Alice Rush reviews the ninth episode of American Horror Story: Freak Show…
This week saw American Horror Story: Freak show actually get a bit exciting. So far the show has been quite slow to take off, focusing on too many different characters and not giving enough time to a central storyline. Tensions within the camp have been building for so long it actually started to feel boring and whilst this week’s episode ‘Tupperware Party Massacre’ still doesn’t reach the highs of past seasons and episodes it does firmly move the plot forward into a more exciting position for the quickly coming finale.
Most of the focus this week is on Jimmy who is distraught and drunk all the time after the death of Ethel last week. Between drunkenly having sex with Ima, the Fat Lady, and going back to his group of frustrated housewives he has a bit of a breakdown which culminates in him seeing a vision of Ethel who laments how much of a disappointment he is. This was nicely paralleled later on in the episode as a vision of her also appeared to Del, Jimmy’s father, as he attempted and failed to commit suicide. It’s great to still see Kathy Bates even though Ethel is no longer alive and it was a nice touch to unite Jimmy and Del in their shared pain.
Out of all the characters Jimmy is definitely one of the strongest characters, aided by the fact he’s been present in every episode, and seeing his story develop has been one of the highlights of the series, with the exception of his questionable undying love for Maggie. I do feel like the let down of Freak Show is that out of a fantastic ensemble cast the writers haven’t quite got the grip of how to weave all their separate character stories together. Some episodes feel like they’re from a completely different series and just as we get to know one character they’re sidelined the next week. A prime example this week being Regina, Dora’s daughter.
After Dandy goes on a killing spree he confesses all to Regina who understandably calls the police. In a great twist it turns out this was Dandy’s plan all along as he blackmails the cop with money to kill Regina and aid him in his plan to ruin Jimmy and take away everything he cares out, starting with having him arrested for Dandy’s crimes. Whilst I think this is a great storyline to follow as it’s something that will end the boring inter-camp drama and hopefully unite them against Dandy, once again we are introduced to a character (Regina) only to have her removed almost straight away. I maybe wouldn’t have minded if it wasn’t Coven veteran and fantastic actress Gabourey Sidibe playing the part. It just feels like the writers keep throwing good ideas at the show but without thinking through exactly how to make them stick, which overall contributes to a bit of a messy feeling. The show meanders through without a central thrust, or when it does have one it is then re-routed, as with Twisty.
Elsewhere in the camp this week Stanley and Elsa track down the twins. After weeks of being at each others throats Bette and Dot finally confront the elephant in the room and in a brilliant scene talk about being separated. Though Jimmy seemed to be the centre of attention this week I think the performance of the episode has to go to Sarah Paulson who plays the warring twins beautifully, delicately peeling off their respective layers until they no longer adhere to their stock stereotypes of the ‘tough’ one and the ‘stupid’ one. Seeing Bette and Dot turn a corner a be honest with each other was touching enough, Bette saying she’d give her life so that Dot could live without her brought on the tears but the climax of discovering Dot chose her sister over an independent life was enough to emotionally ruin me this week. It was a shame then that after this beautiful moment of sisterly love attention was turned back to Dot’s crush on Jimmy. It would have been nice to have to focus just on the sisters rather than involving a man but it did add to Jimmy’s enormous pile of guilt as he rejected her advances.
Overall I thought this was one of the strongest episodes this season has seen and had some fantastic acting performances. It was great to see the progression of guilt with Del and Jimmy as well as getting a taste of Dandy’s diabolical plan. This season has been quite slow to get off the ground but this week showed that it still can thrill it’s audience.
Alice Rush
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzYUW1bfw34&feature=player_embedded&list=PL18yMRIfoszFJHnpNzqHh6gswQ0Srpi5E
Originally published December 12, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
