American Horror Story has put out enough teasers, trailers, promo images, tweets and other fluff for Freak Show, you would think we would already know every detail about the brand new season of the show. However, FX’s marketing has been genius, giving us plenty of details to chew on without actually telling us all that much about the plot of the hit series. Today, the show finally opened up about the premise behind Freak Show, and the challenges our characters have ahead of them.
The new video mentions a lot of the things we do already know about Freak Show. We know it will be set in Jupiter, Florida and we know that Lange will be the leader of the freak show. We know the freaks will come in all shapes and sizes, including bearded ladies, strong men, short ladies, tall ladies, three-breasted ladies, and much, much more. But we learn from the new video that the freak show is well beyond its heyday. It’s a dying breed, one that Jessica Lange’s character is holding onto as tightly as possible. Apparently, Sarah Paulson’s Siamese twins might just be the glue that holds things together, or tears them apart.
We’ve seen footage of Paulson’s Bette and Dot Tattler, who seem utterly disgusted by their new circumstances. Whether or not the conjoined twins enjoy being a part of the freak show, Lange is counting on them to be her cash cow. The video notes she believes Bette and Dot will “make her fortune,” propelling the events in the new season of Ryan Murphy’s popular show.
Despite its troubles, the side show is all about a sense of community. According to actress Angela Bassett, who plays the three-breasted woman, Lange “has gathered freaks from here and there who don’t belong anywhere, and she has made a community, a family of them to try to make a life and live it."
Both the time period and the subject matter should prove to be fascinating. American Horror Story: Freak Show will take a look at the individuals who are outward freaks and performers, who can contort their bodies and earn a living off of their strange looks, but it will also look at people who may physically look normal, but who are freaks in other ways.
You can take a look at some of the major Freak Show characters, here. Or you can wait for the fun to begin when FX’s American Horror Story returns to the schedule on Wednesday, October 8 at 9 p.m. EST.
