Holy Split Personalities! Dandy thinks he’s the reincarnation of Twisty and Chester thinks his dummy is alive, but I think last week’s episode of “American Horror Story: Freak Show” should have been called, “Another One Bites the Dust.” Elsa was packing for Hollywood, but she was also ‘packing’ as in gun; as in goodbye Dell. Will Marjorie convince Chester to use the twins in his act? Will Dandy stop him? Does anyone know where Jimmy is? Enter the sideshow tent to find out… if you dare.
Revenge
Like an eerie trip down memory lane, we watch as Elsa and the other members of the sideshow introduce Stanley to the true meaning of Karma via the 1932 film Freaks by Tod Browning. They want to show him the film, but first a gift. Surprise! Stanley has his own specimen in a jar; the museum curator’s head. I absolutely loved how the writers of AHS had the freaks imitate scenes from Browning’s 1932 film especially in the way Stanley was hunted down, but did they kill him?
Things go from bad to worse as the sideshow freaks discover from that weasel Stanley that Elsa killed Ethel. While Desiree riles up their lust for revenge, Elsa and Maggie care for Jimmy. The bloom is off the rose and whatever feelings Jimmy had for Maggie are gone. He hates her. Elsa has sent for an old friend. Danny Huston is back as Massimo the craftsman who made Elsa’s legs.
We get a bit of a flashback on how Massimo hunted down the men responsible for taking Elsa’s legs; how he was captured by the ringleader and tortured, and his long search for Elsa. Nice, but all we want to know is, “Can you give Jimmy hands?” Jimmy will finally have normal hands, Yeah they’ll be made of wood, but he’ll have hands.
Marjorie the doll is pretty pissed off at Chester for brushing her to the floor during a hot and heavy afternoon delight with Bette and Dot. She wants the girls gone. Now, I don’t know about you, but some dolls can be really scary. I’m not talking the little baby dolls that are found on the shelves of Toys R Us, I’m talking about the dolls with bisque faces, arms and legs. The faces on some of those dolls are a bit freaky, if you ask me.
New Act
Chester is going over the new schedule with his performers, but when he demands that Bette and Dot become part of the act, as in get sawed in two, they walk out. Maggie, for reasons that I still don’t get, volunteers for the part. She knows how the trick works, but what she doesn’t know is that Chester is freaking crazy.
While Chester is performing his act on the unsuspecting Maggie, Dandy visits the twins. He wants to protect them from that crazy Chester, because after all, Dandy is so sane. Ha! I have come to love Dandy. Sure he’s sociopathic, homicidal, and delusional, but he’s so awesomely funny in a naïve sort of way. The angry little boy trapped in a man’s body. How can you hate the man that forever changed the way we look at Tupperware Parties? Tell the truth. If you received an invitation to a Tupperware party this year, wouldn’t Dandy come to mind, or Jimmy’s party-favor hands? Yep. Love Dandy.
Conclusion
I’m always surprised by what happens each week on “American Horror Story’s Freak Show.” The writers perform their own version of a magic show by teasing us into thinking we are in on the joke, and then, they pull the rug from under our feet. I didn’t expect Maggie to die. I liked Maggie (Emma Roberts) and thought that she was trying to right a wrong, but in the end, Jimmy turned his back on her and, Chester killed her in a brutal way. Neil Patrick Harris played his character, Chester, like a great magic act and, we are going to miss him.
Bette and Dot remember that Elsa saved their lives and return the favor with a warning. Run! But before Elsa leaves town, she makes a deal with Dandy. As Chester, covered in blood and carrying the dead dummy, enters the police station to confess a murder, Jimmy receives his new hands from Massimo… but wait! Why would Massimo make lobster hands for Jimmy? Why? Someone explain this to me.
Dandy takes over the sideshow. He’s a happy camper, alright. But while Dandy’s busy inspecting his property, he hears moaning and clucking sounds. And we, my little lot lice, see the final tribute to Browning’s film; Stanley is now part of the freak show.
Next week is the season finale and I’m going to miss everyone at that little sideshow. The different characters at Elsa’s Freak Show were able to make us to look into the mirror and admit that there is no such thing as normal. See you next week, my little lot lice.
