American Horror Story: Freak Show recap Test of Strength

From the second “Test of Strength” begins, it is clear that someone is going to die. The body count has been relatively low in the past few episodes and Jimmy Darling just kept trying his luck.

First, he goes up to Dandy’s playroom to rescue the twins. Bette insists that they are being treated well and even repeats Dandy’s lie about the night Twisty died, accusing Jimmy of dishonestly taking the credit for killing the homicidal clown and saving the kids. Jimmy realizes that Dandy was the masked clown who tried to saw Maggie Esmeralda in half. He demands that the twins return to the carnival grounds with him.

In an attempt to get the twins to stay, Dandy stupidly tells Dot that he knows about her dream of being surgically separated from her sister (Jimmy’s pointed “Because you’d never cut a girl in half…” was perfect) and she realizes that he has read her diary. Incensed by the invasion of privacy, she agrees to go back with Jimmy and Bette chooses to stand by her sister. The three of them manage to leave the Motts’ mansion without getting the business end of Dandy’s knife, but he seethes at the sight of them walking out of the door.

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Once back at the fairgrounds, Jimmy angrily practices his rendition of Nirvana’s “Come As You Are,” insisting that the song will be a part of his act, no matter what Elsa says. Naturally, she disapproves, but Jimmy’s too angry to pretend that this fight is about the show. He accuses her of selling the twins “like pets,” but Dot steps in and lies for Elsa. She tells the group that Elsa took she and her sister to Dandy at her request. Dot says that she and Bette wanted to experience “the finer things in life” and that Elsa made it clear that they were welcome to return to the troupe whenever they wished. Elsa is grateful for the save, but she knows that it comes at a cost. Now she just has to wait for the twins to state their price.

A few towns over, Dell goes to High Noon (the bar from “Pink Cupcakes”) hoping ot find Andy. He becomes so furious when the bartender advises him to “never fall in love with a hustler” that he repeatedly slams the man’s head into the bar. Stanley just so happens to be there and, sensing that Dell could prove useful in his plan to kill one of the carnies and sell the remains to the Morbidity Museum, he decides to blackmail the strong man.

Dell has repeatedly proven himself to be capable of extreme violence. When Ethel and Desiree show up to the kind doctor’s office for Ethel’s appointment they find a handwritten closed sign taped to the window. Inside, one of the doctor’s daughters is packing up her father’s things. After Dell broke the surgeon’s hands (His daughter believes that he broke them himself), he committed suicide. Of course, she blames her father’s death on the carnies, saying that their “very existence challenged his beliefs in God and science.” That is a serious reach, but either way, Desiree and Ethel leave, saddened at the news of his death and the fact that neither of them will be able to get the medical attention that they seek.

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All of Dell’s past misdeeds come full circle this episode. After witnessing the episode at the bar, Stanley follows Dell back to the fairgrounds. He makes a few pointedly homophobic jokes and then invites Dell to High Noon for a drink. Always ready to resort to violence, Dell attempts to hit him with the mallet from the carnival’s strongman game, but Maggie Esmeralda intervenes. Stanley makes a comment about having witnesses handy when attempting to blackmail an exceedingly strong, incredibly angry man and invites him to a tent to chat.

Once they’re alone, Stanley threatens to out Dell if he doesn’t help him kill one of the carnies. He instructs him to kill one of the performers and bring the body to that random barn that he and Maggie Esmeralda are using.

Stanley doesn’t tell Dell whom to kill, but Maggie Esmeralda’s not taking any chances. Her partner has been fixated on Jimmy’s hands for a while now, and she doesn’t want to see her boo dead. She tries once again to convince Jimmy to come away, but he doesn’t want to leave until he has proof that Dandy was the second clown.

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Despite their previous run-ins, Dell doesn’t go after Jimmy. Instead, he sneaks into Amazon Eve’s trailer and tries to knock her out with what appears to be chloroform. Big mistake. Amazon Eve wakes up, beats Dell to a pulp and throws him out of her trailer. The next day, Ethel and some of the other women help Eve soak her swollen hands and make plans to take care of Dell. Jimmy wants to report Dell to the police, but Ethel, who has lost all faith in the outside world thanks to the doctor’s death, wants to kill him. She refuses to let Dell get away with hurting a member of the troupe, but agrees to let Jimmy try to handle Dell first.

Over at Elsa’s tent, the twins set the rest of Dot’s plan into motion. They don’t intend on going to Hollywood with Stanley, or “Richard Spencer,” as they know him. Instead, Bette gives Elsa her demands. She wants to be a comedian, eat caviar for breakfast and dye her hair blonde. Dot telepathically urges her to ask for 20 percent of the box office sales, plus the money that Gloria paid for them. When Elsa asks for Dot’s input, she ups their percentage to 50.

Jimmy goes into town with Dell for a drink. He warns Dell about the women’s plan to kill him and Dell claims that he went to Amazon Eve’s trailer to pitch an idea for a strong man/strong woman act. Jimmy doesn’t exactly buy his story, nor does he care about Dell’s welfare, but he insists that the troupe has had enough drama.

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Things take a sympathetic turn when Dell asks Jimmy about the leather gloves he wears in public in order to hide his hands. He tells a story about a rabbit coat he made for Ma Petite one winter that they spent in Wisconsin. Those months in the cold were special for Jimmy because, for once, his gloves didn’t stand out. Dell takes the gloves and tells Jimmy that he has nothing to be ashamed of, threatening to beat up anyone who says any different.

Jimmy, who has never been much of a drinker, has one shot too many and rushes to the alley to vomit. Dell pretends to check on him, picking up a brick while Jimmy’s back is turned. He is just about to strike when Jimmy confronts him. He knows that Dell is his father, having heard stories from old carnies about the “Famous Toledo Lobster Clan.” Dell admits that it’s the truth and the two embrace.

Things aren’t nearly as warm at Penny’s house. She intends to pack her things and move in with Paul, but her father has other ideas. He is still furious that she would sully his name by loving a “freak,” but he won’t allow her to totally destroy his reputation. He’s an electrician and people have to trust him enough to leave him in their homes alone and blah, blah, blah. He’s enlisted the help of his tattooed “friend,” Morris, to give her a “proper sendoff.”

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She should probably have run then, but unfortunately, she stays. Somehow, her father and Morris drug her and get her onto the couch. When she awakes, she discovers that Morris has covered her face in lizard skin-like tattoos and forked her tongue. We don’t see much of Penny on this show, but when we do, she’s usually being abused or assaulted. It’s wretched. She goes back to the carnival, where a distraught Paul welcomes her with a hug.

Meanwhile, Elsa slips Dot a note, asking her what she plans to do with her share of the extorted money. She offers to help Dot reach her end goal. With no hesitation, Dot tells Elsa about the doctor in Chicago and the surgery she plans to have. In order to get the twins out of her hair, Elsa tries to recruit Stanley’s help to locate the doctor, but he has other ideas. He suggests that they put the twins out of their misery, but Ethel interrupts by bringing in some dessert. It’s unclear how much of their conversation she overheard, but Elsa definitely seems open to the idea of killing the twins.

Stanley won’t have to wait that long for his payday, though. Inspired by Jimmy’s story of the rabbit fur coat, Dell buys Ma Petite a new dress. She excitedly tries it on and goes to give him a hug. Dell snaps her neck and soon, her body is on display in the Morbidity Museum. Jimmy lives to see another day, but this death hurt just as much.

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