American Horror Story: Freak Show Review: "Edward Mordrake (Part 1)"

In what’s become something of a tradition for American Horror Story, Halloween marks a two-part episode delving into the supernatural or superstitious (Coven broke with this tradition, but then, Coven also broke with the tradition of being a good television show). This time it’s Edward Mordrake, a deceased carny with two faces, a la Harry Potter’s Professor Quirrel/Voldemort combo. If any of the freaks performs on Halloween, so the legend goes, they will summon Mordrake’s murderous spirit. Ethel, Jimmy and the rest are appropriately cowed, but not Elsa Mars, who gets up on stage and performs Lana Del Rey’s “Gods and Monsters,” even if only for herself and the twins, whom she now more than ever fears will usurp, thanks to the meddling of faux-psychic con artist Maggie Esmeralda (yes, really).

If you’re getting the sense that things are getting over-stuffed in here, well, you’re not wrong. “Edward Mordrake (Part 1)” incrementally furthers the plots already in motion, while introducing both Stanley and Maggie, while also injecting the show with its first supernatural element in Mordrake himself. That’s a lot of balls in the air, and with not a lot of plot to catch them all. Freak Show’s biggest sin so far is the one that has plagued American Horror Story all along—it’s a collection of characters and events, some scary, some funny, some moving, but a collection that never comes together under any overarching theme or purpose. The show is scattered, and there’s no clear indication of what unites any of these things, beyond the fact that they’re occurring in the same general space and time.

For the first two episodes it appeared that the murder investigation would be a driving plot force, but that’s all but forgotten in this episode. Twisty the Clown continues his kidnapping rampage in the background, but that remains unknown to anyone else on the show. Ditto Dandy, who has briefly crossed paths with the Cabinet of Curiosities, but is now off in his own corner of the show with his mother and a wonderfully sassy Patti LaBelle. This week finally lets us get to know Ethel a little better, but even that exposition is saddled with the appearance of Edward Mordrake’s ghost.

It’s obvious that Freak Show wants to be more concerned with the characters than with the plot, and while that’s a nice thought, the characterizations themselves are too broad and obvious for that approach to work. Dot’s deference to Meep is a barely-concealed attempt to further ingratiate herself with Jimmy. Her “All About Eve” triangle with Bette and Elsa is a tale older than that film, with only the presence of a conjoined twin to mark it distinct. Even the cinematography this week belies the derivative nature of the story so far, with several shots lifted directly from the film Halloween; yes, they’re homage rather than theft, but all the same.

Mostly, “Edward Mordrake, Part 1” has me wondering why on earth this is a two-part story. The episode runs more than ten minutes long, but there doesn’t seem to be a particular reason for that. Perhaps the writers would like to keep the Mordrake material contained, but 1) I’ll believe that when I see it, and 2) most of the material this episode has nothing at all to do with Mordrake. And come to think of it, 3) the non-Mordrake material is the best the show has to offer this week.

Specifically, I’m thinking of quieter scenes, like the one that Ethel and Dell share outside Ethel’s tent, over a glass of hooch that neither of them should be drinking. The writing and, especially, their great performances, strips away the freak-like nature of their appearances and leaves just two people, damaged by their pasts, just like any of us. It’s not just the quiet moments, though; more bombastic elements are working as well. I won’t go so far as to call Twisty the Clown scary, but certainly his appearance is unsettling, and Dandy Mott’s apprenticeship under him neatly walks the line between over-the-top and cloying and legitimately unnerving behavior.

These are characters and stories that, for now at least, I’m invested in, and I’m curious to see how they play out. I’m less interested in Elsa’s mostly-imagined rivalry with Dot and Bette, but at least that too is rooted in the pilot and the premise of the series. But with its supernatural elements, “Edward Mordrake, Part 1” also introduces a bevy of other elements into the mix, and it’s that ribald willingness to throw anything and everything at the wall, without even a care as to what sticks, that has threatened to undo this show in the past, and that completely undid Coven. Worse, this season commits a sin that even Coven did not—for large stretches, it is boring. It’s like Ryan Murphy and company have taken half a lesson from criticisms of last season, toning down the campiness and insanity, but leaving the same number of cooks in the kitchen. This episode marks the third straight week of teasing and set-up; we’re still introducing regular characters and setting up conflicts and backstory; and yet we’ve time to take a detour into freak show urban legends. Basically, we’ve been down this road before, and it’s a bumpy one. Freak Show needs to pick up the pace, but without throwing the show into total disarray, and right now, I’m more curious to see if it can do that at all than I am to see what lies on the other side of “To Be Continued…”.

Stray Observations:

– This week also marks the third straight week of musical numbers. At this point it’s safe to assume these will be a regular occurrence. I think so far they’ve done a good enough job of remaining relevant to plot and/or character, but they could easily become unnecessary distractions, too. But if they’re here to stay, are there any songs you’re hoping to see pop up?

– Dennis O’Hare arrives in this episode as well, as Maggie’s partner Stanley. Other than that he’s gay (or at least, enjoys sex with men dressed like Thor, which, who doesn’t?) and that he’s a con man, we learn little about him. They’re in town to collect a specimen that they can sell to a museum of oddities.

– Mordrake appears to Ethel and it turns into an impromptu therapy session. The backstory is welcome, and the scene where she gives birth to Jimmy in front of a throng of paying customers is horrifying in the cultural sense, the way that, say, Lana’s “therapy” in Asylum was. As she points out too literally, Jimmy Darling has been exploited since the very moment he was born.