The Details

• Jimmy agrees to sell one of his hands for a retainer, but Stanley takes both, leaving Jimmy unable to care for himself (and without the money). Dell shares that he was a freak in his family, because he wasn’t born with the lobster claws.
• Eve offers to help Dell bust Jimmy out of jail.
• Elsa discovers what happened to Ma Petite and kills Dell.
• Chester joins the freak show. At first, Elsa thinks he’s too normal, but he’s mentally ill from his time in the war. Plus, he may have a ventriloquist doll inhabited by an evil spirit.
• Of course, the twins fall for Chester.
• Dandy finds out about Chester and the twins.

The Big Q

The big Q is really a statement that they’ve been working toward, that freak is a matter of perspective, that the only real grotesque is the person incapable of love.

The Impact

Jimmy accepts the loss of his hands with relative ease. The thought of prosthetic hands does not scare him, because he already had abnormal hands. Dell shares how abnormal he felt with regular hands. Then we meet Chester. He is obviously troubled, but he doesn’t seem to have a mean bone in his body. Ultimately, the only people that remain freaks at the end of this episode is Stanley, who is incapable of loving anyone but himself. A case could be made for Dandy, I suppose, but I want to see how he treats Chester first.

What did you think of last night’s episode?