TV Recap – American Horror Story: Freakshow ‘Massacres and Matinees’
3 min read
This week American Horror Story: Freakshow wasted no time diving headfirst into the dark, murky weirdness it’s renowned for. The title of the episode, ‘Massacres and Matinees’, was very befitting and delivered on its promise. One thing I was really impressed with was the way the show dealt with some fantastic character development whilst still getting right into the plot.
The arrival of new freaks strongman Dell Toledo (Michael Chilkis) and three-breasted hermaphrodite Desiree Dupree (Angela Bassett) causes a scene. Dell in particular manages to ruffle some feathers, least of all because he is Ethel’s ex-husband and Jimmy’s father (unknown to Jimmy). Elsa hires him because she wishes to have a male presence around whilst there’s a murderer on the loose; however, Dell takes this to mean that he’s in charge of the freakshow. He butts heads with Elsa over the idea of a matinee, and Elsa agrees to compromise – only to be pushed from the limelight of the show. Her jealousy of Bette and Dot starts to rear its head this episode, with Bette earning adoration for her singing skills.
The carny folks learn a lesson the hard way this epiode. Despite their constant musings that they are just like everybody else, a trip to the local cafe proves that the townsfolk aren’t willing to accept the freaks amongst themselves. Tempers fly in this episode, but Jimmy’s screams over Meep’s body is heartwrenching. Meep is wrongly accused of murdering the police chief, a crime Jimmy tried to pin on Dell. Before Jimmy can go to the police and confess, Meep is killed in prison. The guilt Jimmy feels over Meep’s death is sure to play on his conscious over the next few episodes.
Now let’s move onto everyone’s favourite walking nightmare: Twisty the clown. After a couple of overly-theatrical murders just to snatch a toy, we see old Twisty become rich-boy Dandy’s personal clown. Dandy is a much more complex character than previously shown: he drinks cognac from a bejeweled baby bottle, has ambitions of becoming a thespian and a maid hints at some other dark activities Dandy is fond of (cat’s bones are mentioned – no red flags there AT ALL). Whilst this sounds a bit suspicious, I can’t be the only one who was surprised that he followed Twisty to his hideout after seeing a decapitated head in Twisty’s bag of tricks. I was even more dumbfounded when Dandy helped Twisty recapture the children and claim that Twisty needs to work better on his confinement; what is up with this guy?!
Dandy’s creepiness (which I find more confronting than old mate Twisty) will continue next episode, if the new promo is anything to go by. Is he going to start dressing up like a clown and become Twisty’s apprentice? We have a week to wait to find out.
Let us know in the comments what you thought of this episode of AHS and your predictions for the rest of the season!
