There's been a lot of death as of late on American Horror Story: Freak Show , most of which can somehow be traced back to the villainous antics of Denis O'Hare's con man character, Stanley. I mean, this guy may not have physically snapped Ma Petite's tiny neck (which I still have nightmares about BTW), but there's no doubt in my mind that he's the one truly responsible for her tragic demise. After all, if he hadn't blackmailed Dell in the first place, it never would've happened. Granted, that certainly didn't leave the strong man innocent by any means. But thanks to Elsa and Desiree, he finally met his comeuppance. But what about Stanley?
Ever since he tricked Jimmy's into giving up his lobster claws, this "talent agent" has been completely MIA. But this can't possibly be the last we see of him, right? I mean, one does not simply cut off Evan Peters' pleasure hands and get away with it. Because make no mistake, this con man is the real heinous villain of this story. Sure, Dandy comes in a very close second place what with killing his mother and that whole tupperware party fiasco. But even he can appreciate Freak Show's "freaks" and see the beauty that comes in being different.
Stanley, on the other hand, only sees dollar signs and looks at them as if they're nothing more than a smudge on his boot. That, my friends, is true evil at work and it's high time Stanley paid for his crimes. But will Ryan Murphy allow us to see that justice be served? Here are a few different ways I can see this all playing out…
Desiree, Elsa & Maggie Pull a Charlie's Angels
I would like nothing more than to see these ladies team up, track Stanley down, and punish him for hurting the people they love — maybe by cutting off a certain rather large appendage of his and putting it on display at the museum? It'd be both ironic and appropriate! Plus, we already know Desiree is cool with tar-and-feathering, so castration would totally be fair game. And I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to get Elsa and Maggie onboard. In fact, can we have Season 5 just be about these three characters going around and exacting vengeance on terrible criminals? Come on, Murphy, let's make this happen.
Stanley Returns & Blackmails Everyone
Like it or not, Stanley has collected quite a bit of dirt on these characters throughout the season. He could threaten to rat out Elsa for killing Ethel and I'm sure he's got some good stuff on Maggie over the years. Stanley could end up turning them into his pawns and wreaking even more havoc on the troupe. Not to mention the ways he could try and manipulate the new owner, Chester, who is off his rocker just enough that could prove to be pretty useful in Stanley's "collector of freaks" quest. (Though, in the end, they'd be the ones to take him out for good.)
Stanley Gets Away Scot-Free
Then, of course, there's always the chance that we just never see Stanley again and assume he made off with all that money and none of his conscience. It'd be a terrible way to end things, in my opinion, especially since it teaches the lesson that crime really does pay. So don't disappoint us like that, Murphy. You and the show are both better than that.
Images: Michele K. Short/FX; gifs-andthings/Tumblr; mametupa/Tumblr; vixenvarsity/Tumblr
