American Horror Story: Freak Show S04 E08: Bloodbath

We missed the Freak Show last week because of Thanksgiving, and speaking of turkeys, on the last episode of “American Horror Story,” a few of the male characters were behaving a bit fowl; the dirty vultures. Stanley is a greedy parasite, Penny’s dad a sadistic buzzard, and Dandy is a homicidal nut job, but Del used his strength to crush the life out of the most vulnerable person in the sideshow. We never did learn Ma Petite’s background and that’s a shame. The question is who will be blamed for Ma Petite’s disappearance.

Mother’s Intuition

It’s flashback time and we start with little Dandy’s childhood. That boy was a cracked nut from the get go. He was slicing and dicing as soon as he learned to walk. Gloria relates to her therapist that she’s worried about her son, who she has always viewed as a foreigner. When the psychoanalyst questions if did Dandy did any recent damage, her reply is, “It’s just a mother’s intuition.” I don’t know about you, Gloria, but a dead maid in your dining room is called evidence in my book.

So, the question is… will Dandy go willingly to see the Shrink? What do you think? To add to Gloria’s concerns for her son, she has another mess to deal with; Regina. The girl wants to know where her mother is and, I don’t think the Motts are going to show her the latest addition to the garden. They tell her that Dora is out of town shopping for the best squash. The look on Regina’s face was priceless. Did I mention how much I love the writing on this show? Regina (Gabourey Sidibe) comes back with her own zinger, “I’ll wait.”

Ethel

Ethel was the one person in that whole freak show that I really cared about. Ethel had a heart as big and loving as Elsa’s was small and cold. Already suspicious of her friend in regards to the twins, when poor Ma Petite’s bloody clothing is found, Ethel thinks Elsa killed her. She had heard the conversation between Stanley and Elsa about getting rid of the twins.

Elsa’s flashback to how she got new her new wooden legs, doesn’t sway Elsa who is dying anyway. Ethel has a gun and she intends to take out two for the price of one, but she forgot that Elsa is slick and deadly.

Maggie is the one who finds Ethel’s body. It was a car crash everyone is told. Ethel drove into the tree. She must have been depressed over her cancer, but how did she lose her head. Maybe, Stanley had a hand in this staged death.

Penny

Jimmy’s heartfelt eulogy for his mother has an unexpected effect on the sideshow women who have been victimized themselves. Desiree has lost all hope of getting that needed surgery that would enable her to bear children thanks to Del, Penny has been disfigured by the man who should have protected her; dad, and Amazon Eve (Erika Ervin) and Legless Suzi (Rose Siggins) probably have their own list of horror stories. They decide to take down Penny’s dad.

Ima Wiggles

Elsa is like a shark coasting through the sea. Where real sharks actually provide a service because they keep the marine ecosystem healthy by eating the sick and weak; controlling the herbivores from overeating vegetation, Elsa takes in the sick and the weak to feed off their disabilities. Elsa has a new act for the sideshow; The Fat Lady. Elsa makes sure she provides Barbara (Chrissy Metz), the debutante, with as much food as possible, after all the show must go on.

Conclusion

This was a show about women and about mothers; the good, the bad and the ugly. Kathy Bates made her character, Ethel, beautiful inside and out and we hardly noticed the beard because we fell in love with Ethel. She cared for the other lost souls of that side show and acted like a mother; protective. I can’t believe that Kathy Bates’ character has been killed off. The show just won’t be the same without her and neither will Jimmy (Evan Peters). He has fallen into despair and the bottle.

Elsa claims to be the mother of all the performers, calling them her children, but she is more likely to kill them if they dare to take her place in the spotlight. Although innocent of Ma Petite’s death, she eagerly helped Stanley stage the face accident to protect her skin.

Desiree, Penny, Eve and Suzi had captured and planned to not only tar and feather Penny’s brutal dad, but Desiree was looking forward to doing a penectomy on the man before shooting him. Unfortunately, Maggie talked some sense into the gals and they decided to let the man live; darn.

The Motts were busy decorating for Christmas as bodies were collecting among their flower gardens. Gloria (Frances Conroy) knew how dangerous Dandy was. Even the psychoanalyst knew how deadly Dandy (Finn Wittrock) was when he flunked the Rorschach test and talked about eating his enemies. But, Gloria had always protected her son. She loved him, even his madness, but she had grown weary of covering up for him especially after he demanded that she kill Regina.

Gloria is dead, bullet to the head compliments of Dandy. I don’t know if she’ll be the newest addition to the garden, or if it was her blood that Dandy was bathing in. Dandy did get one thing right. It was his mother’s fault that he was a killer. She should have had him committed a long time ago. I have to say that Finn Wittrock is a very talented actor and he has succeeded in making his Dandy character both scary and funny at the same time.

The sideshow is in trouble and without Ethel; I fear our friends are heading towards extinction. See you next week, my little lot lice.