Saturday, December 13, 2014

American Horror Story:FreakShow What a Dandy Blood Bath!


Sometimes when I'm watching American Horror Story, I like to watch the live tweets. The other night, during the Tupperware party, several tweeters lamented how psychopaths are always so hot!

And often they are.

After all, how else can they charm and hypnotise their targets?

They also need to pump themselves up to perform their dastardly deeds. A bit of preening and they're all set for a night of the old ultra-violence.





Their victims are often innocents who chance to cross their paths. However, if psychopaths spot an opportunity to taunt and goad, they'll take it.




The character of Dandy is proving to be a Class A charismatic Ted Bundy/American Psycho/Paul Bernardo-inspired wack-a-doo.




I will confess, I missed the first few episodes of American Horror Story: FreakShow which so far, hasn't proven to be an issue so I've not felt compelled to watch them On Demand. I came in while the plot of Twisty was in its final two episodes and a spectre of death dude was being introduced.

I'm not sure if the recurrence of Ethel this week is a thread related to that death dude, and if it's not, it's too bad.

At any rate, it seems like that was around the time Dandy came to the forefront of the plot lines.

Even though I've yet to see a freak show on Freakshow, I'm enjoying the spoiled baby antics of this psychopath.








Anyone who has read any of my work knows that I often visit the themes of psychopaths (Mistress of the Dark, Captured Souls, "All Paths Lead to Psychopath") and bathing in blood (Borrowed Flesh, "Blood Countess"), and  sometimes entwine the two, as is historically done both in reality and in fiction. So to see Dandy bathing in the blood of his doting mom, of Tupperware ladies, and more, while growing stronger (and crazier) in the process, is fun to watch.






Real life horrors exist every day, yes. But American Horror Story is just good old-fashioned extreme fun. Or at least that's how I viewed Coven and FreakShow. I've not seen the other seasons yet.

Sure you can drive a truck through plot holes and character motivations. But the visuals and most of the acting from most of the characters are worth watching.

I'll be the first to say the I loved Coven but hated the ending. It should have been two seasons to explore more of the sub-plots and tie up loose ends.





I was a huge fan of Carnivale back in the day. I lived for that show. When it was cancelled, my world was a darker place. I hated how they wrapped that one up as well. But I forgave it as the plot should have had another year or two to unfold, not suddenly race to a conclusion within weeks.

FreakShow has a flavour of the Carnivale we miss. The dirty gritty circus life. The mysteries and tediousness of day-to-day existence. Corruption and temptation; how far is too far?

In a way, I wish FreakShow had more supernatural elements but again, there are already so many plots that more would be too confusing.


Here's a link to one of many recaps from this week:
American Horror Story Freak Show Recap Tupperware Episode

However, back to psychopaths.



This is where I found this image from A Clockwork Orange.

Some of the most compelling characters in life and in fiction are psychopaths. Look at Charles Manson! He just got engaged and he's a crazy old man in prison for life. Yet he still has that psychopath charm that managed to ensnare a target.

Psychopaths are scary characters because they are real. We hear about them all the time. Serial killers. Serial cheaters. Serial thieves.






Dandy has many of the traits of a good psychopath but he'll likely come to a horrible end as he grows too cocky. He hasn't really thought through his money situation and I'm not clear if he's smart enough to figure out how to survive financially forging his mom's name or whatever needs to be done.


What do you think about Dandy? Do you like him as a character? Is he too over the top? Too creepy?

How do you think he'll die? Will he go on to be a psycho in the after-dead clown parade?





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