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Every Single Season of American Horror Story, Ranked From Worst to Best
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American Horror Story: Freak Show

  • Plot: The plot of Freak Show is rickety, nonsensical, and all over the place. What are we supposed to be afraid of? Edward Mordrake? Twisty the Clown? Those people who want to kill the freaks and turn them into museum displays? Dandy? "Normal" people? This season throws way too many potential antagonists in our way without giving us one major villain. With no one to root for and no one to truly hate, we're doomed to just sit there and watch everyone amble around uselessly. And don't even get me started on those musical numbers.
  • Ending: In the conclusion, the remaining freaks drown Dandy after his murder spree. Elsa goes off to live the Hollywood life she always wanted to live. She ends up dying at the hands of Edward Mordrake, who banishes her to eternity with her troupe. There's no payoff, no "Aha!" moment. Nothing.
  • Scariness: Sure, we've got Twisty the Clown and the delightful maniacal tendencies of Dandy. On the whole, though, Twisty doesn't have quite the impact we'd hoped, and without him, there's not much else to give us the shivers. Edward Mordrake is more funny than scary, and the same goes for Dandy. It's a season of attempts at fear that mostly end in head-scratching.
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