- Elsa prepares for her television show by bringing out a new act. Meanwhile, Paul pursues romance and the twins settle in to their new home.
- Everyone is concerned at the sudden disappearance of the twins. Elsa tells them the girls have just left when she in fact dropped them off a Dandy's house. Elsa has begun practicing her old knife throwing act hoping to use it on on Stanley's promised TV show. When she learns that her lover Paul has a girlfriend, Penny, she goes berserk telling all the freaks that one of them must be her target on the wheel as a show of trust. At Dandy's house, the twins are still bickering with Bette enamored of their young host and Dot hating the sight of him. Dandy dangles the possibility of having them surgically separated. Stanley meanwhile is still looking to get his first specimen for the museum and wants Maggie to lure Jimmy into a trap. Maggie prefers another target.—garykmcd
- One of the strengths of the "American Horror Story" franchise is teasing characters' motivations and fates, and then offering resolutions we don't see coming. We often know that a character ends up dead, but not how.
They make us like to watch, those freaks.
After last week, knowing that the Tattler girls and Paul the Seal end up in display cases, we're left to see boogey men at every turn, wondering how they got there. (And in the AHS franchise, boogey men at every turn is a realistic threat.)
This season, one threat seems clearly to be the con artists Maggie Esmerelda and Stanley, who end up with the valuable corpses. But how far Maggie will go to cash in? And will Jimmy's feelings toward her make him the next exhibit? Another clear threat is the tantrum-throwing petulant psychopath Dandy Mott, whose fascination with the Tattler twins cannot be good for their health. But in the race to see who will send Paul and the Tattlers to that great display case in the sky, per AHS custom, the biggest threats don't always turn out to be the most obvious ones.
****
Elsa has the spinning wheel of fate -- a big red and white allegory -- dug out of storage. She practices her knife throwing skills while explaining how she's learned to survive. She's told everyone that the twins ran off when she took them dress shopping and making promises to bring the whole freak show to LA after her TV show takes off.
At the Mott household, Dandy announces to his mother that he's in love with the twins and plans to marry them.
It's Elsa's birthday week at the show and the performers are lining up with presents for her. But everyone is glum, missing the twins, despite her demands that they have fun.
Later that night in Elsa's tent, she finishes up in bed with Paul the Seal -- their little secret. She wonders about him coming out to LA with her as her chauffeur and occasional lover, when she doesn't have regular suitors. As he leaves, he brings Ma Petite to Elsa to cuddle like a little doll.
Paul has a busy night. He climbs up the trellis of a house to sneak into bed with Penny, the girl who Elsa brought to the show and then hooked on opium and kinky freak group sex. She and Paul are in love, which would be great, if Penny's father weren't watching her like a scary, creepy, over-protective hawk.
At the Mott household, Bette has fallen completely for Dandy while Dot remains suspicious. Then one day, Dandy reads them an article about the first successful separation of Siamese twins and Dot sees a potential use for the Mott's wealth. She fantasizes about being free of Bette and getting a chance with Jimmy Darling.
Paul goes to a drugstore to buy Penny perfume and runs into Dandy. He recognizes Dandy and notices that he's buying two each of many ladies toiletries.
Back at the show, he tells Jimmy what he saw and suggests Elsa was behind it. Jimmy slaps him, but Paul insists Elsa was jealous of the twins and would do anything to regain the spotlight.
At the Mott's, Dot reads an update about the recently separated twins and learns that one died. Bette argues that they shouldn't have been separated and points out that they share everything. Except for their diaries. They made a pact to keep those private. Dandy is intrigued and suggests they swap secrets. He goes first and says that he's the one who killed Twisty the Clown, not Jimmy. Dot doesn't believe him, sending Dandy into a hissy fit.
Outside the show, Maggie Esmerelda updates Stanley on the twins' disappearance. He wants her to lure Jimmy to the barn he's renting. She argues against the mess it would make and suggests Ma Petite instead.
Late at night, Elsa gives Paul a short rendition of "September song," then expects him to stay. She notices that he smells like perfume. He turns on her and demands to know where the twins are, saying everyone is asking. She orders him to wake everyone up.
In the tent, Elsa rages through tears, reminding them all how she saved each and every one of them. She demands one of them climb on the spinning wheel to prove their loyalty to her. Jimmy volunteers, but Paul insists it should be him.
The first knife barely misses his head. The second lands between his legs. Then Elsa takes careful aim and "misses" -- hitting Paul square in the gut as she protests it was an accident.
At Penny's house, she stares down the barrel of her father's shotgun and dares him to fire as she leaves to go see Paul.
Maggie Esmerelda wakes Ma Petite up in the middle of the night and carries her out to Stanley's barn. Maggie seems to have several struggles with her conscience, but none of them appear great enough to stop her as she puts Ma Petite in a glass jar and prepares to pour formaldehyde on her, as Ma Petite thinks it's all a game of make believing she's a butterfly.
Elsa is keeping wounded Paul in her tent, where he realizes she never called a doctor. She confesses she wouldn't mind if he died, given his betrayal. Penny arrives at the show and sits with Paul.
In the morning, Jimmy tries to talk to Ethel about Paul's suspicions of Elsa, and the fact the doctor never arrived. Amazon Amy is in a state because she can't find Ma Petite. But then Maggie strolls up carrying Ma Petite and says they woke up early and were hunting fireflies.
Maggie takes her opportunity and desperately asks Jimmy to run off with her. She's packing furiously when she notices Stanley in her tent, furious that she didn't deliver on Ma Petite. He demands that they follow his original idea and she lure Jimmy to the barn.
At the Mott's, the twins are out on a walk across the grounds and Dandy is inconsolable as he reads Dot's journal, in which she calls him a "man-boy" and says he's insufferable. He rages to Gloria about how the love he felt for them was his salvation, but now he's back to his old arid soul. "I know why I was put here, Mother. My purpose is to bring death," he says as he arms himself with a knife. Gloria only watches him go.
The Mott doorbell rings. It's Jimmy. Dandy knows he's there for the girls and lets him in.
Back at the show everyone is sitting with Paul, but Ethel brings Elsa a piece of the cake she made her. Elsa talks about the freaks as her children and Ethel as her sister and laments that they don't trust her. Ethel is sympathetic, then says matter-of-factly that if she ever finds out that Elsa was lying about the girls: "I'll kill you with my own two hands."
Elsa blows out her candle, wishing to be loved.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
![Christopher Neiman and Naomi Grossman in American Horror Story (2011)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjAzMzA5MTA5OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNzYwOTgzMzE@._V1_QL75_UY133_CR55,0,90,133_.jpg)