Plot: Edward Mordrake (Wes Bentley) has come to collect his “true freak” to take back to the other side. Jimmy (Evan Peters) and Maggie (Emma Roberts) discover Twisty (John Carroll Lynch) and his bus of secrets. Dandy (Finn Wittrock) collects his first victim.
In a continuation from last week, tonight’s episode of American Horror Story: Freak Show, “Edward Mordrake Part 2,” picks up with Edward searching for the perfect freak to join his troop. We already know that Ethel (Kathy Bates) isn’t the one and this week we watch as Edward scratches them off the list one by one until he narrows it down perfectly.
We finally hear about how Elsa (Jessica Lange) lost her legs and became the freak she fights so hard to hide. During her attempt to make it on the big screen, she agreed to be in a film she thought was fetish porn. Instead, it was a snuff film where they drugged her and cut her legs off with a chainsaw, leaving her to die. Her story was enough to make Edward’s second face believe she was the one until he is distracted by the music of Dandy and Twisty’s performance in the woods.
This performance, which you have to remember is a big no-no for freaks on Halloween, involves Maggie and Jimmy, who were captured when they discovered Twisty and Dandy’s hiding place. Hero Jimmy sets everyone free, forcing Dandy to chase while Edward has his moment with Twisty.
Twisty tells the story of how he was a clown in a traveling carnival but was teased by the freaks for having been dropped on his head as a child. He was a bit slow and was accused of being inappropriate with the children who came to see him. They spread the word to other shows, making it impossible for him to get any work, despite it being a lie. In a botched attempt to kill himself via shotgun in the mouth, Twisty lost his bottom jaw and we realize that, though he has done horrible things, his intentions were good all along. Unfortunately, Dandy’s intentions are not so pure.
The freaks are greeted by a mob of townsfolk who have come to show their appreciation for Jimmy’s heroism in saving the children from Twisty’s bus of horror. His actions sell out the show for the night, giving Elsa the chance to be a star.
http://youtu.be/bggn8sxfnf8
The development on Twisty is amazing. I knew we would eventually find out why he was the way he was but I didn’t expect him to be mentally disabled or to feel sorry for him. Twisty was bullied and had awful things happen to him because he was slow and, as a result, harbored some anger that showed when people didn’t appreciate his talents as a clown. As for the children, I had a theory that he was building a family when he collected those children and I wasn’t too far off.
I cannot fail to mention his face without that mask. Actually, I am speechless about it.
The flashbacks during Elsa’s sob story were incredibly graphic for cable television. The nail studded toilet seat was certainly the disturbing highlight of it all. I watched that part twice and cringed both times. As for her legs, I had just assumed Elsa had lost them during WWII from a bomb or in a concentration camp. I had never considered that her past could have been more cringe worthy.
Dandy has some serious issues. Had he understood Twisty’s true intentions, perhaps he wouldn’t have latched on so hard but, seeing that Twisty was a murderer and, to the uneducated, seemed like a psychopath, Dandy has absorbed that darkness that Twisty projected. He has taken a step beyond the point of no return and there is no saving him now. We can only assume that he is going to take revenge on the freaks for spoiling what he had.
These past two episodes have set a new story in motion, one that is certain to be darker than the story we have come to know. While the freaks see a light at the end of the tunnel, thanks to Jimmy, I see only darkness coming their way. Elsa has provoked the twins, Jimmy has provoked Dandy and the arrival of Stanley (Denis O’Hare) can only mean bad things for at least one unlucky freak.
After tonight’s major developments, we can prepare for next week to be a less exciting episode but one that will help build to something major in the coming weeks. I cannot wait to see how they shock us next.
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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