Thanksgiving is less than 24 hours away, and while many of us are looking forward to stuffing our faces with an obscene amount of food (myself included), there are those of us who can’t help but be disappointed that we won’t be getting our usual helping of horror this week. That’s right, people, AHS: Freak Show won't air a new episode on Thanksgiving Eve and it’s almost too depressing to process. I mean, I’m all for family bonding and such, but take away my TV programs and no amount of delicious stuffing can take that sting away.
OK, so maybe I’m being a tad overdramatic. Having to wait an extra week isn’t necessarily the end of the world. And I highly doubt it’s the type of show my grandmother, who’s staying over for the holiday, would be interested in watching. (Grandma, have you met Dandy?) But just in case you can’t help but feel a little bitter about the whole thing, I’ve come up with a list of reasons why AHS: Freak Show isn’t on this Wednesday night. I hope it will help to ease the grieving process. I guess there really are some moments in life when the (side)show must not go on.
Fear of a Ratings Dip
Just because you and I may want nothing more than to sit ourselves in front of the TV the night before Thanksgiving, doesn’t mean everyone else does. In fact, many people tend to take this time to visit with loved ones, who they don’t normally get to see, making television programs fall a little low on the priority list. And it makes sense. Which is probably why Ryan Murphy & Co. thought it best to take a night off this week. Because if a horror show airs and no one is there to scream, did it really happen?
Terror & Turkey Don’t Mix
If the series opted to go on hiatus during the week of Halloween, that would be one thing. But let’s face it, murder and bloodshed aren’t exactly in keeping with the tone of Thanksgiving. Murphy may not want to risk us loosing our appetites right before T-Day (Turkey Day), so he took pity on our stomachs and hit pause on all the mayhem. It’s probably for the best, considering the next episode is titled “Blood Bath.”
Suspense = Success
One of the great things about AHS is the fact that it’s almost impossible to predict what’s going to happen given that there’s no line this show isn’t willing to cross. And since we just lost one of the season’s most lovable characters (RIP Ma Petite), not knowing the immediate fallout from that is sure to drive fans insane. It’ll make you that much more invested to tune in and find out what happens. Slow and steady wins the ratings race.
The Edward Mordrake Effect
Of course, there’s always a chance that — much like on Halloween — anyone who watches AHS on the eve of Thanksgiving will accidentally summon the spirit of Edward Mordrake, and we all know how that plays out. So if you hear a Lana Del Rey song that night, followed by a cloud of thick, green smoke, I suggest you run. Fast.
Images: Michele K. Short/FX; redherry/Tumblr; Giphy (2); biersack-maid/Tumblr
