American Horror Story: Edward Mordrake, Pt. 1

October 22, 2014 6:31 PM - Season 4, Episode 3

Time for the traditional two-part AHS Halloween episode! In Part 1, we get a new addition to the show, in the form of the mysterious Edward Mordrake.

Tonight, Wes Bentley makes his first appearance in the show, and Emma Roberts and Denis O'Hare (yay!) return to the series.

Are you excited? I'm excited!

posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord (14 comments total)

This episode is reminding me of why I liked the first season, and pretty much liked the second season, and didn't much like the third season.
posted by codacorolla at 8:15 PM on October 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

Muuuuuuuuch better.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:39 PM on October 22, 2014

On their own, Dandy is a great villain, Twisty is a great villain, and together... well, they haven't really started clicking yet, but I can see the potential.
posted by codacorolla at 10:10 AM on October 23, 2014

I don't think Twisty is long for this world. We were told that we're going to learn about his backstory in the second part of the two-parter. I assume that means that Edward Mordrake will be judging his history. Presumably, the visage will not find in Twisty's favor. Maybe that means that he'll be dragged to hell and Dandy will take up the mantle, but maybe that means that Twisty will still hang around as a horrifying clown-demon.

Goddamn I loved that green smoke. Mordrake's appearance was haunting.
posted by painquale at 4:12 PM on October 23, 2014

Ethel's scene with the doctor was really lovely. I was rather moved. Kathy Bates is the series star so far.

I hope that someone new joins the sideshow every episode. This show works best when it's really crowded. And I think this episode definitely cements that we're getting a musical number every ep.
posted by painquale at 4:16 PM on October 23, 2014 [3 favorites]

When I first heard the story, I expected to dislike the Mordrake character but I really didn't. He was great. Very much a ghost-of-Xmas-past thing going on.

So the guy in the motel room who ordered up a male hooker, he has a large penis? Disfigured penis? Small penis? I couldn't tell what was going on there.

I'm surprised Jessica Lange's character was fooled by 2-bit charlatan. A high-level charlatan, sure.

It was amusing, albeit highly implausible, that the clown could kidnap a grown man kid big enough to be a footballer--and through a window, even.
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 6:10 PM on October 23, 2014 [1 favorite]

Was the psychic really a charlatan though? I got the feeling that even if she was just doing background research on Lange's character, she actually did end up having a real prediction about Mordrake.
posted by codacorolla at 8:00 PM on October 23, 2014 [1 favorite]

I think Elsa is going to leave with Mordrake.

I agree that Elsa's scene with the physician was moving. Poor woman.

Not sure what's going on with Denis O'Hare's nether regions.
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 11:42 PM on October 23, 2014

codacorolla, they showed that the psychic was looking at the items scattered around Lange's tent for inspiration. Her patter also felt weak to me.

I thought Mordrake was a coincidence. Didn't her prediction just fall into the classic pattern of "a tall, dark, stranger will come into your life."
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 9:46 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]

I don't much care for the Mordrake thing. His arrival felt out of place, as there hasn't been anything supernatural going on at all (except for the clown managing to grab a pretty good sized teen and take him out through a window in a matter of seconds, I suppose), and his scene with Ethel made it feel as though he was there to clumsily provide the audience with some character backstory. I'll see how I feel about it next week, I suppose.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:04 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]

I loved that we finally got some overtly supernatural stuff. Now all we need is a demon, some aliens, a golem, communist mind control, a centaur, a mesmerist, a flesh-eating virus, and a time traveler or two, and we'll have a real season of American Horror Story.
posted by painquale at 10:23 AM on October 24, 2014 [10 favorites]

I thought the prediction was pretty overtly about Denis O'Hare's partner laying the groundwork for his arrival, hinting at the tactic he will take to ingratiate himself to Elsa.
posted by aldurtregi at 10:58 AM on October 24, 2014 [3 favorites]

From the TV.com photo recap, regarding the appearance of Mordrake:

But again, he wasn't anything to be afraid of, really. In fact he was more just like a male, old-timey ghost Oprah, just wanting to get real about life's problems.

Heh!
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 11:41 AM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]

The scariest/creepiest part (for me at least) was Twisty putting his finger up to his non-existent lips as he was in the little girl's bedroom. Ugh.
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 12:23 AM on October 25, 2014 [1 favorite]