TV Recap – American Horror Story: Freakshow ‘Show Stoppers’
4 min read
This weeks episode of American Horror Story Freakshow was the penultimate episode of the season, and therefore dived straight into the action. So we’ll take the cue and dive straight into this recap as well!
After the revelation at the end of last weeks that Dell killed Ma Petite at Stanley’s request, Elsa and the other freaks were out for revenge. They gave Stanley a parting gift; it was the head of the women who ran the freak museum. Stanley knows the gig is up, aaaaand ends up getting hacked into by the rest of the freaks, although not before revealing that Elsa was the one to murder Ethel. Elsa tries to pass it off as the raving of a madman, but in their hearts the freaks know it’s true.
We see a rare, kind side to Elsa as she takes care of handless Jimmy, who doesn’t react well to the news that his father is dead. He refuses to believe that Dell killed Ma Petite, particuarly because most of the information came from the traitorous Maggie. Maggie assures Jimmy that she will do anything and everything she can to prove to the freaks that she’s changed. Elsa sends a message to an old friend to come and help Jimmy. As most of us guessed, it was the young soldier who had been besotted with Elsa when she had her legs cut off, and he was the one who made her new ones. This recurring character sees Huston and Lange pair up once again. Whilst explaining why Mossimo left Elsa all those years ago, another sneaky reference to AHS: Asylum was made with the mention of one torturous Hans Gruper. With the loss of his father, Jimmy has a lot of time to think and rather than lead a normal life with new hands, he asks for Mossimo to make him a pair of lobster hands.
Meanwhile things are moving quickly between Chester and the twins. He even puts Marjorie away for them as they’re being intimate, and Chester believes they’re a good influence on himself. However, Marjorie doesn’t like being pushed aside and she reminds Chester that he’s not a good person: he’s a murderer. I don’t think it came as a surprise to anyone that Marjorie was just his subconcious trying to cover up the horrible things he’s done. Marjorie tells Chester he cannot have them both, and in the end she convinces him that the twins have to go. Meanwhile, Dandy pays a visit to Bette and Dot as a ‘concerned friend’ with a file on all the things Chester’s done. Whilst they’re adament that Chester’s a good man, after Dandy’s gone they can’t help but peak at the file.
It’s little wonder then that at rehearsals the next day the twins decide that they don’t want to be Chester’s assistant for his magic act anymore. But Maggie’s desperate to prove herself and gain everyone’s trust, and hey, she knows how the box trick works! But Chester (quite obviously) has mental issues and when he looks at Maggie he just keeps seeing the ex-wife that he murdered. So Chester goes a wee bit crazy and places a handcuffs around Maggie’s ankles, so that she can’t slide her feet up to properly perform the illusion. Yet Chester still continues to slice with his giant saw, quite easily I might add. I feel like Emma Roberts could’ve panicked a bit more, she seemed a little bit calm for someone who literally just got sawed in half. What I did love though was when the box came apart; the way Maggie’s internal organs pooled on the floor was some of the essential horror and gruesomeness that we’ve been missing from this season. And you can’t help but love Desiree’s reaction : “She had it coming”. Oh yes she did.
Chester, meanwhile, is horrified at what he’s done and he realises it’s all Marjorie’s fault. They struggle, and eventually Chester stabs Marjorie ‘to death’. Am I the only one who found it hilarious that NPH was distraught over stabbing a wooden puppet? I highly doubt it. Wrecked with guilt, the only thing to do is to turn himself into the police for murder. Whilst the police were initially alarmed because Marjorie was wrapped up like a baby, they quickly realised this was a different situation entirely. I’m pretty certain we’re not going to see Chester again, because he’ll be locked up in a mental institution.
But the rest of the freaks have other matters on their mind: getting justice for Ethel’s death. They plan to kill Elsa, only for the twins to tell her so she can escape. Despite the horrible things she’s done to them, Elsa rescued the twins from the hospital at the beginning of the season, and that’s a debt that has now been repaid. Elsa couldn’t believe that her darling freaks would do this to her, but as reality sets in she quickly comes up with a plan. She needs quick getaway money, and with Chester out of the picture, she sells the freakshow to our favourite Dandy. Whilst Elsa drives off into the sunset, Dandy heads to the show to tell everyone the great news and to revel in the fact that he is finally an actor. Oh and it turns out that Stanley is a kind of mutilated version of Meep now, because why not?
I’d love to hear everyone’s theories for the finale! With so many loose ends and plot holes, who knows where the ending may lead…
