American Horror Story: Freak Show

[Mitch Henessey]

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The fourth season will be set in Jupiter, Florida in 1952. It will be centered around one of the few remaining freak shows at the time, as its members do anything to keep the business alive. The season will focus on the conflict between the freaks and the "evil forces" who do not understand them. The season will also feature a "clown killer" and a "bearded lady".

The Cast

Sarah Paulson as Bette and Dot Tattler
Evan Peters as Jimmy Darling
Michael Chiklis as Dell Toledo
Frances Conroy as Gloria Mott
Denis O'Hare as Stanley
Emma Roberts as Maggie Esmerelda
Finn Wittrock as Dandy Mott
Angela Bassett as Desiree Dupree
Kathy Bates as Ethel Darling
Jessica Lange as Elsa Mars
Naomi Grossman as Pepper
Gabourey Sidibe as TBA
Wes Bentley as Edward Mordrake
John Carroll Lynch as Twisty the Clown
Jyoti Amge as Ma Petite
Patti LaBelle as TBA
Erika Ervin as Amazon Eve
Mat Fraser as Paul the Illustrated Seal
Skyler Samuels as TBA
Rose Siggins as Legless Suzi

American Horror Story's fourth season starts tonight with Freak Show, and it's Jessica Lange's final season (in a reduced role) with American Horror Story.

The cast looks good, but you won't see Lily Rabe or Taissa Farmiga this year. The carnival/freak show theme has some promise, but I'm still worried about the quality of the show. If I'm using the past as a sign of things to come, Murder House (the first season) is the only season with a consistent and cohesive storyline.

After that, American Horror Story developed a bad habit of falling off the rails after the first three or four episodes (especially in season two with Asylum) with erratic plot twists, nonsensical character developments, and constant changes for the tone of the show. At first, you believe you're watching something dark, genuinely disturbing, and creepy, but after the first half of the season, everything inexplicably devolves into a campy horror parody style show with goofy humor.

Lange is an entertaining villainess, but they can't rely on her performances to save season again. Hopefully, they'll stick to a more coherent script this time around, because they have the right cast to pull off something special.

Anyone else interested?

 

[Dagger Dias]

I'll definitely be watching this. I loved the Coven season last year and I'm glad Roberts will be back this season. She did an awesome job as Madison Montgomery, my favorite character in Coven. I don't expect it to be as good as Coven or the first season, but it's something to watch and I look forward to it.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

I have been a big fan of AHS from the very beginning and was looking forward to the new Season, But after seeing a Very creepy looking clown in the trailer, I might have to give this season a miss LOL.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Overall, the premiere delivered for me.

The only real complaint I have is the scene with the couple having a picnic in the open field, when the killer clown (John Carroll Lynch) shows up. The boyfriend wanders off for a second, and this dirty and deranged clown shows up. The woman just stands there without making a move, taking a chance to make a run for it, or calling to her boyfriend for help (instead she asks, and I'm paraphrasing here, "you didn't hire him?" ), and you can guess what happens next.

The entire scenario is mind numbingly stupid, and it reminds me of something in a random 80's slasher. To be more precise, the picnic scene is eerily similar to a scene form Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 1987. Ricky wanders into an open field with a couple having a picnic, but the main difference is Ricky targeted the boyfriend to protect his girlfriend from an attack.

Also, I hope the split screen POV with Bette and Dot is a one time thing. It didn't bother me the first time around, but after that I was already tired of it. We get the point: they're conjoined twins, with two different mindsets and personalities.

One of the bigger differences I noticed for Freak Show is Jessica Lange. Lange usually portrays a strong and confident woman (Constance from season one), and in Asylum and Coven, she portrayed a merciless and cold-hearted villain, who will crush, backstab, or literally cut someone's throat (think about Madison) to eliminate any potential threats.

But towards the end of the episode, Elsa was this weak and withered old woman with two prosthetic legs. She was delusional, and clinging to one last chance to become a star.

As usual, Lange delivered, I'm not sure what to think about Peters and his character right now, and it's clear Sara Paulson will have a big role again as Bette and Dot. Bette is the curious head, and she's willing to try anything, but Dot is more of a traditionalist as the strict head.

And the support for American Horror Story is still strong. Last night's season premiere drew 6.127 million viewers overall, and if you're wondering, AHS continues the trend for higher numbers over the previous season with another noticeable change (5.538 million total viewers for the season premiere of Coven last year).