Saddest 'Horror Story' ever?

“Those girls were a cool stream of glacier water. My heart bloomed as they nourished it. And now it's all gone. There's nothing left but the dust and the scorpions inside of me. I was never destined to feel love.” – Dandy, “American Horror Story: Freakshow”

When “American Horror Story: Freakshow” bowed in October, it offered the potential to be the best installment of the series. Now in its fourth run, this installment started with great potential, kooky characters, and possibly the scariest clown in the history of entertainment.

Instantly the idea reminded me of the movie “Freaks,” a 1932 film that featured real carnival and sideshow performers in a film that, for years, has been touted as one of the scariest ever. After being persecuted, the colorful characters at the freakshow turn and go on the rampage. In the pilot of “Freakshow,” it seemed like that was where this installment of the show was headed too, and it was potentially terrifying.

Now midway through its run, the vibe seems to have changed. Rather than the scariest installment ever, this might just be the saddest. Wednesday’s episode further drove that point home.

One of the things that I’ve long been fascinated by in “The Walking Dead” is what it says about humanity. The world has fallen into ruin, supplies are hard to find, living is a struggle, and the undead roam the earth as an ever-present threat to life. But the real danger in that world is other survivors, the warped humans who have unleashed their true dark nature on others just trying to survive.

A similar thing is happening with “Freakshow.” The performers in the show have physical deformities that make them outsiders in society. That isolation has taken a toll, as have the reactions of “normal” people toward them. But together, they’ve found family, community, and a support structure.

The truly damaged and deranged people in “Freakshow” have no physical deformities; they’re just broken and cruel. Penny’s Dad (Lee Tergesen), enraged that his daughter had fallen in love with someone he didn’t deem normal, employed a man to permanently scar and disfigure her. It was an act of unspeakable cruelty committed by a parent, and a depressing turn of events.

Then there’s Dell Toledo (Michael Chiklis), the rare member of the Freakshow that doesn’t have a physical deformity. But his shame over his proclivities have made him cruel, particularly to the weak “freaks” he feels like he can control. His desperate act in the wake of being blackmailed was one of the most heart-breaking moments of the season.
Then there’s Stanley (Denis O’Hare), who simply sees the freaks as an opportunity to reap a fortune. His weeks of scheming and planning came to a head in Wednesday’s episode as he found a way to claim the life of his first freak, cruelly leaving her to an eternity of being put on display.

Finally there’s Dandy (Finn Wittrock), a spoiled and entitled child who’s grown into a man in a permanent state of arrested development. He grew up with all the advantages you could imagine, but he ended up becoming a murderous monster.

While the freaks might be ostracized from society, it’s the other people that are the real damaged goods and the real threat. With half a dozen episodes left, it’s still unclear where all this is leading. It may, in the end, resemble the plot of “Freaks.” And I’m sure it will be plenty terrifying at some point, but if nothing else it’s surely the saddest story imaginable as well.