American Horror Story: Kathy Bates' Characters Ranked Worst To Best

5. Ethel Darling - Freak Show

Freak Show is probably the weirdest season of AHS. It was all over the place in plot; take tormented clown Twisty, who was all set to be the Big Bad - right up until he was offed not even half way through. Yet it has the reputation as the most critically acclaimed story line yet. Our beloved Kathy Bates appears as the Freak Show's resident bearded lady, Ethel Darling.

For what it's worth, Ethel Darling isn't a terrible character - she's even Bates' own favourite. It's a sign of strength that one so highly rated ranks 'worst' on this list, but there's just something lacking about poor Ethel. Sure, she's Jimmy's guilt-plagued mother, Elsa's right hand woman. and her ex-husband's literal "beard," - but she just feels woefully underused.

Her shining moment comes with her visit from spooky spirit Edward Mordrake on the prowl for the saddest freak to join his ghostly circus troupe. Her darkest secret, that she sold out her son with a "freak birth" show to make ends meet, doesn't seem all that dark in comparison to the treachory and murder of her colleagues. But this thread of guilt which informed Bates' performance from her first on-screen moment makes her constant striving to be a better mother to Jimmy completely sensical.

Her most important plot point, though, comes with her untimely end. Elsa Mars' murder of her truest friend shoes just how far she will go to keep her own misdemeanors a secret. She's Freak Show's own "rosebud": integral to the plot, but never really understood by her fellow characters.

We love you, Ethel, we just wish you'd had a bit more to do.