‘American Horror Story’ Season 4 Spoilers: Episode 11 Synopsis Released Online; What Will Happen In ‘Magical Thinking’? [VIDEO]

“American Horror Story” fans better start to prepare for the end of “Freak Show.” After a brief holiday break, the hit FX miniseries will return on Wednesday, Jan. 7 – but only three episodes remain in Season 4.

According to the synopsis for episode 11, “Magical Thinking,” Elsa (Jessica Lange) will prepare for her move to Hollywood. The freak show leader has been focused on becoming a Hollywood star ever since Stanley (Denis O’Hare) arrived at the camp. But what Elsa doesn’t know is that Stanley has been feeding her lies. Everything he told her about her own TV show and meetings with producers had been fabricated as a way for him to infiltrate her camp and profit from the deaths of the freaks that work for her. Desiree (Angela Bassett) learned the truth from Maggie Esmeralda (Emma Roberts) in episode 10 –but will Elsa believe her? “American Horror Story” fans will have to watch “Magical Thinking” to find out, but it’s important to note that a flash-forward with Pepper revealed that Elsa did become a Hollywood star later down the line.

Part of Elsa’s preparations will include the introduction of the freak show’s new owner – Chester (Neil Patrick Harris). The synopsis seems to hint that Chester is a traveling salesman that the twins are “enamored” with, but based on the episode 11 promo video it looks like Chester is also a magician.

“Magic is about distracting an audience,” Chester says to Bette and Dot (Sarah Paulson) in the trailer. “And what better distraction than you two.” The clip shows him working with the twins to employ a trick where he saws somebody in half. However it doesn’t look like the twins are willingly onboard at first. Dot initially believes that Chester sees them as freaks, however he promises both Bette and Dot that he sees them as “beautiful.”

Like everyone else at the camp, Chester appears to have some dark secrets – involving his ventriloquist dummy. “I’m sorry,” he apologizes to someone in the clip. “She relaxes me. But the doll appears to do much more than relax him, because it turns into a real human (Jamie Brewer). The human version of the doll laughs manically as Chester turns into a bloody mess while sawing someone in half during one of his “tricks.”

Meanwhile, episode 11 will also revisit Jimmy (Evan Peters) in his jail cell. Maggie was horrified to discover Jimmy’s hands in a glass jar at the oddities museum in episode 10. But did Maggie really make the trip with Desiree? Or was Jimmy’s severed hands part of a terrifying dream? The answer remains to be seen, but the trailer makes it clear that Stanley wants Jimmy’s hands. Fortunately Dell (Michael Chiklis) is plotting to help his son escape police custody, but it’s unknown if he’ll succeed in time.

What are you looking forward to seeing in episode 11 of “American Horror Story”? Tweet your thoughts on “Magical Thinking” to @AmandaTVScoop.