American Horror Story: Freak Show returned from its holiday hiatus with Jimmy (Evan Peters) still behind bars for the murder of the women at the Tupperware/ sex party. Fearful that the cops are going to murder him in his cell, he seeks the advice of Richard Spencer (Denis O’Hare). Richard, still angling to get more specimens to sell to the morbidity museum, suggests he cut off one of his lobster hands for money.

‘American Horror Story: Freak Show’ Recap

Richard coaxes Jimmy into swallowing a dangerous looking liquid, and not long after, he’s vomiting into a toilet. Before Jimmy knows it, he’s inside an ambulance. When he comes to in the hospital, he realizes that not only is his left hand gone, but his right hand as well. When Dell (Michael Chiklis) visits him at the hospital, he’s horrified to see that his son has lost both of his hands. Jimmy admits that Richard maybe offered him a sketchy deal. Dell reassures his son that he knew a chef at Asbury Park that had some proficient prosthetics – for working as a chef anyway – and the two put their heads together about how to buy the freak show.

Back at the freak show, Bette and Dot (Sarah Paulson) are bonding like never before in their shared heartbreak and shared goal of having sex with any willing participant – which could very well be the new guy in town named Chester (Neil Patrick Harris). Chester has a metal plate in his head, keeps lizards close by to calm him and wants to offer his magic and ventriloquism to the freak show. Elsa (Jessica Lange) isn’t a big magic fan, but sees that he’s good with numbers so hires him on to keep the books and be a warm-up act.

When Dell gets back to the freak show, he tells everyone how Richard swindled his son out of his lobster hands. Elsa puts on her best maternal horror, and Amazon Eve (Erika Ervin) tells Dell she’ll do whatever it takes to help Dell take down Richard and rescue Jimmy. Bette and Dott, though they once tried to seduce Jimmy into a lifetime love affair with them, are less concerned about his missing hands and impending imprisonment than they are about losing their virginity.

After becoming somewhat acquainted with the conjoined twins, Chester decides that they could be a useful distraction for his sawing box trick. When they ask, “Because we’re freaks?” he swiftly replies, “Because you’re beautiful!” Bette and Dott take that as a green light, but truth is, seeing their double heads gives him flashbacks of the war and seeing his wife in bed with another woman. Chester is reluctant to give Bette and Dott what they want, but after achieving calm with his ventriloquist dummy Marjorie, he’s able to perform. “Marjorie” is displeased with Chester after he has sex with the twins. The real Marjorie (Jamie Brewer) whom the doll was named after, incidentally, killed both his wife and his wife’s lover.

“Marjorie” is likely a bit more pleased when Chester manages to purchase Elsa’s Cabinet of Curiosities from her for a cool grand. After the sale, Elsa is greeted – again – by the local cops. They believe that whomever threw the rock in the paddy wagon and then killed all the cops inside, freeing Jimmy, likely came from the freak show. Though they turn the place inside out, they have no evidence linking the very guilty Eve and Dell to the crime.

As Freak Show’s latest episode came to a close, Chester meets Dandy who tells him that “Marjorie” is in the big tent. When he finds her, she tells him (aka he tells himself) that it would be a good idea to saw the twins in half for an upcoming show. Also, Maggie (Emma Roberts) returns to show Elsa the encased, formaldehyde-preserved Ma Petite (Jyoti Amge) . And just as Dell vows to start a new life with Desiree (Angela Bassett), Elsa puts a bullet in his brain.