AHS Cult S07xE08 | Winter of Our Discontent

   Although I felt last week’s episode of Cult was a little too flashback heavy, I went into the eighth episode hopefully, as this season has truly been delivering some of my favorite episodes ever. After all, even some of the best seasons of American Horror Story stumble occasionally. This week’s episode is entitled “Winter of Our Discontent”, a nod to the lovable Winter Anderson as well as a reference to the John Steinbeck novel of the same title. Steinbeck’s novel, however, was actually based on lines by Shakespeare. These lines read, “Now is the winter of our discontent / made glorious summer by the sun of York.” I felt that the origin behind this title was interesting. Let’s see what it could mean for Winter as well as the other members of the cult!

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Winter of Our Discontent

Writer: Joshua Green | Director: Barbara Brown

   The episode begins with Dr. Vincent celebrating Kai’s big win in the election. Although Kai is grateful for Rudy’s support, he is simultaneously pissed off because his own brother didn’t visit him after he was assassinated. Dr. Vincent apologizes, explaining that he didn’t visit due to the fact that Meadow was colluding with his one of his patients. Kai, the seemingly forgiving person that he is, forgives Rudy and they make up. During their embrace, Kai says, “From now on, call me Councilman.”

    We’re now at The Butchery on Main, where Kai’s douchebag recruits are eating. Ivy is serving them, which I instantly recognized as strange, because Ivy is never front of house, but rather cooks for the customers. Unsurprisingly, Kai’s alt-right buddies are being a bunch of pricks about the food and are being incredibly coarse towards Ivy. However, Winter steps in and stops Ivy from killing a couple of these buffoons.

    Back in the kitchen, Beverly has also been sentenced to working in the restaurant. Ivy’s infuriated about all of this, complaining about Kai forcing her to cater to them in her own restaurant. Beverly discusses last night’s city council meeting, during which one of the councilmen disagreed with Kai’s plan for his recruits to be private security in Brookfield Heights. Being the master of seduction that he is, Kai utilizes fear and subtle threats of what could happen to this man’s young daughters as a means for his fellow councilman to agree with his proposal.

    Beverly discusses the extreme loyalty Kai’s drafts possess when it comes to him and propose that if they were to go after Kai, which she compares to the head of a snake, the entire army would fall. Winter quickly shoots down this idea, saying that this would simply be a suicide mission. Winter pleads that they need Kai, but Beverly says that he’s not fit to lead. She further upsets Winter by saying that if it came down to it, Kai wouldn’t even think about sparing his sister, so long as it gave him more power. As we’re taken into another flashback, Winter mentions that Kai would never hurt her and that he saved her life once.

    In October 2015, Winter and Kai are enjoying their own Halloween ritual, which involves drinking whilst trolling people with strong beliefs online. In the midst of shaming women for getting abortions, they receive an invitation from Pastor Charles to come to the Judgment House in Wixom near I-96.

Completely ignoring the fact that this is incredibly sketchy, Kai and Winter accept this invitation. When they arrive, Rick Springfield answers the door! They explore the Judgment House, which is essentially just a fucked up torture chamber where innocent people endure various flagellations. Some of the innocent people featured are a man who is trying to sober up being constantly injected with various drugs, a volunteer at an AIDS benefit being tortured for being a sodomite, etc. These victims are crying out for help, saying that this isn’t a show.

After touring the entire house and barely saving a man from a chair that impales its user with knives positioned in the shape of a cross, Winter and Kai heroically free everyone and decide to rebel against Pastor Charles, forcing him to meet his demise with his own invention.

   According to Winter, after his run-in with Pastor Charles, everything about Kai changed. We watch as he dyes his hair blue, with Winter noting that Kai came to a bleak realization that he couldn’t save everyone, and felt that it was better to burn the world to the ground and start again.

    Back in the present, Winter tells her fellow ladies that she understands they all despise him right now, but to allow her time to persuade him to move to the right path. Since she’s his sister, Winter’s positive that he’ll listen to her. Beverly agrees to give Winter’s way a shot, but if she’s still in the goddamn kitchen by the end of week, she’s coming for Kai and Winter better stay out of her way.

    In the Anderson basement, Kai and Winter have a pinky power, which has been announced to be the official term for this recurring phenomenon that’s occurred this season. I was calling it a pinky meeting until we knew for sure, but I was surprisingly close. Pinky power just sounds way more elegant, though. Kai interrupts this pinky power by crying because he loves Winter so much, asking if she’ll always be loyal to him. Kai says that he adores the family they’re going to create. He says that from their seed, a savior will arise and that Kai wants Winter to be the mother of their messiah baby. Um, what the actual fuck?

    Winter’s all like, “Kai, sweetie...that’s incest.” Kai proposes that Samuels shall be the biological father of Winter’s baby, but Kai will enter Samuels at the same time that Samuels is impregnating her so that he’ll be the true father? Uh...more on this later.

    Ally and Dr. Vincent are now back at her house, in the middle of an intense argument. It’s divulged to us that Rudy checked Ally into a psychiatric facility for three whole weeks against her own will. Ally skips her trusty rosé and moves straight to hard liquor. Ally screams that Dr. Vincent never believed a word that she said. However, Dr. Vincent explains to her that he now realizes that the man who’s been terrorizing her is more dangerous than he knows. Dr. Vincent is onto Kai and recognizes that he is behind all of the murders.

   Ally is shocked that Winter is a part of the Anderson family, but immediately becomes infuriated by the realization that Dr. Vincent was helping Kai further wreck Ally’s mental state. Dr. Vincent claims to have no idea about the cult, explaining that Kai must’ve broken into his office and obtained his records. Rudy claims to have Kai committed or even prosecuted.

   Back in the Anderson crib, Jack and Winter are chilling on the couch in their ceremonial garbs preparing for this “holy event”. Kai turns on “I Swear” by All-4-One, claiming it’s the holy song to be used for the conceptions of all messiahs. I understand that this season was supposed to be serious for all parties involved, but this is just too hilarious. Kai anoints Winter and the ritual commences, but Jack can’t get it up for Winter. Winter is over Kai’s bullshit and stops this busted ass threesome once and for all, claiming it’s even too messed up for Kai.     

   We’re now at Ally’s house, where she’s cooking sloppy joes for Kai and his alt-right bodyguards. This behavior in strangely hospitable for Ally, causing Kai to be suspicious. However, Ally reassures him that she doesn’t want to kill him, but simply to offer up information. This isn’t without an ulterior motive, though. Ally needs to know that Ozzy can return to her after she tells Kai this juicy gossip.

   Ally lets Kai know that his brother is attempting to get him committed. Kai responds to this by saying that he notices something very different about her. After months of facing her phobias and being terrorized by various people in the cult, Ally tells him that she’s not afraid of anything anymore. I see you, Ally! Get it, girl!

   Winter, in her punishment for not carrying the messiah baby, is dumping out trash onto the side of the road while wearing an oversized dunce cap. Jack Samuels pulls up with some gruel that is supposedly Winter’s “food”, denying Winter his apple. Annoyed about how strictly he follows Kai’s orders, Winter inquires about why Jack is Kai’s bitch. Leading into an incredibly unnecessary flashback, Jack tells us that Kai was once his bitch.

   A while back, Kai was using Vincent’s stolen prescription pad to earn some extra money. Detective Samuels catches him, but instead of arresting him, he forces Kai to give him 70% of his earnings. Kai goes to his house, which is cluttered with Nazi memorabilia. Dr. Arden, is that you? Apparently, Jack can’t get it up unless he’s choking somebody...Kai tells him that he needs a man. Jack says that he’s not gay, and Kai tells him there’s no gay or straight and they begin a physical relationship.

   After this random/pointless tangent, Dr. Samuels tries to impregnate Winter, saying he can get it up if he chokes her. Which I guess is why this flashback was relevant? Then again, he could’ve just mentioned it in passing. Winter takes Jack’s gun and she discusses how she should’ve fought back. After Hillary lost the election, Winter lost as well. Winter, using some of her findings from The SCUM Manifesto, shoots him right in the head!

   We’re now in another cult meeting, where Kai asks to see his betrayers. Kai’s glorified servants place Beverly and Dr. Vincent in front of him. Everyone in the cult is masked, but since Beverly is a betrayer, who’s wearing her iconic mask? Kai, thanks to Ally’s helpful tip, knows what he’s up to. Rudy claims that he just wants to see Kai succeed, and reminisces about when they created pinky powers. Kai cuts Dr. Vincent’s pinky off, after luring him into a fake pinky power, then proceeds to cut his throat without blinking an eye. After discovering that Vincent was conspiring against him, Kai no longer saw him as a brother, but rather an obstacle in the way of his world domination.

    I must say, I was a little bit shocked that Vincent didn’t have anything to do with the cult, especially after noticing all of those subtleties about him. American Horror Story is the master of plot twists and leading its viewers down the wrong paths when it comes to predictions, however. We move on down the line to Beverly, who’s all like, “What the hell did I do?” It’s now revealed to us that Winter has framed Beverly for Jack’s murder, as we see Beverly shoot Jack in the head and tell Winter that Kai is next. Although there’s no real reason stated about why Winter did this, we all know that Kai wasn’t going to change his mind, so Winter had to turn Kai against Beverly before she had a chance to kill him once and for all.

    Kai questions Beverly about why she betrayed him, and she claims that he was the one who betrayed her. One day, Beverly is his equal, coming up with new and fresh ideas on how to help Kai gain power, the next day she’s in the kitchen baking cookies. Beverly tells Kai that nothing is bigger than his ego and that she should kill her now because the biggest mistake she ever made was believing in him. Kai tells Beverly that death is too good for her, and sends her to an isolation chamber. No, Bev! I love you! Come back!

    Kai takes a moment to welcome their newest member, as Ally slowly takes off her mask. OH MY GOD.

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Afterthoughts

    It looks like after that one episode stint, Cult is officially back on track when it comes to delivering premier episodes. This week’s episode was full of twists, turns, and hilariously awkward sex scenes. I was pretty surprised to see Ally in the cult, but I can’t say that the possibility never crossed my mind. However, I don’t think Ally is in the cult because Kai has magically cured her of her fears, but rather to get close enough to destroy Kai. Although I didn’t necessarily care for Jack, I am going to miss Dr. Vincent quite a bit. I thought he was going to have a bigger part in the cult, but it turns out he could’ve been paramount when it came to taking Kai down and giving justice to the oppressed women of the cult. If there was one thing I had to nitpick about this episode, it would have to be Jack’s flashback, as it was really irrelevant. It’s nice that Kai and Jack had history and all, but why would they hone in on it when Winter was going to shoot him moments later, deeming all of the information we just learned as trivial. Despite this one flaw, it was a pretty great episode and I’m excited to see how the rest of our story plays out in the three remaining episodes.

Thanks for reading,
Jonah

Jonah Raleigh

Though much too modest to admit it himself, Jonah is perhaps the world's preeminent AHS expert. He loves talking film & television, building his fledgling vinyl and Blu-Ray collection, & having far too many coffee drinks. Jonah can often be found binge watching shows with his handsome one-eyed ocicat, Irving.

AHS Cult S07xE07 | Valerie Solanas Died For Your Sins: Scumbag

    When the news of Lena Dunham’s addition to the newest season of American Horror Story was announced a few months prior, I was eager to see which direction her role would travel in. I was informed she would be playing radical feminist, Valerie Solanas, a few weeks ago, and that Evan Peters would be playing Andy Warhol. I was excited to see Dunham portray Solanas to the hilt and perhaps even more excited when I found out that Evan Peters, who has been remarkable this season, would be taking on another role. American Horror Story is certainly no stranger to having an actor portray multiple different characters within the same season, but aren’t we all just thankful that Sarah Paulson was relieved from that duty this time around? Don’t get me wrong...I love Sarah Paulson as much as any other AHS fan, but having her portrayal of Shelby, Audrey, and Lana all in the same season was slightly overkill. I knew a little bit about Valerie Solanas going into this episode, and with Cult being on a streak of some sort when it comes to delivering quality episodes, my standards were quite high. Without further fodder, let’s delve right into the recap!

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Valerie Solanas Died For Your Sins: Scumbag

Writer: Crystal Liu | Director: Rachel Goldberg 

     Let me start off this recap with a fair warning to all of you reading this. This particular episode has an overabundance of flashbacks in it. Although they all pertain to the Valerie Solanas narrative this episode revolves around, there are many different times and dates associated with particular scenes. I vow to try my best when it comes to recapping this for all of you. Quite honestly, my first viewing of the episode was a little rough due to all of these flashbacks, but after watching once more and taking notes, I feel as though I can sufficiently relay the information back.

     Our episode begins by letting us know that it is June 3rd, 1968. Valerie is seen having sex in the back of a car in an effort to scrounge up a few extra dollars. When her customer is short five dollars, she politely says, “Fuck you, you little dick piece of dogshit.” Valerie takes this five dollars into a gun shop and asks how many bullets she can get for the money she has. When asked who the bullets are for, we see Solanas utter, “Andy Warhol” proudly.

     Instead of showing us the flashbacks in chronological order, AHS does a flashback within a flashback and goes back to 24 hours earlier where we can see Valerie’s motive. Warhol is on set working on a project when Solanas bursts in and asks about the status of her movie script, entitled “Up Your Ass”. Andy claims that he cannot find it, which is his polite yet unsubtle way of saying that he didn’t like it. Valerie claims that he didn’t like it because he can’t stand to see a woman succeed in this world. Andy replies snidely, saying, “Oh Valerie, you know women can’t be serious artists.” After she explodes and threatens to wipe the smug expression from his pale patriarchal face,  Valerie is escorted off the premises.

     If this episode were to chronologically organize this scene, the day after she got kicked out would’ve been when she had sex and bought some bullets for Warhol. We are taken to the events that take place after Valerie bought her bullets. She waits in the elevator with her gun, cleverly disguised in a paper bag, preparing to shoot Warhol.

     When she finally makes up her mind, she discovers that Andy is no longer in the studio. Nevertheless, Solanas refuses to give up and waits in the elevator some more. Warhol eventually returns, and she follows him in. Warhol compliments her, saying that she looks pretty with a little bit of makeup on. While Andy’s talking on the phone, Valerie shoots at him twice but misses. Finally, she gets much closer to her target and exclaims, “Suck my dick, Warhol!” She shoots him directly in the chest and our title sequence begins.

     Moving back to the present day, we are bombarded with various news coverage regarding the appalling shooting that occurred during Kai’s campaign rally. It appears as though somebody straightened up the story and Meadow is being blamed for all of it. Okay, but how iconic is her and Harrison’s photo displayed in the news?

     At the end of last week’s amazing episode, we saw Ally being arrested. We are given an update on her, saying that she is in police custody as of right now. Harrison reads a statement about how Meadow’s actions were politically motivated and how she vowed to get payback on Trump supporters, although we all know that Kai put the idea in her head. The news also gives us an update on Kai. He receives news that he is up twenty points in the polls, which means that he now has a seat on the City Council.

     We now see Beverly walking out to her car when she spots a woman in a green cloak hanging out by her car and smoking a cigar. Beverly asks if she can help her, and also mentions that she doesn’t go for theatrical bullshit such as this. This mysterious woman reveals her identity and it turns out to be Frances Conroy, beloved member of the AHS family. Conroy discusses how women give away to the natural order of things, but she knows what it means to assassinate a man. Beverly not so politely asks her if she is homeless or schizo. Frances Conroy’s character, who is not yet revealed to us, mentions how it was incredibly convenient that Meadow missed her Mark at the shooting. She tells Beverly that she’s residing in room twelve of the Reunion Hotel and that Beverly should give her a ring-a-ding when she’s ready to hear the truth.

     The next day, Beverly makes a trip to the Anderson household and is greeted by a not-so-friendly face standing in front of their door. This man is wearing a blue shirt and khaki pants and doesn’t say much. When Beverly attempts to go inside, another man who is dressed the exact same refuses to let her in. Beverly, like the bad bitch she is, tells them that she’s Beverly motherfucking Hope and they’re going to want to get the hell out of her way. She yells for Kai, who eventually answers the door. Something really doesn’t feel right about all of this. Kai informs Bev that these men are “volunteers” who are from all over the Midwest and are looking to make history. Beverly says that she feels the cult is losing momentum, and that they need fresh blood. Kai counters this by saying that the public needs stability throughout all of this, and Beverly asks what happened to setting the world on fire. Before Beverly is kicked out for not being a man, she says to Kai that they agreed on having equal power, and this is not what it feels like. In the midst of this sudden change within Kai, Beverly decides to go to the Reunion Hotel to meet the stranger who talked to her before.

     Over at The Butchery on Main, Ivy and Winter are discussing everything that’s happened with Ally. The cops took her away and apparently nobody knows where she is. Suddenly, Beverly knocks on the door with the delightful Frances Conroy by her side, looking to help all of them. We are introduced to her character, who is named Bebe Babbitt. Kai promised all of the women in the cult a seat at the table, but now that he’s won, he is pushing them to side as if they weren’t there all along. Bebe brings up the point that history may change, but herstory always repeats itself. For those who don’t know what herstory is, it’s simply a term for female history, used frequently in RuPaul’s Drag Race.

     Bebe informs the girls of the cult that Valerie Solanas was the love of her life. Winter knew a little bit about her from her women’s studies classes at Vassar and said that she was one crazy bitch. Bebe tells Winter that the world was insane and Valerie was the only person of sane mind. “The bullets she put in Warhol were the first shots of a revolution”, Bebe says to the group as she segues into a series of flashbacks.

     We are now at the Chelsea Hotel in New York...the year is 1967. Bebe, narrating over these flashbacks sporadically, tells us that Valerie had given birth twice by the time she was fifteen. The first time Bebe met her was in a room at the Chelsea Hotel. Solanas was thirty by then and she had just finished her masterpiece, The SCUM Manifesto. She would offer stage readings in her hotel room. The price of admission for women was $1.00 and for men, it was $2.50. Solanas had written the first thesis to suggest that men were the problem and not simply women.

     Throughout her various readings, she’d conjured up a group of loyal followers, notably the wonderful Jamie Brewer. Valerie Solanas proposed that the planet will not move forward until they get their hands bloody and murder every fucking man on it. Although Solanas was strongly opposed to men, she did allow some gay men, such as Bruce and Maurice into her club, only if they give a speech that completely diminishes their self-confidence in front of a group of women for a change.

     We are told that SCUM is the Society for Cutting Up Men, and the goal is to kill all men who aren’t part of their auxiliary. SCUM eventually relocated to San Francisco, on the cusp of the start of the revolution. Their plan was to start “couple-busting”, killing both men and women, in order to show women that spreading their legs doesn’t give them any more value.

     In 1968, while the rest of the ladies of SCUM stayed in San Francisco, Valerie went back to New York. She instructed Bebe, who she was in a relationship with at this point, to wait for the signal until they started couple-busting. This signal, which Valerie never quite told to Bebe was obviously the shooting of Warhol. After this happens, we see SCUM kill a couple that was making out in their car. When they mention the names of the victims, Winter quickly objects and says that those were the first victims of the Zodiac Killer. Bebe tells Winter that the SCUM killings were the Zodiac killings….

     In 1969 at Lake Berryessa, we see a couple enjoying a nice picnic when the women of SCUM stab them to death. Personally, I think that Twisty will always be the king of picnic murders, but it was still a worthy effort on their part. During her time at the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, Valerie was orchestrating all of the SCUM killings. However, an anonymous tipper sent some letters into the paper that were filled with grueling and accurate details on all of the murders. Although the fearless women of SCUM were killing everyone, the Zodiac Killer was trying to take credit for all of it. Apparently, there was one other murder that the imposter actually committed, but everything else he wrongfully took ownership over. Valerie was released and made her way back to San Francisco.

     In 1973 at the Bristol Hotel, Valerie informs her fellow women that she was dead fuckin’ wrong about men. Solanas found some incriminating evidence under Maurice’s bed. Maurice denies this almost as quickly as Valerie plunges a knife into Bruce, who was actually the Zodiac, as we see on his watch. A stabbing party commences! Maurice gets away just in time to avoid being dismembered and having his mutilated genitals being stuffed into his mouth like Bruce. The cops discover Bruce’s body placed in the same formation as the logo of the Zodiac killer a few days later…

     Valerie attempts to turn herself in for all of the SCUM killings in order to have her hard work recognized, but nobody believes her. We watch as Valerie’s mental health slowly deteriorates over time. She’s preaching with a flair like we’ve never seen before, and we watch all of the women of SCUM leave in an incredibly sad time lapse. Her schizophrenia begins to take over, and she sees the ghost of Warhol, who died about a year before she did. Warhol tells her she’s really let herself go, and she begins to describe how men have always oppressed her. Even now, she says, she’s not seen for her own thoughts or ideas. Whenever someone says her name, they instantly think of Andy Warhol. Valerie died alone after being used up and spit out by the world. The incredibly long flashback ends and the female cult members agree that they must reclaim the power. Beverly says they need to strike back, and this time, they won’t miss.

     Back in the present day, Kai is visiting his parents in his DIY mausoleum when Winter walks in. Kai tells Winter that the crown is heavy, and proceeds to ask her if he can count on her. Winter says yes, obviously. Kai confronts her about The SCUM Manifesto pamphlet that Bebe gave her, saying that he’s fascinated by Solanas’ theories and ideas. Kai already has the charisma, but he needs a philosophy. He wants to release a social media statement, but Kai needs to have a catchy name. He suggests, MLWB (Men Lead Women Bleed), claiming that Harrison suggested it.

     Presumably sometime later, Ivy and Harrison are in The Butchery on Main waiting to surprise Kai. The real surprise, Harrison discovers, is a group of women reading The SCUM Manifesto. Harrison is hit by a blunt object and strapped to a table, surrounded by the women of the cult. The girls question him about what happened to Meadow. Beverly tells him that of all people, he should understand what it’s like to be marginalized and therefore has no excuse for his sexist comments. Harrison tells them that he never said that, but Ivy screams that they are SCUM and they murder him. Oh my gosh, a cult within a cult!

     Beverly is reporting Harrison’s death, saying that his body was (coincidentally) found covered by scum in a pond. Kai looks down at The SCUM Manifesto and back up at Beverly just in time for her to look deeply into the camera and say, “Clearly the promise of law and order in Brookfield Heights is not being kept.” Kai says, “They’re at their best when they’re angry, don’t you think?” Bebe replies with, “Aren’t we all?”

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Afterthoughts

    Although I genuinely enjoyed seeing Dunham play Valerie Solanas, I hope I’m not the only one that thinks this episode was a little bit too flashback-heavy. I understand that the Solanas narrative ultimately tied into the cult, but I think it could’ve been cleaned up and not consumed so much of the episode. I did enjoy this episode, however, as the twists at the end saved it. Although the Lena Dunham flashbacks dragged on a bit too long, they were ultimately used a springboard for the events that will take place within the remaining four episodes. Kai is a mastermind when it comes to seducing people and carrying out plans. He used Babbitt as a pawn to incite the women of the cult and get rid of Harrison, but it all seemed so natural. I remember saying last week that even though Meadow is dead, Harrison will still be there to provide laughs, but I guess I spoke too soon. I am very excited to watch the next episode, “Winter of Our Discontent”, and to share my thoughts with all of you.

Thanks for reading,
Jonah

Jonah Raleigh

Though much too modest to admit it himself, Jonah is perhaps the world's preeminent AHS expert. He loves talking film & television, building his fledgling vinyl and Blu-Ray collection, & having far too many coffee drinks. Jonah can often be found binge watching shows with his handsome one-eyed ocicat, Irving.

AHS Cult S07xE06 | Midwestern Assassin

    In the wake of what appears to another tragic and senseless mass shooting, certain scenes within this week’s episode that contained graphic gun violence were altered for cable television in order to honor the victims. During this announcement, which Murphy made last week, it was also mentioned that the unaltered episode would be released on VOD and streaming platforms the following day. In order to get a fuller scope of the season and the satire they’ve attempted by including these scenes, this recap will cover the unedited episode. Whether you’re here for a quick refresher or you haven’t seen the episode at all, please understand that the aforementioned scenes that were taken out do not affect the plot substantially. Without further preface, let’s jump into what went down this week on American Horror Story: Cult.

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Midwestern Assassin

Writer: Todd Kubrak | Director: Bradley Buecker

   Whilst an American flag waves freely in the air, we hear Kai campaigning for his spot in the city councilman, which will ultimately be a stepping stone for his world domination. As a crowd incessantly chants, “We are the wall!”, we hear a gun being cocked and shots firing, as peril begins to rise. In the midst of all of this, Ivy is simply trying not to die and Harrison is by her side, even saving her from a flying bullet at one point. We see countless civilians die at the helm of whoever is controlling this weapon. Although American Horror Story is no stranger in the slightest to violence and gore, this sequence is incredibly hard to watch due to its realistic properties. This isn’t Queenie using herself as a human voodoo doll or Elsa Mars being murdered by ghosts, this is something that we experience every time we turn on our televisions.

    A minor detail I noticed is that when they included the close-up shots of a hand shooting the gun, we see a manicured hand. This may seem completely irrelevant to you as of right now, but I promise this observation serves a purpose. As the SWAT team arrives and tells the shooter to put the gun down, we see Ally clasping a gun in her completely unmanicured hands. This let me know ahead of time that Ally couldn’t have been the shooter, although with her history of irresponsible gun use, this notion is completely plausible. The camera pans and zooms in on an unconscious Kai lying on the stage…

Our episode resumes in a familiar scene featuring Meadow banging on Ally’s windows and divulging to her all the information about Kai’s cult. While I thought Ally left Meadow for dead, we see that there is way more to the story than AHS notoriously presents to us. After Ally hangs up on her wife whose secret has just been exposed to her, Dr. Vincent starts to call. Hesitantly, Ally answers and Rudy is reaching out to her because Ivy was concerned about her. Ally proceeds to tell him that she believes Ivy is involved in something conspicuous, and because it’s Ally saying it, Dr. Vincent just tells her that she’s being grandiose and her unfounded beliefs threaten everyone in her life. After agreeing to relax, Ally runs across the street with a knife and comes to rescue Meadow. Honestly, hallelujah! I thought Ally’s petty grudge was going to get in the way of her saving Meadow, but she finally came to her senses. I mean, the main reason Ally is even saving Meadow is to obtain information on this “cult”, so it’s purely self-serving. Regardless, it still keeps Meadow alive, so I’m here for it! Ally climbs in through one of the Wilton’s windows and heads to the garage to save Meadow. Jack Samuels and Harrison are um...busy with other matters, so they don’t even notice when she sneaks past them.

    Ally heroically cuts Meadow loose, but as she’s grabbing her purse, she makes a bunch of noise which causes Jack and Harrison to lose their shit. As Ally and Meadow run out the garage door, he kicks the entry door in and chases after them. Harrison almost stops them but they spray pepper spray in his eyes like the bad bitches they are and are able to just barely escape to their safe haven, The Butchery on Main. Once there, Meadow asks if she can have a cappuccino in a strangely optimistic way. I just love her...that line was golden. The two of them discuss possible plans of action, including even leaving the state. Ally is quick to dismiss this idea, however, because she has a need to be with Oz.

    You’d think that because she gets her allocations shut down so frequently that Ally would understand and believe Meadow when she says something as bogus as Ivy being in a cult. Conversely, Ally calls bullshit on everything Meadow says, which forces her to go to great lengths to prove that the cult is real. She brings up a heart-wrenching moment for all of us, Mr. Guinea’s death, and how Ivy was texting her before they arrived at home and left doors open in order to orchestrate their plan to the hilt. Also, the chemical trucks were just spraying water and they were the ones who killed all the dead birds and even spread them out around town.

   When confused about Ivy’s motives, Meadow bluntly tells Ally that the whole goal of all of this was for Ivy to make Ally crazy. Although we don’t know the full backstory about Ivy, we do know that Ivy’s pissed off about Ally voting for Jill Stein. Aren’t we all? Ally still doesn’t believe that Ivy would join a cult, because she hates organized religion of any type. Meadow, who by now is sick of explanations, tells Ally that because Ivy’s beliefs weren’t tied up or committed to anything, her devotion to Kai is wholehearted. Everything that Meadow has mentioned involving their wicked pranks and Ally’s mental state deteriorating serves a purpose that supersedes everything else, which is Kai’s takeover. While watching Beverly’s coverage of the race for city councilman Ally quickly recognizes Kai as the man who stopped all those protesters a few episodes back. Meadow explains that it’s because Kai paid them, and Ally thinks that they’re in the cult too. Meadow’s just like, “Bitch, you can’t just join! It’s not the damn AARP!” Yet another perfect line from Meadow...she’s always hilarious to me. Meadow stresses the importance of Kai picking you to join the cult and reminisces on her own experiences with Kai.

   We are now transported to December of 2016. Meadow explains that although she’s loved Harrison since she was ten, she never truly understood what love was until she met Kai. When Meadow is designing the masks for her fellow cult members, he tells her that a larva bee has to shed her skin to become the queen, and that she is impressive. She mentions to Ally that she built up a wall of Drag Races and Housewives to alleviate herself from the real world. Meadow always felt that she didn’t live up to the expectations of other women her age, but Kai set her free from all of that. When Meadow killed Councilman Chang, Kai kissed her and told her how proud he was.

   A few weeks later, this feeling quickly was replaced by anger once Meadow overheard Kai spewing the same queen bee line to Ivy. Meadow, realizing that Kai is a master in the art of seduction and is ultimately full of shit, decides to leave the cult. Harrison and Jack prevent her from leaving. Kai tells them it’s time to call the cops because something horrible has happened to Meadow. While tying her up, Kai says that she’s worthless, she doesn’t exist, and that she’s nothing…” While this flashback is over for the time being, we will come back to it at the end of the episode, so stay tuned.

   Coming back to present day, Ally suggests that if the police in Brookfield Heights refuse to listen to them, they can try elsewhere. Meadow brings up the valid point that all of this sounds too crazy to be true. Nobody will listen, so the only way to stop this madness is to kill Kai. Oh my gosh!

   It’s now April 3rd, 2017, the day of the city council debate. We see Kai delivering his spiel in the same seductive and alluring way he always does. He tells his fellow Americans that now is the time to be scared and that the government will not protect us when everything starts to go down. We see the familiar face of Mare Winningham stand up and call bullshit on everything that Kai just said.

   We are introduced to Sally Keffler, who heavily disputes Kai very publicly. I understand that she was just trying to speak her mind, but generally anyone who crosses Kai has a very short expiration date. Sally brings up the point that overall crime is down historically, and that they need to focus on finding who is responsible for these killings. Oh, sweetie. If you only knew. She calls Kai a reactionary rather than a conservative, noting that he uses fear to remind people of a time that never was. Sally tells the audience that people like Mr. Anderson and Trump aren’t garbage. They’re the flies that swarm to the garbage. After slaying and dragging him, she announces her candidacy for City Council.  Kai tries to explain to her that the due dates have passed, but she says she’ll talk to somebody about being a write-in candidate. As much as I love Mare Winningham, I don’t see things ending well for her.

    Wow, this episode has a lot of flashbacks. It’s now the day after the election, and we are witnessing the aftermath of Ivy and Winter’s kidnapping. Ivy is now at the Anderson household, cleverly decorated with adjacent Hillary and Trump signs in the front yard that represent Kai and Winter’s respective parties. Ivy is horrified that Gary would actually cut his arm off to vote, and is afraid that they will go to jail. Winter says not to fret, that her brother can get them out of anything. After arriving to Kai’s dungeon-like basement, he asks for some alone time with Ivy. They sit down and have a “pinky meeting”. While initially hesitant, Ivy submits to Kai’s request after he threatens to tell Gary who kidnapped him.

    When asked what fills her heart with dread? Ivy says that the thought of laying in bed next to her wife does. We are finally introduced to some backstory and motives for Ivy joining the cult and terrorizing Ally. Ivy says that she started to detest Ally right when Oz was born. Although we’ve been led to believe that Ivy is Oz’s mother, it turns out that Ally actually carried Oz because of Ivy’s endometriosis. According to Ivy, Ally never let her forget that she is Oz’s mom, even going as far as to use terms like “my baby”. Ivy also hates Ally’s entitle phobias at the fact that she voted for Jill fucking Stein.

   Kai says that all he sees in front of him is a carcass devoid of happiness, but he believes that Winter could make Ivy happy. Ivy agrees, but only if Oz can come along. Ozzy is the only real reason Ivy is staying in her relationship, and she would never get full custody if she just up and left. Kai asks if she’s ever thought about murder, but Ivy said it would be too traumatic for Oz. Kai ensures her that no court will ever grant Ally custody. Oh, boy.

    Back in the present day, Ally brings Meadow into Rudy’s office and wants him to babysit her. She also wants to use Meadow to prove to Dr. Vincent that she’s not actually crazy. While Sally is browsing Facebook, she hears a frantic and relentless knocking on her door. It turns out to be Ally explaining that it’s urgent and that she’s not crazy, but what finally grants her access is the fact that she owns The Butchery on Main.

    Ally explains to Sally that there is a cult and Kai is responsible for all of the murders and scandal that’s occurring around town. Ally also mentions that Meadow is a reliable source of information, just in case Sally wouldn’t believe her. Sally is acting shockingly cavalier about all of this new information, replying that nothing shocks her because she went to Berkley. Suddenly, the infamous cult breaks into her house, led by Ivy and Harrison.

   Ally’s flight or fight response kicks in...I bet you can guess which one she chooses. We see a new harrowing mask appear, and it’s Gary. Sally is in the corner, pointing a gun at the cult and threatening someone to make a move. Jack bursts in her door and takes her weapon. Once on the ground, Kai takes off his mask and looms over her.

   Kai notices that Sally Keffler is an avid user of Facebook, and uses this opportunity to write a nicely crafted suicide note on her behalf. After they shoot her, Ally screams from the bathroom she’s barricaded herself in. Ivy goes to investigate with her haunting elephant/donkey mask to represent the two political parties. Ally recognizes Ivy despite the fact that she was wearing a mask, and thankfully Ivy doesn’t hurt Ally.

    When returning back to Dr. Vincent’s office, he informs her that Meadow just randomly left and that she didn’t say anything at all. From her perspective, we can see that Meadow received a call from Kai, which is why she left. Ally is desperately trying to explain all the latest cult drama to Dr. Vincent, but he honestly doesn’t believe her. He once again recommends that she should check herself into a inpatient facility. She walks out and mutters, “Fuck you.” I must say, Ally can be a boss bitch when she wants to.

    We are now taken to the day of the shooting at Kai’s rally. He brings up Sally’s suicide, saying that would never desert his followers like she did. From afar, Ally watches Meadow start to take out a gun and shoot a bunch of people, including Kai.

  Ally tries to stop her, but before she can, Meadow decides to kill herself. Rest in peace, sweet Meadow. I absolutely love Leslie Grossman. If she doesn’t return for Season 8 of AHS, I’m going to be real upset. Because Meadow ate a bullet, the gun is left in Ally’s hands, just in time for the SWAT team to arrest her.

    The flashback I was talking about with Meadow and Kai that wasn’t over yet concludes. All those harsh words that Kai was saying to her turned out to be a compliment, as he says that she’s nothing in the eyes of the world, but she’s everything to him. He begins to seduce her while giving her a speech. He explains that she’s the only one who truly sees him and who can elevate him to the national stage. His assassination was premeditated all along, as he tells Meadow to shoot him in order for him to gain popularity. Kai is a sly mofo...I absolutely adore his character and Evan Peters. Kai mentions that we are a Christian country, and that everyone loves a resurrection. He unties Meadow and tells her to divulge to Ally all of the details of the cult. When the truth comes out of her mouth, it’s able to hide in plain sight. Ally doesn’t stick up for herself and explain to the police what’s going on with the cult. We pan over to Ivy being interviewed and Kai being carried away on a stretcher. His eyes open and he smiles widely and grimly.

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Afterthoughts

    This episode was just incredible. I loved so many aspects of it and love seeing Kai seduce everyone and bring them closer to his cause. Evan Peters has always been a great actor and quintessential part of American Horror Story, but his role in this season has proven to be amazing. If he doesn’t receive some sort of Emmy nomination next year, I’m going to be pissed.

   I’m going to miss Meadow so much! Leslie Grossman was a hilarious addition to Cult, and although she’s only been in AHS realm for one season, it’s hard to imagine another season without her. At least we still have Billy Eichner to deliver some laughs through Harrison, though. I am so excited to see which direction this season will take in its five remaining episodes. The anti-gun statement that was made in this episode, while hard to stomach, was an incredibly important and relevant one. All in all, another great episode in what’s turning out to be an astonishing season.

Thanks for reading,
Jonah

Jonah Raleigh

Though much too modest to admit it himself, Jonah is perhaps the world's preeminent AHS expert. He loves talking film & television, building his fledgling vinyl and Blu-Ray collection, & having far too many coffee drinks. Jonah can often be found binge watching shows with his handsome one-eyed ocicat, Irving.

AHS Cult S07xE05 | Holes

     I have to admit that after the first episode of Cult, I wasn’t entirely sold on the concept. The season premiere simply didn’t measure up to its predecessors, as it didn’t have the constant polarizing effect AHS tends to have on me. I am happy to say that, this season has completely proved my initial doubts and reservations wrong. Cult has brought laughs, genuine scares, and rich plot development that thickens and strengthens through each episode. I went into this episode with excitement and high standards that “Holes” will continue to deliver the great quality this season has presented thus far. 

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Holes

Writer: Crystal Liu | Director: Maggie Kiley

     Our episode begins with news coverage from the delightfully dark Beverly Hope, discussing the major events that have occurred in Brookfield Heights throughout the season. Beverly speculates that there is a serial killer in their midst, as she discusses the recent and ever so tragic disappearance of Meadow Wilton. We are now in Bob’s office where he and Bev are going over this footage. Bob brings up an inquiry about how she is always the first one to the scene. Oh, Bob. You unsuspecting scumbag. If you only knew. In accordance with his typical douchebaggery, Bob criticizes Beverly for reporting “fake news”. Beverly counters this inaccurate insult by bringing up a point that she has a need to inform the public about current events/issues. She begs him to air the tape of Serena being brutally murdered by the clowns, but Serena’s parents are already threatening to sue the news channel...so that’s not happening anytime soon. Bob fires Beverly, but she threatens to expose his sexual harassment of Serena. He tells her to GTFO of his office, and she walks away whilst hatching a plan in her brain. 

    We move to a large “group” of people conducting a meeting, including Kai, Winter, Gary, Detective Samuels, Beverly, and RJ. Winter is discussing how low voter awareness is and how they intend to raise it in order to elect Kai as a city councilman. RJ questions the importance of all of this, and Kai bitchslaps him to the ground whilst lecturing about how he wants to ensue fear amongst citizens in order for them to flock to him. To accomplish this, the cult agrees that the murders have to be scarier. While discussing how they need to kill Bob in the most Satanic way possible, another cult member shows up late...it’s Ivy. 

    Ally is now describing a dream sequence of hers to Dr. Vincent, in which she discovers holes in her neck with various bugs crawling out of them. While this dream was occurring, Ally scratched herself raw. Her dream, as Dr. Vincent explains, is representative of the metaphorical holes in her life, prominently the fresh hole created when Ivy and Ozzy left her. While discussing her trypophobia (fear of holes), she brings up her longing for Oz and Ivy to be in her life again. Ally is incredibly angry at herself because of the whole situation with Winter. We’ve all seen the paranoia that Ally deals with day in and day out, and dealing with that all by herself cannot be easy. Although she was promised police protection, she claims that she barely gets any. Ivy has frozen all their credit cards, and Ally mentions that the whole situation feels premeditated…
 

     Dr. Vincent brings up a very relevant question to Ally regarding whether or not she felt if their relationship was flimsy. We see a flashback to September of last year wherein Ally is trying to be intimate with Ivy, but Ivy is so caught up in their finances and restaurant that she doesn’t even recognize her efforts. Cutting back to present day, Ally is only allowed supervised visits with Oz in which Ally tries really hard to make a connection only to fail miserably because he isn’t willing to meet her halfway. 

    Ivy is driving in the car while talking to Oz when it’s revealed that her and Winter are driving together. According to Ivy, Oz has been asking if Winter is going to be his third mom. Winter apologizes that Oz had to be the one to find the video, frankly stating that it had to work out that way. I mean, I knew it was planned ahead of time, but I didn’t know Ivy was in on the whole thing, too. I must say that she did a very good job of acting genuinely hurt and surprised when she found the video. Winter warns Ivy that radical action is going to occur in the near future, and Ivy say she’s prepared for it. 

     Once gathered, the cult goes over the game plan for killing Bob, which is essentially to simply chant “Ave Satanas” when they’re about to kill him. RJ, Beverly’s cameraman, is going to record this in order to provide some news footage to shock the public with. 

     Everyone sneaks into Bob’s houses sporting their respective costumes and masks and beats up Bob. Before Bob dies, he tells them that there’s a gimp in his attic that he has to take care of. Upon further inspection, this gimp is hung up by hooks in his skin and has a mask over his face that prohibits his vision and hearing. Harrison votes on killing the gimp, but RJ doesn’t understand why they can’t just let him free. Typical RJ, always questioning the cult’s ideas. Kai bluntly states, “We don’t take votes.” and kills the gimp by stabbing him. While all of this crazy shit is going down, Ivy is having a hard time handling it. Winter consoles her in the bathroom while the cult members take turns mercilessly stabbing Bob. Beverly tells RJ to take the camera off of her as she removes her mask to give Bob one last look at the bad bitch who killed him. She says, “Ave Satanas, motherfucker!” before plunging an axe right into his dead. Damn, Bev! 

     Beverly reports the ordeal, accompanying her “upsetting news” about Bob with the horrifying video RJ shot. Later on, Kai and Beverly are enjoying a cup of coffee at The Butchery on Main and discussing how Bob’s murder played out. While Beverly complains about Ivy’s weakness displayed during the situation, Kai gives her some leeway because it was her first time experiencing an event such as this. Kai also divulges to her that she was the only one who truly impressed him during Bob’s homicide. 

     Beverly suggests removing the weak link of the group in order to make all of them stronger as a whole, not so subtly referencing to RJ as their weakest link. As if his constant bitching and refusal wasn’t enough to key viewers in, a flashback illustrates just how inessential RJ is to the cult. When orchestrating Rosie’s murder with the coffins, RJ complains about the weight of the coffins and dismisses Beverly’s concern about the spacing of the two coffins. In this flashback, Winter also says that Kai is just leaving Vincent’s office? I knew he had some connection with the cult! After Rosie and her husband are left in the coffins, Meadow and RJ are concerned and want to let them out as well. Back to reality, Beverly explains that RJ’s weaknesses are cancer and that he needs to be cut out of the group. Due to all the crimes the cult has committed, however, I cannot imagine his descent from the group can pleasant.

     Back to Ally’s usual anxious antics, we see that she’s taken up spying on Harrison from across the street with Oz’s telescope as a hobby?! Honestly, this further showcases how grandiose and extra she is. Honey, I’m sure Oz has a pair of binoculars somewhere. Harrison is carrying a shovel around the house, which piques Ally’s interest. She takes her snooping to the next level by walking across the street with a bat in her hand. Once in the Wilton’s backyard, she sees Meadow in a ditch and Meadow mutters, “Help me.”

     Instead of being a helpful neighbor and an admirable person, Ally runs into her house and goes on complete lockdown mode. She dials 911, but apparently, the volume of calls is too high for her to be instantly connected to an operator. Instead of waiting, Ally calls Ivy and explains the current situation about Meadow being in a ditch. Ivy can’t deal with her shit and just tells her to call the police when suddenly there’s a harsh knocking on her door. Ally is afraid it’s Harrison or Detective Samuels, but she discovers it’s Meadow, who has somehow crawled her way out of the ditch and is pleading for help. Meadow tells Ally, “It’s a cult! Everyone is in it. The police, my husband, your babysitter, your WIFE!” This information hits Ally really hard, especially because Ivy is still on the line. However, Ally refuses to be a rational human being and just let Meadow in. C’mon, Ally! Meadow is dragged away by someone who is not shown, but is most likely Harrison.
 
    Back in the cult meeting, Winter has done a poll about the race for city councilman and Kai is up ten points! While this leap is impressive, Kai mentions that he still feels resistance from certain members of the group. The cult takes a field trip to Kai’s basement where RJ is tied up in a chair with a ball gag in his mouth. Kai explains that RJ needs to be eliminated from the cult and that they are going to do this by taking turns shooting him in the head with a nail gun. Despite some initial resistance from the cult, they realize he would snitch on them come to a mutual agreement to kill him.

    Kai forces Ivy to go first in order to prove her fidelity to the cult. She struggles a lot with it, but we see a huge weight lifted off of her shoulders after she shoots him. After everyone takes their turn in this sick game, Kai finishes RJ off in one of the most disturbing AHS scenes we’ve seen so far.

     In the last scene of this incredible episode, Beverly and Kai share a “pinky meeting”. Kai starts off the conversation by asking Beverly what she’s most afraid of, but Beverly uses her alluring ways in order to have Kai open up about his parents. 

    Kai says that his parents died three years ago and that his dad was paralyzed in a motorcycling accident. Through a dialogue with him and his father, it is revealed to us that Kai obtained a degree in religious studies, and it probably wasn’t at Yale as he’d previously claimed to Bev. Kai and his father share a rocky relationship, and unsurprisingly his dad’s also a dick to Kai’s mom. One day, Kai is in the basement surfing Reddit when he hears a gunshot. He runs upstairs to see his father bleeding from the abdomen and just in time to watch his mom swallow a bullet.

     Kai isn’t sure what to do amongst this murder-suicide shit show, so he consults his brother for help. We see Dr. Vincent come into the crime scene! I knew him and Kai were connected, I just knew it! Due to the fact that they would lose a lot of money due to the death tax and cannot afford to because one of their siblings just started college at Vassar (ring any bells?), Dr. Vincent suggests a rather morbid idea. Dr. Vincent and Kai put their parents’ corpses in their bed and cover them in lye to prevent them from smelling, letting them naturally decompose over time. Kai and his brother share an agreement to this plan through locking their pinkies, a common practice displayed throughout this season. A couple months later, we see their sister, Winter come home from college and become angered and mortified due to what happened to her parents.

    Kai explains that to this day he still visits his mother to pay his respects and show his love. Conversely, he visits his father to tell him that he hates him and that he derives pleasure in watching him literally decay into nothingness. Returning to present day, Kai is crying at his table, and Beverly stands up and puts a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. The episode ends.

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Afterthoughts:

     I cannot believe how well done this episode was. Wow! Just when I think Cult has reached its peak, it tops new heights each week. This episode was so dark and so intriguing. I loved seeing Kai’s backstory, but am very concerned that Beverly will use Kai’s vulnerability in order to overthrow him. I love that everyone’s identities have been revealed; their masks are quite frightening and knowing who is behind the mask makes it all the more interesting. Next week’s episode is called “Midwestern Assassin”, and has apparently been edited due to one of the scenes hitting a little too close to home with the tragedy that befell the concert-goers of Las Vegas. According to Murphy, the unedited episode will be released and available on streaming platforms and on demand. I am not sure what episode I will cover for next week, but I am leaning towards the unedited one. Murphy mentioned that this scene was specifically designed to serve as an anti-gun violence statement, which would fit right into with the satirical nature of this season.

Thanks for reading,
Jonah

Jonah Raleigh

Though much too modest to admit it himself, Jonah is perhaps the world's preeminent AHS expert. He loves talking film & television, building his fledgling vinyl and Blu-Ray collection, & having far too many coffee drinks. Jonah can often be found binge watching shows with his handsome one-eyed ocicat, Irving.

AHS Cult S07xE04 | 11/9

I was extremely impressed with last week’s episode, Neighbors from Hell. The season appears to be upping the ante and topping new heights when it comes to quality throughout each episodes. Here’s hoping “11/9” continues to follow and build upon its preceding episodes. After my first runthrough of the episode, it became apparent that John J. Gray decided to separate this episode into three equally astounding sections, with a brief preface occurring at the beginning. Therefore, my recap will be following this formulaic approach. Without further ado, let’s delve right into the recap!

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11/9

Director: Gweneth Horder-Payton, Writer: John J. Gray

Election Night 2016

   The episode begins by taking us back to the notorious election of 2016, where all of the main characters of our show conveniently live in a close enough radius to have the same voting station. Our girl, Beverly Hope, is doing some coverage of the race when we see everyone’s favorite bitch, Emma Roberts, walk up. She is a fellow newswoman named Serena, and of course, she is incredibly mean. It seems to me that Emma Roberts has been typecast as “the bitch," at least in Murphy’s projects. She’s played a cruel person in all of her AHS roles and also had a two season stint of Murphy’s Scream Queens where she was a sorority diva. Serena and Beverly engage in some friendly name-calling and throw shade at one another eloquently.

    As we pan down the line, we see Ivy and Ally standing in the line preparing to cast their vote. Further down, Winter and her fellow dropouts and die-hard Hillary fans are shouting, “This pussy grabs back!” relentlessly. Harrison and Meadow are shown next, and Meadow comments that people should be able to pass a test in order to obtain voting rights. Me too, Meadow. Me too. Personally, Meadow thinks she’s equipped to vote for the Golden Globes or the Emmys, but she feels that she wouldn’t pass this aforementioned test.

    Finally, Ally and Ivy make it to the voting stands. Ivy briefs Ally on not making any protest votes or anything...mmhmm. That seemed to work out well for Ally. They begin to show everyone casting their votes, the highlights of this being Meadow writing in Oprah as our next president and Winter taking a selfie with her ballot. We also watch Ally debate between picking Jill Stein or Hillary. The ominous music that accompanies it really brings her internal struggle to life.

    Kai now runs in and takes a familiar man with one arm to the voting station, yelling at everyone to let Gary through because he needs to cast his vote. Ivy ducks out really quickly once she sees him, but it’s not made clear why she does this just yet. This is the same man who was in the grocery store, sporting his “Make America Great Again” cap whilst Ally was bombarded with fornicating clowns on electric scooters. Gary is able to cast his vote, and he holds up his stub and declares, “Welcome to Trump’s America, motherfuckers!”

Part I: Harrison & Kai    

   It is now 11/9/2016, making sense of the title of this episode. Kai is at the gym when we see Harrison walk up and introduce himself as Kai’s personal trainer. Harrison explains his gratitude to Kai, as he had many clients drop him due to post-election economic paranoia. While they’re working out, Kai goes on a spiel about how he doesn’t like labels like “straight” or “gay” because they further separate people. He mentions that a man with no labels is a man who inhabits true allegiance.

   Their chat is interrupted by Harrison’s douchey boss Vinny who forces him to “clean up aisle four”, a euphemism for cleaning up the um...residue from men who pleasure themselves in the stream room. Kai thinks that it’s absolutely humiliating that Harrison’s boss makes him do this simply because he’s gay. While Harrison is cleaning up the steam room, the door closes and the infamous smiley face we have all come to fear appears on the door.

    Back at the old Wilton household, Meadow is sitting on the couch drinking rosé while watching television. I don’t know if the characters in this show just really like rosé or if it’s supposed to signify something. Meadow is incredibly upset because their house is being foreclosed upon. Harrison argues with her and places the blame entirely on her shoulders due to the fact that she’s supposed to be the one who handles the bills.

   At work the next day, Vinnie says that Harrison needs to make Kai book more sessions or else he will be fired. I have really come to dislike this guy in the few minutes that I’ve known him. Harrison explains his predicament to Kai and Kai says that being “nowhere” or being out of a job is a great place to be because he can go anywhere from there. Kai is very adept at spreading hope and recruiting people to his cause in a subtle way.

   In the wake of another “clean up on aisle four” situation, Kai comes in and, while drawing the smiley face, empowers Harrison to get his life back.

    Harrison walks in on Vinny lifting weights and sprays him in the eyes with cleaning solvent. This causes Vinny to drop the weight on his shoulders. Kai is now in Harrison’s ear provoking him and Harrison pushes the weight down on Vinny’s shoulders and we hear a disgusting bone crunch. Kai congratulates him, saying that he changed his life and that he’s proud to call him a friend. Since Vinny didn’t die from that awful bone crunching noise after all, Harrison finishes off by bashing his head in with a weight.

    After the fact, Harrison is freaking out about all of this, but Kai has this shit covered. He uses Vinny’s phone to text all of the coworkers that he’ll be out of town due to an “emergency” and Kai hacks the computers and deletes the security footage. Kai somehow also knows that Vinny has no family. When Harrison questions Kai’s advanced level of knowledge about everyone’s lives, he responds by saying he’s been watching them for a long time. Kai says to Harrison that he’s going to wipe out everything he knows and build something bigger and better than he could ever imagine.

    Meadow is walking back to their dingy apartment and asks some random dudes for a hit and that she’ll have sex with them for it because she ran out of Xanax. These men realize how pathetic she is and they just give her the entire joint. Winter walks into the bathroom and she sees Harrison decapitating Vinny while Kai is giving him a DIY tutorial on how to dispose of a dead body. Meadow exclaims, “Just when I think my life can’t get any worse…”

    She sees Kai in the corner of the bathroom and asks who he is. Harrison responds with, “Someone to believe in.”

Part II: Kai and Beverly

   We leap forward to December 2016 when we see Beverly and her news crew pull up to a landfill. Um, let me just say something. What “Michigan” are they in? If it was truly December in Michigan, this landfill would be devoured by snow, so much so that they would not be able to find this headless torso. I understand that this was filmed in Los Angeles, but as a resident of Michigan, I find it unrealistic that the landfill wouldn’t be entirely covered in snow.

    Beverly covers the headless torso, which presumably belongs to Vinny. However, she seems very chipper about this whole macabre and morose story. It is now revealed to us that she’s back after a month away due to a mental breakdown. Beverly says, “It’s great to be back”, and Kai rewinds it over and over while popping a couple Adderalls. He walks closer to the screen and we see his eyes gleam. It’s not hard to tell something about her intrigues him and we wants her to be part of his clown clique. Kai grabs his laptop and does some research about Beverly’s breakdown.

    While she was doing interviews and coverage, random people in the background would come in and yell, “Grab her right in the pussy!”, which is a clever combination of the viral news clip of a random bystander yelling and Trump’s “locker room talk”. After the third or so time it happens, Beverly uses her microphone as a weapon and threatens to grab the juvenile teens right in their pussies. As most things eventually become, Beverly’s breakdown was turned into a video remix.

   The video Kai is watching now transitions into a video of Serena covering personal details about Beverly’s mental health and which psychiatric facility she’s staying in. Due to the fake love Serena displays, you can tell this coverage was probably her idea, as most news stations would never cover something so confidential.

   Serena is now seducing Bob when Beverly walks in like the bad bitch that she is. Bob forces Bev to remove several minutes off of her important piece about Michigan’s ten most dangerous places to spare time for Serena’s wine tasting. Beverly then says the week's best line to Serena, “Sucking dick is no way to build a career, sweetheart.”  On her way out, she slashes Serena’s tires, but Kai appears and gives her some helpful DIY tips regarding how to efficiently slash tires. Kai is really just the DIY king.

   He takes Beverly out for a cup of coffee at The Butchery on Main, giving her a lecture about the importance of fear in an attempt to recruit her into his group. He introduces himself, divulging to the audience for the first time that he is a Yale graduate with a double degree in political science and women’s studies. Winter also mentioned she was studying women’s studies in Episode 1, but she studied at Vassar. Oh, and Kai also graduated in three years, as if the other credentials weren’t impressive enough.  Kai also mentions his interest in being on the city council. Beverly tells him it’s full, but the murder of Councilman Chang makes sense, and was most likely premeditated in this moment. Beverly describes her rage as wanting to be the last one on Earth merely so she can watch everyone else die. She has a dark side that’s finally being revealed.

   We now cut to Serena at a puppy jamboree in Brookfield Heights, which is the city in Michigan where all of this is taking place. Maybe they told us about this already, but it’s news to me. While Serena is recording, a group of three clowns appear. She says something sassy and sarcastic about the clowns and the three of them stab her and the cameraman alone. Honestly, thank god the puppy was okay.

   Meadow is showing Kai some clown masks when Beverly runs down to his basement and asks him if he had anything to do with it. Kai admits to it, and I am beginning to believe that the three clowns were Meadow, Harrison, and Kai. At this point, Beverly finally believes in him, although she said she wouldn’t earlier. We are now taken to Beverly, who is in charge of all the coverage in lieu of Serena’s murder. She is talking about finding a severed head that is assumed to belong to Vinny. However, she has a specific confidence in her, the kind that can only be conjured up through Kai’s alluring ways.

Part III: Ivy & Winter

   We are now transported to November 7th, 2016, the day before the election. Ivy is pushing Ally to go to a rally with her in order to solidify Hillary’s win as much as possible. However, Ally can’t picture a world where Trump is going to win the election, so she foregoes the event.

   When Ivy arrives, she engages in a fight with Chaz Bono, who has two hands at that moment in time. It escalates by him sexually assaulting her. Winter intervenes and yells at him. When she calls the police he begins to run away. Winter chases him, but even though she is unable to catch him, she sees the Field’s Market logo on the side of his truck and begins to plot her revenge. Winter and Ivy go out for some food and get to know each other a little better. Ivy takes her to her restaurant and explains her internal disappointment of letting Gary get away with violating her. Together, her and Winter devise an amazing plan and I am living for it.

   At Field’s Market, it’s closing time and Gary spews more of his Trump bullshit to his coworker on her way out. While walking around the store, Gary finds Winter eerily standing in the aisle. She’s searching for tape in order to tie somebody up. Ivy comes behind Gary and tases his misogynistic, white-privileged ass. Winter punches him and prepares to tie him up. This scene is just too iconic.

   I absolutely love Winter and Ivy as a team. They are now in some dark basement and Gary is handcuffed and tied to a pole. They are leaving him there just in time for him to miss voting, which is so petty and I absolutely love it.

    When Winter returns home, Kai finds blood on her. He asks what it was from, and she responds by saying she hurt someone and it felt fucking fantastic. When she tells Kai more about it, he feels obligated to come and “help” Gary. Gary is giving him all these instructions about going to his grocery store and getting tools, but Kai simply hands him a saw and uses the power of politics to motivate him to use the saw. Gary goes all 127 Hours on his hand and Kai watches. The episode ends.

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Afterthoughts

   Wow. Just wow. This episode was honestly so brilliant in every single way. I loved the concept of dividing the episode into three separate and crucial segments. Overall, I am absolutely in love with Kai’s character. Evan Peters is playing him to the hilt and it is my favorite role of his thus far. Even though I like Emma Roberts, I’m definitely not going to miss her typical bitchy character. I absolutely love Beverly’s dark side and Adina Porter’s performance as Bev. Overall, this episode was executed so masterfully and I am proud to say this season is shaping up to be a great one. 11/9 was by far my favorite episode of the last three seasons. Let’s hope next week's episode, “Holes," continue to help the season strive and possibly explains Ally’s hatred of holes to us!

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Jonah Raleigh

Though much too modest to admit it himself, Jonah is perhaps the world's preeminent AHS expert. He loves talking film & television, building his fledgling vinyl and Blu-Ray collection, & having far too many coffee drinks. Jonah can often be found binge watching shows with his handsome one-eyed ocicat, Irving.