On Oct. 8, the fourth season of the twisted anthology series “American Horror Story” (AHS) premiered on FX. Since AHS is considered a mini series, each season is a different storyline with different characters, but many of the same actors.

The theme for season one was “Murder House,” season two was “Asylum,” season three was “Coven” and this season is “Freak Show.” This season takes place in Jupiter, Fla. and focuses around a freak show troupe fighting to keep their business alive in 1952.

When a set of conjoined twins, Bette and Dot (Sarah Paulson), are accused of a terrible crime, Elsa Mars, (Jessica Lange) a failed German actress and the show’s ring leader, offers the twins a role in her show in hope to pull audiences to her dying freak show.

After the twins perform in their first show, the freak show’s only audience members, wealthy Gloria Mott (Francis Conroy) and her son Dandy (Finn Wittrock), offer to purchase Bette and Dot for $10,000, but the twins refuse.

Judging from the season sneak peak, we will be seeing more of Mott and her spoiled son. I’m just looking forward to seeing some scenes with Conroy and Lange going at each other’s throats.

As Elsa, Lange is her usual H.B.I.C. character that she has played in the other seasons. Many may complain that Lange gets too much screen time compared to the other actors. Though when seeing her strut around with a cigarette in hand as she plots to keep her business alive while creating an illusion that she will one day be a star, I remember that Lange is flawless. By the end of the first episode, Elsa is already more sympathetic than any of the characters Lange has played.

Sarah Paulson as Bette and Dot, conjoined twins with completely opposite personalities, steal the show. Bette is a sweet, hopeless, romantic who loves the idea of gaining fame when she and her twin join the show. Dot is reserved and is often seen wearing a scowl on her face.

Lange usually gets a majority of the praise for AHS, and has won two Emmy Awards for her performances on the show.

I hope that Paulson gets more praise next award season. While Lange’s characters are often powerful women whose greed leads to their downfall, Paulson often plays weaker characters who grow strong as they are forced to rise to the occasion. Paulson’s ability to play vulnerable characters balances out Lange’s theatrical characters.

Other characters behind the curtain include Ethel the bearded lady (Kathy Bates) and her son Jimmy ‘Lobster Boy’ Darling (Evan Peters). Compared to Bates’ role as a ruthless slave owner in “Coven,” Ethel appears to have a warm personality, and she is grateful to be apart of the freak show. Think of Bates playing a bearded version of, Molly Brown, Bates’ “Titanic” character.

Lange, Paulson, Peters and Conroy have appeared in all four seasons of the show. Some of “Freak Show’s” actors, who have also appeared in other seasons, did not appear in the first episode including Angela Bassett, as a woman with three breast, Emma Roberts as a fraudulent fortune- teller and Denis O’ Hare as a con artist.

Fans of the series will not be disappointed. The first episode has a great mix of creepy and campy. Plus, to live up the other season’s tradition of having a bloodthirsty killer as the main villain, “Freak Show” features Twisty the murderous clown (John Carroll Lynch), who stalks the residents of Jupiter and the freak show.

It’s also important to note that even though the seasons are all different stories, the character Pepper (Naomi Grossman), who appeared in “Asylum,” is seen again in the first episode of season 4. Vulture posted an article with theories that all the seasons of AHS could be connected since they all take place in different time periods with different locations.

My biggest complaint with “Coven” was that some of the main characters did not get full development or clear endings. Here’s hoping Creator Ryan Murphy (“Glee”, “Nip/Tuck”) has not launched more balls than he can juggle. Murphy often produces shows with excellent first seasons, but he gets bored with his characters and begins to write outrageous characters versus well-developed ones. The format for AHS works well for Murphy because 13 episodes is not enough time to destroy a character, and the unlikable and cheesy characters he writes often work well with the horror genre.

One thing to keep in mind when watching AHS is that things are not what they seem, and the sweetest character could be the same one that would skin you alive. Literally. Watch “Asylum.”