American Horror Story: Freak Show – "Pink Cupcakes.” Retrospective. Madness, Mayhem, and Modern Mutations.

Season 4, Episode 5

Airdate: Wednesday, November 5, 2014, 9/8c on FX

Rating: ★★★★★

**WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD**

For Jimmy and Esmeralda, will it be the start of something great or the beginning of the end?

After spending two weeks with the ghost of Edward Mordrake (Wes Bentley), American Horror Story: Freak Show (AHS: Freak Show) returns to sadistic clowns and their sidekicks in “Pink Cupcakes,” following up on the aftermath of Dandy Mott’s (Finn Wittrock) dark descent into madness. Meanwhile, in the land of the living, Esmeralda (Emma Roberts) and Stanley (Denis O’Hare) keep their eyes on the prize, focusing on their plot to capture the “freaks” in Jupiter, Florida’s carnival for a black market fortune. The story lines in AHS: Freak Show remain progressive, offering more insight into some characters left out of the Mordrake story line like Dell (Michael Chiklis) and Desiree (Angela Bassett)—characters whose presence I’ve missed these past few weeks.

Southern American Psycho

There are a lot of highlights in “Pink Cupcakes,” and most of them revolve around Wittrock’s charismatic yet disturbing performance as Dandy, the man-boy with his crystal baby bottle of booze. As Dandy’s journey develops, his scenes grow increasingly more perplexing and twisted; the ability to flip his emotions like a switch to accommodate any situation leaves me nervous for all the other core characters on the show, and yes, I’m looking at you Lobster Boy, Jimmy Darling (Evan Peters).

Don’t let Dandy’s good looks fool you.

One of the things I appreciate about AHS: Freak Show is the way it cuts to the chase without too many distractions. Dandy’s choice to take the life of his long term nanny, Dora (Patti LaBelle), kicks the door wide open into how truly crazy the Mott family is, as well as the secrets they are able to keep. It’s a big turning point because some people cannot simply vanish; they will be “missed.” Dandy’s emotional immaturity and brattish ways are problematic enough for his poor mother Gloria (Frances Conroy), but his homicidal tendencies are different, shedding light on the depth of Dandy’s psychosis in ways reminiscent of the classic thriller, American Psycho. Unlike previous episodes, “Pink Cupcakes” is the first time Dandy provides internal monologue, in between his scenes, which removes some of the child-like behavior we’re accustomed to seeing each week. At one point, while performing a rigorous daily workout routine, Dandy reveals he wants to be the “U.S. Steel of murder,” demonstrating his desire to embody his call to murder in every possible way. It’s fascinating how much Dandy’s behavior is evolving, becoming ritualistic, as the season moves forward. When Dandy embarks on taking on a second victim, his previous thoughts of self-importance stick to the back of my mind: “But I am no clown; I am perfection. I am greatness; I am the future and the future starts tonight.”

A Night of Discoveries

“Pink Cupcakes” opens with a gala at the American Morbidity Museum where some of the world’s most unusual biological curiosities or “modern mutations” are on display. The gala’s somewhat theme of a “night of discovery” becomes, in many ways, the theme for the episode. Just when you think you figure out certain characters, episodic writer Jessica Sharzer twists the scenes, making you question your preconceived notions of those characters. Dell’s story line and focus on his issues with love, as well as his sexuality, are a total surprise. Dell, for all his super strength, finds himself vulnerable when it comes to love. “Nothing worse than the hurt of loving someone you can’t have…”

Sadly, the “love” he professes for prostitute, Andy (Matt Bomer), goes unrequited and leads to events which puts Dandy in their path. It’s a great display of how interconnected all the characters are becoming in AHS: Freak Show in addition to the little connections it shares to past seasons of American Horror Story (AHS).

Dell isn’t the only one having a bad night, though. Desiree finds herself in a fix when a bit of fooling around with Jimmy leads to a doctor visit. When I first saw Desiree arrive to the sideshow in “Massacres and Matinees,” I found her to be a curious yet mysterious character. I enjoyed how “Pink Cupcakes” re-examines homosexuality and gender roles in different yet subtle ways. When Desiree explains her backstory, revealing how she was raised to think of herself as a boy until she was 12 years old, and before developing a third breast, it makes you wonder what her life was like living in a very conservative and homophobic era. Scenes like Dell’s visit to a ‘down low’ gay bar, and Esmeralda telling Stanley to hide his nudie male magazines because “…the one thing Jupiter hates more than freaks, it’s poofs,” show how everyone has something about themselves they hide just beneath the surface.

That said, what does it say when you have Dandy targeting gay men at the same bar Dell is in, and killing them? I understand the more Dandy crosses paths with people from Elsa’s (Jessica Lange) carnival, the more complex the problems will be for all the main characters in the finale. Dandy’s thrill-to-kill tendencies are a little too over the top.

Elsa is ready for her close-up!

Dream a Little Dream

Elsa’s dream for stardom are never ending, and when Stanley finally convinces her to take a turn as a television personality rather than going for something more cinematic, I couldn’t help but get a little Sunset Blvd vibe when she responds to television as, “the death of art.” There isn’t anything too interesting with Elsa’s plot points, or the grifters’ Stanley and Esmeralda; however, I think it’s interesting that Stanley’s fantasies don’t have a clear distinction with reality, making the continuity a bit confusing. At times, I wasn’t sure whether I was actually witnessing a scene from Stanley’s perspective. Yet, maybe, blurring the lines between reality and Stanley’s perception is the point.

Bottom Line

The first viewing of “Pink Cupcakes” doesn’t come across as forcefully as I was expecting after such a strong story arc with the Mordrake story line. During the second viewing, however, I caught some subtleties and nuances that make “Pink Cupcakes” a nice complimentary subsequent episode, as well as noticing the reason why the episode feels off center: Twisty the Clown (John Carroll Lynch). Without very much dialogue or complex action sequences, Twisty is the dominant anchor in providing the horror. Without Twisty, no matter how terrifying Dandy appears with his mask, the horror shifts to a more macabre spine-chiller. This doesn’t necessarily make it bad, just different in a way that throws off the tone a bit. In terms of character development, even though Dandy continues his gory rampage, the contrast of the monstrous features of the mask he wears over his handsome face mixes with his inner demons, taking Dandy’s story line to another level. The emphasis about a closeted lifestyle (straight or gay), the definition of “freak,” and the problematic lives of the people in Jupiter, Florida offer another nuance to the season, revolving around understanding what makes us human, a monster, or a little bit of both. Overall, I like “Pink Cupcakes,” but there are more misses than hits. Although, the actors’ performances make up for some of the flaws in the plot points.

What did you think of “Pink Cupcakes?” Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @conallen.