If there's anything AHS has excelled at this year, it's crafting absolutely devastating back-stories for its characters.
First we got Ethel and her road-side show birth of Jimmy. Then there was Twisty's futile quest for love and acceptance in society. Then we got the chain-sawing of Elsa's legs by snuff filmmakers. And this week, we got to Pepper.
Oh, Pepper. The beloved pinhead who made AHS history by being the first character featured in more than one season of the show had an hour (mostly) devoted to her introduction into the freak show and her inevitable, wrongful placement at Briarcliff (the asylum in AHS: Asylum).
The hour began with the unexpected death of Salty, another pinhead in the freak show that we later learned was also Pepper's soulmate. As Pepper grieved, Elsa revealed (and we saw via flashbacks) how she first came across Pepper in an orphanage. This was around the same time Elsa was gathering recruits for her own freak show, and she proudly claimed Pepper as her first "monster."
The sequence of Elsa "adopting" Pepper and fulfilling her favorite monster's wishes--when she wanted a baby, she found Ma Petite; when she wanted a husband, she found her Salty--was incredibly touching, and really redeemed Elsa as a character for me. Despite all the horrible things she's done this season, I truly felt the love she had for Pepper. And Jessica Lange and Naomi Grossman (the marvelous actress who plays Pepper) have a great mother-daughter chemistry that radiates off the screen.
And then, just as I'd felt Elsa had redeemed herself, she goes off and does another horrible thing.
With her supposed departure to Hollywood on the horizon, Elsa needs to put her affairs in Jupiter in order. And by affairs, I mean dumping Pepper--her favorite monster, a woman who is GRIEVING the loss of her "baby" and "husband" and lives in a world where she's always abandoned--off into the care of her sister. Her sister, who also happens to be the same woman who abandoned her in the orphanage all those years ago.
...What?!?!
Seriously, what was Elsa thinking? Knowing Pepper's issues with abandonment, why wouldn't she just allow Pepper to stay with the other freaks, who are more her family than the sister who cast her aside because she was different? Elsa's idea of what family means is truly warped, but then again, she's warped when it comes to a lot of things. Right, Edward?
So Elsa leaves Pepper in the care of her sister, a heartbreaking scene that capitalizes on the excellence that is Queen Jessica Lange and shows the depth of emotion Naomi Grossman can tap into as an actress.
"Here, my darling, is a kiss from me to you. And if you get lonely, you hold onto your cheek, and I'll be there."
So. Many. Feels.
Then, those of us who have watched Asylum know what happens to Pepper from there. Her sister, played with delusional malice by Mare Winningham, finally has the child she always wanted--but never wanted to take care of. Pepper cares for the baby, lovingly so, but even this isn't enough for her small-minded sister and her even smaller-minded husband: Both sick of Pepper and their baby, they hatch a plan to "kill two birds with one stone," a plan that involves murdering their own child and framing poor Pepper for the crime. Pepper once again loses someone she loves, and is thrown into Briarcliff, where she meets...Sister Mary Eunice!
Sister Mary Eunice is by far one of my most favorite characters in the AHS universe, so I've been waiting for her return ever since it was announced. And as brief as her reappearance was, she (and the amazingly awesome actress who plays her, Lily Rabe) did not disappoint. I loved that we got to see the sweet, kind Sister Mary Eunice.
You know, before she was possessed by the devil and all that.
Okay, then, whatever you say...
Seeing pre-possession Sister Mary Eunice was a great treat for all us die-hard AHS fans, and having Pepper's story come full circle was heartbreakingly satisfying. I was a bit wary of the idea of every season having some sort of connection with the others, but if the writers can pull it off as beautifully as they did here, then I'm up for more connections to be made in subsequent seasons.
We also got this surprising tidbit in the last image of the episode:
So Elsa did make it to Hollywood? But how, if Stanley is the fake he says he is? I'm intrigued, and it's the perfect tease to keep us wondering until the show returns for its last three episodes starting January 7.
Other thoughts on this week's episode:
*Desiree Dupree continues to be the goddess of fierce. Her face-off with Esmerelda at the carousal was fantastic.
Angela Bassett plays Desiree with such flair. I love it, and am so glad we've gotten to see more of her as FREAK SHOW has progressed.
*Jimmy apparently sold his lobster hand to Stanley in order to pay for "a good lawyer." Do we think he actually went through with it? I mean, we see the hands on display at the creepy freak museum, but could there be a chance that there's another Lobster Boy out there that we don't know about?
*Anyone else think it was funny/messed up that Elsa was able to buy off Ma Petite from that prince by giving him cases of Dr. Pepper? It made me think of the whole Benadryl gag from Coven last year. You know the one.
*No Dandy this week, which oddly, I was fine with. I'm still impatiently waiting for him to do something other than shouting "I am the law!" over and over again.
*Can we bask in the beauty that is Elsa Mars circa 1930s-1940s?
Love her hair. Hate her.
*Was anyone else just waiting for Sister Jude to pop up during the Briarcliff sequence? I probably would've cried tears of joy if I'd seen Jessica Lange back in that habit.
*I'm obviously a bit obsessed with Asylum, if you couldn't tell.
That about sums it up for this week. We're nearing the end of the FREAK SHOW, everyone. Any theories on how it'll end? We got a little taste of what to expect in the new year, most notably Neil Patrick Harris' introduction as the new owner of the freak show. The preview made his character seem pretty dark and disturbing, so I hope he lives up to the hype! Any thoughts on what NPH will bring to Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities?
Thanks for reading, and come back in 2015 for new AHS-related posts!
--Dustin
@DustinVann
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