If nothing else, “Show Stoppers” is proof positive that Freak Show, if not the whole concept of American Horror Story altogether, is far beyond the point of course correction. Because on its face this is a pretty solid penultimate episode, just in terms of stuff that happens and what it sets up. The problem is that at almost no point has the show bothered to give two shits that this is the moment its been building to. The freaks rebelling first against society, then against the interlopers that threaten their well-being, and lastly against their “mother” who is The Real Monster Within, is a fine arc for the season. It’s just not the one that we’ve been following all this time.
Coven was guilty of this too; it began and ended as the search for the titular coven’s next leader, and a bunch of truly inconsequential shit happened in between. I don’t think that problem has been as pronounced this season, but it’s certainly still there, and as a result what should be some of the season’s crowning moments instead fall disappointingly flat.
Take the opening dinner sequence. Props to the cast and crew behind this one—it at the very least achieves the tone of aberrant freakishness that has been too lacking so far. But Stanley getting his comeuppance is only fun or satisfying insofar as Denis O’Hare has truly hammed it up in the past few episodes. He doesn’t have an existing relationship with anyone at that table beside Elsa, and maybe Maggie, but Maggie barely even registers as a character at this point, so it’s moot.
Ditto the eventual realization among the freaks, many of whom I still cannot even name, despite watching each episode multiple times and taking copious notes, that Elsa is responsible for Ethel’s death, and their subsequent decision to kill her as well, because why not, they’re killing people left and right anyway. But none of these characters exist as anything more than vehicles for a thin plot that really doesn’t need any of them to get where it’s going. What makes Paul tick, other than banging Grace Gummer the Fork-tongued Tattoo Monster? Why does Desiree have absolutely no thoughts at all about Elsa blowing a hole through her husband’s head? (In fact, why doesn’t anyone?) Ethel died weeks ago; isn’t it a bit late to be dealing with this? What was the hold up?
The freaks haven’t ever been portrayed to be particularly violent—the earlier encounter with the police was portrayed as an aberration, and in the very beginning of the season they seemed downright disturbed by the notion that they were immediately blamed for Twisty’s misdeeds. (Remember Twisty?) Where on earth does the sudden spate of violence come from?
Have the freaks been corrupted by Stanley and Elsa? I don’t know, maybe? But if that’s the case, it’s not there on the screen, because we’ve spent all our time with Stanley and Elsa, and not with the characters whose journey we are now being asked to care about. Or, worse, we’re spending entirely too much time with Neil Patrick fucking Harris and his stupid doll. It is entirely too late in the game to spend so much time on this tertiary character, especially when his story this episode is a near scene-for-scene retread of last week’s.
Or how about Jimmy Darling? He at least has had a semi-developed emotional arc this whole time—seeing him so dejected, robbed of the only things that had ever given his life meaning, is legitimately moving. But it’s tethered to Maggie, who is the flattest character in a show full of them. She’s always loved him? They can move to New York, like they’d always planned? When? What show are these writers watching? Maggie’s death this episode isn’t tragic, it’s a snoozefest, and Jimmy’s reaction to it is bland and forceless as a result.
When the episode is over, Elsa has skipped town, tipped off by Bette and Dot (another instance of a relationship being abandoned for episodes on end, then being resurrected to diminishing returns). In her stead is Dandy—Elsa has somehow managed to sell the show twice, although it helps that Chester is an idiot. Dandy’s cocky stride into the tents elicits nothing more than a meh. Remember when this guy was a violent serial killer? Anyone?
For all its faults, though, this really is a beautiful show. There are some truly great compositions this week. I particularly loved the shot of Elsa reuniting with Massimo, all washed out in sunlight inside the empty tent. The music this week is also pretty excellent, featuring a simple melody that carries the weight of emotion in the scenes it scores.
But still. It’s endgame time now, and everything just kind of is. Freak Show doesn’t even have the decency to be abysmal; it’s just a rote, sloppily told story. Actually, let me take that back—the last scene is one worthy of American Horror Story’s legacy of absurdity, as Jimmy shows the audience his new fake lobster hands and everyone “awwws” at how his deformity made him special. Give me a fucking break, is literally what I yelled at my television as I turned it off in mild disgust. Mild disgust, I tell you—this is the strongest emotion I can muster at this point.
At any rate, next week things will happen and we will close the book on another season of American Horror Story. There will probably be yet another tenuous connection to earlier, better seasons of this show, and then we’ll all be back next fall for more abuse at the hands of Ryan Murphy, which is its own American horror story.
Stray Observations:
This week in dumb callbacks I don’t care about: a young Hans Grouper had something to do with Elsa’s disfigurement, apparently? Whatever, show.
At that dinner scene the cast starts summarizing basically the entire plot of Freaks, which, yeah, we get it.
Grace Gummer the Fork-tongued Tattoo Monster! You’re alive, and you remain my favorite thing about this season.
Seriously, no one so much as bats an eye over Dell this week. That strains credulity more than even this show can get away with.
The freaks torture Stanley by turning him (somewhat implausibly) into a little Meep creature, which is a darkly hilarious one-off gag, in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot .
Michael Wampler is a graduate of The College of New Jersey, where he completed both B.A. and M.A. degrees in English literature. He currently lives and works in Princeton, NJ while he shops around his debut novel and slowly picks away at his second. Favorite shows include Weeds, Lost, Hannibal and Mad Men (among many more). When not watching or writing about television, he enjoys reading, going for runs, and building his record collection.