“American Horror Story: Freak Show” Episode 4.13 “Curtain Call.” Starring Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Sara Paulson, and Angela Bassett; Written by John J. Gray; Directed by Bradley Buecker.
There are spoilers a-plenty herein.
Before we get into the meat of this review, I want to make a small clarification about the word “freak.” I have been referring to characters on this season of “American Horror Story” as “freaks” not because they refer to themselves as such, but because to be a “freak” in this narrative was a badge of honor. It meant family and home. I would never, under any circumstances, call anyone outside of this topic a “freak” unless they had expressed approval that it was OK for someone else to do so. Not based on size, ability, color, or shape. Never.
That being said; Ooooooh these freaks are having exactly none of Dandy’s sass. Dandy wants to turn the carnival into a Cole Porter revue, which, you know, time and place, man. Time and place. They demonstrate their lack of tolerance for his managerial decisions by quitting and stranding Dandy as the only performer on the site. Sadly, they don’t vacate the premises very quickly, and even sadder – Dandy goes on a spree and takes the lives of all but four of our lovely heroes.
The camera work during Dandy’s rampage was breathtaking. I actually gasped at the angle on Dandy when he entered the sunlight and my jaw dropped when the cinematography followed Suzy’s attempted escape. The long pan over the red carpet of bodies Dandy had created completely gave me goosebumps. The score seemed more focused tonight as well, and I heard lots of music-box tinkling over the show’s traditional dirty, ambient noise. It was eerily beautiful on all counts.
And then there were four: Desiree managed to hide, Jimmy was off site, and Dot and Bette had been secured with rope and pole to await Dandy’s marriage proposal. They accepted, and to be fair I probably would have at that point, too.
Cut to Chez Applesauce, where Dandy and Bette are exchanging vows. They sit for their first couple’s dinner, when Dandy starts to go a bit wooby. I need some help from readers here – was that brief little flashback only to show the point when Dot and Bette drugged him? I was super confused by that miniscule cut, and if it was only to show the beginning of Dandy’s end it was completely superfluous. Didn’t need to be shown at all. Mostly because Dot and Bette, under Dandy’s nose, hired Desiree and Jimmy for servant staff. They took Dandy’s unconscious body back to the carnival and placed it in a Houdini tank, then let her rip. You all at this point probably assume there is something wrong with me, so I’ll just go ahead and say that it was more beautiful camera work on a set that was both meticulously sparse and saturated with color and focused light. Dandy’s death was, well, it was beautiful. The vengeance was neither shocking nor particularly clever, but it still left a shameful satisfaction to know that Dandy wouldn’t prey on anyone ever again.
During the next commercial break I started pondering on all the “starring” names in the opening credits. There were lots and lots of dead characters, and I started getting really cynical again. I figured the outcome was going to be a cheap “PSYCH!!” gag and all that beauty that I had noted in my notebook would just get scribbled over as I screamed “GAH I HATE THIS SHOW.” But then something happened.
The rest of the finale focused on the resolution of Elsa’s story. She had arrived in Hollywood but was having trouble meeting with anyone that could assist in making her a household name. Enter Michael Beck, an oddly cast David Burtka, who showed Elsa kindness and business savvy.
Cut to 1960, when Elsa received her star on the Walk of Fame. She has achieved her epic adoration, but at home her life is a joke. She and Mike are married but struggling to keep up the facade of a happy home. Elsa is refusing to do a Hallowe’en show (and we all know why) and facing heat from her network. To boot, her hopes of reuniting with Massimo are dashed, as he’s dying. That bit, I think, might have been a little overkill, but it’s always a pleasure to watch Huston and Lange in a scene. Just when Elsa thinks her heart might break in two, the network president informs her that her old “films,” particularly the one that left her mutilated, have surfaced and since she’s so “immoral,” her employment with his network will end.
So Elsa agrees to go out with a bang – on a Hallowe’en special. She sings another Bowie number, and I have to confess that I was OK with this one because I felt like it actually had merit in the story. And also it’s one of my favorite Bowie songs. While Elsa sings, we see Desiree with her husband and children, skipping down a city street. We see Jimmy rub the very pregnant belly of Dot and Bette.
But Elsa is unable to finish her final televised number.
Because of course Not-Voldemort shows up with his cadre of dead freaks. Oh, and I can’t call Twisty “Butthole Mouth” anymore because apparently when he went to Hell he got his mouth back? I didn’t think that’s how Hell works but OK. I digress. Edward Mordrake tells Elsa that the weight of her sins and despair disallow her from entering his troupe. So he takes her home. Home, to her family. Elsa is returned to Jupiter, Florida, where she is met by her friends, her children and her sister, and they’ve forgiven her and love her. And the house is always full.
Goddammit. Dammit to Hell and back this shit made me cry. Season four of “American Horror Story” ended on a happy ending that made me cry a happy cry. And I’m like really mad about that.
OK, I’m not really mad. I was being dramatic. It actually caused an epiphany – this show is always listed as a miniseries come awards season, but the episodes air like a regular serial. I think that if AHS were condensed to six to eight hours and aired like a tradition miniseries, these seasons and stories would make for some killer storytelling. As it stands, there’s so much room for filler and pseudo-shocks that it convolutes plot and impedes character development. Because in between watching all that horseshit about Dell Toledo’s repressed sexuality, Twisty’s butthole mouth, Chester, or Stanley McGiantwang’s giant wang, I somehow managed to care about these imaginary people. I think I would have enjoyed the experience so much more if the connection hadn’t been a surprise during the season finale.
I’m glad this season went out on a high note for me, and especially glad that it ended with a giant “ALL THE AWARDS” for Jessica Lange. It’s official – she has retired from “American Horror Story,” and she was given an epic finale.
Will I return for a fifth season? Only my editors can make me I mean help me decide.