TV Review: American Horror Story: Freak Show: (Season 4, Episode 8)

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

EPISODE: "BLOOD BATH"

THE SCOOP: As Gloria takes a desperate measure to quench Dandy's thirst for blood, Ethel's suspicions of Elsa over the rash of local disappearances too have dire consequences.

The Following May Contain Minor-To-Major Spoilers. If You've Not Seen This Episode, It Might be Wisest To Stop Reading Here!

THE SKINNY: Hey nowww! After weeklong holiday hiatus, The motherf*cking Freakshow returned with the potently drawn Blood Bath, if not the number one, probably my second favorite episode of this carnival-crazed 4th season. Talk about separating the wheat from the chaff! We dropped some serious weight this week, making this a lean and mean episode of substance that really shaped what's about to go down when the third act curtain goes up. After the episode starts with Gloria confessing the consternation Dandy has been causing her, and how he has, since a boy, been slightly off. Hold that thought, as we then cut to a great 8 minute scene or so between Elsa (Lange) and Ethel (Bates), bifurcated by a black-and-white flashback, in which we see Elsa get her new legs molded by a master craftsman (cue the Danny Huston cameo). Ethel, full on blaming Elsa for the disappearance of Ma Petite Patel, pulls a snub-nose and shoots a hole through Elsa's peg-leg. And how does the quadriplegic German chanteuse react…she fires a hot dagger plum through Ethel's eyeball!

Ever longing for Hollywood theatrics, Elsa enlists the help of Stanley to make it look as if Ethel committed suicide. Some scandalous shite! Elsa sells it with a melodramatic over-performance. When night falls, Jimmy and Dale eulogize their mom and ex-lover, a blues riff twangs as they lower her pine-box six feet under. Hard drinks follow suit, but not before a few last kind then vengeful words from Penny, Suzy and Desiree. These girls vow to stick together and not let the rash of deadly disappearances continue. They round up their rope and six-shooters and go a looking to lynch Penny's dad Salty, after-all, he tattooed her pretty little face. After tarring and feathering the bastard, Penny soliloquizes the power she holds in sparing his life, and they let sumbitch crawl home. Elsa skips the funeral to go recruiting for new freakish talent in Miami. She finds a major score in Barbara, aka Ima Wiggles, a world renowned Fat Lady. She brings Ima to camp, introduces her to a besotted and repulsed Jimmy, who's still in mourning. "You're too late, the party's over" laments Jimmy, admonishing Ima to cut and run? But what does she do? She pulls up a bib and buffet-feast and goes to work.

However, back at casa de la Mott, Dandy's therapy sessions have been upped to twice a week. He reacts calmly at first, asking his shrink if he thinks it's easier to consume a man's power by eating his flesh or bathing in his blood. Chilly shite! Then, as if Dandy hasn't proven dastardly enough, he offer his mother Gloria the following proposition: if she kills Regina (Gabby Sidibe), the suspecting daughter of dead maid Dora, Dandy will continue to go to therapy twice a week in an effort to quell his bloodlust. But how do you think that ends? Yup, after a glancingly incestuous embrace, Dandy conjures up the nerve to not only pull a gold-plated revolver and pump a shell cold in his mommy's cranium, my man makes good on his earlier amusement by full on bathing in her blood. Can you believe that? This overly-spoiled and pampered inbred maniac went full on shit-your-pants crazy on his mom in a manner that would make Norma Bates blush. Sheesh!

Yeah so, I really dug this episode. So simple, so concentrated, yet so much carnage and irrevocable bloodshed. Not only was there nary a musical number to cringe at, the show's title of Blood Bath was aptly delivered upon. We lost major characters this week, with the barbarous butchering of both Ethel and Gloria, two somewhat innocents compared to the rest of the freakish lot. I loved the use of the show's theme music this week, that strangely ambient 50s sci-fi din. Also, the opening scene between Lange and Bates (two Oscar winners, mind you), however histrionic as Lange registered at times, was a true joy to watch. I realize how ridiculous the material is, with Bates rocking a beard with a straight face, but that these two pros are so committed and game to play with each other, it really makes the show eons ahead of where it would be otherwise. Beyond that, after a week off, I thought Freakshow returned to its peak form as a lean, mean murder machine!

KILL OF THE WEEK: Tough one, but I'm going with that sweet dagger-to-the-eye job by Elsa on Ethel. So sudden, so unexpected, just when you thought Ethel had the upper hand, WHAM, bitch cold caught a blade plum the orb. And then bled out like a stuck pig!

BLOOD & GORE:

• A blood-covered flashback of the aftermath of Dandy slaughtering his maid.
• A dagger thrown plum through the eye of Ethel. FRIDAY THE 13TH shite!
• A bullet shot through Gloria's forehead.

WTF CHARACTER MOMENT: Has to be creepy ass Dandy, in the final shot of the episode, bathing in the pristinely porcelain tub of his mother's own blood. Dude's motherfucking wacko!!!

MOST BZARRE SCENE: Somewhat innocuous perhaps, but I really scratched my head at the scene of Elsa going to Miami to recruit Barbara. That sunny candy-bar scene felt weird, out of place, and even a bit questionable in terms of Elsa's motives. We shall see how it pays off.