"Monsters Among Us" is the premiere episode of the fourth season of the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

television series ''

American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' (''AHS'') is an American horror film, horror anthology series, anthology television series created by Ryan Murphy (producer), Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the Cable television, cable network FX (TV channel), FX. Th ...

'', which premiered on October 8, 2014, on the

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

network FX. It was co-written by creators Ryan Murphy and

Brad Falchuk Bradley Douglas Falchuk (born March 1, 1971) is an American television writer, director, and producer. He is best known for co-creating the television series ''Glee'', ''American Horror Story'', '' Scream Queens'', and '' Pose'' with Ryan Murph ...

and directed by Murphy. The episode introduces Elsa Mars (

Jessica Lange Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. With a career spanning over five decades, she is known for her roles Jessica Lange on screen and stage, on stage and screen. She has received List of awards and nominati ...

) who runs one of the last remaining freak shows in the United States in the hamlet of

Jupiter, Florida Jupiter is the northernmost town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 US Census, the town had a population of 61,047. It is 84 miles north of Miami and 15 miles north of West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach. ...

, and her recruitment of conjoined twins Bette and Dot Tattler (

Sarah Paulson Sarah Catharine Paulson (born December 17, 1974) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award. In 2017, ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 1 ...

). It also introduces the rest of her traveling performers, and the murderous clown known as Twisty (

John Carroll Lynch John Carroll Lynch (born August 1, 1963) is an American character actor and film director. He first gained notice for his role as Norm Gunderson in '' Fargo'' (1996). He is also known for his television work on the ABC sitcom ''The Drew Carey Sh ...

). This is the first episode of ''American Horror Story'' to break the anthology format, which includes the character

Pepper Pepper(s) may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plants ** Black pepper ** Long pepper ** Kampot pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanacea ...

(

Naomi Grossman Naomi Grossman (born February 6, 1975) is an American actress, writer, and producer best known for her role as Pepper in the second and fourth season of the FX horror television series ''American Horror Story''. Early life Grossman was born in ...

), who was previously featured in '' American Horror Story: Asylum'' (2012-2013). "Monsters Among Us" is the second longest episode in the series' history, at just over one hour without

commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

. It received critical acclaim and positive reviews from critics who praised the characters, acting, setting, its horror elements, and the story's tone. Critics noted the character buildup, particularly that of the Tattler Twins and Elsa Mars, and Lange's performance of

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

's "

Life on Mars? "Life on Mars?" is a song by the English musician David Bowie, first released on his 1971 album ''Hunky Dory''. Bowie wrote the song as a parody of Frank Sinatra's "My Way". "Life on Mars?" was recorded on 6 August 1971 at Trident Studio ...

" as the episode's highlights. The episode obtained the highest ratings of any episode in the series, and is currently the most-watched ''American Horror Story'' episode.

Jyoti Amge Jyoti Kishanji Amge (born 16 December 1993) is an Indian actress notable for being the world's shortest living woman according to the ''Guinness World Records''. Following Amge's 18th birthday on 16 December 2011, she was officially declared th ...

, currently the world's smallest living woman, has her American TV debut in "Monsters Among Us." Actors

Michael Chiklis Michael Charles Chiklis (; born August 30, 1963) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Detective Vic Mackey on the FX police drama ''The Shield'' (2002–2008), for which he won the Primet ...

Angela Bassett Angela Evelyn Bassett (born August 16, 1958) is an American actress. Known for her work in film and television since the 1980s, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Angela Bassett, various accolades, including a Primetime ...

Denis O'Hare Denis Patrick Seamus O'Hare (born January 17, 1962) is an American actor noted for his award-winning performances in the plays '' Take Me Out'' and '' Sweet Charity'', as well as portraying vampire king Russell Edgington on the HBO fantasy serie ...

, and

Emma Roberts Emma Rose Roberts (born February 10, 1991) Additional on October 9, 2016 is an American actress, singer and producer. Known for her performances spanning multiple genres of film and television, her work in the horror film, horror and thriller ...

are all credited in the opening title sequence, but do not appear in the episode.

Plot

, in 1952,

conjoined twins Conjoined twins, popularly referred to as Siamese twins, are twins joined '' in utero''. It is a very rare phenomenon, estimated to occur in anywhere between one in 50,000 births to one in 200,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in south ...

Bette and Dot Tattler are taken to a hospital after a milkman finds them injured in their home, near their mother, who was brutally murdered. News spread of the twins' existence, leading local carnival

freak show A freak show is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "Freak, freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual Human#Anatomy and physiology, humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, t ...

owner Elsa Mars attempting to recruit them to join her troupe. Although skeptical, the twins agree. Elsa's troupe of freaks include Jimmy Darling, a boy with

syndactyly Syndactyly is a condition wherein two or more digits are fused together. It occurs normally in some mammals, but is an unusual condition in humans. The term is . Classification Syndactyly can be simple or complex. * In simple syndactyly, adja ...

, and his mother Ethel Darling, a

bearded lady A bearded lady (or bearded woman) is a woman with a naturally occurring beard normally due to the condition known as hirsutism or hypertrichosis. Hypertrichosis causes people of either sex to develop excess hair over their entire body (including ...

. Twisty, a

killer clown The evil clown is a subversion of the traditional comic clown character, in which the playful trope is instead depicted in a more disturbing nature through the use of horror elements and dark humor. The modern archetype of the evil clown was ...

, murders a teenage girl's boyfriend and a young boy's parents and imprisons the young boy and teen girl in an old bus. Jimmy kills a detective after he threatens to arrest the twins for their mother's murder. Elsa's group puts on their first show with Bette and Dot as "The Siamese Twins," there are only two attendees, a wealthy but shallow socialite Gloria Mott and her dangerously disturbed son Dandy. Dandy bargains with Elsa to buy Bette and Dot, but the twins refuse. Elsa later tells Ethel that she brought the twins aboard to get more attention for the show and boost her fame. As Elsa prepares for bed, it's revealed that she is an amputee, legless below the knees.

Reception

"Monsters Among Us" was met with critical acclaim, and received praise from numerous television critics. Review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

holds an approval rating of 92% based on 12 reviews. The critical consensus reads: "''Freak Show'' sets the template for a compelling character-driven narrative with thoughtful pacing and creepy scares." ''Looper'' ranked the episode twenty-sixth in their "30 Best ''American Horror Story'' Episodes Ranked" list. Erik Adams of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' gave the episode a B+. ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' reviewer Matt Fowler gave the episode a 7.6 out of 10, praising the setup of the characters and the killer clown, although he felt that the introductory elements with Elsa and the twins was overlong. Critics have also praised the performances of the cast, particularly Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson. Verne Gay of ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

'' wrote: "Paulson's performance is so memorable that it's not a completely incidental question. Then, of course, there's Lange."

Ratings

The episode received a total audience of 6.13 million viewers, making it the series' most watched season premiere and the series' most watched episode ever. As a result of these particular high ratings, the show was immediately renewed for a fifth season.Stack, Tim
"'American Horror Story' renewed for fifth season after setting ratings record"
''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'', 13 October 2014.

References

External links

*
"Monsters Among Us"
at

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

.com {{authority control 2014 American television episodes American Horror Story: Freak Show episodes Television episodes written by Ryan Murphy (producer) Television episodes written by Brad Falchuk Fiction set in 1952 Fiction about matricide Television episodes set in the 1950s