AHS: Freak Show’ Finale: Who Survived The Bloody Curtain Call?

 

 

What’s in store for the Freak Show? How will Elsa survive in Hollywood? And will we ever see Jimmy again? ‘AHS: Freak Show’ answered every question and more on the gory and emotional season finale.

Elsa (Jessica Lange)’s off to Hollywood, and the Freak Show is left in the dirty dirty hands of Dandy (Finn Wittrock). But how will he handle it when they all turn against him? Well, he’ll create a spectacle of his own, of course.

Dandy’s Massacre Time

It’s no surprise that the minute Dandy doesn’t get what he wants, he takes care of the freak show in the only way he knows how. In the first moments of the season finale, Paul (Mat Fraser), Penny and the gang decide their done with his attitude, and quit. So, what does he do? Wipes his tears, reapplies his makeup and grabs a gun. It started with my personal favorite, Paul, and then one-by-one, he took out the entire freak show with bullets to the head.
The only freaks left alive after his massacre were the twins (Sara Paulson), who were tied up, Desiree (Angela Bassett) who hid well, and Jimmy (Evan Peters) — who returns to the site completely devastated to find his entire family dead and their bodies laid out on the stage.

‘That Boy Is A Star’

Cut to the wedding day: Bette and Dot say “I do” to Dandy (yes you read that right.) Of course, it’s only to trick him into trusting them, just long enough to let Desiree and Jimmy into his house to poison him on their wedding day.
It was time for Dandy to become the freak — so inside a glass box he went, and in the water poured. It was Houdini’s Escape box, and of course, he couldn’t do get out. Desiree enjoyed her popcorn while the twins and Jimmy finally saw eye-to-eye and got what they wanted. No, Dandy didn’t kill all the freaks: he became the star of the show, and drowned right in front of their eyes.

The Elsa Mars Hour

Meanwhile, an unknowing Elsa has finally found a job in Hollywood. Her persistence pays off and leads her to Michael Beck (David Burkta), a talent scouter.

Cut to eight years later, 1960: Elisa and Michael are married and she’s finally getting her spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Of course, her life is miserable, even though it appears to be glamorous on screen. She actually controls him now (and refers to him as a “p-ssy” to others). Just as a reminder, we know Elsa’s extremely successful at this point — we remember seeing her face on the cover of a 1958 issue of Time — but while her dreams have come true, she’s more unhappy than ever and more lonely than ever. She even tells Massimo (Danny Houston) she will run away with him — her one true love, but he reveals to her that he has one month to live.
However, it’s about to get worse: the head of the network finds the videos from years ago, revealing the graphic way her legs were cut off and what she was forced to do. But that wasn’t all. Her past as the Freak Show head was also revealed to the public — as well as the fact they were all murdered.

Halloween: The Return of Edward Mordrake

With her job and name on the line, she does what the network wants: she agrees to perform on Halloween. Can you feel Edward Mordrake coming?
First, Elsa takes the stage to perform David Bowie‘s “Heroes.” And before the song ends, which Jessica Lange nails, Edward arrives, with Twisty (Michael Chiklis) on his side, and she tells him she’s ready. “I’m the biggest freak of all,” she says. “It hurts but only for a moment,” Twisty adds. And with that, Edward stabs her and lets her know, “Your place is not with us.”
While the music plays, we flash to where the survivors end up: Desiree married to Angus (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) with children and the twins married to Jimmy and even pregnant!
So, if Elsa’s not with Edward Mordrake, where is she? Well, Heaven I’d presume — Ma Petite is there! And so is rest of the gang — Meep, Paul and Penny (who are now married), Amazon Amy and even Ethel. Even Elsa wonders: Doesn’t she have to pay for the sins she committed?
“It’s like you always said sweetheart, ‘Stars never pay,'”Ethel tells her before taking her in for a hug, and telling her she’s the new headliner at their show. Elsa was welcomed on stage (because what else is she going to do, right Ethel?), and of course, the beginning of “Gods & Monsters” begins to play — just the way the season began.
— Emily Longeretta