This episode tackles the hidden demons of certain carnies employed by Elsa in her freak show. We get to see firsthand what it takes to be worthy of joining Mordrake’s rogue gallery of pure freaks. I would like to note that Wes Bently definitely entertained me as an aristocratic boogeyman. I would love to see him more in the future. We also get to learn Twisty the Clown’s troubled past.
The Good
We dig deeper into some of the carnies sorted past and how they got to where they are now. The story of Paul the Illustrated Seal, Legless Suzy, and Pepper are told to Mordrake with heartbreaking emotions by all of them. The struggle and hardships they had to endure before they arrived at Elsa’s show was tough to watch, but very enlightening to listen to. 
Even though Elsa’s story is sad, it doesn’t compare to hearing Twisty’s. Knowing that he didn’t start like this, in the beginning, is a relief to me. It was in fact the carnies from his original carnival troupe that gave him a very hard time that led him to being scarred both physically and emotionally. His lack of understanding with the boundaries of being playful and causing harm is explained in greater detail throughout the episode. Dandy didn’t help much either. He’s fallen deeper into psychosis that breaks when he kills his maid Dora. It is sad to see Dora leave; Patti Labelle did a great job giving the man child a swift kick in the ass every time they met. The ordeal of the kidnapped children ended tonight with the help of Jimmy and Esmeralda. Finally, the carnies are the heroes in this episode and Twisty’s suffering ends in this episode when Mordrake accepts him into his gallery of pure freaks. The townspeople finally embrace them into their community after the children are safe, but how long is that going to last, now that Dandy is going to carry on the torch of Mad Twisty’s persona.
The Bad
Being a huge fan of American Horror Story’s dark and twisted themes every season, I find the first twenty minutes of this episode more disturbing than usual. Seeing the dark underbelly of the dark desires of people, I cringe at the stuff people wish upon each other. Thank goodness, the show airs later at night, but unfortunately kids tend to stay up later. I just hope that parents have the common sense to not allow their little ones to watch this extremely mature material. After Twisty is gone, we now have a run of the mill psychotic on the loose. Even though I think Finn Wittrock, who plays the psychotic man child, Dandy Mott, is spine chilling creepy, it is hard to see my favorite misunderstood killer clown go.
Next week we go back to the show, the show must go on! Denis O’Hare who plays Stanley, the second half of the con artist team along with Maggie/Esmeralda, arrives in Jupiter posing as a Hollywood Agent, hoping to get his mark, the conjoining twins, Bette and Dot Tattler, dead or alive. The madness returns with more of Dell and Desiree’s drama. Let the fun begin.
“Pink Cupcakes”
