People who claim these characters have little to no depth are not really looking at the main premise of the show.They are freaks.The subtlety is gone as a lot of their character is on the outside.One needs to look at the bigger picture of the "normal" people not accepting people that are "different"than them and the xenophobia that was prevalent back in that period.Now to this episode i can only say that i felt true empathy for "Meep" when he was taken from his troop of fellow freaks and the fear he felt.It was a nice twist to the plan to get rid of the strongman...The whole song number during the matinée felt WAY out of place along with the "moshing"..Other than that to feel like these characters won't deliver a freaky season is just plain nonsense.
8 Reviews
Where Is The Depth?
Jac2344316 October 2014
This season seems to lack the wit and imagination the other seasons excelled in. Coven had that constant sense of dread, Asylum was weird and strangely creepy all the time, and the Murder House season was deep and intense... all those seasons contained some intensity that was serious, and compelling, something this season seems to lack almost completely.
Freak Show has poorly written characters trying to deliver great performances that to be honest are just awkward and watered down (Kathy Bates' character). The perfect example is the supposed scary clown that has given people nightmares; this was the most pathetic attempt at shocking and appalling horror, sure he is frightening to look at, but that is only when he does not move, because every time the clown comes on to be "scary" I end up laughing (awkward balloon pop scene). Its really sad when Pennywise from the 90s is scarier than a modern day creation.
This is not to say that the show is not promising, but nonetheless, it is not as promising as Coven, or Murder House because the plot lines seem to be just show and tell rather than staying obscured and mysterious until the end.
Also, this season is predictable, Elsa's constant struggle with her stardom delusion, the Dandy kid helping the killer because he is just as twisted as the clown, which in all honesty is completely uninteresting. The other seasons contained character depth like a wife who is married to an unfaithful man she no longer trusts, or a ghost boy who doesn't accept he is dead and a mother who has to live with the fact that her son killed school students (Lange and Peters). This season is just watered down with a plethora of simple characters with truly nothing to offer but excessive and gratuitous use of predictable suspense and watered down character plot lines. I do not know how much of this season I will be able to endure if this is the way it will continue. Maybe it will progress toward a better middle but if it doesn't I will not even bother with this season. This episode was utterly disappointing.
Freak Show has poorly written characters trying to deliver great performances that to be honest are just awkward and watered down (Kathy Bates' character). The perfect example is the supposed scary clown that has given people nightmares; this was the most pathetic attempt at shocking and appalling horror, sure he is frightening to look at, but that is only when he does not move, because every time the clown comes on to be "scary" I end up laughing (awkward balloon pop scene). Its really sad when Pennywise from the 90s is scarier than a modern day creation.
This is not to say that the show is not promising, but nonetheless, it is not as promising as Coven, or Murder House because the plot lines seem to be just show and tell rather than staying obscured and mysterious until the end.
Also, this season is predictable, Elsa's constant struggle with her stardom delusion, the Dandy kid helping the killer because he is just as twisted as the clown, which in all honesty is completely uninteresting. The other seasons contained character depth like a wife who is married to an unfaithful man she no longer trusts, or a ghost boy who doesn't accept he is dead and a mother who has to live with the fact that her son killed school students (Lange and Peters). This season is just watered down with a plethora of simple characters with truly nothing to offer but excessive and gratuitous use of predictable suspense and watered down character plot lines. I do not know how much of this season I will be able to endure if this is the way it will continue. Maybe it will progress toward a better middle but if it doesn't I will not even bother with this season. This episode was utterly disappointing.
twisty MVP of freakshow
jackDee-5656519 January 2021
Twisty Keeps Killing
ZegMaarJus1 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This episode begins with The Freaks at the circus, they got interviewed by detectives about Bunch. Mr. Hainey has been killed by Twisty. Twisty kills Oliver with a knife. Twisty arrived at Gloria's house. Twisty knocked down Dandy with a cone. Dell beats up Jimmy. Bonnie escapes out of Twisty's hands, but Dandy stops this. Meep got arrested for Detective Bunch his death. Jimmy found Meep his head at the Circus entrance, he died. Nice episode of American Horror Story Season 4, real action is on. Twisty keeps killing, where will his streak stop?
S4.E2 - Goodbye Meep [9/10]
panagiotis199327 December 2023
Warning: Spoilers
(S4. E2) My Live Reaction / Review for American Horror Story Season 4 Episode 2 ''Massacres and Matinees''. The previous episode was good and I gave it a rating of 9/10. Let's see if this one is better or worse. What's up with the mysterious killer clown? Who is he and why is he killing people? More people join the freak show? I like it. All they wanted was to sit down and eat some food but these people refused? That sucks. Dandy followed the killer clown? Does he want the clown to be his friend or something? Dandy now works for the clown? He is insane. I feel so bad for poor Meep. They killed Meep? That's so sad. Overall this episode was good, my rating is 9/10.
All tell, no show...still no captivating wonder
ArchonCinemaReviews16 October 2014
After mixed sentiments regarding the American Horror Story Freak Show premiere, we brave on to episode two, titled: Massacres and Matinees.
Monsters Among Us had rich settings and lively characters but with more literal telling than ominous foreshadowing we had our mixed expectations and doubts for episode two. If anything can be told from the title, Massacres and Matinees, Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk were sure to up the blood and performance.
After another disappearance and suspected murder is discovered, a citywide curfew is in effect, threatening to shut down the Freak Show. Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities gets a strong man and another 'freak' added to its lineup from another carnival. Spoiled and nastily tempered Dandy, played by Finn Wittrock, receives a ghastly gift from his doting mother Gloria, played by Frances Conroy. Elsa and the crew work toward putting on a better act to improve ticket sales and Bette and Dot earn their supper.
Again the set designers Adie Kaplan and Brian A. Waits, along with the rest of the art department, out-do themselves with further glimpses behind the curtain of the Freak Show. We even get to see the lavish mansion in which Dandy and Gloria Mott live, which gets highlighted further with beautiful framing from episode director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.
Unfortunately Massacres and Matinees suffers the same ills as the premiere. All is literal with Freak Show, and nothing is a mystery, no dark allusions, gone are the nuanced implications to a marvelous season. It is incomprehensible as to why Murphy and Falchuk insist on shedding the spotlight on each character's seeded history rather than leaving breadcrumbs for a culminating final reveal. Unless the hindsight and genius are simply nowhere to be found.
Rather than compacting and centering the episode on a focal point, after the muddied and entangled first episode, each plot forges forward, intricately branching out in at least five directions. Massacres and Matinees follows the formula of attention grabbing opening sequence, time filler and then a hook at the end.
Freak Show lacks the clear viewpoint of a visionary with intention. Cheap tricks like modern music and murder scenes can only appease and subdue fans for awhile before the luster of 'what once was' wanes.
If the ending of the episode proves anything it is that next week's episode will be even further convoluted than the last.
For FULL reviews of recent episodes and movies, check out our website.
Monsters Among Us had rich settings and lively characters but with more literal telling than ominous foreshadowing we had our mixed expectations and doubts for episode two. If anything can be told from the title, Massacres and Matinees, Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk were sure to up the blood and performance.
After another disappearance and suspected murder is discovered, a citywide curfew is in effect, threatening to shut down the Freak Show. Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities gets a strong man and another 'freak' added to its lineup from another carnival. Spoiled and nastily tempered Dandy, played by Finn Wittrock, receives a ghastly gift from his doting mother Gloria, played by Frances Conroy. Elsa and the crew work toward putting on a better act to improve ticket sales and Bette and Dot earn their supper.
Again the set designers Adie Kaplan and Brian A. Waits, along with the rest of the art department, out-do themselves with further glimpses behind the curtain of the Freak Show. We even get to see the lavish mansion in which Dandy and Gloria Mott live, which gets highlighted further with beautiful framing from episode director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.
Unfortunately Massacres and Matinees suffers the same ills as the premiere. All is literal with Freak Show, and nothing is a mystery, no dark allusions, gone are the nuanced implications to a marvelous season. It is incomprehensible as to why Murphy and Falchuk insist on shedding the spotlight on each character's seeded history rather than leaving breadcrumbs for a culminating final reveal. Unless the hindsight and genius are simply nowhere to be found.
Rather than compacting and centering the episode on a focal point, after the muddied and entangled first episode, each plot forges forward, intricately branching out in at least five directions. Massacres and Matinees follows the formula of attention grabbing opening sequence, time filler and then a hook at the end.
Freak Show lacks the clear viewpoint of a visionary with intention. Cheap tricks like modern music and murder scenes can only appease and subdue fans for awhile before the luster of 'what once was' wanes.
If the ending of the episode proves anything it is that next week's episode will be even further convoluted than the last.
For FULL reviews of recent episodes and movies, check out our website.
boring, not scary
dvoltolina3215 October 2014
This season has absolutely no plot. It's just a bunch of f**ked up carnies freaking out and a cliché clown killing people. The other seasons had depth, and characters that you could actually relate to. This season sucks, the characters are not like-able and the story is so over the top that it's pathetic. I seriously don't understand why they would put this on the air. It's embarrassing more than anything. I don't have much more to say other than seriously, it sucks" but apparently I need ten lines of text to be able able to submit a review. Dear God, I still don't have enough lines of text! What crap. This show blows. I'll probably watch the next episode and if it doesn't pick up the slack then i'll probably stop watching it.
Not very great
Lustboy16 October 2014
Pretty poor way to continue the show after the amazing first episode. Ryan Murphy didn't direct and write this one so some differences were expected, but this was just disappointing to watch. First episode knew the premise was over the top and ridiculous, and it didn't give a damn. It worked around that ridiculous story extremely well: the characters, the camera work, the story structure... those were all goofy and grotesque at the same time - a show wasn't taking itself seriously and it didn't demand from viewers to do so.
This episode did. It took characters and story that weren't meant to be realistic, and tried to make them realistic. And it doesn't work. AHS never had particularly strong writing, so the failure was all that bigger when they had unbelievable characters try to deliver a real (though poorly written) dialogue. The show lost all of its self awareness and charm in the first 10 minutes of this episode.
This episode did. It took characters and story that weren't meant to be realistic, and tried to make them realistic. And it doesn't work. AHS never had particularly strong writing, so the failure was all that bigger when they had unbelievable characters try to deliver a real (though poorly written) dialogue. The show lost all of its self awareness and charm in the first 10 minutes of this episode.
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