That's the first of many things that comes to mind when looking back on this week's episode of FREAK SHOW. "Pink Cupcakes" was the first episode of the show's post-Twisty era, and with so many new developments, it was hard to remember the departed clown in the wake of everything else. Let's get into it, starting first with the aforementioned Mr. Bomer:
Prior to his AHS debut, I hadn't seen much of Matt Bomer's work; besides the occasional few minutes of WHITE COLLAR I'd catch or his cover of "Somebody I Used To Know" on GLEE a few years back, I hadn't had much exposure to his work at all (dreamy magazine covers don't count). So I was definitely impressed with his short-lived role as Andy, a gay hustler who turned out to be--surprise!--Del's secret lover!
Say what...
This revelation about Del shouldn't come as much of a surprise. After all, he was once with a bearded lady, and his current wife, Desiree, is a hermaphrodite (or is she?); I think we all knew something was up there. But to see it all play out--Del's turmoil over wanting to be with Andy but not wanting to leave his wife--was great to see. Before this, Del had been a bit of a one-note character, a strongman with some serious anger issues. To get some context on where those issues might be coming from was enlightening, and I think Michael Chiklis balanced the conflict very well.
But back to Matt Bomer.
Oh haaai.
So after Del left Andy in the bar, he is approached by serial-killer-on-the-rise Dandy Mott, who pays the chap $100 to journey with him to his "love-shack", which is really just Twisty's creepy old crib. Then Dandy kills Andy. Gruesomely.
Here Miss J perfectly captures the horror felt by all of America at the dispatching of Mr. Matt Bomer.
But seriously, this scene was brutal. Not only that, but just how meticulously Dandy planned everything about it out, from sawing the body parts and dissolving them in acid...gross. Dandy has officially gone over the deep end, and the only person who hasn't realized that is his mother, Gloria. She even lets her son bury his victims in the backyard. Apparently decomposing flesh helps some plant of hers grow faster--
Okay, okay! Sorry...
As I've mentioned before, I think the Gloria-Dandy relationship is a favorite of mine, and Gloria's continued brushing-under-the-rug of her son's homicidal tendencies is both horrifying and fascinating to watch unfold. It also helps that Frances Conroy pulls off Gloria's crazed antics so deliciously; on the one hand, we want to see her as a mother doing what it takes to please and protect her child, while on the other, we question if she's just as insane as her son. Each week Gloria becomes more undone, and I'm excited to see where her character goes.
So, remember my hashtag last week, #WeNeedDesiree? Well, it seems like the AHS gods were listening, because "Pink Cupcakes" gave us more Desiree than we've ever seen before. Since the character's introduction, we've been led to believe that Desiree is a hermaphrodite, a three-breasted woman with what she calls a "ding-a-ling" down South. We learned Desiree was born Derek, until he/she began growing breasts at age 12. A hermaphrodite, right? Not necessarily: After an emergency trip to the doctor, Desiree learned that she's a woman, has always been since birth. The extra breast is from the large amounts of estrogen she produced when she was 12, and her "ding-a-ling" is simply an enlarged clitoris. What's more, the emergency that prompted the doctor's visit turned out to be a miscarriage. Desiree can have kids, and she wants one. Just not with Dell, it seems.
Obviously, I loved that we got more Desiree this week. More Angela Bassett is always a good thing, and I love how she plays Desiree honestly and without restraint. I also love that she doesn't let Del push her around, and that she finally wants to become her own woman. You go, Desiree!
Elsewhere at the freak show...
Stanley and Esmerelda continued their recon of the freak show, attempting to add some of the freaks to their collection in their own special way. For Esmerelda, this means rejecting a kiss from Lobster-Boy Jimmy Darling.
Let's just say Stanley's more of the expert between the two. He has everyone thinking he's a Hollywood agent scouting for new leads on a television show.
"TELEVISION?!?"
Needless to say, Elsa is not amused.
The scene where Elsa and Stanley argue the pros and cons of the newly-rising television was probably my favorite this week. First of all, it was super-meta; two characters, in a TV show, arguing that television is a) "The future" and b) "The fall of civilization." Elsa's idea about television trying to stuff the magic of the silver screen into a "tiny box" was deliciously ironic, given that we live in an age where many would argue that the quality of television has surpassed the quality of many films released today. I live for great social commentary, and this entire exchange hit that sweet-spot head-on.
Stanley is more successful in persuading Bette and Dot to be his "television stars," even taking them on a quaint picnic to pitch his idea and present them with some scrumptious pink cupcakes...laced with poison!
Poison or not, those look like some damn good cupcakes, am I right?
We get a pretty sad and disturbing sequence where Bette actually eats the cupcake and dies, while Dot screams in agony that she can't "hear" her conjoined twin anymore. Thankfully the scene was just Stanley's imagination and the girls reject the cupcakes in order to maintain their figure, but Sarah Paulson once again gave us an aching, convincing portrayal of these conjoined twins. Dot is so insistent on saving up money for the surgery that could separate her from her sister (a surgery that will also kill one of them), but after this scene, I'm interested to see whether she'll actually go through with it when the time comes. Their relationship is so complex and they depend on each other for everything--Dot wouldn't be a star if she were just her own person, and vice-versa--which is something I find so interesting. I can't wait to see how it all plays out, especially now that Elsa, grudgingly accepting that television is her only shot to stardom, pawns the twins off to Gloria and Dandy Mott at episode's end.
I'm not exactly sure how Elsa plans to pull this off, considering Bette and Dot should be able to make their own decisions and leave at any time. But this is AHS, and as any die-hard fan knows, sometimes plausibility is stretched with deliciously creepy results, and we as viewers just have to go along with it.
What do you think about all the developments in "Pink Cupcakes"? Were you surprised to learn that Dell had a male lover? Were you as psyched to get more Desiree as I was? How long do you think it'll take before everyone figures out the truth about Stanley and Esmerelda? And perhaps the most important question: What did you think of Matt Bomer? In case you forgot...
See you next week!
-- Dustin
@DustinVann
(All photos/GIFs courtesy of Tumblr!)
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