Massacres and Matinees

"Massacres and Matinees" is the second episode of the fourth season of the anthology television series American Horror Story, which premiered on October 15, 2014 on the cable network FX. In this episode, a curfew is placed on Jupiter, as the police investigate the freak show when they suspect that a police was murdered on the premises. It was written by Tim Minear and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.

"Massacres and Matinees"
American Horror Story episode
Episode no.Season 4
Episode 2
Directed byAlfonso Gomez-Rejon
Written byTim Minear
Featured music"Criminal" by Sarah Paulson
"Valentine Waltz No. 2" by George Antheil
"Sloppy Drunk" by Walter Brown & Jay McShann's Orchestra
"Hot Biscuits" by Jay McShann
"Love Me, My Love" by Dean Martin
Production code4ATS02
Original air dateOctober 15, 2014 (2014-10-15)
Running time55 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

Plot

In a toy store, a clerk spots a windup toy tracking blood from the next room, while Twisty lurks against a wall unseen. The clerk follows the blood trail to his employer's severed head before he is stabbed through the neck and beheaded by Twisty.

At Elsa's campgrounds, the police arrive and enforce a curfew that will impact business. Bette and Dot confirm to Elsa the story that their mother's killer matches the description of the others. During dinner, Jimmy snaps at the carnies and goes to dig up the detective's corpse with Eve, who finds the officer's badge, giving it to Jimmy. Ethel observes her ex-husband Dell and his new wife Desiree arriving, with a trailer in tow. The two had been with a Chicago troupe for the last six years, but they are now on the run because Dell killed a man who was having sex with Desiree. Desiree reveals that she is a hermaphrodite with three breasts and male and female genitalia. Ethel later visits Dell and tells him that he is not welcome as Dell tried to kill Jimmy when he was a baby. Dell claims that Elsa has deputized him as her new second in command.

During dinner, Dandy throws a tantrum over his constant boredom and storms away from his house. Later while driving, his mother Gloria encounters Twisty roadside and asks him to come entertain Dandy as she will pay him handsomely. Dandy talks with Jimmy and begs to join the troupe, but Jimmy says that without a deformity, he won't do well. Gloria introduces Dandy to Twisty. Dandy looks in Twisty's bag until Twisty knocks out Dandy with a pin and runs off. Corey and Bonnie try to escape but Twisty returns to the bus. He enters their cage and Bonnie smacks him with a wooden board and they escape, dislodging Twisty's mask in the process, revealing his lower jaw is missing and he essentially has no mouth. Bonnie runs into Dandy, who has followed Twisty, and begs for help. Dandy brings her back to Twisty, who has caught Corey, as all four enter the bus.

On the main stage, Bette tries to sing but fails horribly. Elsa insists that they don't need a talent, since they have two heads. Jimmy suggests that Dot sing, and she beautifully performs "Dream a Little Dream of Me". Dell insists on matinees to get around the curfew but Elsa rejects the idea. Jimmy brings some carnies to the diner, wanting to be served, as disgusted patrons complain or leave. Paul grabs a plate another patron left behind, but the waitress refuses to let him eat it. Dell angrily hauls Jimmy out and beats him in the street, upset that the troupe has given a "free show" at the diner. Back at the grounds, Elsa has had a change of heart and lets Dell try to host the freak show as she thinks it's good to have him around. Dell introduces Meep, who bites the head off a chicken, followed by Dot, who sings Fiona Apple's "Criminal" with Bette on backup vocals. The crowd reacts warmly while Elsa watches from the sidelines, clearly jealous.

The police return to search the camp after receiving an anonymous tip leading them to Dell. Jimmy attempted to frame Dell by planting the deceased detective's badge in his trailer, but Dell moved the badge under Meep's bedroll. Meep is arrested and shoved into a cell with angry locals. Elsa visits Bette, who is upset that she could not be the star her sister is. Elsa tells her that the fickle crowd will see her as the star soon. Elsa says that Bette must not allow Dot to steal Bette's stardom and slips her a knife under her pillow.

A drunken Jimmy is awoken by Ethel. Jimmy is upset about Meep and blames himself. Ethel says that Jimmy should stay away from Dell. Jimmy intends to confess to free Meep, but as he emerges from the tent, a truck dumps Meep's corpse at Jimmy's feet, and he cries out in agony as the carnies surround him.

Reception

Reviews

"Massacres and Matinees" has received positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the episode has an approval rating of 85% based on 13 reviews. The critical consensus reads: "The dark themes of "Massacres and Matinees" are reminiscent of themes of season two, only more vibrant this time around."

Erik Adams of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B rating, stating: "Following the dull, clean monochrome of Coven, the popping colors and three-ring grime of Freak Show is refreshing."[1] Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode a rating of 8.0/10, writing: "The clown is still ghastly, Dandy is still spoiled and sinister, and the introduction of Dell now brings a new carny power struggle to the show. All steps in the right direction."[2] Numerous other critics praised the introduction of Michael Chiklis and Angela Bassett's characters, as well as the Clown's and Dandy's storylines.

Ratings

"Massacres and Matinees" was watched by 4.53 million viewers with a 2.3 18–49 ratings share, down 0.8 from the previous episode. It was the highest rated cable show of the night.[3]

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gollark: Okay? That doesn't actually mean Google aren't gathering data if you literally use their browser, OS and apps?
gollark: Do you just not care about privacy? All of those (I mean, except cloud storage) seem to be available in open source or more privacy-respecting forms which are *still* free.
gollark: <@209777632324091905> Firefox can do cross-browser syncing *too*, and the "just works" and "has all your data" thing means Google is also probably data-mining you to death.
gollark: What is WRONG™ with Brave Browser?

References
  1. Adams, Erik (October 15, 2014). "American Horror Story: Freak Show: "Massacres And Matinees"". The A.V. Club.
  2. Fowler, Matt (October 15, 2014). "American Horror Story: Freak Show - "Massacres and Matinees" Review". IGN.
  3. Bibel, Sara (October 16, 2014). "Wednesday Cable Ratings: 'American Horror Story' Wins Night, 'South Park', 'Teen Mom 2', Baseball, 'Impact Wrestling' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
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