pull a surprise out now that it took away one of its defining characters.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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