American Horror Story: Freak Show Information

American Horror Story: Freak Show is the fourth season of the FX horror anthology television series American Horror Story. It premiered on October 8, 2014.

The season is set in 1952 Jupiter, Florida, telling the story of one of the last remaining freak shows in America, and their struggle for survival.

This is the first season of the series that is not strictly anthological, with characters appearing from the series' second cycle, American Horror Story: Asylum. Returning cast members from previous installments of the series include: Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Denis O'Hare, Frances Conroy, Lily Rabe, Sarah Paulson, Naomi Grossman, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, Angela Bassett, and Gabourey Sidibe.

Plot

The season is set in Jupiter, Florida in 1952, centered around one of the few remaining freak shows at the time, as its members do anything to keep the business alive. The season focuses on the conflict between the freaks and the "evil forces" who do not understand them.

Cast and characters

Main cast

• Sarah Paulson as Bette and Dot Tattler (7 episodes)
• Evan Peters as Jimmy Darling (7 episodes)
• Michael Chiklis as Dell Toledo (5 episodes)
• Frances Conroy as Gloria Mott (6 episodes)
• Denis O'Hare as Stanley (5 episodes)
• Emma Roberts as Maggie Esmerelda (5 episodes)
• Finn Wittrock as Dandy Mott (7 episodes)
• Angela Bassett as Desiree Dupree (5 episodes)
• Kathy Bates as Ethel Darling (6 episodes)
• Jessica Lange as Elsa Mars (7 episodes)

Special guest cast

• Celia Weston as Lillian Hemmings (3 episodes)
• Wes Bentley as Edward Mordrake (2 episodes)
• Gabourey Sidibe as Regina Ross (1 episode)
• Matt Bomer as Andy (1 episode)

Recurring cast

• Naomi Grossman as (7 episodes)
• Erika Ervin as Amazon Eve (7 episodes)
• Mat Fraser as Paul the Illustrated Seal (7 episodes)
• Jyoti Amge as Ma Petite (7 episodes)
• Rose Siggins as Legless Suzi (6 episodes)
• Christopher Neiman as Salty (6 episodes)
• Major Dodson as Corey Bachman (4 episodes)
• John Carroll Lynch as Twisty the Clown (4 episodes)
• Skyler Samuels as Bonnie Lipton (4 episodes)
• Patti LaBelle as Dora (4 episodes)
• Grace Gummer as Penny (3 episodes)
• Jerry Leggio as Dr. Bonham (2 episodes)
• Ben Woolf as Meep (2 episodes)
• Lee Tergesen as Vince (2 episodes)
• Neil Patrick Harris as TBA

Episodes

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code	U.S. viewers (millions)
ProdCode = 4ATS01	Viewers = 6.13	ShortSummary = Jupiter, Florida. 1952. Conjoined twins Bette and Dot Tattler (Sarah Paulson) (who share the same entire body) are taken to the hospital after a milkman finds them injured in their home, nearby their dead mother who was brutally murdered. News spread of the twins' existence, leading local carnival freak show owner Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange) to visit them in the hospital where she attempts to recruit them to join her troupe. Although skeptical, the twins agree since they have no one else to look after them and they move in with Elsa's troupe of freaks whom include Jimmy Darling (Evan Peters), a boy with syndactyly, and his mother Ethel Darling (Kathy Bates), a bearded lady. Jimmy makes additional money by pleasuring local women with his abnormally long fingers. Meanwhile, Twisty (John Carroll Lynch) is a killer clown/serial killer who murders a teenage girl's boyfriend and a young boy's parents, imprisoning the young boy and teen girl in an old bus. Twisty later shows up at the freak show camp grounds, but goes seemingly unnoticed. When a police detective arrives and attempts to arrest Bette and Dot for the murder of their mother, Jimmy slices the man's neck open after he calls them all "freaks". Jimmy leads the troupe in hacking the corpse apart, pronouncing they are no longer going to be pushed around and made to feel different from everybody else. After Elsa's group puts on their first show with Bette and Dot as "The Siamese Twins", there are only two attendees, Gloria Mott (Frances Conroy) and her son Dandy (Finn Wittrock), who purchased all the seats for that night's performance. Dandy bargains with Elsa to buy Bette and Dot for $15,000, but the twins refuse. Elsa later tells Ethel that she brought the twins aboard to get more attention for the show and to boost her own fame. As Elsa prepares for bed, it's revealed that she is an amputee, legless below-the-knees.	LineColor = 003B43 }}	ProdCode = 4ATS02	Viewers = 4.53	ShortSummary = The police arrive at the freak show to investigate the detective's disappearance, and to inform Elsa that a curfew is now in place in Jupiter following the string of murders around the county. Meanwhile, the carnival strong man Dell Toledo (Michael Chiklis), Jimmy's father, and his three-breasted hermaphrodite wife Desiree (Angela Bassett) arrive to ask Elsa for a job. Elsa, initially reluctant, makes Dell head of security, but soon realizes what a mistake it was after Dell schedules a matinee against Elsa's orders, attacks Jimmy much to Ethel's dismay, and frames Meep for the murder of the detective after Jimmy had tried to frame Dell. Meep is arrested by the police, and eventually murdered by inmates in jail. His body is then returned to the freak show site where the fellow freaks gather round and mourn. Elsewhere, Dandy asks Jimmy if he can join the freak show, as he dreams of being on stage, but after Dandy accidentally insults Jimmy, he is rebuffed and sent away. After falling into a fit of rage, Dandy returns home to find that his mother, Gloria, has hired Twisty the Clown to cheer him up. However, Twisty storms off after Dandy tries to look inside his clown bag. Dandy follows Twisty back to his trailer where the two children Twisty is holding hostage attempt an escape, but are recaptured by Twisty and Dandy.	LineColor = 003B43 }}	ProdCode = 4ATS03	Viewers = 4.44	ShortSummary = The freak show gains a new member, a young clairvoyant fortune-teller named Maggie Esmerelda (Emma Roberts) who tells Elsa that her fame is yet to come and she will be meeting a "tall dark stranger" soon. Maggie is a con artist however, working with a man called Stanley (Denis O'Hare), who is determined to find and dissect a freak to sell to the Museum of Morbid Curiosities. Ethel learns that she has cirrhosis of the liver and has only six months to one year left to live. Falling into a pit of despair, she turns to alcohol and tells Dell to keep an eye on Jimmy. Dandy becomes even more obsessed with Twisty and even goes trick or treating dressed in a homemade Twisty costume. After attempting to kill his maid Dora (Patti LaBelle) and backing off after she calls him out, he visits Twisty's trailer and torments the children being held captive there. Twisty stalks a family with a daughter scared of clowns, and kidnaps her teenage brother. Meanwhile, the freak show troupe refuses to perform on Halloween due to the superstition surrounding an English freak from the 1800s named Edward Mordrake (Wes Bentley) who murdered his travelling troupe and killed himself because the face on the back of his head told him to. The majority of the troupe is convinced that Mordrake will arrive as a demon should any carny perform on Halloween night. Elsa, refusing to believe this, practices on stage, and Edward Mordrake appears, looking to take a soul from the purest freak in the troupe to join his spiritual troupe in Hell. He begins his search by listening to Ethel's backstory.	LineColor = 003B43 }}	ProdCode = 4ATS04	Viewers = 4.51	ShortSummary = As Mordrake continues his search for a new freak to join his spirit troupe, he learns the past of freaks such as Legless Suzi, Paul the Illustrated Seal, and Elsa. After revisiting her story, Elsa begs Mordrake to take her with him; as he is about to comply, however, he is distracted by some distant music and passes on her. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Maggie venture into the woods to avoid being arrested for violating curfew, but stumble across Twisty's trailer. After freeing the children and phoning the police, Maggie hides in the woods as Twisty gets ready to murder Jimmy. After following the music, Mordrake finds Twisty in the woods about to kill Jimmy, and the killer clown reveals his backstory. Twisty was bullied by the carnies of the freak show he worked for previously out of jealousy for his popularity among the children, and was forced to flee after being tricked into thinking the police wanted to arrest him for child molestation. Falling into a pit of despair and rejected by the townsfolk, who labeled him a pervert and molester, Twisty fails to kill himself, only to obtain gruesome facial disfigurement from the botched attempt, and becomes obsessed with making children happy. After several failed attempts, he becomes deranged and kidnaps children for an audience. Mordrake, seeing the pain and grief Twisty has suffered, kills Twisty and adopts him into his spiritual troupe. A distraught Dandy picks up Twisty's mask and returns home, where he murders Dora, continuing Twisty's murderous path. As the town learns that Twisty is dead, the curfew is lifted; and, as a mark of respect, many residents of the town visit the freak show to thank Jimmy, and a newfound respect is given to the freaks as they mingle and get along with the townsfolk. Elsa announces her grand premiere to the town and tickets sell out. However, Stanley arrives and poses as a Hollywood agent and asks for a ticket.	LineColor = 003B43 }}	ProdCode = 4ATS05	Viewers = 4.22	ShortSummary = Stanley tries to kill Bette and Dot by making them eat poisoned pink cupcakes, however the attempt fails. He begins to move in on Elsa by making deals with her about her possibly appearing on television and having her own show. Elsa is reluctant until she is laughed and booed off stage midway through her performance. Maggie tries to send Jimmy away, fearing for what Stanley will do to him. He tries to kiss her but she pulls away. Dell is nowhere to be found and Jimmy is sent to look for him in his trailer. Jimmy only finds a drunk Desiree, and after the two bond, Jimmy begins to pleasure Desiree with his hands. However, she screams and begins bleeding from her vagina. Ethel takes her to the hospital where she is informed that she has had a miscarriage. The doctor also reveals that Desiree is in fact 100% female, and he can perform a surgery to make her a normal woman. Dandy visits a gay bar on the hunt for his next victim. Dell also visits the gay bar and meets with his regular lover Andy (Matt Bomer), the two have a fight and Dell leaves. Dandy finds Andy and the two go to Twisty's bus, where Dandy kills him. Gloria receives a call from Dora's daughter, Regina Ross (Gabourey Sidibe), who asks to speak with her mother. Gloria lies and tells her that she won't be able to contact her mother for a while. Desiree informs Dell that she can have children and that she is a real woman, and tells him she knows he is Jimmy's father. She leaves him and moves in with Ethel. After learning of Desiree's possible surgery, Dell visits the doctor at his office and breaks his fingers so he can no longer perform any surgery. Elsa sees Stanley taking the twins on a picnic, which makes her jealous and angry. Later, she lies to the twins saying she is taking them to a fitting, but actually drives them straight to Gloria and Dandy's mansion.	LineColor = 003B43 }}	ProdCode = 4ATS06	Viewers = 3.65	ShortSummary = Elsa brings an old spinning wheel out of storage and begins practicing throwing daggers at it in preparation for her upcoming TV show. After sleeping with Paul, Elsa soon becomes jealous of him having an affair with Penny (Grace Gummer) behind her back. The night of her birthday party, she learns of her performers' suspicions that she had something to do with Bette and Dot's disappearance. Elsa reminds them all that none of them would be here without her, and they should be grateful for her saving them. To prove their loyalty, Elsa demands that one of them be strapped to the wheel and let Elsa do her routine. Paul reluctantly volunteers and after two missed hits, Elsa purposefully hits him in the gut; also refusing to call for a doctor. At Mott Manor, Dandy declares his love for the twins, telling Gloria that he intends on marrying them. Mistrustful of Dandy, Dot soon learns of a pair of conjoined twins that have been separated for the first time. She realizes that Dandy could easily pay for the surgery. Stanley pressures Maggie into leading Jimmy to a barn and killing him. Reluctant to do so, she suggests an easier freak; Ma Petite. After taking Ma Petite out to the barn and putting her in a tank to be killed, Maggie realizes she can't go through with it. She begs Jimmy to leave town with her immediately, but Stanley confronts her angrily, telling her they need the hands of Jimmy no matter what. Dandy asks Bette and Dot to share their secrets with him, telling them that he saved the children Twisty kidnapped. Dot declines to tell him a secret, calling Dandy out on his lies. Dandy later reads Dot's diary and realizes he can never truly feel love. He admits to Gloria that his only true purpose on Earth is to bring death. The doorbell rings and Gloria follows Dandy to the door, finding Jimmy. Dandy welcomes him in and says he must be here for the twins.	LineColor = 003B43 }}	ProdCode = 4ATS07	Viewers = 3.91	ShortSummary = Jimmy goes to the Mott's mansion to retrieve Dot and Bette, but a comment made by Dandy makes Jimmy realise that Dandy was the second masked clown who captured the children, and was the one who was going to saw Maggie in half. The twins leave Dandy after Dot learns that he read her diary, and Dandy becomes furious. Upon returning to the freak show, Jimmy confronts Elsa for selling the twins, but the twins tell Jimmy he misunderstood and lie for Elsa, hoping to blackmail her for 50% of the box office returns in the process. Penny, after caring for Paul, returns home to tell her father that she is moving out, but her father knocks her out and has his "artist friend" tattoo her face and give her a forked tongue, letting her become the freak she wants to be. Meanwhile, Stanley sees Dell at the gay bar and threatens to out him to the troupe unless he delivers him the body of a freak. While trying to kill Amazon Eve, Dell underestimates her size and strength, and is beaten up by her and thrown out of her caravan. After the women of the freak show assume Dell was intending on raping Eve, they rally together and threaten to kill him until Jimmy steps in and takes Dell out for a drink to discuss his violent attitude. Dell tries to bash a drunken Jimmy over the head with a brick, but can't go through with it. Jimmy tells Dell that he knows Dell is his father and they bond. Upon returning to the showgrounds the next morning, Dell puts a drunk Jimmy to bed. However, later that night, Dell sneaks into Ma Petite's tent and brings her a pretty dress. She tries it on and he hugs her until he crushes her, breaking her spine in the process. He delivers the body to Stanley who sells it to Lillian Hemmings (Celia Weston) from the Museum of Morbid Curiosities, where Ma Petite's body is proudly shown on exhibition.	LineColor = 003B43 }} </ref>	DirectedBy = Bradley Buecker	WrittenBy = Ryan Murphy	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode =	Viewers = TBA	ShortSummary =	LineColor = 003B43 }} </ref>	DirectedBy = Loni Peristere	WrittenBy = Brad Falchuk	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode =	Viewers = TBA	ShortSummary =	LineColor = 003B43 }} </ref>	DirectedBy = Bradley Buecker	WrittenBy = James Wong	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode =	Viewers = TBA	ShortSummary =	LineColor = 003B43 }} </ref>	DirectedBy = TBA	WrittenBy = TBA	OriginalAirDate =	ProdCode =	Viewers = TBA	ShortSummary =	LineColor = 003B43 }}

Production

Development

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On November 6, 2013, FX announced that the show had been renewed for a fourth season. Series co-creator Ryan Murphy hinted at clues about the fourth season would be hidden in the final episodes of the third season. On March 17, 2014, the season was revealed to be set at a carnival, according to co-executive producer/writer Douglas Petrie. It was also revealed that Lange will be playing a role similar to Marlene Dietrich. Murphy revealed that the season will take place in 1950, adding, "If you look historically what happened in the year 1950, there's some more clues in that year. It's a period piece. We try and do the opposite of what we've done before. Jessica Lange has already started practicing her German accent so I'm very excited!" Murphy indicated that this season draws inspiration from Tod Browning's Freaks and Herk Harvey's Carnival of Souls. This season features the largest set ever constructed for American Horror Story, with Murphy stating, "We had to build an entire city. We built an entire huge compound and then we had to build the interior of all those buildings on set. It"?s all period. And it's all based on [production designer] Mark Worthington"?s immaculate research."

Casting

Ryan Murphy confirmed that Jessica Lange would be returning for a fourth season, although said to be in a reduced capacity. Kathy Bates also returned in a main role. In January 2014, Murphy revealed that Coven cast member Patti LuPone was invited back for the fourth season. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Paulson revealed she will be returning, possibly for a main role. Angela Bassett confirmed in an interview with Access Hollywood that she would be coming back. It was announced at the 2014 PaleyFest that the cast members present at the panel would all be returning for the fourth season in some capacity, adding Denis O'Hare, Emma Roberts, and Gabourey Sidibe to the present roster. Jamie Brewer was also added to the present roster, although, at a later date, Murphy indicated Brewer may not appear during the season. Sidibe's character is described as a "well-off, impeccably tailored Barbizon School grad who comes back to town to deal with a family matter". Additionally, Michael Chiklis was announced to play the father of Peters' character and ex-husband of Bates' character. Wes Bentley appeared in two episodes as Eddie, a tormentor of Bates' character. The Normal Heart actor Finn Wittrock joined the cast in late July 2014. John Carroll Lynch will be portraying a central antagonist during the season. Grammy winner Patti LaBelle is set to play the mother of Sidibe's character, who is described as a "local townsperson who begins to unravel the murderous secrets of Twisty the clown killer". On August 13, 2014, Murphy announced that the world's smallest woman Jyoti Amge has joined the cast as Ma Petite. Murphy had written a role specifically for Coven actor Leslie Jordan, but he was unable to appear on the show due to scheduling conflicts. The Normal Hearts Matt Bomer is set to appear in one episode as a character that is described as "very warped". On September 11, 2014, it was reported that Asylum actor Naomi Grossman will return to portray Pepper, which marks the first time that a character appears in multiple seasons of the series. Lily Rabe is set to appear as her Asylum character, Sister Mary Eunice McKee, in the tenth episode. Neil Patrick Harris is confirmed to be appearing in two episodes as a "chameleon salesman", while Harris's husband, David Burtka, will guest star in the season finale as a man who has dealings with Lange's character.

Filming

</ref>}} At Paley Center for Media's 2014 PaleyFest event, Ryan Murphy announced that the season's filming would take place again in New Orleans, Louisiana, although the show's setting is in Jupiter, Florida. Principal photography for the season began on July 15, 2014. The premiere episode was directed by co-creator Murphy, his first effort since the pilot.

Marketing

A video released on July 13, 2014, entitled "Fallen Angel," was reported by many news sources to be an official Freak Show trailer. The video"?which featured the American Horror Story title card"?was later taken down after FX confirmed it was fan-made. Before the debut of the fan-made video, FX had not released any official trailers concerning the upcoming season. The first official teaser was released on August 20, 2014, entitled "Admit One".

As with previous seasons, FX is released a series of teaser trailers on the show's YouTube page. FX is also using the marketing hashtag #WirSindAlleFreaks, which is German for, "We Are All Freaks".

Critical reception

American Horror Story: Freak Show received a Metacritic score of 69 out of 100 based on 19 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 86% approval rating with an average rating of 7.7/10 based on 36 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Though it may turn off new viewers unaccustomed to its unabashed weirdness, Freak Show still brings the thrills, thanks to its reliably stylish presentation and game cast."

Soundtrack

Digital singles

Year	Song	Performer	Episode(s)	Notes
2014	"Life on Mars?"	Jessica Lange	"Monsters Among Us" "Pink Cupcakes"	Originally performed by David Bowie Released on October 9, 2014
2014	"Criminal"	Sarah Paulson	"Massacres and Matinees"	Originally performed by Fiona Apple Released on October 15, 2014
2014	"Gods and Monsters"	Jessica Lange	"Edward Mordrake (Part 1)"	Originally performed by Lana Del Rey Released on October 22, 2014
2014	"September Song"	Jessica Lange	"Bullseye"	Originally performed by Kurt Weill Released on November 12, 2014
2014	"Come as You Are"	Evan Peters	"Test of Strength"	Originally performed by Nirvana Released on November 19, 2014
Note: All songs released by 20th Century Fox TV Records.