Orphans (American Horror Story)

"Orphans"
American Horror Story episode
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 10
Directed by	Bradley Buecker
Written by	James Wong
Production code	4ATS10
Original air date	December 17, 2014 (2014-12-17)
Running time	53 minutes
Guest appearances
Lily Rabe as Sister Mary Eunice McKee Celia Weston as Lillian Hemmings Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Angus T. Jefferson Naomi Grossman as Pepper Matthew Glave as Larry Gayheart Mare Winningham as Rita Gayheart

"Orphans" is the tenth episode of the fourth season of the anthology television series American Horror Story, which premiered on December 17, 2014 on the cable network FX. It was written by James Wong and directed by Bradley Buecker.

Although American Horror Story is categorized as an anthology series, the episode is notable for being the first in the series to directly tie two seasons together, acknowledging that both plot lines and series of events exist within the same universe. In the episode's finale, Pepper (Naomi Grossman) is institutionalised in Briarcliff Manor, the main location of American Horror Story: Asylum (in which she also appears) and is shown meeting Sister Mary Eunice McKee (Lily Rabe) two years before the events of Asylum take place.

Plot

Pepper is horrified to find that her beloved husband, Salty, has died in his sleep. She refuses to leave his body, delaying funeral plans until Elsa finally convinces her to leave his body. Stanley offers to bury Salty’s body but Elsa refuses.

In Pepper's tent, Desiree reads to Pepper, ostensibly calming her. She talks with Elsa about what to do about Pepper. Elsa discloses the history of the freak show, starting with her days as a chorus girl in a carnival in Boston, Massachusetts, after she immigrated to America back in 1936. Noticing that freaks weren't treated as they should be, she decided to start a company of her own. She first recruited Pepper from an orphanage, and became her mother figure.

Elsa soon realizes that Pepper had maternal instincts and wanted a child. One day, an Indian prince arrived with Ma Petite. As Elsa tries to buy Ma Petite, he refuses since Ma Petite is a Dalit. Instead, Elsa hands him a Dr. Pepper, and he settles for three cases of Dr. Pepper as a fair trade. Pepper is still not satisfied as she also longs for love. Elsa contacts other orphanages for a male microcephalic, and found Salty. Pepper and Salty instantly fall in love and Elsa marries them in an unofficial ceremony.

Desiree suggests that now might be a good time to reunite Pepper with her sister, as Pepper is too distraught to carry on with the show. Elsa reluctantly agrees, and gives Stanley permission to get rid of Salty's body after he promises to have the body cremated. Instead, he chops off his head and sells it to the Museum of Morbid Curiosities.

Stanley then later visits Jimmy in jail. He assures Jimmy he will be fine as long as he has a good lawyer, but Jimmy says he can't afford one, and Stanley nonchalantly suggests that Jimmy could sell his hands.

Back at the freak show, Maggie is met with Desiree and Angus who wants a reading. Maggie engages them at first, but then coldly turns them away. Angry, Desiree confronts Maggie, who then confesses that she and Stanley are con artists. At first, Desiree refuses to believe her, but then realizes that several people have gone missing or died since they arrived. Desiree threatens to kill Maggie if she discovers that Maggie or Stanley hurt anyone.

The next day, after Dot and Bette attempt to convince Maggie to help Jimmy by getting him a lawyer with the money they saved up for the surgery, Maggie realizes that she must help the freaks. She finally confesses to Desiree of her and Stanley's true intentions, warning her that all the freaks will die soon if nothing is done. The two visit the Museum of Morbid Curiosities, where Desiree is shocked to find Ma Petite and Salty on display. The curator reveals their newest display: a pair of lobster hands, causing Maggie to faint in horror.

Elsa tracks down Pepper's sister, Rita, and convinces her to take in Pepper. Elsa and Pepper emotionally part ways with Elsa kissing Pepper on the hand, telling her that if she ever feels lonely, she must bring her hand to her face to remind her Elsa will always love her. However, once Pepper has settled in the house, Rita and her husband, Larry treat her coldly, forcing her to make martinis for Rita and making her look after her deformed and equally despised baby son, Lucas. Realising that Rita is not close with Lucas, Larry decides to kill Lucas. The next day, Larry locks Pepper outside and then proceeds to drown Lucas in the bathtub and slices his ears off.

Pepper is framed by Rita and Larry for Lucas’ murder, to which Rita wrongly commits her to Briarcliff Manor. Sister Mary Eunice takes Pepper under her charge. Although initially disgusted by Pepper’s apparent crimes, Sister Mary Eunice views Pepper’s constant crying as signs of remorse and a seek for redemption. Happy that Pepper can be a saved soul, Sister Mary Eunice decides to enlist Pepper in the cleaning of the library. While cleaning the library, Pepper finds an edition of Life Magazine with Elsa as the front cover. Happy that Elsa finally became famous, Pepper holds her hand to her cheek in reminiscence.

Reception

Reviews

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the episode has an approval rating of 85% based on 13 reviews. The critical consensus reads: "A deeper look into the sad story of Pepper makes "Orphans" one of the more heartfelt episodes of Freak Show."

Emily L. Stephens of The A.V. Club praised Naomi Grossman's "almost wordless" performance as Pepper, opining that it "strikes a ringing note of feeling".

Ratings

The episode was watched by 2.99 million viewers during its original broadcast, making it the highest rated cable program of the day although a minor dip from the 3.07 million viewers the previous episode totalled.