It’s safe to say that the anxious and impatient fans of the world’s currently most popular anthology series can rest at ease with the arrival of Season Four of American Horror Story. This Season, Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have brought their devoted fans ‘Freak Show’. Like its previous season, Freak Show appears to be less about impending doom and insufferable tension and more about character focused drama and intrigue.
Set in the 1950’s; Freak Show takes up home in the sleepy, doe-eyed town of Jupiter, Florida. ‘Monsters among Us’ is the opening episode and its main focus is to introduce us to most but not all of ‘Freaks’ that are present within this season. This is done so by the narration of Sarah Paulson’s characters; Bette and Dot, who are conjoined twins. The main plot focus along this episode is Jessica Lange’s ‘Elsa Mars’ and her attempt to recruit Bette and Dot into her ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’.
Bette and Dot are an intriguing pair that already appear to offer a great amount of character development with Sarah portraying to very different girls who are having to share the same body and the same dirty secret. Alongside Bette and Dot we also have Jimmy ‘The Lobster Boy’ Darling (Evan Peters), a young man born with Syndactyly who has a fondness for pleasuring the lonely housewives of Jupiter with his deformed hands.
Alongside Jimmy, Elsa, Bette, and Dot we also have The Bearded Lady or Ethel Darling (Kathy Bates), Jimmy’s mother; because a Freak Show attraction wouldn’t be complete without a bearded lady. These fan favorite actors aren’t the only ones present in ‘Freak Show’ however. The first episode also opens us up to a mysterious and equally terrifying homicidal Clown.
While the first episode is much like I said, based on character introduction, that doesn’t mean we don’t get a bit of the old AHS horror and violence. This unnamed clown (I want to call him bo-bo but professionalism tells me no) is seen only a few times but his murderous tendencies are laid down quickly as he stabs a few people, kidnaps a few and just plain terrorizes. Never trust clowns kids.
In “Monsters Among Us” we see Bette and Dot looking for a place they can both be happy, Jimmy finding acceptance, Elsa finally obtaining that fame she’s always longed for and as further episodes come I’m sure we’ll be introduced to more of the stellar cast and their characters story-lines. This season will be a one focused heavily on thematic arcs and I’m sure in usual AHS style there will be twists and turns, heart breaks and horror. While I instantly thought this season had a very different vibe from the past ones if you’re a true fan of previous seasons, this is one not to miss.
Review Score: THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
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