document_title: Pam Beesly

question_text: when did pam get pregnant again on the office

text: Pam Beesly

text: Casting and character development[edit]

text: The character was originally created to be very similar to the British counterpart, Dawn Tinsley. Even minute details, such as how Pam wore her hair each day, were considered by executive producer, Greg Daniels.[4]

text: "When I went in for The Office, the casting director said to me, 'Please look normal'," recalls Jenna Fischer. "Don't make yourself all pretty, and dare to bore me with your audition. Those were her words. Dare to bore me."[5]

text: Heeding the advice, Fischer said little during the auditions, during which she was interviewed in character by show producers, in an improvisational format, to imitate the show's documentary premise. "My take on the character of Pam was that she didn't have any media training, so she didn't know how to be a good interview. And also, she didn't care about this interview," she told NPR. "So, I gave very short one-word answers and I tried very hard not to be funny or clever, because I thought that the comedy would come out of just, you know, the real human reactions to the situation...and they liked that take on it."[5]

text: "When I went in to the audition, the first question that they asked me in the character of Pam — they said, 'Do you like working as a receptionist?' I said, 'No.' And that was it. I didn't speak any more than that. And they started laughing."[5]

text: Fischer found herself creating a very elaborate backstory for the character. For the first few seasons, she kept a list of the character history revealed on-screen by the creators, as well as her own imaginative thoughts on Pam's history.[6] She created a rule with the set's hair and make-up department that it couldn't look as though it took Pam more than 30 minutes to do her hair,[7] and she formulated ideas as to who gave Pam each piece of jewelry she wore [8] or where she went to college.[8] Fischer also carefully crafted Pam's quiet persona. "Well, my character of Pam is really stuck," she explained to NPR. "I mean, she's a subordinate in this office. And so, I think that for her, the only way she can express herself is in the silences, but you can say so much by not saying anything."[5]

text: Originally meek and passive, the character grew more assertive as the seasons passed, prompting Fischer to reassess her portrayal. "I have to approach Pam differently [now]," she explained in Season 4, a defining season in which her character finally begins a long-awaited relationship with Jim and is accepted into the Pratt Institute. "She is in a loving relationship, she has found her voice, she has started taking art classes. All of these things must inform the character and we need to see changes in the way she moves, speaks, dresses, etc."[6]

text: Character history[edit]

text: Seasons 1–3[edit]

text: At the beginning of the series, Pam and Roy have been dating for eight years and engaged for three years. Their open-ended engagement has become one of Michael's running gags and a sore spot for Pam.

text: Pam does not want her current job to become permanent, remarking that "I don't think it's many little girls' dream to be a receptionist." Pam is apathetic toward her work, evidenced by her frequent games of FreeCell on her office computer. However, in the pilot episode, she breaks down crying when Michael pulls an ill-advised prank by telling her that she will be fired.

text: Michael has criticized Pam for simply forwarding calls to voice mail without answering and (in a deleted scene) for not sounding enthusiastic enough when speaking on the telephone. Pam is usually happy to abandon her work if asked to do something else by Jim. She will do extra, unnecessary work (such as making a casket for a dead bird or paper doves for the Office Olympics) to make other people happy.

text: Despite the abuse she takes from Michael, she never goes any further than calling him a jerk in the pilot. In later seasons, however, she becomes more honest and forward with Michael and will often make sarcastic comments toward him.

text: While engaged to Roy, Pam denies, or is in denial about, having any romantic feelings for Jim. When Jim confesses his love for her at the Dunder Mifflin "Casino Night" she turns him down. She later talks to her mom on the phone and says Jim is her best friend (though she doesn't say his name), and says "Yeah, I think I am" to an unheard question. She is interrupted by Jim, who enters and kisses her; she responds by kissing back.

text: Season three marks a turning point for Pam's character: she gains self-confidence and appears less passive and more self-assured as the season progresses. In "Gay Witch Hunt," the season's opener, it is revealed that Pam got cold feet before her wedding and did not marry Roy after all, and that Jim transferred to a different Dunder Mifflin branch, in Stamford, shortly after Pam rejected him a second time, after their kiss. Pam moves into her own apartment, begins taking art classes, a pursuit that Roy had previously dismissed as a waste of time, and buys a new car, a blue Toyota Yaris. Jim returns to Scranton later on as a result of "The Merger", and brings along a female co-worker, Karen Filippelli, whom he begins dating. Jim and Pam appeared to have ended all communication after Jim transfers to the Stamford branch (aside from an episode in which Jim accidentally calls Pam at the end of the work day), and their episodes together following the branch merge are tense, despite both admitting to still harboring feelings for the other during the presence of the documentary cameras.

text: Meanwhile, Roy vows to win Pam back. Roy's efforts to improve his relationship with Pam are quite successful, but once Pam and Roy are back together, he falls back into old habits almost immediately. When Roy and Pam attend an after work get-together at a local bar with their co-workers, Pam, feeling that she should be more honest with Roy, tells him about Jim kissing her at, "Casino Night." Roy yells, smashes a mirror, and trashes the bar. Pam, frightened and embarrassed by his reaction, breaks up with Roy immediately. Roy vows to kill Jim and in, "The Negotiation", Roy unsuccessfully tries to attack Jim at work (Jim is saved by Dwight's intervention), and is subsequently fired. Pam later reluctantly agrees to meet Roy for coffee at his request, and after the polite but brief meeting, it appears that their relationship has ended amicably with Roy encouraging Pam to pursue Jim.

text: Pam participates in an art show, but few people attend. Her co-worker, Oscar, brings his partner along who, not knowing that Pam is standing behind him, criticizes her work by proclaiming that "real art requires courage." Oscar then goes on to say that courage isn't one of Pam's strong points. Affected by this statement, Pam tells the documentary crew that she is going to be more honest, culminating in a dramatic coal walk during the next-to-last episode of the season, "Beach Games", and a seemingly sincere speech to Jim in front of the entire office about their relationship. Michael also comes to the art show and reveals his erratically kind heart and loyalty by buying, framing and hanging Pam's drawing of the Dunder Mifflin building in the office. In the season finale, "The Job," she leaves a friendly note in Jim's briefcase and an old memento depicting the 'gold medal' yogurt lid from the Office Olympics, which he sees during an interview for a job at Corporate in New York City. While he is asked how he "would function here in New York", Jim is shown to have his mind back in Scranton, still distracted by the thought of Pam. Jim withdraws his name from consideration and drives back to the office, where he interrupts a talking head Pam is doing for the documentary crew by asking her out for dinner. She happily accepts, visibly moved, abandoning a train of thought about how she would be fine if Jim got the job and never came back to Scranton. Karen quits soon after, becoming the regional manager at Dunder Mifflin's Utica branch.

text: Seasons 4–6[edit]

text: In Season 4, Pam retains the assertiveness she developed in the third season. She wears her hair down and has updated her old dowdy wardrobe.

text: In the season 4 premiere, "Fun Run", Jim and Pam confess that they have started dating after the camera crew catches them kissing. The office ultimately learns of their relationship in "Dunder Mifflin Infinity". In "Chair Model", after teasing Pam about his impending proposal, Jim tells the documentary crew he is not kidding around about an engagement and shows them a ring he bought a week after he and Pam started dating. In the next few episodes, Jim fake-proposes to Pam multiple times. In "Goodbye, Toby", Pam discovers she's been accepted at Pratt Institute, an art and design school in Brooklyn . In an interview later in the episode, Jim announces that he will propose to Pam that evening. Just as Jim is preparing to propose, however, Andy Bernard stands up and makes his own impromptu proposal to Angela. Having had his thunder stolen by Andy, Jim reluctantly puts the ring back in his jacket pocket, leaving Pam visibly disappointed as she was expecting Jim to propose that night.

text: In the Season 5 premiere, "Weight Loss", Pam begins her three-month course at the Pratt Institute. In this episode, Jim proposes in the pouring rain at a rest stop, saying that he "can't wait". In "Business Trip", Pam learns that she is failing one of her classes and will have to remain in New York another three months to retake it. Although Jim is supportive and tells her he will wait for her to come back "the right way", she ultimately makes the decision to return home, saying that she realized she hated graphic design and missed Scranton. A deleted scene for the episode shows Jim looking through Pam's graphic design projects, which he thinks are "cool", as well as a notebook filled with pencil sketches, which he finds a lot more impressive than her graphic design projects, implying her talents lie in hand-drawn works. In "Two Weeks", Pam agrees to become Michael's first saleswoman in his not-yet-established company, The Michael Scott Paper Co., as a supportive Jim looks on. When David Wallace makes an offer to buy the company Michael negotiates in order to get their jobs at Dunder Mifflin back instead, including adding Pam to the sales team. In "Company Picnic", Pam, after dominating the company volleyball tournament, injures her ankle during a game and is taken to the hospital against her wishes. At the hospital, the camera crew is stationed outside an exam room while a doctor updates Jim and Pam on her condition. There is no audio as the camera shows Jim and Pam embrace, looking shocked and ecstatic. It is implied that she is pregnant and is confirmed in the Season 6 premiere, "Gossip".

text: Jim and Pam marry early in the season, at Niagara Falls, during the highly anticipated, hour long episode, "Niagara". The ending of the episode, in which their co-workers dance down the aisle, is an imitation of a viral YouTube video — JK Wedding Entrance Dance.[9] Following the wedding, a multi-episode story arc begins in which it is revealed that Michael hooked up with Pam's mother the night of the wedding. The two break up during "Double Date", an episode that ends with Pam slapping Michael in response to his actions.

text: In "The Delivery" of Season 6, Pam and Jim have their first child, a daughter named Cecelia Marie Halpert. Jenna Fischer was granted naming rights by show producers, and chose to name her after her own niece.[10]

text: Season 7[edit]

text: In "Counseling", Pam feels inadequate about her poor performance in sales and tricks Gabe into promoting her to a phony new salaried position called office administrator. In "China", Pam tries to use her authority as office administrator to force building manager Dwight to stop his annoying cost-cutting measures. Pam threatens to move the office to a new building, which Dwight discovers doesn't exist. Pam saves face, however, when Dwight secretly has his assistant provide her with a book on building regulations that proves Dwight's measures were not allowed. The episode is another example of Dwight's covert protectiveness and fondness for Pam (as previously demonstrated in "The Injury", "Back from Vacation", "The Job" and "Diwali"); Mindy Kaling said during an online Q&A session that Dwight has a soft spot for her that he does not extend to anyone else at the office. She also uses her position to buy Erin Hannon an expensive desk top computer to replace the terrible one she had to use for years, as well as discreetly giving Andy a new computer, and giving Daryll three sick days. At the end of the episode she proudly says that she is, "Full on corrupt."

text: In "Goodbye, Michael", Pam almost misses saying good-bye to Michael, as she spends most of the day out of the office trying to price shredders. Jim figures out Michael's plan to leave early and tells her by text. Pam reaches the airport in time and is the last person to see Michael before he leaves.

text: Season 8[edit]

text: At the beginning of Season 8, Pam is revealed to be pregnant with her and Jim's second child, Philip Halpert. The child coincided with Jenna Fischer's actual pregnancy. She begins her maternity leave after "Pam's Replacement". Pam returns in "Jury Duty", where she and Jim bring Cece and Phillip into the office. In both "Tallahassee" and "Test the Store" Pam is shown helping, and developing her friendship with Andy.

text: Season 9[edit]

text: Early in season 9, Jim is restless about his life in Scranton and helps a friend start a Sports Marketing business, Athlead, in Philadelphia but he keeps it a secret from Pam until the third episode "Andy's Ancestry". Although Pam is happy for his decision, she is concerned about the fact that he had kept it a secret from her and she is later disturbed to hear about just how much of their money he had invested. Jim begins spending part of each work week in Philadelphia, but in "Customer Loyalty", the strain of this on Pam is evident when she breaks down in tears, and is comforted by Brian, the boom mic operator of the film crew.

text: In "Moving On", Pam interviews for a job in Philadelphia to be closer to Jim, but she is turned off by the idea when her prospective new boss bears a striking resemblance in behavior to Michael Scott. Over dinner, Pam reveals to Jim that she doesn't really want to move to Philadelphia after all. However, in "Livin' the Dream", when Athlead is bought out and Jim is offered a large sum of money for 3 months to pitch the company across the country, Pam overhears Jim refuse the opportunity because of her and appears to have mixed feelings about this decision. In "A.A.R.M.", Pam tells Jim that she's afraid that he will resent her for making him stay and that she might not be enough for him. Jim asks the camera crew to compile documentary footage of the two of them to show her. When she finishes the montage, which shows Jim taking back a letter he intended to give her with his teapot gift during Christmas; Jim finally gives her that letter, and she reads it, visibly moved. In the series finale, which takes place a year later, she reveals to Jim that she secretly put the house on the market, so that they can move to Austin, Texas, and take his job back at Athlead (now Athleap).

text: Coworker relations[edit]

text: From her years working the front desk, Pam has become well-acquainted with the Dunder-Mifflin staff and is consistently shown to have a thorough understanding of her coworkers' personalities, including the more eccentric individuals Dwight Schrute and Michael Scott. She uses this familiarity to manipulate them, often for their and the company's best interests (such as her giving the staff elaborate instructions on how to handle a heartbroken Michael in "The Chump") but also occasionally for her own. This familiarity plays a large part in her efficiency as office administrator and was crucial to her being promoted to the previously non-existent position.

text: Jim Halpert[edit]

text: The "will they or won't they" tension between Jim and Pam is a strong storyline in the early episodes of The Office, encompassing much of Seasons 1 to 3. In the opener of Season 4, the two characters are revealed to be dating, and as such, other character romances, such as the romance between fellow co-workers Dwight Schrute and Angela Martin, begin to move more toward the forefront of episodes. In Season 6, Jim and Pam are married in the season's 4th and 5th episodes (hour long), a feat considered noteworthy by many television critics, as bringing together the two lead love interests in a television series is often thought to be a risky venture.[11] Their child is born in the second half of the season, during another hour long, "The Delivery". Pam and Jim's second child is born during season 8. In season 9, their marriage becomes strained when Jim takes up a second job in Philadelphia. They ultimately decide to leave Dunder Mifflin together so Jim can pursue his dream job.

text: Roy Anderson[edit]

text: When the series begins, Pam is engaged to her high school sweetheart Roy Anderson; this engagement is revealed to be three years old and running. They finally set a date, but Pam calls off the wedding at the last minute. They get back together once, briefly, but Pam is much more assertive, and finally breaks up with him after he has a violent outburst. Roy is deeply flawed - he is overbearing, neglectful, dismissive of her desire to be an artist, and offers her sex as a gift on Valentine's Day. Jim comments in Season 2 that Pam does not like to "bother" Roy with her "thoughts or feelings". He tells the camera crew that the only two problems in Pam's life seemed to be Roy and her job at Dunder Mifflin.

text: In the early seasons, there is a great deal of tension between Jim and Roy, with Roy often acting threateningly towards Jim. In "Basketball", when Jim starts to impress Pam with his basketball skills, Roy elbows Jim in the nose. In season 2, when Jim encourages Pam to pursue a graphic arts internship offered by Dunder Mifflin, Roy objects to the opportunity and eventually convinces her that the idea is foolish. Pam ultimately calls off her wedding to Roy, but they remain friendly and he is determined to win her back by being less of a jerk. She reconciles with Roy at Phyllis's wedding as a response to watching Jim date Karen. In an attempt at a fresh start with Roy, Pam comes clean about Jim kissing her during "Casino Night". Roy flies into a violent rage and Pam ends the relationship on the spot. The next day, Roy attempts to attack Jim in the office but is stopped by Dwight's pepper spray and is summarily fired. After losing his job, Roy meets Pam for coffee and says that even though Jim is dating Karen, she should at least make an effort to date him (inasmuch as she called off the wedding because of him).

text: In season 5, Jim and Roy run into each other at a bar and Roy learns that Jim and Pam are engaged. The mood is somewhat awkward, but Roy is congratulatory, but then makes a somewhat passive-aggressive comment, seemingly meant to make Jim feel insecure about his current role in Pam's life, which tempts him to drive to Pratt, where she is attending art classes. Jim gets on the freeway, but changes his mind and remembers that he trusts Pam. Jim didn't want to treat Pam the same way Roy treated her.

text: Michael Scott[edit]

text: In the series pilot, Michael is overtly rude to Pam and at one point fakes her firing, leaving her in tears. He often makes suggestive if harmless remarks about her beauty and general appearance, and at one point lies to the camera that they used to date (inspiring a horrified "WHAT???" from Pam when an interviewer relays the message to her). However, his impulsive attempt to kiss her during Diwali is shot down and marked the end of any romantic dreams for Michael with Pam. Over time, the combination of Michael being supportive of her goals, her transition from a bad relationship with Roy to a great one with Jim as well as her finding a job she not only enjoys but is effective at in the office administrator position and Michael finding his own soulmate in Holly Flax made Pam soften her stance towards Michael, and the experience at the Michael Scott Paper Company further bonded them (as did Michael's decision to choose Pam instead of Ryan Howard as the only MSPC salesman to keep that job when Michael returned as Branch Manager). Pam was furious at Michael for dating her mom Helene, and excoriated him at length during "The Lover" before eventually slapping him in "Double Date", but they once again were able to be civil to each other afterward. Pam does set up boundaries around her personal life that Michael can't cross, like telling him that he wasn't Cece's godfather. By Season 7, Pam acts as something of a guardian angel for Michael, steering him away from (numerous) bad ideas and towards his (fewer but real) good ones, such as his successful efforts to propose to Holly. In Michael's finale "Goodbye, Michael", Pam spends the whole day looking for a shredder, believing that the next day Michael was leaving. As Michael takes off his microphone and heads down the airport concourse, Pam runs to him with no shoes and hugs him as he kisses her cheek. The two have a nice moment and he walks off, leaving her holding her shoes. She then tells the camera that he was happy, wanting to be an advanced rewards member, and was glad to be going home to see Holly. She then is there to watch Michael's plane take off. In a deleted scene from "The Inner Circle", we learn Pam is flattered that Michael named his new puppy "Pamela Beagsley", and in "The List" she playfully teases Jim by calling their second child "Little Michael Scott", further proving that the two have developed a genuine friendship.

text: Toby Flenderson[edit]

text: Toby, the Human Resources Representative for Dunder Mifflin in the Scranton branch, has a secret crush on Pam. In "A Benihana Christmas" she gives him her Dunder-Mifflin bathrobe, a display of friendly affection, after he spent the day feeling bad that Dwight took his. In "Night Out", Toby awkwardly rubs her knee while they share a laugh (and while Jim sits just on her other side), and the rest of the office watches in horror. In his mortification, Toby immediately announces that he is moving to Costa Rica before jumping over the locked gate and fleeing. In "Goodbye, Toby", he purchases a DSLR camera just to get a picture with Pam. On the eve of his departure, she confesses to the cameras that she always thought he was "kind of cute". The crush receives less attention after Toby's return. However, in "Niagara", Pam and Jim are late for their wedding and he is visibly excited at the prospect that the wedding might not happen. In "Finale", Pam and Toby dance with each other at Dwight's wedding, with Toby beginning to cry as Pam comforts him. When she asks, "is it me?", he replies that "it's everything!".

text: Appearances[edit]

text: Pam Halpert has appeared in every episode with the exceptions of "Business Ethics" (except for the deleted scenes), "St. Patrick's Day", and "New Leads" in which only her voice is heard, and several season 8 episodes from "Mrs. California" to "Pool Party", where she did not appear at all as Fischer was on maternity leave.[12]

text: Notes[edit]

text: ^ Jump up to: a b Pam Beesly's full name is Pamela Morgan Beesly (later Pamela Morgan Halpert). In "The Lover" Michael says to Pam, "Pamela Morgan Beesly, you need to apologize to your mother right now."[2] In "Did I Stutter?" Jim says to Pam, "You know what would energize me? If you, Pamela Morgan Beesly..."[3]

tag: ol


document_title: The Day Alex Left for College

question_text: where does alex from modern family go to college

root

text: The Day Alex Left for College

text: Plot[edit]

text: Alex (Ariel Winter) is ready to start her first day as a student as she leaves home to be in Caltech and Haley (Sarah Hyland) goes with her. Here, Alex meets her new roommate Maisie who replaces her original roommate and does not get along with her as she finds her clumsy. Haley explains to her that they were roommate during eight years and had hard time to adjust with her new life, which makes Alex reconsider her decision.

tag: p

text: Elsewhere, Phil (Ty Burrell) asks Luke (Nolan Gould) to follow him since he has to sell a house which is actually unsaleable. However, Luke appears to be uninterested by the house as he would rather hang out with his friends. Despite the fact that he needs his son to help him to finish the sale, Phil finally agrees to let him go but on the road, they find duck eggs and Luke asks his dad to help him to build a village for the future Ducks.

text: Claire (Julie Bowen) and the Delgado-Pritchetts have to go to Lilly's (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons) first soccer game but they don't want to. Gloria (Sofía Vergara) suggests that Jay (Ed O'Neill) could be injured and shoots him in the left foot. When they arrive, Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) who still struggles with his job search, has become the coach and initially believes them until Joe (Jeremy Maguire) spills the beans. Meanwhile, Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) rents the apartment upstairs and helps Mitchell to be a good coach when the referee asks him to leave. Mitchell temporarily loses his position as a coach, but manages to get it back and Lilly wins her game.

text: At the end of this episode, the family concludes a pact in which they will choice to skip an event by year, much to Manny's (Rico Rodriguez) disappointment as nobody wants to see his theater performance.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Broadcasting[edit]

text: The episode was watched by 8.72million people, down 0.74 from the previous episode. [2]

text: Reviews[edit]

text: The episode received positive reviews. Joshua Alston of The A.V. Club praised the episode, despite recycled plots, awarding it a B grade. He found that as the episode goes on, "the funnier and more charming it gets, and the final act brings the episode to a satisfying and elegant conclusion."[3] Liz Estey of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4/5, calling Haley and Alex's moments "incredibly poignant", praising the episode for doing "a wonderful job of showing Phil's resistance and eventual acceptance of Luke's new independence", and calling Mitchell and Cam's rapport "very fun to watch".[4] Zachary Anderson of Out Loud Culture gave the episode 8.5/10, calling it "refreshing" because of the way it handled Alex going off to college and called it "an excellent transition into a new era for the clan", though he believed that Cam and Mitch's storyline "felt too isolated".[5]

text: Hunter Vogt of The TV Ratings Guide praised the episode, pointing to funny moments such as the contrast between Claire and Phil being emotional while Alex is not, and when Mitch and Cam called everyone's phones. However, he believed that Phil and Luke's storyline "was not interesting" and that the third act "wasn't as strong as the first two thirds of the episode."[6] Lisa Fernandez of Next Projection thought that it was a "lovely episode" that was an improvement over the previous week's episode, and gave it a score of 6.5/10. She said "what works really works", and praises the Dunphy storylines, but goes on to criticize the storyline that employs Gloria, Jay, Cam, and Mitch, calling it a "hectic mess" that is "pointless in the extreme" and "could have used a rewrite. A good, full rewrite."[7]


document_title: American Horror Story: Freak Show

question_text: who plays the clown in american horror story season four

text: American Horror Story: Freak Show

text: Plot[edit]

text: At Jupiter, Florida in 1952, German expatriate Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange), the ambitious owner of a struggling freak show entitled "Fräulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities" and who was seeking her own fame and stardom, recruit conjoined twin sisters Bette and Dot Tattler (Sarah Paulson), whose two heads shared one body, as new members of her troupe after being identified by the police as fugitives since Bette's recent murder of their overprotective mother during an argument. When the sisters arrive, they were welcomed by their fellow freaks; Elsa's subordinate and confidante Ethel Darling (Kathy Bates) the bearded lady, her lobster-handed son Jimmy (Evan Peters), Paul the Illustrated Seal (Mat Fraser), the giantess Amazon Eve (Erika Ervin), the legless Suzi (Rose Siggins), pinheads Salty and Pepper (Christopher Neiman and Naomi Grossman), the youngest Meep (Ben Woolf), and the dwarf performers: ex-convict Toulouse (Drew Rin Varick) and Elsa's most significant companion Ma Petite (Jyoti Amge) who was the smallest of the group.

text: During the troupe's first performance with the twins, the only spectators in the audience were wealthy socialite widow Gloria Mott (Frances Conroy) and her spoiled, mentally unstable son Dandy (Finn Wittrock), who displayed an insalubrious fascination for the freaks, especially for Bette and Dot, who were romantically attracted by him after he tried to purchase them for $15,000 to Elsa. The disappearance of a detective, whom Jimmy had murdered in defense of the Tattlers earlier, left the police to enforce a citywide curfew in search for the culprit which would impact Elsa’s business. Other new members of the troupe include Dell Toledo (Michael Chiklis), the strongman who was Ethel's ex-husband and Jimmy’s birth father; and his three-breasted wife Desiree Dupree (Angela Bassett) — both whom were deputized by Elsa since Dell’s recent crime against a troupe in Chicago to reinstate the position of Ethel’s job due to her chronic alcoholism. When the twins were assigned as headliners of their second performance which attracted the audience to their popularity, Elsa’s jealousy and cruelty against them and the troupe drove her to selfish determination in achieving her personal desires.

text: After Jimmy deny Dandy’s opportunity to join the troupe, Gloria, with the intent to console her son, mistakes a demented serial killer clown named Twisty (John Carroll Lynch), who was responsible for the recent crimes that plagued around town, as a stray circus performer and brings him to surprise Dandy as his playmate. When Dandy peeks in Twisty's belongings, however, the latter knocks him down and runs away back to his dwelling at the woods, where he has several kidnapped children for his personal performance; his plan is to win back their attention against the freaks, who had cruelly taunted him in his past life as a former troupe member, leaving him devastated and hence fuelling him to attempt at his life, which resulted in his lower jaw mutilated after shooting himself in his mouth. Dandy follows Twisty and forms an allegiance with him after discovering the Twisty’s intentions.

text: On Halloween after Meep was framed by the detective’s murder and killed on a prison assault, an old superstition tells the tale of a two-faced spirit Edward Mordrake (Wes Bentley) who claims a soul of a performer on Halloween. While Jimmy and the troupe holds a funeral for Meep, they meet and welcome Maggie Esmerelda (Emma Roberts) — a young convict posed as a fortune teller from Philadelphia sent by her abettor and con artist Stanley (Denis O'Hare), who intends to murder the freaks and sell their corpses to a dying human oddity museum bribed from its curator for profit.

text: Elsa performs on Halloween night, unknowingly summoning Mordrake; who goes around camp learning the sad tales of its performers. Coming to Elsa's tent, she reveals her past life in Germany, where she worked as a dominatrix. She reveals that she was a victim of Hans Grüper, also known as Dr. Arthur Arden (John Cromwell), who amputated her legs while filming a snuff film. Mordrake is about to choose Elsa to take to Hell, but he hears music and realizes Elsa is not the one. He instead visits Twisty, asking to learn his tale. After revealing his misdeeds, Mordrake kills Twisty.

text: Now that his mentor is dead, Dandy gets more curious about killing and starts by killing his maid Dora (Patti LaBelle), soon followed by a prostitute named Andy (Matt Bomer). Dora's daughter Regina Ross (Gabourey Sidibe) later visits Mott Manor looking for her mother. Gloria asks Dandy to see a therapist but he refuses to go anymore after the first visit. Gloria attempts to end the madness, but Dandy steals her gun, shoots her in the head and bathes in her blood. Stanley pressures Maggie to murder Jimmy and Ma Petite, but when she cannot go through with either one, he turns to Dell. After Stanley blackmails Dell with the knowledge of his homosexual tendencies, Dell kills Ma Petite.

text: Overhearing Elsa's plans to help get rid of the twins with Stanley, Ethel confronts Elsa, accusing her of killing anyone who steals her spotlight. Ethel shoots Elsa in her wooden leg, finding out her secret. However, Elsa throws a dagger through Ethel's eye, killing her. After she and Stanley make her death look like a suicide, Jimmy sinks into a drunken despair over his mother's death. Dandy visits the Tupperware party women and kills them all, framing Jimmy for the crime. Elsa prepares for her move to Hollywood after Stanley promises her a career in television, but when Dell tells her of Stanley convincing Jimmy to sell his hands to afford bail, she realizes he is not to be trusted. Traveling salesman and magician Chester Creb (Neil Patrick Harris) visits the freak show with his ventriloquist dummy, Marjorie, falling in love with the twins. Elsa sells the show to Chester to go with Stanley to Hollywood.

text: Dell tries to commit suicide by hanging himself but is saved by Desiree. When he admits to murdering Ma Petite to Desiree, Elsa shoots Dell in the head and kills him. During a feast to welcome the new owner, the freaks reveal they know of Stanley's true intentions, after Maggie confesses to Desiree. Desiree kills the curator of the museum and gives her head to Stanley. Stanley is chased around camp by the freaks, who later turn him into their own version of Meep. The next day, the troupe is rehearsing under Chester but Bette and Dot refuse to be his assistants and leave. Maggie volunteers, however, Chester hallucinates and sees Maggie as his wives who criticize him; he saws Maggie in half, killing her. He then chases Marjorie into his caravan and kills her also, believing Marjorie caused the hallucination. Chester leaves the freak show and turns himself in to the police. After careful consideration, the troupe believes Stanley's word and they plan to kill Elsa the same night. Before they can, Elsa is warned by Bette and Dot that she will be killed next, so Elsa sells the show to Dandy and moves to Hollywood.

text: The freaks quit and turn on Dandy which causes him to go on a killing spree. Desiree survives by hiding during the rampage while Jimmy is away from the grounds, and Bette and Dot are tied up in his tent. Jimmy comes back to see the corpses of his family in the performing tent, and finds that Desiree is the only survivor. The twins marry Dandy back at his mansion, but is revealed to be an act of vengeance, as Desiree drugs Dandy at dinner. He awakens to find himself chained in Hardeen Houdini's (Harry Houdini's brother) Chinese torture tank, and drowns while the remaining freaks watch.

text: In 1960, Elsa is now a household name with her very own TV show and multiple hit songs, yet she is not entirely happy with her life. When asked to perform for Halloween, Elsa refuses and meets with her old flame Massimo Dolcefino (Danny Huston). Massimo refuses to run away with her and tells her that he is dying. That night, the president of WBN tells Elsa that a copy of her snuff film has surfaced and her involvement with a freak show whose members (she is shocked to hear) were all murdered has been discovered, and this will ruin her career and marriage. She agrees to perform on Halloween, summoning Edward Mordrake and his troupe, who kills her. During the telecast, Desiree is married with two children, and a pregnant Bette and Dot are happily married to Jimmy. Instead of taking her to Hell, Mordrake banishes Elsa to a reincarnation of her freak show, where all of her deceased freaks now reside and she finally finds happiness with her true family.

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text: Main[edit]

text:
Sarah Paulson as Bette and Dot Tattler
Evan Peters as Jimmy Darling
Michael Chiklis as Dell Toledo
Frances Conroy as Gloria Mott
Denis O'Hare as Stanley
Emma Roberts as Maggie Esmerelda
Finn Wittrock as Dandy Mott
Angela Bassett as Desiree Dupree
Kathy Bates as Ethel Darling
Jessica Lange as Elsa Mars

tag: ul

text: Special guest stars[edit]

text:
Wes Bentley as Edward Mordrake
Celia Weston as Lillian Hemmings
Gabourey Sidibe as Regina Ross
Matt Bomer as Andy
Danny Huston as Massimo Dolcefino
Lily Rabe as Sister Mary Eunice McKee
Neil Patrick Harris as Chester Creb

text: Recurring[edit]

text:
Naomi Grossman as Pepper
Grace Gummer as Penny
Chrissy Metz as Barbara/Ima Wiggles
Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Angus T. Jefferson
Angela Sarafyan as Alice
Erika Ervin as Amazon Eve
Mat Fraser as Paul the Illustrated Seal
Jyoti Amge as Ma Petite
Rose Siggins as Legless Suzi
Christopher Neiman as Salty
Drew Rin Varick as Toulouse
PJ Marshall as Detective Colquitt

text:
John Carroll Lynch as Twisty the Clown
Skyler Samuels as Bonnie Lipton
Patti LaBelle as Dora
Lee Tergesen as Vince

text: Guest stars[edit]

text:
Jamie Brewer as Marjorie
Mare Winningham as Rita Gayheart
Matthew Glave as Larry Gayheart
David Burtka as Michael Beck
Heather Langenkamp as Female Toulouse[2]
Major Dodson as Corey Bachman
Ben Woolf as Meep
Jerry Leggio as Dr. Bonham
Dalton E. Gray as Mike
Shauna Rappold as Lucy Creb
Kathy Deitch as Young Ethel
Edward Gelhaus as Younger Dell
John Cromwell as Young Arthur Arden[3]

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
No.
overall
No. in
season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
Prod.
code
U.S. viewers
(millions)

39
1
"Monsters Among Us"
Ryan Murphy
Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk
October 8, 2014 (2014-10-08)
4ATS01
6.13[4]

Jupiter, Florida. 1952. Conjoined twins Bette and Dot Tattler (Sarah Paulson), who share the same entire body, are taken to the hospital after a milkman finds them injured in their home, near their dead mother who was brutally murdered. News spread of the twins' existence, leading local carnival freak show owner Elsa Mars (Jessica Lange) to visit them in the hospital where she attempts to recruit them to join her troupe. Although skeptical, the twins agree since they have no one else to look after them and they move in with Elsa's troupe of freaks who include Jimmy Darling (Evan Peters), a boy with syndactyly, and his mother Ethel Darling (Kathy Bates), a bearded lady. Meanwhile, Twisty (John Carroll Lynch) is a killer clown/serial killer who murders a teenage girl's boyfriend and a young boy's parents, imprisoning the young boy and teen girl in an old bus. Twisty later shows up at the freak show camp grounds, but goes seemingly unnoticed. When a police detective arrives and attempts to arrest Bette and Dot for the murder of their mother, Jimmy slices the man's neck open after he calls them all "freaks". Jimmy leads the troupe in hacking the corpse apart, pronouncing they are no longer going to be pushed around and made to feel different from everybody else. After Elsa's group puts on their first show with Bette and Dot as "The Siamese Twins", there are only two attendees, the wealthy but shallow socialite Gloria Mott (Frances Conroy) and her dangerously disturbed son Dandy (Finn Wittrock), who purchased all the seats for that night's performance. Dandy bargains with Elsa to buy Bette and Dot for $15,000, but the twins refuse. Elsa later tells Ethel that she brought the twins aboard to get more attention for the show and to boost her own fame. As Elsa prepares for bed, it's revealed that she is an amputee, legless below the knees.

40
2
"Massacres and Matinees"
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Tim Minear
October 15, 2014 (2014-10-15)
4ATS02
4.53[5]

The police arrive at the freak show to investigate the detective's disappearance, and to inform Elsa that a curfew is now in place in Jupiter following the string of murders around the county. Meanwhile, the carnival strong man Dell Toledo (Michael Chiklis), Jimmy's father, and his three-breasted hermaphrodite wife Desiree (Angela Bassett) arrive to ask Elsa for a job. Elsa, initially reluctant, makes Dell head of security, but soon realizes what a mistake it was after Dell schedules a matinee against Elsa's orders, attacks Jimmy much to Ethel's dismay, and frames another performer, Meep, for the murder of the detective after Jimmy had tried to frame Dell. Meep is arrested by the police and eventually murdered by inmates in jail. His body is then returned to the freak show site where the fellow freaks gather round and mourn. Elsewhere, Dandy asks Jimmy if he can join the freak show, as he dreams of being on stage, but after Dandy accidentally insults Jimmy, he is rebuffed and sent away. After falling into a fit of rage, Dandy returns home to find that his mother, Gloria, has hired Twisty the Clown to cheer him up. However, Twisty storms off after Dandy tries to look inside his clown bag. Dandy follows Twisty back to his trailer where the two children Twisty is holding hostage attempt an escape but are recaptured by Twisty and Dandy.

41
3
"Edward Mordrake (Part 1)"
Michael Uppendahl
James Wong
October 22, 2014 (2014-10-22)
4ATS03
4.44[6]

On Halloween, the freak show gains a new member, a young clairvoyant fortune-teller named Maggie Esmerelda (Emma Roberts) who tells Elsa that her fame is yet to come and she will be meeting a "tall dark stranger" soon. Maggie is a con artist working with a man called Stanley (Denis O'Hare), who is determined to find and dissect a freak to sell to the Museum of Morbid Curiosities. Meanwhile, Ethel learns that she has cirrhosis of the liver and has only six months to one year left to live. Falling into a pit of despair, she turns to alcohol and tells Dell to keep an eye on Jimmy. Elsewhere, the deranged Dandy becomes even more obsessed with Twisty and even goes trick or treating dressed in a homemade Twisty costume. After attempting to kill his maid Dora (Patti LaBelle) and backing off after she calls him out, he visits Twisty's trailer and torments the children being held captive there. Twisty stalks a family with a daughter scared of clowns, and kidnaps her teenage brother (Dalton E. Gray). Meanwhile, the freak show troupe refuses to perform on Halloween due to the superstition surrounding an English freak from the 1800s named Edward Mordrake (Wes Bentley) who murdered his travelling troupe and killed himself because the face on the back of his head told him to. The majority of the troupe is convinced that Mordrake will arrive as a ghost should any carny perform on Halloween night. Elsa, refusing to believe this, practices on stage, and Mordrake appears, looking to take a soul from the purest freak to join his spiritual troupe in Hell.

42
4
"Edward Mordrake (Part 2)"
Howard Deutch
Jennifer Salt
October 29, 2014 (2014-10-29)
4ATS04
4.51[7]

As Mordrake continues his search for a new freak to join his spirit troupe, he learns the past of Ethel, Legless Suzi, Paul the Illustrated Seal, and Elsa. After revisiting her story, Elsa begs Mordrake to take her with him; as he is about to comply, he is distracted by some distant music and passes on her. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Maggie venture into the woods to avoid being arrested for violating curfew, but stumble across Twisty's trailer. After freeing the children and phoning the police, Maggie hides in the woods as Twisty gets ready to murder Jimmy. After following the music, Mordrake finds Twisty in the woods about to kill Jimmy, and the killer clown reveals his backstory. Twisty was bullied by the carnies of the freak show he worked for previously out of jealousy for his popularity among the children, and was forced to flee after being tricked into thinking the police wanted to arrest him for child molestation. Falling into a pit of despair and rejected by the townsfolk, who labeled him a pervert and molester, Twisty fails to kill himself, only to obtain gruesome facial disfigurement from the botched attempt, and becomes obsessed with making children happy. After several failed attempts, he becomes deranged and kidnaps children for an audience. Mordrake, seeing the pain and grief Twisty has suffered, kills Twisty and adopts him into his spiritual troupe. A distraught Dandy picks up Twisty's mask and returns home, where he murders Dora, continuing Twisty's murderous path. As the town learns that Twisty is dead, the curfew is lifted; and, as a mark of respect, many residents of the town visit the freak show to thank Jimmy, and a newfound respect is given to the freaks as they mingle and get along with the townsfolk. Elsa announces her grand premiere to the town and tickets sell out. Stanley arrives at the freakshow where he poses as a Hollywood agent and asks for a ticket.

43
5
"Pink Cupcakes"
Michael Uppendahl
Jessica Sharzer
November 5, 2014 (2014-11-05)
4ATS05
4.22[8]

Stanley tries to kill Bette and Dot by making them eat poisoned pink cupcakes, however the attempt fails. Next, Stanley begins to move in on Elsa by making deals with her about her possibly appearing on television and having her own show. Elsa is reluctant until she is laughed and booed off stage midway through her performance. Maggie tries to send Jimmy away, fearing for what Stanley will do to him. Dell is nowhere to be found and Jimmy is sent to look for him in his trailer. Jimmy only finds a drunk Desiree, and after the two bond, Jimmy begins to pleasure Desiree with his hands. However, she screams and begins bleeding from her vagina. Ethel takes her to the hospital where she is informed that she has had a miscarriage. The doctor also reveals that Desiree is in fact 100% female, and he can perform a surgery to make her a normal woman. Meanwhile, Dandy visits a gay bar on the hunt for his next victim. Dell visits the same bar and meets with his regular lover, Andy (Matt Bomer), the two have a fight and Dell leaves. Dandy finds Andy and the two go to Twisty's bus, where Dandy kills him. Gloria receives a call from Dora's daughter, Regina Ross (Gabourey Sidibe), who asks to speak with her mother. Determined to protect her murderous and psychotic son, Gloria lies and tells her that she will not be able to contact her mother for a while. Desiree informs Dell that she can have children and that she is a real woman, and tells him she knows he is Jimmy's father. She leaves him and moves in with Ethel. After learning of Desiree's possible surgery, Dell visits the doctor at his office and breaks his fingers so he can no longer perform any surgery. Elsa sees Stanley taking the twins on a picnic, which makes her jealous and angry. Later, she lies to the twins saying she is taking them to a fitting, but actually drives them straight to Gloria and Dandy's mansion.

44
6
"Bullseye"
Howard Deutch
John J. Gray
November 12, 2014 (2014-11-12)
4ATS06
3.65[9]

Elsa brings an old spinning wheel out of storage and begins practicing throwing daggers at it in preparation for her upcoming TV show. After sleeping with Paul, Elsa soon becomes jealous of him having an affair with Penny (Grace Gummer), a local girl from town, behind her back. The night of her birthday party, she learns of her performers' suspicions that she had something to do with Bette and Dot's disappearance. Elsa reminds them all that none of them would be here without her, and they should be grateful for her saving them. To prove their loyalty, Elsa demands that one of them be strapped to the wheel and let Elsa do her routine. Paul reluctantly volunteers and after two missed hits, Elsa purposefully hits him in the gut; also refusing to call for a doctor. At Mott Manor, Dandy declares his love for the twins, telling Gloria that he intends on marrying them. Mistrustful of Dandy, Dot soon learns of a pair of conjoined twins that have been separated for the first time. She realizes that Dandy could easily pay for the surgery. Stanley pressures Maggie into leading Jimmy to a barn and killing him. Reluctant to do so, she suggests an easier freak; Ma Petite. After taking Ma Petite out to the barn and putting her in a tank to be killed, Maggie realizes she can't go through with it. She begs Jimmy to leave town with her immediately, but Stanley confronts her angrily, telling her they need the hands of Jimmy no matter what. Dandy asks Bette and Dot to share their secrets with him, telling them that he saved the children Twisty kidnapped. Dot declines to tell him a secret, calling Dandy out on his lies. Dandy later reads Dot's diary and realizes he can never truly feel love. He admits to Gloria that his only true purpose on Earth is to bring death. The doorbell rings and Gloria follows Dandy to the door, finding Jimmy. Dandy welcomes him in and says he must be here for the twins.

45
7
"Test of Strength"
Anthony Hemingway
Crystal Liu
November 19, 2014 (2014-11-19)
4ATS07
3.91[10]

Jimmy goes to the Mott's mansion to retrieve Dot and Bette, but a comment made by Dandy makes Jimmy realize that Dandy was the second masked clown who captured the children, and was the one who was going to saw Maggie in half. The twins leave Dandy after Dot learns that he read her diary, and Dandy becomes furious. Upon returning to the freak show, Jimmy confronts Elsa for selling the twins, but the twins tell Jimmy he misunderstood and lie for Elsa, hoping to blackmail her for 50% of the box office returns in the process. Penny, after caring for Paul, returns home to tell her father that she is moving out, but he knocks her out and has his "artist friend" tattoo her face and head, and give her a forked tongue, making her the freak she wants to be. Meanwhile, Stanley sees Dell at the gay bar and threatens to out him to the troupe unless he delivers him the body of a freak. While trying to kill Amazon Eve, Dell underestimates her size and strength, and is beaten up by her and thrown out of her caravan. After the women of the freak show mistakenly assume Dell was intending on raping Eve, they rally together and threaten to kill him until Jimmy steps in and takes Dell out for a drink to discuss his violent attitude. Dell tries to bash a drunken Jimmy over the head with a brick to kill him, but can't go through with it. Jimmy tells Dell that he knows Dell is his father and they bond. Upon returning to the showgrounds the next morning, Dell puts a drunk Jimmy to bed. However, later that night, Dell sneaks into Ma Petite's tent and brings her a pretty dress. She tries it on and he hugs her until he crushes her, breaking her spine in the process. He delivers the body to Stanley who sells it to Lillian Hemmings (Celia Weston) from the Museum of Morbid Curiosities, where Ma Petite's body is proudly shown on exhibition.

46
8
"Blood Bath"
Bradley Buecker
Ryan Murphy
December 3, 2014 (2014-12-03)
4ATS08
3.30[11]

Ma Petite's bloody dress is found in the woods, along with some bones of unknown origin, and the troupe assumes that she has been mauled and eaten by a wild animal. However, Ethel has other suspicions and accuses Elsa of killing Ma Petite for stealing her thunder. As the relationship between the two comes to a crashing halt, Ethel shoots Elsa in one of her legs, only for Ethel to be taken aback by the revelation that Elsa has fake legs. A flashback reveals that Elsa was carried from the aftermath of the snuff movie to a doctor (Danny Huston) who crafted the legs for her. While Ethel prepares to shoot Elsa in the head for lying to her and betraying her, Elsa throws a knife into Ethel's head, killing her. With the help of Stanley, Elsa constructs a suicide for Ethel in which Ethel crashes her car into a tree with a chain around her neck, decapitating her. The troupe believes this story and they mourn Ethel while Jimmy falls into a pit of despair and casts Maggie away. In response, he falls into the arms of a new recruit of the troupe, a morbidly obese woman with the stage name Ima Wiggles. After Ethel's burial, and sick of being treated badly, Amazon Eve, Desiree, Penny, and Legless Suzi plan revenge on Penny's father by sneaking into his house, knocking him unconscious and bringing him to Dell's caravan. They tar and feather Penny's father and prepare to mutilate and kill him. Maggie hears his screams and begs them not go through with it. Penny lets her father go and banishes him from her life. Meanwhile, Dora's daughter Regina pays the Mott household a visit to investigate her mother's disappearance and refuses to leave without seeing her. Gloria, under, lies to Regina. Dandy is tricked by Gloria into visiting the therapist and becomes enraged when he realizes what is going on and that his mother thinks he should be institutionalized. Upon returning to the house, Dandy shoots Gloria in the head and bathes in her blood.

47
9
"Tupperware Party Massacre"
Loni Peristere
Brad Falchuk
December 10, 2014 (2014-12-10)
4ATS09
3.07[12]

After killing his mother, a deranged Dandy visits Maggie at the freak show to receive a reading. Maggie assures Dandy that there may be some trouble in his future but he will prevail. More confident than ever, Dandy leaves to continue his grisly work of being a serial killer, but is stopped by an extremely drunk Jimmy. Jimmy accuses Dandy of having something to do with the twins' disappearance and threatens Dandy, knowing he had a part in the clown murders. Dandy calls Jimmy pathetic as he falls to the ground, promising vengeance on Jimmy for taking Bette and Dot away from him. Elsa and Stanley track down the twins and bring them to the farmhouse. Stanley declares that the townspeople have gone on a rampage and that they will be safe there until the doctor comes to perform their surgery. The twins realize that having separate lives is not worth losing one of their own and vow to not get the surgery. With the truth of his sexuality and guilt over Ma Petite's murder becoming too much for Dell, he attempts to hang himself, but is later saved by Desiree. After Jimmy is too drunk to perform at a Tupperware party for the housewives, he sees hallucinations of Ethel, who tells him to get over her death and move on. Once Jimmy leaves, Dandy shows up at the door claiming that his car broke down. He murders the whole group of women, gouging out their eyes and leaving them to float in the pool. Regina confronts Dandy and tells him she has contacted the police about her mother, but is shocked when Dandy openly admits his murderous streak. He lets Regina escape, but she soon returns with Detective Colquitt. Dandy promises the detective one million dollars if he kills Regina; which Colquitt does without a blink, shooting Regina in the head. A drunken Jimmy goes back to his caravan, only to find Dot and Bette waiting for him. Dot declares her love for Jimmy and says they can live happily together, with Bette agreeing, but Jimmy declines their advances, claiming he is in love with someone else. As he exits the caravan, police cars show up to the freak show. The corrupt Detective Colquitt arrests Jimmy for the murders of the Tupperware party women, and drags him away in a police car.

48
10
"Orphans"
Bradley Buecker
James Wong
December 17, 2014 (2014-12-17)
4ATS10
2.99[13]

Pepper's life is shattered when she awakens to find that her husband Salty has died in his sleep. After trying to console Pepper, Desiree learns from Elsa about the origins of the freak show. Elsa reveals that when she first moved to the United States, she worked as a chorus girl in a carnival in Boston, Massachusetts. Noticing the freaks were not treated as they should be, Elsa set out to make a business and a family of her own. Pepper was the first to join Elsa's troupe, after being found in an orphanage. Elsa recalls that soon later she realized Pepper needed something else, thus she recruited Ma Petite to act as Pepper's own child and found Salty who became her husband. Realizing Pepper has no one now after both have died, Desiree suggests returning Pepper to her elder sister. Meanwhile, Stanley convinces Elsa to let him take care of Salty's body after telling her he would have the pinhead cremated, but he chops the head off and sells it to the Museum of Morbid Curiosities. Maggie finally confesses to Desiree that she and Stanley are con artists. Desiree warns her that if she finds out either of them hurt any of the freaks, she will kill her. Dot and Bette attempt to convince Maggie to help Jimmy by getting him a lawyer with the money they saved up for the surgery, but Stanley gets to Jimmy first, suggesting another way to earn the money. Realizing she needs help, Maggie finally confesses to Desiree her and Stanley's true intentions, warning her that all the freaks will soon die if nothing is done. The two visit the museum, where Desiree is shocked to find Ma Petite's body and Salty's severed head on display. The curator reveals their newest display; a pair of hands supposedly belonging to Jimmy. Elsa tracks down Pepper's sister, Rita (Mare Winningham), and convinces her to take Pepper in. Flash forward to nine years later, Rita gives birth to a deformed baby. Pepper's brother-in-law convinces her sister to frame Pepper for the baby's murder, committing her wrongly to Briarcliff Asylum. Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe), has Pepper assist her in the library at Briarcliff with sorting magazines. While doing so, Pepper finds a magazine with Elsa on the cover.

49
11
"Magical Thinking"
Michael Goi
Jennifer Salt
January 7, 2015 (2015-01-07)
4ATS11
3.11[14]

Stanley convinces an imprisoned Jimmy that the only way to pay for a lawyer is to sever one of his hands and sell it. He concocts a plan to smuggle Jimmy out of the prison using his Viking prostitute, who poses as an EMT. After Stanley puts him under, Jimmy awakens to find not one, but both of his hands have been removed. Dell visits him in the hospital and realizes Stanley double crossed Jimmy. The two make a plan to buy the Freak Show from Elsa once she leaves for Hollywood. Bette and Dot set out to find someone to deflower them, when they run across traveling salesman, named Chester (Neil Patrick Harris). Chester dreams of performing his magic in front of an audience, along with his Dummy named Marjorie (Jamie Brewer). Chester also reveals that after fighting in Normandy, he had a metal plate implanted in his skull; which causes him to hallucinate Marjorie as being alive. Elsa agrees to let him perform, but only if he balances the books in return. After Chester asks for them to accompany him in his magic act, Bette and Dot seduce Chester and sleep with him. Dell reveals to Elsa what happened to Jimmy and Elsa pleads with him to get Jimmy out of there. As the cops are transporting Jimmy back to prison, Eve throws a brick through the windshield and she and Dell kill both officers, rescuing Jimmy in the process. Meanwhile, Dandy hires a private investigator to follow the twins and soon learns of their transgression with Chester. He confronts Chester after Marjorie goes missing, revealing that he knows what Chester did in his past. A flashback reveals that Chester's wife, Lucy, had an affair with a woman named Alice (Angela Sarafyan), and in a jealous rage he murdered the two, believing that Marjorie committed the murders. Dandy tells Chester where Marjorie is and once finding her, she tells Chester that he needs to kill the twins. Maggie tells Elsa about Ma Petite's true fate. Desiree pulls a gun on Dell in his caravan, demanding to know whom he has killed. Once Dell confesses his crime of smothering Ma Petite, Elsa shoots him in the head.

50
12
"Show Stoppers"
Loni Peristere
Jessica Sharzer
January 14, 2015 (2015-01-14)
4ATS12
2.94[15]

The freaks hold a feast to welcome Chester as the new owner of the freak show, but after Elsa asks him to leave her and the troupe alone, she reveals their true intentions. Maggie reveals to Stanley that she told them everything he had done, outing him as a con artist and a murderer. They also reveal the severed head of the Museum of Morbid Curiosities curator, Lillian Hemmings, whom Desiree murdered in vengeance. Stanley pleads with them to let him live and claims Elsa is not to be trusted, that she was the one who murdered Ethel. The freaks ignore him, proceeding to chase Stanley around the camp with weapons. Meanwhile, Dandy visits the twins and warns them of Chester's dark past, but they demand that he leaves after claiming they do not trust him. Elsa introduces Jimmy to an old friend of hers, Massimo Dolcefino, who intends on making him a pair of prosthetics just as he did with Elsa. In a flashback, Massimo tells of how he went after and slaughtered the men who took Elsa's legs. All except the leader that is, Dr. Hans Grüper, who shot Massimo and tortured him until he was later released by a general. As Chester goes over the new routines, the twins admit they no longer want to be his assistants after he requests to saw them in two as part of the performance. Maggie volunteers to do the trick and Chester places her into the box. Seeing the faces of his deceased wife and her lover, Chester saws Maggie in half without realizing and to the dismay of the freaks, her organs spill out from both halves. Chester "murders" Marjorie in a rage, blaming her for making him commit all those atrocities. Dot and Bette warn Elsa that she needs to leave immediately, as her freaks intend on killing her to avenge Ethel's murder. Desiree declares justice for Ethel, but as she and the others rampage into Elsa's tent they find she is already gone. A bloody and distraught Chester walks into a police station and admits to a murder, revealing Marjorie to the confused officers. Elsa meets Dandy before she leaves town and receives $10,000 in exchange for the freak show. Reveling on his new stage, Dandy discovers an extremely mutilated Stanley, who now resembles Meep. In the final scene, Massimo delivers Jimmy his prosthetics, revealing wooden replicas of Jimmy's lobster claws.

51
13
"Curtain Call"
Bradley Buecker
John J. Gray
January 21, 2015 (2015-01-21)
4ATS13
3.27[16]

After purchasing the freak show from Elsa, Dandy blames the freaks for the lack of tickets sold. Having enough of their new owner, the remaining freaks announce that they quit. In another psychotic rage, Dandy walks the camp grounds with his pistol and begins to massacre the freaks one by one; killing all of the remaining freaks. Desiree is the sole survivor of the carnage, avoiding Dandy by hiding underneath her bed as Eve sacrifices herself to save Desiree. A newly healed Jimmy returns to the freak show to find his entire family displayed under the big top, dead. Desiree reveals herself and the two embrace. Bette and Dot, following a kidnapping by Dandy, agree to his hand in marriage and the sisters announce they have brought in a new maid to make Dandy a glorious feast. At dinner, Dandy begins to feel lightheaded and it is revealed that Desiree, having posed as the maid, has drugged Dandy with the help of the twins and Jimmy. Confused and betrayed, Dandy learns of the freaks plan to seek vengeance on him just before he passes out. Dandy awakens to find himself locked in Hardeen Houdini's Chinese water torture cell. Desiree, Jimmy, Bette, and Dot watch on in pleasure as he slowly drowns in the tank. Meanwhile, Elsa arrives in Hollywood to fulfill her dreams of stardom. She requests to meet with the president of WBN, but is turned down by the secretary who makes her wait all day. Elsa instead meets Michael Beck (David Burtka), the Junior vice-president of casting. In a flash forward to 1960, a now-famous Elsa receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Now married to her manager, Michael, and having immense fame, Elsa is still unhappy and meets with her old flame Massimo Dolcefino. Elsa asks him to run away with her to Rome, but Massimo reveals that he is dying of lung cancer. She is later confronted by her husband and the president of WBN, telling her that a copy of her snuff film has surfaced. Realizing that she will never find true love and that her career is nearly over, Elsa agrees to perform on a Halloween special, knowing this will summon Edward Mordrake. With Elsa singing on the live telecast, Mordrake and his coterie appear. As Elsa performs, Desiree, now with a family of her own, is shown watching the broadcast, along with a pregnant Bette and Dot who are happily married to Jimmy. Mordrake stabs Elsa and takes her into the afterlife, but banishes her to the freak show grounds, saying she does not belong in his troupe. Walking into the big tent in the afterlife, Elsa is greeted by Ma Petite and all her other deceased freaks, including Ethel who welcomes her back. She takes the stage along with her freak show family, as she closes the series singing "Life on Mars?" in front of a large and sold-out audience, finally finding true happiness and absolute fame.

tag: table

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text:
"It feels like a Douglas Sirk movie; it's very 1952 presentational and then the horror is an unexpected jab. As opposed to last year, which was crazy camera work and comedy. This year feels different."

–Series co-creator Ryan Murphy on the fourth season[17]

tag: div

text: In November 2013, FX announced that the show had been renewed for a fourth season.[18] Series co-creator Ryan Murphy hinted that clues about the fourth season would be hidden in the final episodes of the third season. In March 2014, the season was revealed to be set at a carnival, according to co-executive producer/writer Douglas Petrie. It was also revealed that Lange will be playing a role similar to Marlene Dietrich.[19] Murphy revealed that the season will take place in 1950, adding: "If you look historically what happened in the year 1950, there's some more clues in that year. It's a period piece. We try and do the opposite of what we've done before. Jessica Lange has already started practicing her German accent so I'm very excited!"[20] Murphy indicated that this season draws inspiration from Tod Browning's Freaks and Herk Harvey's Carnival of Souls. This season features the largest set ever constructed for American Horror Story, with Murphy stating: "We had to build an entire city. We built an entire huge compound and then we had to build the interior of all those buildings on set. It's all period. And it's all based on [production designer] Mark Worthington's immaculate research."[21]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Ryan Murphy confirmed that Jessica Lange would be returning for a fourth season,[22] although said to be in a reduced capacity.[23] She portrayed Elsa Mars, the owner of the freak show. In November 2013, Murphy said he approached Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett to return.[24] Bassett later confirmed in an interview with Access Hollywood that she would be indeed coming back.[25] They portrayed Desiree Dupree and Ethel Darling, respectively. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sarah Paulson revealed she would be returning, possibly for a main role,[26] which was later revealed to be the conjoined twins Bette and Dot Tattler. It was announced at the PaleyFest 2014 that the cast members present at the panel would all be returning for the fourth season in some capacity, including Denis O'Hare (Stanley), Emma Roberts (Maggie Esmerelda), Frances Conroy (Gloria Mott), Evan Peters (Jimmy Darling), and Gabourey Sidibe (Regina Ross).[27] Jamie Brewer was also added to the present roster, although Murphy later indicated Brewer may not appear during the season.[28] She was later confirmed to portray the ventriloquist dummy Marjorie after appearing in a promo for the final episodes.[29] Additionally, Michael Chiklis was announced to play the father of Peters' character and ex-husband of Bates' character, the strongman Dell Toledo. Finn Wittrock was the last lead actor joining the cast.[30] He portrayed the psychopathic Dandy Mott.

text: In July 2014, TVLine reported that Wes Bentley would appear in the season' two-part Halloween episode as Edward Mordrake.[31] At the Comic-Con 2014, it was announced that John Carroll Lynch would portray one of the central antagonist during the season, Twisty the Clown.[32] In August 2014, Patti LaBelle joined the cast for a four-episode story arc as the mother of Sidibe's character, named Dora, the Motts' housekeeper.[33] Also in August 2014, it was revealed that Matt Bomer would be guest-starring in one episode as Andy, Dell's secret lover.[34] Murphy took to his Twitter account to announce that the world's smallest woman Jyoti Amge has joined the cast as Ma Petite.[35] Murphy had written a role specifically for Coven alum Leslie Jordan, but he was unable to appear on the show due to scheduling conflicts.[36]

text: In September 2014, it was reported that Asylum alum Naomi Grossman would return to portray Pepper, which marks the first time a character appears in multiple seasons of the series.[37] Lily Rabe also reprised her Asylum character Sister Mary Eunice McKee in the tenth episode, "Orphans".[38] Mare Winningham made an appearance in the same episode, as Pepper's sister Rita. Neil Patrick Harris guest starred in two episodes as Chester, who takes over the freak show when Elsa leaves for Hollywood. Harris' husband, David Burtka, appeared in the season finale as Elsa's husband.[39]

text: Filming[edit]

text:
"There's something going on there that is so non-American but totally American, so sexy and dark but there's hope everywhere."

–Co-creator Brad Falchuk on shooting in New Orleans, Louisiana[40]

text: At Paley Center for Media's 2014 PaleyFest event, Ryan Murphy announced that the season's filming would take place again in New Orleans, Louisiana, although the show's setting is in Jupiter, Florida.[41] The premiere episode was directed by co-creator Murphy, his first effort since the pilot.[42] Principal photography for the season began on July 15, 2014.[43] Production on the season concluded on December 19, 2014.[44]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: A video released in July 2014, entitled "Fallen Angel", was reported by many news sources to be an official Freak Show trailer. The video – which featured the American Horror Story title card – was later taken down after FX confirmed it was fan-made. Before the debut of the fan-made video, FX had not released any official trailers concerning the upcoming season.[45] The first official teaser was released on August 20, 2014, entitled "Admit One".[46]

text: As with previous seasons, FX released a series of teaser trailers on the show's YouTube page. FX also used the marketing hashtag #WirSindAlleFreaks in the German language, and its English translation #WeAreAllFreaks.[17][47]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: American Horror Story: Freak Show received a Metacritic score of 69 out of 100 based on 19 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[48] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 79% approval rating with an average rating of 7.29/10 based on 32 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Though it may turn off new viewers unaccustomed to its unabashed weirdness, Freak Show still brings the thrills, thanks to its reliably stylish presentation and game cast."[49]

text:
American Horror Story (season 4): Critical reception by episode

Season 4 (2014–15): Percentage of positive reviews tracked by the website Rotten Tomatoes[50]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: In its fourth season, the series was nominated for 76 awards, 21 of which were won.

text:
Year
Association
Category
Nominee(s)
Result

2015
46th NAACP Image Awards
Outstanding Actress in a TV Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
Angela Bassett
Nominated

Outstanding TV Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
American Horror Story: Freak Show
Nominated

72nd Golden Globe Awards
Best Actress – Mini-Series or TV Film
Jessica Lange
Nominated

Best Supporting Actress – Series, Mini-Series or TV Film
Kathy Bates
Nominated

19th Satellite Awards
Best TV Series – Genre
American Horror Story: Freak Show
Nominated

Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or TV Film
Sarah Paulson
Won

41st People's Choice Awards
Favorite Cable Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show
American Horror Story: Freak Show
Nominated

Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress
Jessica Lange
Nominated

26th PGA Awards
Outstanding Producer of Long-Form TV
Brad Buecker, Dante Di Loreto, Brad Falchuk, Joseph Incaprera, Alexis Martin Woodall, Tim Minear, Ryan Murphy, Jennifer Salt, James Wong (also for Coven)
Nominated

19th ADG Awards
TV Movie or Mini-Series
Mark Worthington (for "Massacres and Matinees")
Won

17th CDG Awards[51]
Outstanding Made for TV Movie or Mini-Series
Lou Eyrich
Won

Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Awards 2015[52]
Mini-Series or TV Movie Period and/or Character Make-up
Eryn Krueger Mekash, Kim Ayers
Won

Mini-Series or TV Movie Period Special Make-up Effects
Eryn Krueger Mekash, Michael Mekash, Christopher Nelson (petition)
Won

Mini-Series or TV Movie Period and/or Character Hair Styling
Monte C. Haught, Michelle Ceglia
Won

13th VES Awards
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Photoreal/Live Action Broadcast Program
Jason Piccioni, Jason Spratt, Mike Kirylo, Justin Bal, Eric Roberts (for "Edward Mordrake: Part 2")
Won

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal/Live Action Broadcast Program
Tommy Tran, JV Pike, Rob Lutz, Matt Lefferts (for "Edward Mordrake: Part 2")
Nominated

62nd MPSE Golden Reel Awards[53]
TV Short Form Music Score
Episode: "Monsters Among Us"
Nominated

51st CAS Awards[54]
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing – TV Movie or Mini-Series
Bruce Litecky, CAS (Production Mixer)
Joe Earle, CAS (Re-recording Mixer)
Doug Andham, CAS (Re-recording Mixer)
Evan Daum (ADR Mixer)
Kyle Billingsley (Foley Mixer)
(for "Monsters Among Us")
Nominated

6th Dorian Awards[55]
TV Musical Performance of the Year
Jessica Lange (for "Life on Mars?")
Nominated

Campy TV Show of the Year
American Horror Story: Freak Show
Nominated

Fangoria Chainsaw Awards 2015[56]
Best TV Series
Nominated

Best TV Actress
Sarah Paulson
Won

Best TV Supporting Actor
Finn Wittrock
2nd place

41st Saturn Awards
Best Actress on TV
Jessica Lange
Nominated

Best Guest Starring Role on TV
Neil Patrick Harris
Nominated

Best Syndicated/Cable TV Series
American Horror Story: Freak Show
Nominated

Glamour Awards 2014[57]
International TV Actress
Jessica Lange
Nominated

36th Young Artist Awards[58]
Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actor 15-21
Dalton E. Gray
Nominated

SXSW Film Design Awards 2015[59]
Excellence in Title Design
American Horror Story: Freak Show
Nominated

5th Critics' Choice TV Awards
Most Bingeworthy Show
Nominated

Best Actress in a Movie or Limited Series
Jessica Lange
Nominated

Best Supporting Actor in a Movie or Limited Series
Finn Wittrock
Nominated

Best Supporting Actress in a Movie or Limited Series
Sarah Paulson
Won

BMI Film & TV Awards 2015[60]
BMI Cable TV Music Awards
Mac Quayle
Won

Charlie Clouser
Won

César Dávila-Irizarry
Won

67th Primetime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Limited Series
American Horror Story: Freak Show
Nominated

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Jessica Lange
Nominated

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Denis O'Hare
Nominated

Finn Wittrock
Nominated

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Sarah Paulson
Nominated

Angela Bassett
Nominated

Kathy Bates
Nominated

Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special
Ryan Murphy (for "Monsters Among Us")
Nominated

67th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards
Outstanding Hairstyling for a Limited Series or Movie
Monte C. Haught, Michelle Ceglia, Daina Daigle, Amy Wood, Sherri B. Hamilton
Won

Outstanding Main Title Design
Ryan Murphy, Kyle Cooper, Lee Nelson, Nadia Tzuo
Nominated

Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role
Jason Piccioni, Justin Ball, Jason Spratt, Tim Jacobsen, David Altenau, Tommy Tran, Mike Kirylo, Matt Lefferts, Donnie Dean (for "Edward Mordrake: Part 2")
Won

Outstanding Costumes for a Period/Fantasy Series, Limited Series or Movie
Lou Eyrich, Elizabeth Macey, Ken van Duyne (for "Monsters Among Us")
Won

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited Series or Movie
Bruce Litecky, Joe Earle, Doug Andham, Evan Daum (for "Magical Thinking")
Nominated

Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie
Michael Goi (for "Monsters Among Us")
Nominated

Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited Series, Movie or Special
Gary Megregian, Timothy A. Cleveland, Paul Diller, Steve M. Stuhr, Lance Wiseman, Jason Krane, John Green, David Klotz, Noel Vought (for "Curtain Call")
Nominated

Outstanding Casting for a Limited Series, Movie or Special
Robert J. Ulrich, Eric Dawson, Meagan Lewis
Nominated

Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or Special
Eryn Krueger Mekash, Michael Mekash, David L. Anderson, Justin Raleigh, Christopher Nelson, Kim Ayers, Luis Garcia, James MacKinnon
Won

Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score)
Mac Quayle (for "Orphans")
Nominated

Outstanding Make-up for a Limited Series or Movie (Non-prosthetic)
Eryn Krueger Mekash, Kim Ayers, Lucy O'Reilly, Michael Mekash, Christopher Nelson, Jillian Erickson
Won

Outstanding Short-Format Nonfiction Program
"American Horror Story: Extra-Ordinary Artists"
Nominated

19th Online Film & TV Association Awards[61]
Best Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries
Jessica Lange
Nominated

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries
Michael Chiklis
Nominated

Denis O'Hare
Nominated

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries
Angela Bassett
Nominated

Kathy Bates
Won

Frances Conroy
Nominated

Sarah Paulson
Nominated

Best Miniseries
American Horror Story: Freak Show
Nominated

Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Miniseries
Nominated

Best Direction of a Motion Picture or Miniseries
Nominated

Best Writing of a Motion Picture or Miniseries
Nominated

Best Music in a Non-Series
Nominated

Best Editing in a Non-Series
Nominated

Best Cinematography in a Non-Series
Nominated

Best Costume Design in a Non-Series
Won

Best Makeup/Hairstyling in a Non-Series
Won

Best Sound in a Non-Series
Nominated

Best Visual Effects in a Non-Series
Won

Best New Titles Sequence
Nominated

2016
31th Artios Awards[62]
TV Movie or Mini-Series
Robert J. Ulrich, Eric Dawson, Carol Kritzer, Meagan Lewis (Location Casting), Becky Silverman (Associate)
Nominated

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text: Every cover song used in the season was made available for digital download on services such as iTunes and Amazon.com after the episode in which it appeared aired, except the cover of David Bowie's '"Heroes"' performed by Jessica Lange at the climax of the season finale "Curtain Call".

text:
Song
Performer
Episode(s)
Notes

"Life on Mars?"
Jessica Lange
"Monsters Among Us"
"Pink Cupcakes"
"Curtain Call"

Originally performed by David Bowie
Released on October 9, 2014[63]

"Criminal"
Sarah Paulson
"Massacres and Matinees"

Originally performed by Fiona Apple
Released on October 15, 2014[64]

"Gods and Monsters"
Jessica Lange
"Edward Mordrake (Part 1)"

Originally performed by Lana Del Rey
Released on October 22, 2014[65]

"September Song"
Jessica Lange
"Bullseye"

Originally performed by Kurt Weill
Released on November 12, 2014[66]

"Come as You Are"
Evan Peters
"Test of Strength"

Originally performed by Nirvana
Released on November 19, 2014[67]

Note: All songs released by 20th Century Fox TV Records.