A lot of really, really weird things happened in the premiere of American Horror Story: Freak Show last night. Sarah Paulson’s character had two heads, Kathy Bates rocked a charming beard, and a truly horrifying clown brutally murdered some people. That’s all run of the mill, but perhaps the most unexpected moment came when Jessica Lange — who plays Elsa Mars, a carnival owner and operator — belted out a cover of David Bowie’s “Life on Mars.”
The audience under the big top didn’t like the performance, which was wonderfully weird and oversaturated, but viewers at home went kind of crazy for it. The show’s creator and executive producer, Ryan Murphy, announced on Twitter that they were going to make the song available on iTunes due to popular demand, adding “Just wait until you see her Lana [Del Rey] cover.”
All in all, this first episode left us with a few pressing questions: Who is Twisty the Clown? What secrets does the freak show hold? And how on earth did Elsa Mars know the words to “Life on Mars” if AHS is set in 1952 and Bowie’s Hunky Dory didn’t come out until 1971? Very spooky. Catch the “Life on Mars” tribute above.
