Due to the string of murders in town, a curfew is put in place, leaving the Freak Show to find a new time to put on their show. A strong man joins the troupe, bringing with him more trouble than just the law. The Tattler twins (Sarah Paulson) find their talent, which threatens Elsa’s (Jessica Lange) place in the spotlight. Dandy (Finn Wittrock) finds himself a new friend to cure him of his boredom.
This week’s episode “Massacres and Matinees” marks the arrival of strong man Wendell Toledo (Michael Chiklis) and his wife of extra talents, Desiree Dupree (Angela Bassett). Desiree seems to want to fit in and do her job while her husband is nothing but trouble for everyone, especially Jimmy Darling (Evan Peters) and Ethel (Kathy Bates).
Tension builds between the Tattler Twins when one proves to be more talented than the other. Last week, we got to see Elsa (Jessica Lange) sing the David Bowie classic “Life on Mars,” a song released almost 20 years after the show is supposed to take place. This week, the song is more than 40 years premature as it was a huge hit from 1997. I will not spoil things by telling you what song it is, but I cannot quite figure out if I like that they are not being historically accurate.
The clown (John Carroll Lynch) is back. If possible, he is scarier this week than last. Perhaps it is because we get a much better look at his face close up. We are finally able to break down his face makeup and prosthetics and deduce where he got and why he wears each piece. The reasoning is far stranger than you could imagine.
Elsa keeps getting more and more meddlesome. She is not unlike the other characters Lange has played in previous seasons. She needs to be the star, doing whatever it takes to achieve that goal whether it be setting people up or persuading others to do her dirty work.
Dandy Mott (Finn Wittrock) has a larger role this week. He finds his wealthy life at home with his mother Gloria (Frances Conroy) to be too boring. She brings him home a new friend to play with, who proves to be exactly what Dandy needs.
His character disturbs me. You can tell that his privileged life and overbearing mother has made him insane. He drinks his liquor out of a crystal bottle with a nipple on it. Surely there is nothing weird about that, right? You can tell his character is going to be nothing but trouble this season.
This week’s episode has certainly built up for something huge next week. We can expect murder, vengeance and, of course, good old fashioned freaks.
Episode rating 9/10
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Ann Hale is the horror editor for Pop-Break.com and a senior contributing writer, reviewing horror movies and television shows. She is also the American Correspondent for Lovehorror.co.uk. Ann attended East Carolina University, majoring in English Literature. She is a collector of Halloween (the film) memorabilia and is a self-admitted opinionated horror nerd. You can follow her, her collection and her cat, Edward Kittyhands on Twitter and Instagram @Scarletjupiter
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