TV: A disappointing fourth season leads to lackluster enthusiasm for the next season of American Horror Story.
At last, the curtains have closed on American Horror Story: Freak Show and instead of claps and remarks of praise, contempt and annoyance are in the air.
To even call Freak Show a season of television seems incorrect. The word “season,” in terms of television, implies a period of time where a certain storyline is prevalent. Freak Show had no true storylines or plot. “What the hell just happened?” is the question everyone needs to be asking.
The fourth installment of the AHS anthology focused on Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange) and her “Carnival of Curiosities,” aka freak show, in 1950s Jupiter, Florida.
Murder House had a focused storyline on the Harmon family and the history of the so-called Murder House. Asylum told a compelling, though oftentimes complex, story of the twisted goings-on at Briarcliff. Coven had a lighter tone but still managed to create a new, creative story out of an old horror trope. However, Freak Show had no singular narrative that drove the season. Viewers had no reason to care about the characters because the writers never gave them a reason to care. As the season went on, it became quite clear the fact that the freaks were freaks was meant to be the “horror” of the season. Just because someone is extraordinarily tall or has a malformation of his arms doesn’t mean one should be compelled to watch solely on that. There seemed to be no real, true repercussions for any of the actions that happened throughout the season.
And that’s all it was. This “season” was just a series of actions. At first, the town of Jupiter was against the freaks being in town, and Twisty — brilliantly played by John Caroll Lynch — was a menace. Then, the citizens were not shown after the first few episodes, and Twisty was shockingly killed off in the fourth episode. Dandy, wonderfully portrayed by the beautiful Finn Wittrock, became the season highlight but wasn’t given much to do besides whine and randomly kill people. Denis O’Hare gave a basic performance as Stanley who was out to just kill the freaks for his own profit.
Without a concise narrative to drive the season, characters were killed off left and right, and no one truly cared because we never had a reason to emotionally invest in them in the first place.
The new season might have been titled and set in a new situation, but the motifs of the characters were all the same as past seasons. Lange played yet another reincarnation of the elder character who longs for her youth, love and stardom. Sarah Paulson played conjoined twins Dot and Bette, the initial underdogs who eventually come into their own and make it through the finale. Sound familiar? It’s Cordelia and Lana Winters all over again. Evan Peters played Jimmy, the boy with lobster hands who battled to be the leader he wanted to be. Just like with Kyle last year, Peter’s character is given a lot of screen time and the writers tried hard to make him relevant, yet Jimmy had little to no lasting impact on the overall season.
Lange, Paulson, Peters and Bassett all put on a great show throughout the season despite the lack of good content they were given to perform. But the same can’t be said for everyone. Last season, I was nervous about Emma Roberts being a part of the cast but her great comedic performance as Madison was entertaining each week. This year, Roberts’ performance as Maggie, who was supposed to be a fortuneteller but that was only mentioned in two scenes, was void of depth and had absolutely no reason to be featured. As much as I love Kathy Bates, I couldn’t look past her atrocious accent to even watch her performance as bearded lady Ethel.
The only episode that made me glad to have watched the season was “Orphans,” which detailed Pepper’s backstory and explained the link between Asylum and Freak Show. The appreciation is mostly due to Naomi Grossman’s exceptional performance as the fan favorite character. The final scene between Elsa and Pepper was a highlight of the season. It must also be noted that the writers barely had to create anything new for this episode. The reason Pepper was sent to Briarcliff had already been established.
“Orphans” also featured the return of Lily Rabe as Sister Mary Eunice from Asylum. Earlier, Ryan Murphy said all of the AHS seasons are connected. Of course, he states this after he throws Pepper into Freak Show making this “connection” a bit of a creative cop-out. The writers also chose to name Hans Gruper, aka Dr. Arden from Asylum, as the man who cut off Elsa’s legs. Had there been a creative, complex narrative that connected the seasons, it would have worked. But the writers instead went the lazy route and lackadaisically threw them together.
Plaguing the season even more so was the overabundance of guest stars. Ryan Murphy is starting to build his own pool of collaborators — even though he’s one person who doesn’t deserve it because of his lack of consistency. Nevertheless, this was the first season that saw the pitfalls of his growing popularity. Wes Bentley, Neil Patrick Harris, David Burtka, Matt Bomer and Patti LaBelle all showed up at one point or another. Grace Gummer, aka Meryl Streep’s daughter, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner, aka Theo from The Cosby Show, were also featured. NPH delivered a legitimate performance and that is just because NPH can do no wrong. His character was over-the-top but NPH still somehow made Chester, the murderous magician who talked to his puppet, work. For what she was given, Patti LaBelle gave an enjoyable performance. Bentley led the most boring of all AHS Halloween episodes. Bomer did nothing but make blatant sexual jokes and get his arm cut off while he was still alive. (The audiences had a similar feeling while watching this season.) Sadly, Burtka gave a terrible performance in the finale. Gummer’s character Penny was featured in the first episode, absent for the next five and then supposed to be a member of the freaks ensemble. It simply didn’t work and was unbelievable. Theo, I mean, Warner’s character was completely inexplicable. He just showed up at the freak show and then in the finale.
Familiar names don’t make a season.
Instead of solid performances, we got flashy production. The first episode reeled me in with its interesting cuts and camerawork, particularly how they filmed Paulson’s conjoined twins. It was brilliant. But a TV show needs more than a few interesting shots to warrant its existence. As much as the quick cuts and distinctive angles make a scene feel horror-esque, the horror needs to be there in the first place for the camerawork to supplement it.
I’d be remiss to discuss this season and not mention the musical numbers. Though “The Name Game” sequence in Asylum worked fantastically as a dream sequence, the performances in Freak Show paralleled the issues plaguing Glee for the past five years. They’re unnecessary and just done as a “see what I can do” moment. Lange has always wanted to sing, so Murphy made it Elsa’s act. Many criticized the show for using music that didn’t belong in the time period. Murphy retorted with the music was from artists who described themselves as freaks. Regardless, it was just a weird addition. Lange opened the season with “Life on Mars,” did “Gods & Monsters” and closed the season with “Heroes.” (For both Bowie songs, they simply recreated the music video.) Peters sang “Come As You Are,” though it sounded more like they just played Kurt Cobain’s original version and overlaid it with Peters’ voice. Paulson performed “Criminal” because Dot and Bette were literal criminals on the run and the writers needed a basic reason for Elsa to hate the twins.
This season was a let-down from start to finish. The creators and network must feel the apathy for this season because the only news and talk for the fifth season is that it is happening and might have something to do with a top hat. Big deal. Just like with Glee, I think Ryan Murphy is getting bored. He is notorious for creating fantastic initial seasons for shows, apparently losing interest and then moving on to a new show. American Horror Story’s fate has finally come.
Maybe the fifth season will feature the story of a once-beloved and acclaimed TV show falling victim to ridicule, inconsistency and unimaginative storylines. That’s a true American horror story.
@buzzlightmeryl
mg986611@ohiou.edu
