‘American Horror Story: Freak Show’ episode 8 review: Death within chaos
After a week off, “American Horror Story: Freak Show” returned to FX tonight with what we would like to describe as a resounding thud. Really, we don’t quite know what happened here.
For a show that started off with so much promise, what we have here ultimately is basically “Coven” all over again. For one, we have Jessica Lange playing the character of a woman desperate to achieve fame, and will do anything and everything to allow her a presence of power. Tonight, this meant Elsa killing Ethel in the least-dramatic way possible. Kathy Bates was so brilliant in this role, and there was no real reason to deprive us of this story continuing for a little while longer. It just felt like a waste of the Oscar-winner’s talent to get her out of the equation this early.
The best part of the episode once again was Dandy, who, after being forced into therapy, made the decision to kill his own mother Gloria. This was at least another move in the right direction for the Dandy character, and we really just wish his story would accelerate now.
As for watching Desiree and company help Grace Gummer’s character seek revenge for what her father did, we barely know these characters, and therefore it really did not feel important.
Ultimately, this entire episode felt like the show having no clue what it really wants to do anymore. Some characters were gone completely, less important ones were in the spotlight, and it felt like someone was throwing darts at a board, hoping a few of them would stick. This is the time when many seasons of the show start to go off the rails, and this hollow episode made us feel like the writers / producers are more likely to break the board altogether. Grade: C-.
What did you think about this episode of the show, and do you feel about that these deaths were justified? Share below, and head over here to preview further what lies ahead! Also, you can sign up now to grab even more great scoop on all we cover per our official newsletter! (Photo: FX.)
AHSFa24
December 4, 2014 @ 8:53 am
I agree 110%, and I have loved Freak Show up until this point. The show just seemed to completely lose its direction in this episode, killing both Bates and Conroy, two of it’s best actresses, this early, is one thing, but the generic and forgettable way that both of their death scenes took place, I really just don’t know how a professional television writer could think that made for good television.
I liked the dart board analogy, it just did seem like a random mismatch of uneventful plot lines in this episode. Who the hell cares about Penny and her father, there are so many more important plot lines going on, this is not one we need to be focusing on, especially while characters like Paulson and essentially Chiklis (at least in terms of dialogue) were completely absent from the episode.
And then the random introduction of the fat woman, again there are so many characters already and so many plot lines that need furthering and are in dire need of some profession, who the hell is going to sit there and honestly care what Elsa and this new character are up to.