TV Recap – AHS: Freakshow – Magical Thinking

After a wee break, AHS:Freakshow is back with an episode titled “Magical Thinking” AND it has a new character brought to us by Neil Patrick Harris?! Sounds pretty awesome. Well, settle down kiddies because this Freakshow was not necessarily worth the wait.
Jimmy Darling: “You wanna cut off my hands?”

Stanley: “Just the left one.”

Once again, it is the amazing Denis O’Hare who provided some of the best three minutes of the episode. After expertly convincing Jimmy to “donate” his hands in an effort to raise money for his defense, we are met with a Lobster Boy who has lost his claws. Amputation is a plot device that Mr. Murphy has been utilizing since Nip/Tuck and this has, unfortunately, left this viewer completely underwhelmed and apathetic towards Jimmy’s plight. It seems as though no one else is very concerned about this either, though. Jimmy Darling went from the most popular guy at the Freakshow to dude who is in jail and missing appendages. Seriously, the lack of action over Jimmy’s situation is perplexing. Sure, Dell and Eve hatch the most complex plan in the history of ever to free Jimmy, but it’s way too late for any of us to have feelings for Dell, so this just feels tacked on, nonsensical and unnecessary.

Bette and Dot have decided to return to their “comfortable mousey brown” and are officially on the hunt for someone to deflower them, thus, disproving the silly notion that blondes have more fun. These ladies have a whole freak show of partners to choose from and their heart settles on newcomer Chester. Played by Neil Patrick Harris, Chester is a war veteran with a plate in his head and a dummy on his hand named Marjorie. (Welcome back Addie from Murder House and Nan from Coven. You’ve been missed.) Marjorie is a ventriloquist dummy that is extremely life-like to Chester. In fact, she is the one who came to life and butchered his wife and her lover. Or did she? Is she real or a figment of Chester’s imagination? Do we even care?

After returning home from the war, Chester found his wife had fallen in love with her best friend. In an attempt to not lose his wife, he tried to become a part of the relationship, but he just couldn’t seem to enjoy sharing his wife with another woman. Yes, he preferred to retire to the garage and work on his magic rather than be carnal with two women at once. What a freak. Thank goodness Bette and Dot are here to help him through that. Oh, and Marjorie. Don’t forget Marjorie because she isn’t going anywhere. No, she’s going to be right there on Chester’s hand while he deflowers the twins. We may have officially seen the strangest sex scene ever, complete with a split screen showing the different facial reactions of Bette and Dot. Did you just hear me? An out and proud gay man, along with a homicidal dummy, had sex with an out and proud gay woman who has two heads. You’re not going to see this anywhere else on television. Bravo, Mr. Murphy, bravo.

Just when I was wondering where my boyfriend is, Dandy comes in like a pimp with that fur coat taunting Chester with his knowledge of his dirty deeds. In a rather cunning use of suggestion, Dandy convinces Chester that Marjorie is going to run away and tell everyone what really happened; Chester bludgeoned his wife and her lover and he’s been on the run ever since. The only way that his secret will be kept safe is if he meets Marjorie’s demand. SAW THE TWINS IN HALF! Cue ominous music. Let’s see….. what else?

Esmerelda shows up and reveals the Ma Petite truth to Elsa. (Ominous music.)

Desiree sets Dell up so Elsa can creep in and shoot him in the head. (Ominous music.)

Elsa sells the Freakshow to Chester for one thousand dollars. (Whatever.)

Dandy has his eye on the prize and he will do whatever is necessary to bring his girls back home. (YAY for homicidal Dandy!)

With only two episodes left, everything has been put into place and now we just have to see who will make it out of this Freakshow alive. Well, we know that Pepper is safely in the Asylum and it looks as though Elsa makes it to Hollywood and then onto the cover of LIFE magazine. Of course, that doesn’t mean that she is alive at the end of the season. It looks as though we haven’t seen the last of Mr. Danny Houston, the man who’s story is always intertwined with Ms. Lange’s and it does seem as though these two may be living out a tragic romance lifetime after lifetime. Which brings me to this…..

Although we know him as Stanley, Denis O’Hare introduced himself to the freaks as Richard Spencer. Spencer is also the surname of Evan Peter’s character in Coven. You remember Kyle Spencer don’t you? He of the various body parts who is brought back to life and used as a boy toy among the witches. Also, there was an influx of moments that referred to the war which brings us to the deafening rumors that AHS season 5 will deal with Operation Top Hat. Operation Top Hat utilized human subjects to test chemical weapons. Perhaps these are the monsters that Sister Mary Eunice feeds at the back of the asylum? Don’t forget that you can’t bring up secret military experiments without mentioning aliens. Aliens also played heavily into Asylum. Now, I am nowhere near any kind of expert on all of the intricacies of the AHS seasons, but after revisiting the first two seasons, I am beginning to see the threads of how all of these stories go together and that has made muddling through the rest of this lackluster season a lot more exciting. Which brings me to this…..

There seems to be an overwhelming consistency when it comes to AHS and how different viewers embrace the seasons. If you loved Murder House, chances are you also enjoyed Coven. On the other side of that, Asylum lovers are really digging Freakshow. So, what does that mean for season 5? Will all of us be brought together in a sickeningly happy AHS family or will everything, and I mean everything, be thrown into the season and it will ultimately cause the demise of AHS? Do we really believe that all of this was planned out from the very beginning or are they just throwing stuff in, no matter how crazy, in an attempt to bring all of the seasons together? T.V. Babies, what are your thoughts on how this season will end?
Also, what are your theories about season 5?

Lisa Fremont

Twitter: @lcfremont

Article first published at horrorhoneys.com. Lisa writes as the TV Honey.

Image: IMDb & themarysue.com