This week on American Horror Story things got bloody… REAL bloody.

Overall, I felt like the “Pink Cupcakes” episode was a bit strung together. There seemed to be a lot of little stories that needed to be introduced or wrapped up in order to move the overall narrative along. For instance: Elsa getting booed off stage? A little forced. Jimmy having a “realization” that Esmerelda would never be with him considering all the other things his character was experiencing this episode? A bit cheesy. Dandy wanting to be an actor but his mother squashing his dreams? Did we really need a reason? I don’t know about you, but I would have been fine with Dandy just being a bored, disinterested spoiled brat. It’s almost scarier that way. In any case, Dandy went full Patrick Bateman and is on the train to murder town while his mother refuses to hold him accountable for his actions.

Speaking of Dandy, a trip to the local underground gay bar reveals that Del is gay and in love with a young escort — whom Dandy ultimately murdered in Twisty’s school bus. The scene answered questions that we may have had about Del for a few weeks now and tied back to Desiree as we learned that she is not a hermaphrodite after all after she suffered a miscarriage. Ethel takes her to the doctor that showed her kindness a few episodes back and he offers to perform cosmetic surgery on Desiree to make her look more “normal.” After Del, who had been missing, returns to the camp to find Des with her bags packed, he finds the doctor and threatens him and his family if he performs surgery on her, afraid she’ll leave him.

Meanwhile, Stanley (Dennis O’Hare) is still pursuing Elsa with promises of stardom in order to get closer to her performers with the intention of murdering them to sell their bodies to the museum. His main focus is on Dot and Bette and this doesn’t sit well with Elsa, who thinks that he wants the girls for their talent. “Pink Cupcakes” ends with Elsa bringing The Tattler Sisters to Gloria Mott’s front door with Dandy waiting upstairs…

While this episode of “Freak Show” isn’t my favorite, I am certainly enjoying this season the most out of any season since the first. I also think that the cast of characters are all compelling and the writing is doing a great job of using the “freak” metaphor for all kinds of different things that society finds culturally unacceptable, from non-binary gender to dealing with homosexuality and lots more. Here’s hoping the lack of cohesion in this episode was a one time thing.

Below is the tease for next weeks episode. While the video itself doesn’t give too many hints about what might happen, the official synopsis for “Bullseye” indicates that a lot might be happening in Jupiter, FL as the write up explains, “Elsa unveils a dangerous new act. Stanley puts pressure on Maggie to murder Jimmy. Paul indulges in a secret romance.”

American Horror Story: Freak Show airs Wednesday nights on FX.