Zeitgeisting TV: 'American Horror Story: Freak Show'; Ep. 12: 'Show Stoppers'

Jason St. Amand (national news editor):

With just two hours left in "Freak Show," Ryan Murphy and the writers have a LOT to finish up. In the second-to-last episode of the season, "Show Stoppers" really goes for it - taking it's broadest strokes to close story lines and wrap up plot. This episode perfectly sums up my feelings on the season as a whole: I really enjoyed it but hated it at the same time. It was chuck full of fabulous ideas but they were executed poorly, and, in a rush.

"Show Stoppers" had a great start: After Maggie, aka Esmerelda, spilled the beans on Stanley, Elsa knew her dreams of making it big were gone and her next step was to seek revenge on the faux Hollywood agent. And what a better way than another homage to Tod Browning's "Freaks" than, well, literally showing the movie. Or telling Stanley they were going to sit down and watch the movie. But it never got that far and Elsa explained the film's climatic ending, where the freaks chase down and crowd around Venus and cut her up into that chicken lady thing. And that's what happens to big (double?) dick Stanley. After Elsa throws some knives at him, slicing his member, Elsa shouts at him to "RUN! RUUUNNNN!!!!" but it's no use. And before we know it, Grace Gummer's tattooed face is emerging from the dark (one of the best shots of the episode and season) and Stanley is done for.

This happens all before the credits, which I found weird. Weird because Stanley was one of the biggest villains this season; he was the reason for a lot of the drama, causing freak to turn on freak. And while his punishment was fitting and wonderful, it felt rushed. It happened so quickly and before you knew it, it was over. For such a force in "Freak Show" is sentence was limp. And this is something that continues throughout "Show Stoppers." We're rushed through Elsa's history with Massimo (Danny Huston) (I also found it lazy that he just happens to show up in time to make Jimmy some new claws, or, Elsa somehow figured out how to contact him). We're rushed through Jimmy working through his feelings and despising Maggie, we're rushed through the freaks (there seems to be a lot of extra freaks all of a sudden by the way) getting together to take out Elsa (this is because Stanley, who seemed to be so crafty in the past, revealed that he and Elsa killed Ethel and staged the murder as a suicide. I found it weird that he didn't open up with that tidbit of knowledge from the get-go instead of sitting on it until his penis was wounded), and we were rushed through the whole Chester character. While these elements were great, as was the acting, Murphy and co. did not stick the landing.

This goes for Maggie's death, which actually surprised me. After the Twinnies learn of Chester's murderous past (thanks Dandy!) they decide to bail out on his magic act and being his girlfriends. So, bad luck Maggie, who just had an epiphany (a la Dell) and is ready to make things right with Jimmy and the rest of the freaks, deciders to pitch in and be Chester's assistant to be sawed in half. Poor thing! I guess she didn't have any PTS from the beginning of the season when Twisty Jr., aka Dandy, tried to cut her in half. I guess that was foreshadowing? I'm not sure.

But Chester snapped, and sawed her in half (literally), making for another horrific, but perfect "AHS," moment in the season. When he pulled the two boxes part to show that he didn't really cut Maggie in half, all of her guts poured out. And no one cared because, as Desiree put it, "She had it coming. Let's steal her jewelry and bury the bitch." That's a great line sure, but did Maggie really deserve that? Perhaps but I really don't think so. If this is the way it was going to happen, it should have been saved for the last episode and it should have been Dandy to cut her in half. It could have gone that way, now that Elsa, after the Twinnies let her in on the freaks' plan, handed over the freak show to Dandy for the sum of $10,000 as she makes her way out West.

Instead, we get this half-baked resolve. But weirdly enough, I still really enjoyed this episode. Despite it's faults, I was engaged. Maybe because the pace of "Show Stoppers." It kept things moving: everything from the freak museum lady's head in the jar, thanks to a vengeful Desiree, to the shot of Stanley at the end of the show as Meep 2.0, to the very touching scenes between Elsa and Massimo. Also there was this little nugget - another "Asylum" connection! It turns out that some skeevky porn freaks weren't the ones behind cutting off Elsa's legs. It was none other than a young Dr. Arthur Arden (James Cromwell), aka Hans Gruper (played by Cromwell's real-life son John Cromwell). I thought that was a great little touch.

As for the gold star...it's kind of hard to pick someone. No one really stood out as a clear winner in this episode. Everyone had about equal screen time but I think I'm going to give it to Jessica Lange just because of that opening scene. She made it.

Robert Nesti (arts and entertainment editor):

It was breathless, which did make it seem like so much needs to be tied up; so much so that I also felt ambivalent about this episode: I enjoyed it, but am not so sure that Ryan Murphy et all will be able to bring the story to a credible conclusion next week without falling back on the trope - telescoping the narrative forward - that they did so well in "Asylum." It may work, but it does point to a lazy, falling-back on an already used device.

In this case, Fraulein Elsa does make it to Hollywood, but without the members of her troupe she promised to bring with her. This is all a moot point because she barely got out of Jupiter alive. She was only saved when the Twins went to her (catching her at her most vulnerable, with her prosthetic legs exposed) to warn her that her troupe was out to get her avenging the death of Ethel, whom Fraulein Elsa murdered, then covered up (with Stanley's help), as a suicide.

Did Maggie deserve to die? She was, after all, Stanley's accomplice (with misgivings). That she exposed him to the troupe only showed a certain niavete on her part - didn't she realize that by coming clean she was writing her own death sentence? But that she died at the hands of Chester is one of those wonderful ironies that makes this show so special. It was grisly, but also fitting in the perverse amoral universe in which this story takes place. Maggie's big mistake is that she didn't get out sooner.

But the dissolving mental state of Chester felt forced. His murder of Marjorie (a ventriloquist's dummy) and his subsequent trip to the police station to confess approached silliness, though no doubt the police will wonder just why he's covered with blood. Neil Patrick Harris pulled out all the stops as the hysterical Chester, but it just didn't work for me.

One thing I did think was shrewd was Fraulein Elsa selling the show to Dandy, giving him his dream and the focus of the final episode. "Freak Show" really never established a main character - is it Fraulein Elsa with her dreams of show business success? The Twins, who battle than reconcile? Or Dandy, the spoiled-little-rich psychopath played so creepily by Finn Wittrock ? It may turn out to be him; next week we'll see.

Lovers of the show will appreciate the inclusion of mad Nazi doctor Dr. Hans Gruper, who turns up on "Asylum" as Dr. Arthur Arden, who supervised the filming of Fraulein Elsa's mutilation while filming a porn film. Massimo Dolcefino avenges all the perps of this crime, except Gruper, who (it is implied) finds his way to the United States, changes his identity and continues his nefarious experiments at the Massachusetts mental facility where "Asylum" takes place ten years after "Freak Show."

So where does the story go? And is one hour enough to bring it to a credible conclusion? My hopes were somewhat dashed a bit by all the dangling narrative threads and, as you pointed out, a rushed sensibility.

I agree that this week's Gold Star should go to Jessica Lange. The episode showed her at her most exposed and in danger, which Lange expressed in a mix of terror and confidence. It would be hard to imagine another actress in the role, which is a testament to Lange's talents and how brilliantly Murphy et all utilized them.

Jason St. Amand (national news editor):

While I really liked that little spoiler at the end of the Pepper episode, when we find out Elsa does make it big, it also kind of cripples the rest of the season. When she was with Dandy in the car, handing over the keys to the tens to him, I was initially on edge, wondering if he was going to try and pull something on her. But then I remembered the Life magazine cover and we know she's not going to die. I had the same thoughts when the freaks were plotting their revenge. It kind of takes away some of the suspense going into these last episodes.

Maybe she did deserve to die. But I have to somewhat disagree with you on the way she was knocked off. I like your point about the amoralness of "AHS," specifically "Freak Show," but I don't think it was ironic, or fitting in Maggie's case. I still have to stand by that the perfect way to kill Maggie off would have been at the hands of Dandy, who, at least up until the last few episodes, was obsessed with ruining Jimmy's life. It doesn't make sense to me that Jimmy hates Maggie either. Like I said, when did this happen? I guess he sees things in black-and-white: Freaks vs. Non-Freaks. Maggie betrayed the freaks and therefore, he wants nothing to do with her? I wish that was explained a bit if that's the case.

Totally agree with you on how Chester's story resolved. NPH was great, but he was working with nothing. Are the police going to look into the bloody doll? Or are we just never going to never hear from Chester again? Maybe they'll throw him in Briarcliff.

I liked that Elsa gave the freak show to Dandy. It's fitting. They actually both have the same dreams and desires. They both want to be famous. But Dandy is nuts and performing at a traveling freak show looks may be the perfect fit for him. Just a side note: I don't like how Seal Boy suddenly bowed down to Dandy after they had the run in earlier on in "Freak Show." "Fetch me a lemonade with a paper straw!" Dandy yelled. "Yes sir," Seal Boy says back. What? Is this the same rough and tough dude ready to slice open Elsa's throat and just a few weeks ago wasn't going to take shit from Dandy? I don't buy it even if Dandy is in charge.

There are big plots "Freak Show" needs to resolve, like where do the last major character end up (the Twinnies, Dandy, Jimmy) and some little things they hinted at throughout the season: apparently Edward Moredrake and Twisty return this season, and what about Dandy's mystery therapist? Murphy didn't show the doctor's face, and that has to be for a reason. But I wouldn't be surprised if "AHS" thinks we're stupid enough to forget about it. The finale could go either way, but I still have hope that the freak show's final curtain call will deserve a roaring applause and an encore for Season Five instead of boos, hisses and rotten tomatoes.

Robert Nesti (arts and entertainment editor):

Ah, Fraulein Elsa. Is one episode enough for her to shine in the limelight she craves? We'll have to wait and see. But I didn't think the foreshadowing of her success was a bad idea. It at least gave the story a larger arc it was sorely missing. For some reason, I never think that Fraulein Elsa would meet her end in the same way that the other characters have (and with the number of characters killed over this season, it could have been called "American Horror Story: Blood Bath.") She seems above it all, so her escape was the right progression for her character.

Perhaps, though, there is a method to Chester's madness, at least in terms of the narrative. Will the police return to the fairgrounds in an attempt to find out just why Chester is bloody and will they discover that the troupe has buried Maggie's body? There has to be a reason why he went to the authorities. I don't think his story ends here.

But maybe not. The story feels so open-ended at this point - anything can happen. Has this season been satisfying? I definitely say yes, but whether or not it will rise to the level of "Asylum" remains to be seen. I am, though, hoping for a big Fraulein Elsa musical number. Sparkle, Elsa, Sparkle! Now that she's Hollywood-bound, she'll get that chance.

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