American Horror Story Freak Show brought the heat last night in episode two “Massacres and Matinees”. A lot of really interesting characters made their debut this episode. We have the lovely Miss Angela Bassett from season three’s Coven returning as Diseree Dupree. Dupree is a full fledged hermaphrodite, sporting three breasts and both male and female reproductive organs. With Diseree came her husband, Dell Toledo (Michael Chiklis) the “strong man”. When Elsa asked Dell Toledo what he was after his wife revealed her….condition, Toledo stated “the happiest man on earth”. Ha! SPOILER ALERT: Dell Toledo was revealed as the father of Jimmy Darling and ex-husband to Kathy Bate’s Ethel Darling. I’m SO excited for this secret to be revealed to Jimmy, because Dell has already wreaked a lot of havoc on him in just one episode. Elsa wanted Dell in the freak show troupe to be the new male leader – which has the potential to ruin Jimmy’s alpha dog status amongst the cast. Another set of characters who were introduced to us in the season premiere but played a more important role in Massacres and Matinees was Dandy Mott (Finn Wittrock) and his mother Gloria, played by the fabulous Frances Conroy. I’ll actually be going into both of these characters in greater detail when I list my favorite parts of last nights episode.

Things I liked about last Massacres and Matinees:

• Gloria Mott: I absolutely ADORED her character. Gloria is the EPITOME of the desperate mother who will do anything to please her son. Her willingness to do anything to make Dandy happy is palpable. This woman is desperate enough to keep her son under her thumb that while driving she picks up everyone’s favorite Twisty the Clown who happens to be ambling about on the country road. She tells Twisty she’ll pay him handsomely if he’ll come home to entertain Dandy. BAD IDEA!!! There was one particular scene that really stood out to me last night and it was between Gloria and her son at dinner. Dandy used the word “boring” a lot in this scene, and it really defined him as the bratty poor little rich boy that he is. He stated that the escargot at dinner was boring, the town was boring, life was boring and then stormed of. Once he left the maid confided in Gloria that she found remains of animals by the shed and lightly accused Dandy of being involved with the murders happening in town. To which Gloria replied in tears, “he’s just bored.” Brilliant.

• Dandy Mott: I’m totally loving AHS newcomer Finn Wittrock’s performance so far. Dandy truly is a man child – finding delight in toys, carnivals, and drinking liquor out of a glass baby bottle nipple and all. After leaving dinner with his mother in a huff, Dandy runs off to the only place he feels like he belongs….the freak show. Unfortunately for him after a tear filled pleading session to Jimmy, he is denied a spot in the troupe. Jimmy is actually quite disgusted by Dandy – telling him he should thank god for what he has – his normality in particular. To this, Jimmy replies that he’s normal on the outside but is just like the freak show members on the inside. This boy is twisted. Speaking of twisted, it appears that Dandy has a new BFF in Twisty the Clown. There’s a really delightful scene in episode two where we see Dandy and the clown in a room full of toys belonging to the man child. Dandy prompts Twisty to show him some tricks to no reply. He then utters to Twisty my favorite line of the episode “your silence is provocative”. Loved it! He then shows Twisty a chest of toys and demands him to entertain. While Twisty rummages through the toys, a curious Dandy begins reaching for the bag that Twisty carries with him everywhere. With that, Twisty whacks Dandy in the head with a bowling pin, grabs the bag, and runs off.

• The scene in the diner: This scene was FABULOUS. Sweet and gorgeous Jimmy Darling rounds up the troupe and takes them to the diner where we see him getting his flirt on with the waitress in episode one. Jimmy’s idea behind this is to show the world that the freak show members are just like “regular people”. There was something so touching to me about this idea that Jimmy had. He had such innocent intentions, but unfortunately it went wrong. And I shall continue talking about this in the things I didn’t like about episode two.

Things I didn’t like about Massacres and Matinees:

• There was actually only one thing that I didn’t like about this episode, and that was the evil Dell Toledo ruining the troupe outing at the diner. While hanging fliers for the freak show he happens to see his cast mates seated at the diner. At this point, things aren’t going too well for the troupe either – the locals that are eating are extremely put off by the freak show crew. Complete with people leaving, dirty looks being thrown in their direction, and a mother asking the troupe if they could eat somewhere else because they’re upsetting her daughter. Dell comes rolling into the restaurant demanding that the troupe leaves. He then proceeds to take Jimmy outside to make an example of him by beating him senseless. The main reason why this upset me, is because I’m madly in love with Evan Peters and every character that he plays, so I hate seeing him get hurt. Swoon. ❤

Of course the most shocking part of the episode is the reveal of what’s under Twisty the Clown’s mask. In Massacres and Matinees we meet up once again with Twisty’s hostages – a lovely young woman and an eight to ten year old boy. Our heroine manages to pull off one of the wooden boards filled with nails that’s keeping the door of the van that they’re kept in shut. When Twisty lumbers into the car to “entertain” his guests by pulling a decapitated head out of his bag of goodies, our girl smacks Twisty with all her might with the board. Twisty’s smiling face mask is knocked off in the process revealing this:

Need I say more? It’s no wonder Twisty’s silence is so provocative to Dandy….there’s no way the clown can speak! And speaking of our man child, his role in Freak Show is only just beginning. Once Dandy wakes up from the unconsciousness the bowling pin whack left on him, he sets out to find Twisty, and stumbles upon the clowns camp where the van is located. Our hostages manage to run out of the van to possible freedom, when our heroine runs full force into Dandy. She tells him that the clown is going to kill her and things of that nature, and then the light bulb goes off in his head. He hoists the girl into his arms and playfully sing songs “Clown! I have something for youuuu!!” We now have a dynamic duo: a murderous clown and a man child with a love for vaudeville. Episode three can’t come soon enough!

How did you guys feel about Massacres and Matinees? What did you like? What did you hate? Were you as appalled as the rest of the world when Twisty’s face was revealed? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! -Sarah