Firstly, everyone needs to catch up because I feel like I'm the only person who saw the season finale last night. Having that ending in my head any not being able to talk to anyone about what happened is kind of killing me. So instead of having a human to discuss this with, I will discuss it here.
You've been warned. Spoilers ahead!
The overarching theme this season on American Horror Story is how following your dreams can often have unforeseen consequences. Elsa Mars, the matron of the freak show wished to be a big Hollywood star, Stanley and Maggie want to be rich beyond their wildest dreams, Dandy wants a playmate who isn't afraid of him, Twisty wants to make the children smile, and all of the freaks want to find a place they can call home and feel loved. Every wish comes with a price and sometimes the fates do not give you a choice to pay or not.
Rather than discussing the entire season as a whole (which would become extremely long-winded and exhausting) I would like to focus on the last three episodes, "Magical Thinking," "Show Stoppers," and "Curtain Call." The freak show has fallen on hard times with the advent of television and with wings of death flying though the freak camp. (Stanley getting his comeuppance for his murderous spree was extremely satisfying.) even without Stanley's help, Elsa had decided Hollywood is the place for her and she sells her freak show to a nice looking ventriloquist/magician named Chester (Played by Neil Patrick Harris).
While Chester appears to be a mostly normal guy on the surface, it is quickly revealed that he is a deeply disturbed man. He is a former soldier whose wife fell for another army wife when he's away at war. Upon his return, it is apparent he is suffering from severe mental disconnect associated with PTSD. Chester at some point becomes quite attached to a ventriloquist doll named Marjorie though it is unclear to me how he came about finding her. Marjorie (played by Jamie Brewer) is a jealous woman. She doesn't like Chester looking at other women, she doesn't like other women looking at him, and she makes Chester painfully aware that he isn't being included in sexy times the same way he was prior to his deployment. I really can't imagine why a bunch of hot women would find a dude with a weird puppet unappealing. *snerk* After some, er, relationship problems concerning Marjorie's jealousy and well, knives and lots and lots of blood ERRYWHERE.
Chester is a man of means who has long dreamed of being a performing magician so having the opportunity to buy Elsa's show is a dream come true. Trading a dream for a dream. Elsa catches the first train for Los Angeles and Chester tries to make himself at home. As with all the men this season, he instantly fell for Bette and Dot who, coincidentally, had just decided it was high time for them to lose their virginity. How convenient! The trouble began, of course, when they weren't entirely keen on having Marjorie watch them get it on. You disrespect the puppet, you gotta die. Though Chester was torn between his love for Bette and Dot and his loyalty to Marjorie, the mind-controlling crazy puppet always wins. Just as Chester had started feeling at home, his welcome was warn out. The next day at rehearsal, Chester announced that he wanted to try the classic magician trick of sawing a pretty lady in half with Bette and Dot as his lovely assistant. Luckily, Bette and Dot can smell crazy and didn't fall into his little scheme. Unfortunately, Maggie's a little denser and hopped into his box only to have her ankles cuffed at the bottom of the box, preventing her from pushing the false legs through. Next came one of the most graphic scenes in recent memory of this show as Chester sawed Maggie in half and spilled her guts onto the stage. I can't say she didn't have it coming, but DAMN. Chester then goes on to stab Marjorie several times and turns himself into the police confessing to that crime instead of the more obvious crime.
With Chester in jail, or more likely, a nut house, Elsa is forced to take possession of her once again in another attempt at sale. Who do we know with unlimited funds, an eye on the spotlight, and an undying love for a two lovely ladies who happen to share a body? Why Elsa, why? How could you ever think that selling the show to Dandy could be a good idea? What an incredibly selfish decision. But everyone gets their wish, right? After some struggles, Elsa gets her show, "The Elsa Mars Hour," and is extremely successful even getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Dandy gets to be the star of his own show with plenty of freaks to back him up. What could be better?
Of course, Elsa isn't happy. Fame is never what you think it will be. For every "Elsa Mars Hour," there are twenty crappy coffee commercials. She also learned that you should never marry your manager because when your marriage goes to shit, so does your career. Dandy meanwhile is finding that running a freak show requires a lot more than hanging banners and knowing a lot of showtunes but we all know what happens when Dandy doesn't get his way. People die. So while Elsa's career is crumbling over the discovery of her German snuff film, Dandy was making a freak show snuff film of his own.
Dandy's one mistake though was to not kill them all and the boy's not really a fighter. Turns out, not a strong swimmer either and not, as he claimed, immortal. Fancy that.
After repeating the phrase, "Oh fuck," for the entirety of the episode, the quiet, peaceful ending was a relief. This has been a crazy, fucked up season. Potentially the most fucked up season to date. That being said, it was extremely enjoyable and potentially my favorite season to date (though season 1 is hard to beat).
So everyone, catch up! This show is fantastic!
