Edward Mordrake: Part 1

Edward Mordrake: Part 1
Story	Freak Show
Episode	3
Premiere	October 22, 2014
Written by	James Wong
Directed by	Michael Uppendahl
Previous	"Massacres and Matinees "
Next	"Edward Mordrake: Part 2"

"Edward Mordrake: Part 1" is the third episode of Freak Show. It premiered October 22, 2014.

Synopsis

The freaks refuse to perform on Halloween due to an old carny superstition. Jimmy is smitten by a woman claiming to be a fortuneteller. Ethel receives life-changing news.

Plot

At the American Morbidity Museum, Dr. Sylvester Mansfield and his assistant, Miss Rothschild, await the appraisal of a medical specimen (purportedly a baby Sasquatch) but are instead accused of fraud, regarding both the specimen and their credentials. The docent reveals that the museum is failing and is desperate for new exhibits. She promises to accept any authentic piece without asking questions about its acquisition. Learning that many of the displays were obtained from freak shows Dr. Mansfield decides to go to Florida with his assistant. 

Trick-or-treaters prowl the neighborhoods of West Palm Beach, Florida. A little girl named Jessie, whose coulrophobia inspires her big brother's costume, sees Twisty lurking nearby but her mother does not believe her. Her mother and her friend notice the increase of children, as many kids have come due to the curfew imposed in the neighboring town of Jupiter. 

Ethel finds out from Dr. Bonham that she has cirrhosis despite years of sobriety and has roughly six months to a year left to live. He advises her to keep her meat intake to a minimum and to maintain her abstention from alcohol. His compassion moves her to tears.

Jimmy, fresh from digging Meep's grave, sulks into the tent where his fellow freaks are engaged in holiday revelry and Dot chides them for their mirth. She suggests that they dedicate the night's show to the fallen geek. However, Ethel tells the twins that they will not have a show that day, citing the legend of Edward Mordrake: a noble and talented Englishman with a whispering face on the back of his head. Despite his best efforts to kill it, it drove him mad. His family sent him to Bedlam but he escaped to a freak show. One Halloween night, he murdered his troupe then hanged himself, his demon head smiling. The legend goes that if freaks perform on Halloween, he will appear and take a soul with him. Jimmy does not believe the story but Ethel corroborates that it happened to her former troupe. She begins drinking, and Jimmy confronts her, but she brushes him off.

At Mott Manor, Dora has been urged to costume as Woody Woodpecker, Dandy's favorite character. Dandy is upset when Gloria tells him that he cannot go trick-or-treating due to the curfew and goes into a fury when he learns that his costume is Howdy Doody. Dora stands up to him and when he orders her to clean up his mess, she says she works for his mother. Dandy makes some alterations to his costume inspired by his new "friend" Twisty the Clown.

Jimmy eulogizes Meep, who is buried with bourbon and chicken heads. Miss Rothschild arrives, her hair blonde instead of brown and assuming the name Miss Mystic Esmeralda, claiming to be a fortune teller from Philadelphia in need of a job. 

Bette has a nightmare of a surgical separation from her sister, who has a bright future planned without her. Bette wakes up and asks Dot, who shared the dream but found it pleasant, if really wants to be separated. Dot claims she will find a doctor to do the surgery, believing that even if one of them dies the other has a chance at happiness.

Jimmy tries to convince Elsa that Maggie is for real, even if she's not a gypsy. Maggie demonstrates by gazing into a crystal ball, telling Elsa to open her heart to the spirits. While preparing for her act, Maggie sneakily manages to glance around Elsa's belongings, deducing Elsa's passion for singing and hatred for Marlene Dietrich. She claims to see many dark tidings and a past injustice from a greedy and jealous woman who looks like Elsa. She sees this look-alike getting a standing ovation for singing, and reveals the woman to be not Elsa, but "Marlene", who stole her career. Maggie hears another future, a heartbreaking song created by Elsa, which is received with thunderous applause. Further, a refined man with dark hair will guide Elsa to stardom. Elsa hires her.

In the trailer, Dell pumps iron while Desiree inspires him with her costume. Despite her vigorous rubbing of his crotch, he fails to attain erection. Desiree is tired of excuses for his frequent impotence. He rages against her but she warns him off before leaving. He stumbles into the field and is hailed by a drunken Ethel. Ethel correctly guesses the reason for his fight with Desiree. He admits that he was never in love with Ethel. She demands that Dell never reveal to Jimmy that Dell is his father. Dell is curious why she is so thoughtful, and she reveals to him that she is dying. She wants Dell to guide and take care of him anyway. Dell further admits that he has been wondering lately what kind of father he would have made.

At the Manor, Dandy is a "killer clown". He threatens Dora with a knife but she isn't scared of him and threatens to call the police if she finds another one of his murdered animals, and asks if he is involved with the killings around Jupiter. When Dandy threatens to kill her, she says she knows he is too cowardly to kill a human. He tells her he hates her and runs away, and she replies that the feeling is mutual.

Maggie calls Stanley, her partner in crime, via telephone booth, ready to leave Florida, horrified at the freaks. She recalls being introduced by Jimmy to the twins - Bette acts friendly around her while Dot is cold and subtly insults her. He is excited about the prospect of harvesting parts from the twins. He ends the call, having to attend to a half naked "Viking" man in his hotel room. The gigolo removes Stanley's pants is shocked by what he finds within. Meanwhile, a patrol officer warns Jimmy and Maggie about the incoming curfew, and warns Maggie to stay away from a freak like Jimmy. Jimmy and the cop trade barbs about Meep's death before Jimmy and Maggie motorcycle away.

Jessie, is tormented by her older brother, Mike, who is too absorbed with himself to notice Twisty standing behind him. He notice's Jessie's experession and screams, alerting his mother. Their mother asks her where her brother is, and she points to her open window, claiming the clown took him.

Bette and Dot are working through a rehearsal, unafraid of the Mordrake legend. Paul and Eve try to stop them, but Elsa enters, telling them that it is just a stupid superstition. Dot thinks that Elsa should wait until they are done before her own rehearsal, but Elsa shoots them down. Elsa demands that the carnies take up instruments while she sings Lana Del Rey's "Gods and Monsters". Edward Mordrake emerges in a green mist in the carnival grounds and entranced by the music enters the tent to watch the performance. Paul and Eve are visibly scared at the sight of him, but Elsa is pleased the prediction has come true. Elsa bows, but he disappears. 

In Ethel's trailer she sees the ghosts of those who have performed on Halloween before Mordrake himself appears, confirming the superstition to her. He occasionally speaks to his whispering face, distracting him from his interview with Ethel. He says the face will know if she answers falsely the questions he gives her, and he bids her to sit with him. He wants the story of her fall from grace, which she gives: she once had a popular burlesque show and fell in love with Dell, who became her manager and advised her to leave the troupe and go solo. He also tells her to stop her comedy burlesque act and do a drama act reciting Shakespeare, believing that the upper-class want culture, not comedy. The act goes horribly and Ethel is ruined. 

However, the demon face wants to hear of her darker, deeper shame. She admits that she and Dell were, at one point, penniless and unemployed, and she was carrying Dell's son at that time; out of desperation, Dell sold tickets for live show of Jimmy's birth. Moments after Jimmy was born, people ridiculed his deformed hands and Dell offered people the chance to hold the "monster baby" for money. She laments that he's known nothing but exploitation from his first breath. Mordrake is moved by her story, and other ghosts arrive and look on. Ethel bows her head, saying she is ready to be taken. The demon head whispers "Not the one..." and she looks up and sees Edward and the other ghosts gone.

Dandy, in clown costume and masked, visits the bus captives and tries to lure them with candy before trying to stab them. Twisty brings the new catch of the night, and Dandy exclaims in delight that they will have more fun.

To be continued

Quotes

Ethel Darling: "You know what, Doc? I ain't crying 'cause you told me I'm gonna die. I'm crying 'cause you're the first doctor to ever treat me with respect. I just c-can't help thinking my whole life might have gone different if I'd met you sooner."

Gallery

Edward Mordrake: Part 1 Still

Edward Mordrake: Part 1 Still

Edward Mordrake: Part 1 Still

Edward Mordrake: Part 1 Still

Edward Mordrake: Part 1 Still

Edward Mordrake: Part 1 Still

References

Template:Article footer