I said last week that I don’t think that AHS could top last
week’s show, but I was pleasantly surprised. This season of AHS was similar to
others in plot holes and non-sequitors, but overall I enjoyed it as my favorite
since Asylum.
We begin with Paul, Lizard Girl and the Fat Lady hanging new
signs for Dandy’s new headlining act. Paul
is grumpy, “Our world is dying, and this is the last stop on the line.”
The troupe returns to the tent to report no tickets have
been sold. Dandy throws a fit and Paul
and the others descend on him. With
Dandy on the ground, Paul spits in his face and they all quit.
Elsa’s story continues with her arrival in Hollywood. It’s a tough sale, she’s not in twenties and
her act is not very original or good. (Remember her singing, egad!) She hopes
to wear them down by sitting down in the lobby all day. Her patience pays off, when she loses it with
the receptionist; a man comes to her defense. He happens to be the casting director of the
network. Elsa is in.
Dandy is primping for the show, but not it’s not Cole Porter
tunes. With his golden gun and humming a
tune, he begins his rampage. (I’m not
sure, but I think it was the Waltz of the Flowers?) He begins with Paul, then Lizard Girl,
Toulouse, and Legless Sue a random carnie, then the Fat Lady. So far, no one
has offered much resistance. Their last looks are ones of shock. Then he heads into Desiree’s trailor, she
hides and seems to go undetected. Then Dandy spins around to find Amazon Eve
ready to fight him with an axe. She gets
some good licks in, and I was really hoping she’d end him right there. But, it’s not to be, and Amazon Eve is shot. (How many bullets does this golden revolver
have? I count about 7 dead without reloading.) The scene cuts to a tied up Bette and Dot.
Jimmy returns at almost the worst time ever. He calls out
“Hello” and reminded me of Tony from the West Side Story. (“Come on and shoot
me too, Chino!”) He finds the stage filled with the bodies of the entire
troupe, except Desiree, who appears and holds him.
After the break, we see the wedding of Bette to Dandy. How that works, I have no idea! (Dot says
she’ll just close her eyes and leave her body when they want to be alone.) It seemed like it might be another “dream
sequence” as we’ve seen before this season. But, they are married, and celebrating at that
ridiculously long table, when the maid comes in to pour more champagne, it’s
Desiree! Dandy’s vision starts to blur
as Dot explains their ruse and that they have a special performance planned in
which Dandy will star. Death by poison would have been too easy.
Dandy returns to the freak show, in tightie whities, chained
in Houdini’s tank. Jimmy, Bette, Dot and
Desiree gather around to taunt him. They
begin to fill the tank with water. Desiree delivers a scathing speech, “You might
look like a motion- picture dreamboat, but you are the biggest freak of them
all!”
Screaming, “I hate you!” with his dying breaths, Dandy dies while his “audience” munches popcorn and declares it a hell of a show.
The “flash forward” device is utilized to arrive in 1960,
where the Elsa Mars getting her very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Her successes are on television and recording. However, she’s just as evil as ever, when it
comes to demeaning her staff and her husband. (The casting director who
discovered her.) She fights with the
network about her refusal to perform a Halloween special. Elsa leaves, fuming, to head home, when
Massimo appears. They reminisce, and he tells her he has a month to live. Her response
is one of pure selfishness, “Then I shall have no friends.” Whose fault is
that?
Elsa’s past catches up with her, finally. The CEO of the network shows up, and it’s not
good news. They have discovered her old
Berlin film and her husband is incensed that she lied about how she lost her
legs. (How that film would have survived a World War in the pre-digital age is
pretty far fetched.) Then Freakshow baggage drops. Elsa learns of the massacre
seemingly for the first time. She does
seem genuinely horrified.
Elsa decides to do the Halloween show in hopes of be taken by
Edward Mondrake. Elsa sings David Bowie
again, this time it’s “Hero’s”. Mondrake
arrives with Twisty and others in his collection of dark souls. He realizes that she wants to die and says he
cannot take her with him. Elsa falls down, dying on live television.
I had hoped that the ending would provide a happy ending for
Dot and Bette. We see them pregnant with Jimmy and his wooden lobster
hands. Maybe they will have a “normal”
life after all. Desiree and her husband and their two children are out
trick-or-treating when she sees Elsa on the television in a window
display. She walks on; content with the
life she has created beyond Dell and the Freakshow.
Elsa returns to the Freakshow tent and is greeted by Ma
Petite. Ethel comes to embrace her, and
all is forgiven. Ethel is shown as her
younger self, red haired and happy. Elsa
takes the stage and the show will go on with her and her troupe, together
forever.
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