I almost didn’t review this episode. About 35 minutes in I thought to myself, “There is absolutely nothing in this episode worth talking about.” I wondered if MrDisgusting would let me throw up a gif and give it a one-skull rating. There were about 2 minutes of Dandy, an embarrassing Nirvana cover, some people got blackmailed, and some people got beat up. But I figured what happened in the last few minutes of the episode granted it some talking points.
In my opinion, there were three major events in this episode, some more major than others. Starting with the least of which, Jimmy and Dell get drunk together and have a mutual admission that they are father and son. It could have been a great scene except for the fact that I’ve never seen an actor ever be able to play a “good drunk.” It always just makes me laugh. And Evan Peters is a really bad drunk. The entire scene—from the reminiscing about shooting a rabbit to make a coat for Ma Petite, to him saying “goodnight, Dad” while being tucked in by Dell—was absolutely painful to watch.
Next up, Penny’s dad turns out to be a total psycho with magic liquor to keep her sedated during a tongue forking and a complete facial tattoo. Come on. Really? Come on. On so many levels, this doesn’t work. And I’m not even just talking about the technicalities. I’m referring to the emotional side. If he was that crazy, he would have actually shot at her last episode. Or gone off on a tangent and shot Paul. To think he went from concerned father to absolute psychopath in a matter or days is truly hard to believe. I can only hope Paul still accepts her because she gave up a lot to be with him.
Lastly, a main character probably, totally, maybe, we have no way of knowing for sure because of all the previous fake-outs, is murdered. I’m not going to say who, I won’t get that spoiler-y. But I will tell you by whom. After Stanley spots Dell at the same gay bar from the “Andy episode,” he blackmails Dell into killing one of the freaks so that he can finally get the fuck out of Dodge and earn his payday. For some reason that I can’t quite figure out yet, Dell would rather mercilessly kill “one of his own” (his words, not mine) than just admit that he likes dudes. Or even just leave the freak show. I mean, really. He’s got nothing keeping him there. His wife left him—making that two exes he’s got to work with—a freak show full of people who hate him, and a son that he arguably doesn’t care that much about (the last few minutes nailed that coffin shut. If he actually cared about Jimmy he wouldn’t have killed who he killed, if the kill was actually real).
The whole thing just made zero sense to me. We are asked—and often immediately obey—to suspend so much disbelief while watching “American Horror Story.” I find it really unfair that they can’t even give us an ounce of humanity or any semblance of reality to the characters and their motives. At this point, Elsa is just a broken record. Bette and Dot are a complete jumble of contradictions every week, I don’t even know what Maggie’s intentions are anymore.
I think I saw this coming last week. The repetitious actions of the main characters started to feel like writer-desperation. And this week felt like complete implosion. And yet still, regardless of all that, I’m going to watch next week because those damn writers know how to end an episode.
Oh, and Bette’s a blonde now.
Thoughts?