Maggie Esmerelda

Maggie Esmerelda is a faux fortune teller and partner in crime to Stanley Spencer. Initially, she arrives at Fräulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities to make a profit but soon begins to rethink her intentions.

-BACKGROUNDS- Maggie was an orphan who, as a young girl, was forced to fend for herself and often relied on pickpocketing to do so. She met Stanley in Kansas City in 1941 when he covered for her when she was caught stealing. He took her under his wing and trained her to be his partner in crime, refraining from any romantic relationship due to her young age and his closeted homosexuality. More than 10 years later he and Maggie took their con-artistry down to Jupiter, Florida to try and make their fortune.

PERSONALITY & APPEARANCE Maggie was a beautiful young woman with medium length blond hair, usually styled in neat curls. She generally had a typical 50's style fashion sense with occasional bohemian influences, such as scarves or certain types of jewelry. Despite her obvious independence for a woman of the era, Maggie maintained her girlish glamour with make-up, purses, bows, etc.

Due to her experiences with persuasion and deception, Maggie suffered from a slightly skewed moral compass. Yet, despite her con-artist status, Maggie's personality was generally calm and friendly. She wasn't always the most morally sound individual, but she would never allow her corruption to extend to such heinous deeds as murder. Maggie was also extremely observant and was thus able to pick up on a person's subtleties that could aid her in giving them an accurate reading. She had a long-term goal to achieve a white-picket fence status but also had issues with the era's societal pressures of sacrificing her independence to do so.

-PROFILE- Occupation: Con-artist, Fortune teller in Fräulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities Cause of death: 1953 in Jupiter, Florida, Sawn in half by Chester Creb during a psychotic break Relationships: Jimmy Darling (ex-boyfriend, love interest) Bette and Dot Tattler: (dislikes) Stanley Spencer: (ex-partner) Dandy Mott: (enemy) Twisty: (enemy) Chester Creb: (accidental killer) Elsa Mars: (employer) Ma Petite: (friend) Desiree Dupree: (frenemy, dislike) Ima Wiggles: (dislike)

-ADDITIONAL INFOS- What led Maggie Esmerelda to become a faux fortune teller? Initially a con-artist, Maggie Esmerelda, played by Emma Roberts, transitioned into a faux fortune teller. She convinced Elsa Mars of her future fame using a crystal ball, which led to her hiring. Despite her past, Maggie's observant nature and ability to pick up on subtleties helped her give accurate readings.

How does Maggie's past as an orphan influence her character? Maggie Esmerelda's orphaned past in AHS Freak Show shaped her survival instincts, leading her to pick-pocketing and profit-driven intentions at Fräulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities. However, her experiences at the freak show sparked a transformation in her character, shifting from self-interest to empathy.

How does Maggie's relationship with Stanley Spencer evolve? Maggie starts as Stanley Spencer's accomplice, aiming to exploit Fräulein Elsa's Cabinet of Curiosities. Their partnership begins in 1941 in Kansas City when Stanley assists Maggie, an orphan surviving through pick-pocketing. However, Maggie's relationship with Stanley evolves as she starts reconsidering her motives.

-FREAK SHOW CONTEXT- The Freak Show begins its tale in the quiet, sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida. The year is 1952. A troupe of human curiosities has just arrived in town, coinciding with the strange emergence of a dark entity that savagely threatens the lives of townsfolk and freaks alike. This is the story of the performers and their desperate journey of survival amidst the dying world of the American carny experience.

Set in 1952 in Jupiter, Florida, we follows one of the last remaining American "freak shows," led by the ambitious and secretive Elsa Mars, who recruits conjoined twins Bette and Dot Tattler to boost ticket sales while hiding the fact that she herself is a double-amputee. The troupe faces external threats from Twisty, a disfigured serial killer clown terrorizing the town, and Dandy Mott, a wealthy, deeply disturbed local psychopath who adopts Twisty's murderous mantle after the clown's demise. Simultaneously, con artists Stanley and Maggie infiltrate the camp intending to murder the performers and sell their bodies to a morbid curiosity museum, fueling internal betrayals, paranoia, and tragic deaths within the camp.

-OTHER CHARCATERS- Bette and Dot Tattler, conjoined sisters who share a body, but not a heart. Jimmy Darling, a passionate protector of all things freaky. Dell Toledo, the strongman with a weakness for men. Gloria Mott, a dedicated mother and wealthy socialite. Dandy Mott, a narcissistic scion with a passion for violence Desiree Dupree, a triple-breasted lady with a desire for normalcy. Ethel Darling, the bearded lady who struggles against the pull of spirits, and not just those that come in a bottle. Chester Creb, a deranged magician and ventriloquist

-ENTIRE PLOT LINE LEADING UP TO CURRENT DAY-

Maggie showed up with Stanley at the American Morbidity Museum, both pretending to be medical connoisseurs. Maggie is disguised with a brown wig and is going under the identity of a Miss Rothschild. When the owner of the museum discovers that they tried to fake the specimen they were trying to sell, saying it was the fetus of a Sasquatch, they deny that it is fake. The owner asks them to take it and leave, and as they are leaving, the tour guide stops them and tells them if they do find anything real, to bring it back and she would pay them for it. She then tells them of the few freak shows still left around, and they decide to go to the one "south Florida", implying they are going to Jupiter.

As a taxi pulls up to the freak show while the Freaks are burying Meep, Jimmy Darling follows it over to the road. Maggie appears from the cab, and Jimmy tells her they are closed. But she replies she is not here as a customer but wants a job. Seeing that she seems normal, he dismisses her, but she tells him she is a fortune teller. He then takes her to Elsa Mars, him telling her he thinks she is a legitimate teller. Elsa highly doubts it, and Maggie enters the room to talk to Elsa. She then puts her crystal ball onto the table, and tells Elsa of her future fame, and that a strange man will help her achieve this. Elsa, obviously craving the fame and falling for the act, hires Maggie into the show.

Jimmy and Maggie, later at night, are at a telephone booth. Maggie is in the phone booth, talking to Stanley, while Jimmy waits outside on his motorcycle. Maggie is talking to Stanley about how she doesn't think this is a good idea, saying that murder wasn't apart of her plan. He then reassures her no one will miss a Freak. She then hangs up and goes outside, where a police car pulls up behind them. The officer immediately insults Jimmy, telling Maggie a good Christian girl like herself shouldn't be hanging around with people like that. Jimmy starts to get upset, but Maggie calms him down, and then makes them leave, Jimmy told her it smells like pig shit anyways.[2] Maggie and Jimmy notice Twisty in the woods and go to stop him but they are captured. Maggie is almost sawed in half by Dandy until Jimmy frees her and Maggie saves the kids. They head back to camp with thank you's from citizens.

Stanley asks her to kill Jimmy, she rejects and says she will kill Ma Petite instead. At night, she carries Ma Petite to the barn and puts her in a jar to drown her, however, instead of killing her she takes her out catching fireflies and brings her back to a concerned Amazon Eve and Jimmy. After Eve and Ma Petite leave, she kisses Jimmy and proposes running away together.

Sometime later, she sees Dell and Stanley and assures Stanley's safety by witnessing them go inside the tent. Later she and Jimmy are seen cuddling in their underwear and she brings up her suggestion of running away together again.

Dell kills Ma Petite (which he almost instantly regrets doing) and Salty dies of a stroke. Ma Petite's body and Salty's head are both sold to the museum by Stanley. After Desirée becomes suspicious about many freaks disappearing, including Ma Petite, since Maggie and Stanley have arrived at the camp, Maggie takes her to the museum to show Desiree the morbid demise Ma Petite underwent; Ma Petite's body is in a container preserved in formaldehyde, as is Salty's severed head. A third container is unveiled by a presenter before them, containing Jimmy's hands, which Stanley had cut off and sold to the museum so he could afford a lawyer. Maggie sees the lobster-claw hands, thinking that this means Jimmy is also dead, and faints.

Maggie tries to reconcile with Jimmy after his hands are cut off by Stanley. He doesn't accept her apology. Later, when Bette and Dot refuse to be sawed in half for Chester Creb's magic trick, Maggie volunteers. Chester hallucinates and sees Maggie as Lucy, Alice, and Marjorie and cuffs her feet together, making it impossible for her to escape. He then brutally saws in half, causing her intestines to fall out. When the freaks see her corpse, Chester says he can put her back together, but it doesn't work. That's when he snaps out of his delusion and realizes what he's done. Desiree then says "she had it coming" and tells the freaks to steal her jewelry and bury her.

-Here are Maggie's quotes to other characters-

To Jimmy Darling: "My name is Mystic Miss Esmerelda. I'm a fortune teller."

To Elsa Mars: "I didn't choose the gift, Elsa, it chose me."

To Stanley: "The freaks... They're everywhere! Every time I close my eyes, I still see them!"

To Jimmy: "Your future's bright, I'm just not in it."

To Bette and Dot: "Come by my tent anytime. I'll give you a free reading."

Desiree Dupree: I wasn't born on a farm, but I know bullshit when I smell it, and that's a whole lot of bullshit. Maggie Esmerelda: Go to Hell, triple tits.