Ryan Murphy

AHS Cult S07xE11 | Great Again

      Hello, everyone! I would first and foremost like to apologize for my recap of the Cult finale’s tardiness. After I finished the final chapter of this season, I decided to rewatch the season in an attempt to culminate a solidified opinion as well as to notice foreshadowing and possible connections to other seasons. The finale was action-packed, and by watching the season in its entirety, I was able to make sense of everything that went down. I went into this episode hopeful because of the exemplary content this season delivered, but cautious and wary as well. After all, most American Horror Story finales are hit or miss episodes. Will Cult deliver a gripping finale such as the ones we’ve seen in Freak Show or Asylum? Or will it fall flat like Roanoke or Coven?  Without further ado, let’s see who takes the crown in this wild season filled with politics and bloodshed.


Great Again

Writer: Tim Minear | Director: Jennifer Lynch

    Our episode opens with a maximum security prison located in Jackson, Michigan set in 2018. Kai has been imprisoned, although how he was detained is unbeknownst to us. We hear him beginning to do a pinky power with one of the correctional officers named Whitmore, who’s no doubt succumbed to his cunning ways. Kai proceeds to follow two men on a walk, which leads to the three of them getting into a huge blowout fight. After they fight for a while, one of the two men who appeared to be against Kai kills his friend. Similar to his usual antics, these grandiose events that take place are premeditated by Kai. One of Kai’s undoubtedly ridiculously named goons refers to him as Divine Ruler...Kai made a prison cult!

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     After the first murder takes place, Kai goes to kill the other fellow to make the crime look authentic, after being instructed to do so by the ghost of Charles Manson (who coincidentally passed away a couple of days after the finale aired). Out in the prison courtyard, we see a recruit join Kai’s ranks. Although the rookie feels the need to introduce himself, Kai already knows everything about him, similar to how he knew everything about his cult members in the previous year. The prospective cult member asks Kai how he ended up in prison, and Kai goes on to explain that he was sold out by a “filthy fucking rat”...commence the flashback.

     Eleven months earlier, we’re nearing the anticipated “Night of a Thousand Tates,” in which the cult planned to murder 1,000 pregnant women in admiration of the notorious Manson murders. However, we’re missing a crucial part of our cult: Speedwagon. Ally’s by Kai’s side, encouraging him to go on with it regardless, most likely because she has something to do with Speedwagon’s absence. Nobody can doubt Kai’s motivation, but due to their small town, the best Kai could do to honor his forefather was the “Night of One Hundred Tates.” While Kai explains how to properly stab the woman to ensure death to both her and her unborn baby, one of his recruits asks a question, and Kai responds by saying that if they raise their hand one more fucking time, he’s going to cut it off. Amongst this tutorial, Kai explains that this event will incite an innumerable amount of female rage and as a result, it will be taken out on all of the incumbents who failed to keep the public safe. Ultimately, this will lead Kai to the Senate and eventually the White House.

     While the boys puncture some watermelons to practice for their big night, Beverly is prepping food in the kitchen when Ally arrives. Beverly’s genuinely lost it at this point, breaking down and explaining how she went from wanting to be the last one alive to merely wanting to die. Poor Bev even goes as far as to hand Ally a knife and attempts to coerce her into killing her. Ally urges Beverly to hang on for just a little longer because before she knows it, this will all be over. Yes, Ally! Take down the cult!

     We now see Ally and Kai talking, as she pulls out a bug that had been planted in his house. Kai becomes infuriated, mainly because Ally left him in the dark about all of this for two whole days due to her fear. We’re now taken back to a flashback within our already occurring flashback regarding Speedwagon. After Ally meets him in his car, we discover that the only reason he’s a mole is due to the fact he was caught with copious amounts of drugs on him and decided to get information on Samuels in order to keep a clean record. After the police discovered what Samuels was involved in, they forced Speedwagon to continue providing them with the inside scoop for much longer than he had anticipated. Ally tells him to calm down while simultaneously stabbing him. My theory was correct! Ally had to be the one to destroy Kai, and she couldn’t let anyone get in her way!

     Back in our regularly scheduled flashback, Ally explains to Kai that Winter was innocent and he becomes guilt-stricken for killing his baby sister. Cut to tomorrow, it’s finally “The Night of One Hundred Tates!” Kai quickly briefs his loyal douchebags on their “kill kits” and how everything should go down while Ally and Beverly look at one another conspicuously. Ally walks outside to get some snacks from the two FBI/SWAT vans parked on a side street, and we watch them infiltrate the cult. After a tear gas bomb is tossed down the steps, all hell breaks loose. The FBI starts shooting everyone and Beverly, being the bad bitch she is, fires a few final “fuck you” kill shots to the men who oppressed her. Kai, while being dragged to prison, manages to threaten Ally a couple times and toss around FX’s newly-approved F-bomb.

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     Back to 2018, Ally’s at The Butchery on Main talking to some customers. They want to get a selfie with her, but she respectfully declines. Apparently, Ally has become a female figure of sorts, after escaping Kai’s grasp. Beverly stops in for a quick bite to eat and to chat with Ally. According to Bev, Kai pled guilty to everything, but she still has an underlying sense of fear that he’ll rat her out for her involvement in the cult.

     In typical American Horror Story fashion, some new information is divulged to us that completely changes our scope on things or answers some of our pressing questions. Ally joined the cult because while in the psych ward, she was approached by the FBI and eventually become a powerful tool in destroying Kai. Beverly commends Ally on her bravery, additionally expressing her condolences for the loss of Ivy. Ally’s trying to play it off as if Kai murdered Ivy in front of her eyes, but we all know that never happened, despite her convincing tears and feigned agony.

     I can’t help but think of Lana Winters in this situation though. Remember when she embellished details of her imprisonment to Dr. Thredson in her book in order to get more attention or seem nobler, such as the concept that there was another woman he trapped in his basement? I caught that, Murphy!  Beverly isn’t the only one who doesn’t buy Ally’s recollection of Ivy’s murder, though. Kai ratted Ally out for Ivy’s murder. Hmm...interesting. Beverly quickly drops the subject when Ally brings out some more tears and when Ally’s new side piece, Erika, arrives. Damn, she moves on fast! First, she gets over her fears in one episode; now Oz has a new mom in two episodes! She doesn’t waste ANY time.

     At Oz’s birthday party, Rachel Maddow begs to have Ally on her show, which she turns down for the second time. We also discover that Ally has turned down other people such as the iconic Lana Winters! She gets one last phone call, this time from Kai, who’s incredibly pissed off because he’s just received the news that Ozzy isn’t his son. Kai threatens to fuck Ally up some more, but nothing can faze her at this point.

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     While Kai angrily bangs Whitmore, we see news coverage announcing Ally’s run for the state senator of Michigan! In her ad, Ally proposes that she will put an end to the division of political parties and that there’s a solution to the Republican/Democratic separation that’s plaguing our society. I knew Ally was a bad bitch who was hungry for power and revenge, but this is a whole new level and quite frankly an entirely new woman than the one who we were first introduced to.

     Amidst all of this, Beverly is acting as a sort of campaign manager and gives Ally some initial feedback from a focus group. Everyone found Ally to be likable, but many didn’t view her as strong, and her lack of experience didn’t do her any favors either. Ally mentions that Kai is the only person people are going to think of when her name is spoken...much like Solanas saying that the only thing people associate her name with is Warhol.

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     Back in prison, Kai is planning an elaborate escape from jail. Rimshot wants to come with him, but Kai stabs him several times and literally dismembers his face for Rimshot’s mangled carcass to be mistaken as Kai’s. Rimshot even went as far as having the same tattoos as Kai, so this plan is foolproof. Whitmore helps Kai escape in a correctional officer outfit, and his revenge on Ally begins.

     The word gets out that Kai is presumably dead, so Beverly asks if Ally still really wants to go through with this. From Beverly’s question, it’s safe to infer that Ally honestly went into this race as a means to get revenge on Kai and rub it in his face that she’d be taking his spot. However, Ally’s sure that she wants to go through with it. We watch a gun switch hands...uh oh! With his head down, Kai asks Ally a question, and the crowd becomes startled when he reveals himself. Kai screams at Ally that she symbolizes that the war between genders is winnable, but when Kai kills her, everyone will see that women are inferior. Kai pulls the trigger on Ally, but Whitmore smiles smugly from across the auditorium.

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     In another flashback, Ally convinces Whitmore to help her take down Kai after explaining that he’s nothing more than a chauvinist. Ally tells Kai that the only thing more dangerous than a humiliated man is a nasty woman, as Beverly shoots him in the back of the head. Oh, shoot! Ally Mayfair-Richards of Brookfield Heights, Michigan is officially a part of the United States Senate! Ally tucks Ozzy in and heads off to her “meeting” of powerful women, as she describes it. We see her applying makeup with her brush slowly and deliberately, mimicking that of the Madame Delphine LaLaurie...does this mean we might get our Coven/Murder House crossover? Ally puts the hood of her SCUM cloak on and heads out.


Final Thoughts

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     All in all, Cult was an incredible season in my eyes. The political satire served to exemplify that no matter what side we’re on, man or woman, pro-choice or pro-life, republican or democratic, politics can make a monster out of each of us. The finale was enthralling with its numerous twists and turns, and I enjoyed how SCUM served a larger purpose in the season that it previously had, as it made the Valerie Solanas episode seem a bit more relevant.

     I can’t be the only one that is just a little tired of seeing Sarah Paulson win though, right? We’ve watched her reign over the coven as the Supreme, be one of the final survivors on Freak Show, overcome Dr. Thredson and their “love” child in Asylum, and now we watch her breathe life into a new era of SCUM. I love her and all, but I would’ve liked to see Kai take his revenge a little bit further before he was taken down. Needless to say, Evan killed it this season! I adored watching him play several cult leaders and give a truly Emmy-worthy performance. Kai was his favorite role of mine so far, although Tate and James March were worthy contenders.

     Now, I love Twisty. He’s remained one of my favorite characters in the American Horror Story realm since his first appearance back in 2014. But why was he even in this season? I get that there were clowns in this season, but I naturally assumed his presence in the show would have a deeper meaning. I think his involvement in Cult certainly was a missed opportunity.

     Although I did feel somewhat mixed about the first couple episodes of this season, in my rewatch they stood much taller as cohesive chapters of the season rather than being distributed on a weekly basis. It was pretty exciting to watch the season while knowing the outcome of everything, as it gave me a chance to scrutinize the metamorphoses of Ally and Kai. This season was jam-packed with premier episodes, but perhaps my favorite was “11/9”, as it was separated into three mini-episodes that contributed to a more substantial purpose and divulged crazy amounts of information to us about the cult. There were lots of deaths this season, but by far the most heart-wrenching was the tragic and untimely loss of our dear friend, Mr. Guinea. On another note, I was so happy AHS welcomed plenty of new faces this season, and I hope that they continue to appear in the future seasons, especially Billy Eichner, Leslie Grossman, Billie Lourd, and Alison Pill.

     Now for my favorite part of the season coming to an end...ranking it amongst its predecessors. A lot of these rankings are close because each season shines in its own way, but for one reason or another, I was able to devise a definitive ranking for all seven seasons.  Coming in at the top spot for me is Asylum, like many other AHS fanatics. No other season has brought me such strong feelings of shock and amazement as season two did, and what could possibly top the legendary “Name Game” scene? Slightly below it in number two is Freak Show. While some people were put off by the singing in it, as it reached a Glee territory, I was entranced by every aspect of season four. I loved Twisty, Dandy, the freaks, and I loved that Lange had such creative freedom in it. In spot three...Cult! As I mentioned before, season seven was a surprising one, and it truly left us with some of the best episodes the series has seen thus far. In spot four, Murder House...the one that started it all. Experiencing AHS for the first time is one that will be unparalleled, and Murder House was an amazing season from start to finish. Coming in spot five, Coven!  This season was incredibly enchanting and campy, but the finale is what put a damper on the whole season for me. Don’t get me wrong, I still loved Coven, but because of the finale, I can’t place it above the others. In sixth place, we have Hotel. Now, I did really like season five, but it just wasn’t up to par with all the others in my eyes. Gaga gives a worthy performance, and the characters in this season were pretty loveable as well, alongside the design and cinematography. There were some strong moments in Hotel, but some episodes fell flat and didn’t resonate with me as much as others, and what I crave in a season of AHS is consistency. Unsurprisingly, the lowest ranking season for me was Roanoke. The marketing campaign for season six made it seem so promising, with all of the different teasers alluding to what it might be and Murphy amping us up for “something special,” but I think it’s safe to say many of us were straight-up disappointed with it. The actors in Roanoke were great, and I liked to see Adina Porter in a lead role, but the story crumbled by the end, and it felt like we were surfing through shitty 3 AM television by the very end of it.


     Well, everyone, this has been my final recap for Cult! What did you think of the season? How did it compare to previous seasons in your opinion? Recapping these episodes has been an absolute blast, and I’m so grateful to have had this opportunity to talk about my fascination with AHS amongst fellow horror fans! I can’t wait for Season 8 and what it may entail...we’ll just have to wait and see! Until next time...

Thanks for reading,
Jonah

Bio Picture.JPG

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 S07xE10 | Charles (Manson) in Charge

      With last week’s episode ending on the eerie cliffhanger that set up the newfound family dynamic between Oz, Kai, and Ally, we were all eager to discover precisely what Ally’s motives were. Hopefully, we’ll find out more in this week’s episode, whose title is a nod to the famous sitcom from the 1980s, “Charles in Charge.” Evan Peters, who has been killing his multiple roles this season, will be portraying the infamous Charles Manson in this week’s episode of Cult. With the finale of what’s been an amazing season coming up just next week, it’s only understandable that my hopes for the penultimate episode are sky-high.


Charles (Manson) in Charge

Writer(s): Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk | Director: Bradley Buecker

    The episode begins with a flashback, which is something that we’re maybe a little too used to seeing this season. However, this flashback contains pertinent information, so I approached it with a welcoming attitude. It’s October 19th, 2016, the day of the final Presidential Debate. Winter and a few of her fellow die-hard Hillary supporters are watching on the couch, mocking Trump and discussing how excited they are to have a female president finally. Winter predicts Trump’s loss will be the largest in the history of the electoral history.  Kai, who’s been busy typing away on online forums, chimes in on Winter’s comment, telling her that plenty of people dislike her and that she’s weak. One of Winter’s friends gets into an incredibly heated debate with Kai about alt-righters like him, resulting in him slapping her and all hell breaking loose, including Winter’s friend pressing charges against him.

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     Two weeks later, Kai is in his court-mandated anger management therapy, where we see a familiar face giving him advice. After a few episodes and still not seeing the backstory between Kai and Bebe Babbitt, we are introduced to her as his therapist, who played a much more prominent role in his plan than we could’ve guessed. In one of their sessions, Babbitt brings up Valerie Solanas and some of her beliefs, as well as asking Kai if he was ever interested in politics. Although Bebe considers herself to be a feminist, she tells Kai that Donald Trump is her favorite politician. Her reasoning behind this is that Trump is the first person to hammer away at the female rage that’s been accumulating over the course of history. Bebe encourages Kai to ensue feminine rage within the women around him and break the dam while kissing his forehead and hugging him. I found it very interesting to see that Bebe was the “queen bee” of the hive that assigned Kai this particular purpose, which he took to another level. I knew Kai was cunning and smart, but there had to have been a source of inspiration for his master plan, and I was delighted to discover that cause was Bebe.

     Back in the present day, Kai is rallying in the park with his bodyguards, but we see it first through the perspective of an unhappy Facebook live user. She’s had it with Kai’s unfair Internet policies and all of his bullshit. Kai is growing increasingly anxious that there’s a mole within their group, and that he’s going to get busted for the plethora of crimes he’s committed. After Kai’s done with his drawn-out speech, the protesters attack, unplugging Kai’s speakers and going as far as to pepper spray Kai. Speedwagon is happy to help by washing Kai’s eyes out with milk...I mean, everyone has an extra gallon of milk lying around, right?

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    That night, Winter is cleaning the ice cream truck when the creepy music begins to play and Kai, in his overly paranoid state, runs outside and tries to stop it. Ally, who’s also just chilling near the truck, answers questions from Winter about Ivy. Winter wants to know if Ivy was in pain in her last moments because she’s not buying that she went to cooking school in Paris. Winter believes that Kai had something to do with it, and is racked with guilt because she felt that she could’ve stopped it. However, Ally inquires, “If something did happen to Ivy, what makes you think it was Kai?” Oh, shoot!

     As Kai announced in the previous episode, he’s running for Senate and plants to dethrone Herbert Jackson. After Kai’s incident in the park, Jackson tells a local news channel that Kai is a joke. Kai, while disparaging Jackson, gets his crew amped up and of course Gary chimes in with a slightly reworded spiel than Kai’s. After their excitement and attention are present, Kai prepares to tell them a story about Charles Manson…

     Kai transports us to Cielo Drive in Beverly Hills circa 1969. He explains that with the murders on Cielo, Manson was merely lighting the fuse for his ultimate plan. Tex Watson, who was portrayed by Billy Eichner, was in charge of the murders that night, as Charlie stayed back. In addition to Tex, three lovely ladies of AHS accompanied him: Susan Atkins (Sarah Paulson), Patricia Krenwinkel (Leslie Grossman), and Linda Kasabian (Billie Lourd). While Linda stayed back, Tex, Patricia, and Susan killed several people inside the house, including Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of Roman Polanski. Before going into this episode, I was under the impression that Sharon was going to be portrayed by the lovely Lily Rabe, as it was even cited by IMDB. In the words of Kai, it’s fake news. After the murders, Susan left a sign per Charles’ request, which was the word “pig” written across the door in blood.

     Kai explains that Cielo Drive was just a stepping stone in Charles’ “Helter Skelter” plan, which involved committing crimes and framing random black folks for them to start an apocalyptic race war. Kai wants to live by Manson’s playbook and execute “The Night of a Thousand Tates” in Brookfield Heights.

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     Presumably sometime later, Gary heads up to Planned Parenthood in an attempt to acquire names for women planning to have abortions. He breaks in, but the alt-right douchebags don’t go in with him. After wandering around for a little, Gary finds several masked cult members, the last of them being Kai. Gary asks why his Divine Ruler is doing this to him, and Kai responds by saying that Gary needs to be involved in something important and that he will remain in Kai’s heart forever. The cult proceeds to stab and kill him. I can’t be the only one who is thankful we won’t have to deal with him paraphrasing everything Kai says. Gary has always been the most annoying member of the cult in my eyes, so this was a satisfying moment.

     Gary’s dismembered body is positioned in front of the Planned Parenthood, alongside a sign that urges people to “Stop the Slaughter.” Beverly, our go-to anchorwoman, discusses Gary’s death on the news, but something about her seems incredibly off. The tone in which she delivers the gruesome details of Gary’s death is morose and monotone, possibly due to her fear that she’ll be the next member of the cult to be killed off.  While Kai comments on Gary’s murder on the news, he finds a way to blame this all on Senator Jackson. After they’re off the air, Kai smacks the microphone from Bev’s hand in utter disappointment, urging her to report as she typically does, in order to stop arousing suspicions.

     Back in The Butchery on Main, Winter attempts to apologize to Beverly by giving her a way out of the cult. Winter presents Beverly a train ticket to Butte, Montana and an opportunity to start fresh. Beverly (reasonably) sees this as a trick or a test, and despite Winter’s assurance, Beverly tells her that she’d never leave Divine Ruler.

     Back at the Anderson household, Kai is tearing everything apart in search of a recording device planted by this “mole” within the cult. He escapes the beeping by entering the DIY mausoleum, in which he hallucinates Vincent coming back to life and having a conversation with him. Kai decides that he probably shouldn’t have killed Vincent. However, their conversation is cut short by Charles Manson stabbing Vincent and exclaiming that if Kai should hallucinate anybody, it should be him.

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     Charles Manson directs Kai to identify the Judas in his cult, stating that his was Linda. Right as Ally discovers a bug planted in the house, Bebe enters the house and berates Kai for not inciting enough female rage within his cult members. Manson tells Kai to explain the truth to Bebe, resulting in him telling her off in a flurry of sexist remarks. Bebe slaps Kai, and just as she’s about to shoot him, Ally gets a headshot in and Bebe falls to the ground. Typical Ally...shooting first and asking questions later.

We now move to Winter giving Kai a buzz cut. I mean, I was never a fan of the blue hair, but it’s become a quintessential part of Kai’s character that I will miss. During this time, the two of them share some fond childhood memories of one another. However, these memories are quickly interrupted by Kai asking why Winter wants to hurt him. Winter says that she ultimately doesn’t want to, but she does need some time away from him. She fears that if she stays, the only way she’ll be able to remember him is through a negative lens. However, Winter reassures Kai that she’ll be here when everyone else has left. Kai encourages Winter to go away if she needs to, even offering her a train ticket to Butte, Montana! Oh, no! Winter’s dragged away by Kai’s douchey followers.

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     We move to Kai interrogating Winter, asking if the Feds offered her something in order for her to snitch. He truly believes that Winter is the mole. Ally found a secret microphone stitched into his couch cushion, as well as a recorder placed in the ice cream truck by what they assume to be Winter. However, although this was initially presented to us, it doesn’t mean it’s true. AHS has a way of presenting false recollection of events to us rather frequently, so I’m not going to accept this as true as of right now. Winter advises Ally that Kai is just going to chew her up and spit her out like he’s done to everyone else, and Ally replies by saying, “Too bad you won’t be around to see it.”

     Kai urges Winter to confess for her infidelities towards the cult, but she just can’t, because she didn’t do them. Kai proceeds to strangle Winter to death...nooo! Speedwagon races to his car and takes off his wire, breaking it. Ally steps into the car and says, “Hello, Speedwagon.”

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Afterthoughts

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     All in all, Charles (Manson) In Charge proved to be an enjoyable penultimate episode. It answered some of our long-awaited questions, tied up some storylines nicely, and left us yearning for more with that crazy cliffhanger. I’m dying to see where Ally and Speedwagon will go. One one hand, they could be in cahoots and attempting to take down Kai, but on the other, Ally could take down Speedwagon just to be the one to take down Kai. Either way, it’s going to be crazy. I must say, I’m very upset that Winter died. Billie Lourd was a breath of fresh air to the AHS cast, and I can only hope she’ll return next year. I’m very eager to see the finale and recap it for you all! It’s been a blast doing these recaps, and I hope you’ve enjoyed them almost as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

Thanks for reading,
Jonah

Bio Picture.JPG

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 S07xE09 | Drink The Kool-Aid

      Although I’ve gone into every episode of this season eagerly, my interest was immeasurably piqued when I discovered that the lovely Angela Bassett would be directing “Drink The Kool-Aid.” Aside from being a fantastic addition to the cast over the past few seasons, she also has displayed her directing skills to us in arguably the only noteworthy episode of Roanoke last year. Cult has already been bringing us remarkable episodes this season, and having Bassett in the mix would only make sense when it comes to delivering top-notch quality. I’m going into this episode with high expectations and the hope that we won’t see as many flashbacks. I love American Horror Story, but dear Lord, I am growing very intolerant of this overabundance of flashbacks, especially the irrelevant and extended ones. Nevertheless, I am very excited to recap/review this episode for you all...it should be a special one!


Drink The Kool-Aid

Writer: Adam Penn | Director: Angela Bassett

   Our episode opens with Kai narrating various stories revolving around cult leaders and their corresponding suicide pacts, all portrayed by Evan Peters. Kai brushes over Marshall Applewhite and his cult, Heaven’s Gate, ingesting a poisonous pudding concoction. However, they didn’t die but merely graduated into the next stage of their life. We also learn a little bit about David Koresh, the fearless leader of Branch Davidians whose sperm was godlike. Koresh dissolved all of the marriages within his cult and fathered all of the children with his “holy ejaculate” while the rest of the men remained celibate. When the law came down on them, some people took suicide pills, while others died in the fire or were shot.

   However, Kai hones in on Jim Jones, the infamous man behind the Jonestown massacre who originated the term “drink the Kool-Aid.” Jones was the founder of the People’s Temple, who were blind to the divisions of race, class, and sex. The cult moved to Guyana  to form a utopia of sorts, but a congressman tried to infiltrate it. 918 individuals died at the helm of a gun or a cup filled with poisoned Kool-Aid. Jones told everyone in the cult that they weren’t committing suicide, but rather partaking in a revolutionary act.

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   These various stories Kai has introduced to us ultimately ended up being a bedtime story he was telling to his alt-right douchebags, to compare himself to these men and emphasize the strong bond the cult members harbored for their leaders. Kai asks his bodyguards, who are all christened with hilarious names such as Pus Bucket, Heart Attack, Tripod, Speedwagon, etc., if they would be willing to make the “ultimate sacrifice” for him, receiving an affirmative response from all of them.

   We’re now at a City Council meeting, wherein Kai is proposing that website he personally deems offensive shall be banned from all residents of Brookfield Heights. Although this perfectly exemplifies censorship, Kai likes to think of this as “regulation”. Kai naturally receives some backlash from Perry, so he turns to Councilman Moyer, who appears to have taking a beating from Kai’s brainwashed buddies. He agrees unenthusiastically, as does the rest of board, and the motion passes. On top of this, Kai announces that he’s going to be running for U.S. Senate in 2018. Perry tries to tell him that he has no chance in hell because the current senator is a popular incumbent who’s served three terms. With a grim smirk on his face, Kai tells him that anything can happen. We’ve all seen what he means by this and the extremes he will go to in order to get his way...R.I.P, Sally Keffler.

   Back in the Mayfair-Richards’ household, Ally needs an explanation as to why Ivy up and joined a cult. Ivy responds by saying there was no real structure in her life and she needed somebody to tell her where to go and what to do. Ivy was incredibly resentful towards Ally and felt that driving her crazy brought her relief. However, all of that didn’t come without the burden of guilt when it came to the various people she killed. Now that Ivy’s spoken her mind, she’s all like,“What’s your excuse for joining, bitch?” Ally explains that Ivy gave her no choice but to join, knowing that she wouldn’t leave unless Ally rescued her. Ally adds that she came back for Ozzy, too.

   Speaking of Oz, him and Winter show up. Ally gives Ozymandias a Twisty comic book as a reparation for her absence over the last month or so. Thank the Lord! We saw a lot of Twisty in the earlier episodes of the season, but his involvement as a pop culture icon tapered off throughout the rest of the season. Quite honestly, I thought they’d forgotten about him. When I first glanced at the comic book, I assumed it was another chapter in the Twisty chronicles. However, once I paused and scrutinized it, I discovered it was called “Freaks,” and featured Pepper, Jimmy Darling, and Meep! Oh, how I miss all of them.

   After Oz heads upstairs to read his comic, Winter begins to apologize to Ally. Ally bleakly responds, “For what? Fucking my wife, driving me crazy, or trying to kill me?” Oh snap, bitch! Winter explains how heavily she relied on her family in the wake of the election, but after Kai killed Vince, she made the tough decision to escape the cult. Winter hands Ally a pamphlet she found on WikiHow of all places, entitled “How To Escape from a Cult in 14 Steps”. Just in case we weren’t aware of how much of a millennial Winter was, she does shit like this just to prove it... absolutely golden. They come to an agreement to flee from the cult, and Ally says that “she will fucking get Oz” when Winter offers it up.

   Much to their dismay, Pus Bucket and the rest of Kai’s clique bang on the door and inform the ladies of an emergency meeting at the Anderson household. Once they arrive, Beverly smacks the hell out of Winter, and a fight ensues. Kai says they need to surpass this petty bullshit to cross a new threshold, while bringing out a pot of Kool-Aid. Here we go…

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   All of the women in the cult begin to lose their shit when Kai informs them they all need to drink the Kool-Aid to become a more significant person after their death. When he points to a member, they must drink. Kai calls on Pus Bucket first, but his fear of death overruled his loyalty to Kai and Gary shoots him consequently. Kai now points to the women, and we hear the classic Sarah Paulson wailing that we’ve all come to recognize and either love or hate. The rest of the cult drinks and after not instantly dying, it becomes prevalent that there was absolutely nothing in the Kool-Aid. Kai announces, “Why would I kill us? I’m running for Senate, and dead people can’t vote!” According to Kai, there was nothing in the raspberry Kool-Aid besides proof of their fidelity and loyalty to Kai. Now, many of you may be wondering why Kai would force such a twisted and sordid test upon his followers, but I’m more confused as to why he would use such a gross flavor like raspberry. I mean, if you’re going to bring on death-induced fear to your supporters, at least have it be represented in a cherry or grape flavoring!

   After Kai’s dishonorable prank, Ally and Ivy have decided to go through with their plan. They’re going to pick up Oz from school and never look back. Ivy’s concerned about Winter after they leave, and she has a right to be. If Kai found out that she was involved with their escape, he would kill her instantly. They pull up to the pick-up line, and Ally is informed that Winter picked up Oz thirty minutes ago with Kai.

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   Back in Kai’s basement, Oz wants to know where his mommies are and Kai continues to probe him and taunt him with the thought of his “daddy” and the belief that he needs a male role model in his life. Kai eventually ropes him into a pinky power, looking to tell him a secret. Ally and Ivy sprint into the house, pushing one of Kai’s hilariously-named sidekicks out of the way and bitchslapping Winter in the process. To be fair, Winter deserves it after all the bullshit she’s pulled this season, but damn! Winter is getting the worst of it this episode. Ally and Ivy make it downstairs in the basement just in time to knock the Kool-Aid out of Oz’s hand that Kai was trying to get him to drink. Oz gets upset and says that he just wants to stay with his “daddy” tonight and Kai refers to him as his son. Okay, what the fuck is going on? Dear God, please tell me that Kai isn’t Oz’s father.

   Kai provides some compelling information that he donated to the Braddon Clinic, which is where Ally and Ivy got their sperm. Oz pushes to have a sleepover with his “daddy,” and Ally and Ivy just sort of cave. Eager to discover if Kai is, in fact, Oz’s baby daddy, Ivy scrounges up their file containing information about their sperm donor. In their record, it doesn’t give out the donor’s name or picture but provides personal traits such as medical history, height/weight, etc.

   Ally is cooking dinner for the both of them as Ivy’s belief that Kai is Oz’s father stands stronger than ever. Unlike her typical paranoid ways, Ally doubts that Oz is Kai’s son and encourages Ivy to calm down.

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   While eating her pasta and drinking her red wine, Ivy is confused because Ally isn’t eating at all. Uh oh, I see precisely where this is heading. Ally begins her monologue regarding her experiences at the psych ward, explaining that in the very first week, she had suicidal thoughts and began to dwell on the fact that Ivy left her in there without as much as a single word. In the second week, however, she pulled herself together and was able to focus her energy on freeing herself of her fears that once dominated her. Once she cured herself of her various grandiose phobias, she used all of her newfound power to exact her revenge on Ivy. Ivy responds to this by saying that this is the side of Ally she’s always wanted to see, but it won’t last. Ivy says that Ally will be cowering in just a few days and that she’d never do anything to her, but Ally merely says, “I already have.” It turns out Ally has put arsenic in the wine and pasta and that pretty soon, Ivy will be dead. Ivy says that Oz will never forgive her for this, but Ally reports to the contrary, Ozzy won’t forgive her for abandoning their family. OH MY GOSH! I am living for this new Ally...I love the bad bitch she’s become. Ally went from being afraid of everything to being the thing that everyone’s scared of.

  We return to the Anderson crib, where Kai is telling another bedtime story to his followers and Ozzy, regarding the finale of the Jonestown massacre. According to Kai, Jones was taken to Heaven after his death, and he also portrays Jesus coming down and kissing Jones. After he is resurrected, Jim Jones gained the ability to revive t all of his followers, and they all lived happily ever after. Although Kai’s loyal buffoons think this story is beautiful, Oz pulls up a Wikipedia page and sassily informs everyone of the harsh reality of the Jonestown massacre and its conclusion. Kai, enraged by the “fake news” Oz has been spreading, breaks his phone and sentences him to a timeout.

   Ally comes to pick up her kiddo the next day, but apparently, he isn’t there. Ally tells one of the bodyguards to inform Kai that dinner will be at her house tonight, and she’ll be making manwiches. Completing the rest of her errands for the day, Ally heads to the Braddon Clinic and attempts to obtain a picture of Oz’s actual father. After begging doesn’t work, Ally slips the nurse an envelope filled with cash that she proceeds to stuff in her bra and she receives the verdict. Kai Anderson, you are…NOT the father! After being relieved by this revelation, Ally asks for just one more favor from the nurse.

   At their dinner together, Ally informs Kai that Ozymandias actually means, “king of kings”. I believe I discussed the backstory of Oz’s name and what it could indicate in an earlier recap, but I am glad we are finally discovering its significance. Kai asks where Ivy is, and Ally bluntly and proudly states that she killed her and she’s in their trunk. It turns out Ally’s favor from the nurse was using her Microsoft Word abilities to create a fake donor file for Kai, which Kai surprisingly accepts to be true. Kai cries tears of joy because they finally have made the Messiah baby. We watch as they carry Ivy’s corpse to the DIY mausoleum. When Ally guides her towards the bed, Kai informs Ally that the bed is just for family, which leads to them dropping her on the floor.

   Ally, Ozzy, and Kai share a warm embrace in Dr. Vincent’s office, and Kai softly says, “Now we can be a real family.” WOW!


Afterthoughts

   Honestly, this episode was freaking incredible. Just when I think I have a favorite episode of the season, the writers and directors up the ante and continue to provide a new favorite for me week by week. I adored Evan Peters’ portrayal of the various cult leaders and Jesus...he looked different in every segment, and I think it was incredible. I love the “new Ally” and her wicked ways. I hope that she uses Kai’s belief that Oz is his son to her advantage and uses it to gain control/power over Kai. I was living for Oz’s sass this episode. Also, there weren’t any flashbacks this episode, simply Kai’s portrayal of the various leaders, which was so damn entertaining. There are just two more episodes left in this season, and I expect nothing short of greatness from what’s turning out to be an astounding season.

Thanks for reading,
Jonah

Bio Picture.JPG

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 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!


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.

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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.

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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.

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   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!

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   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.

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   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!

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


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

Bio Picture.JPG

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!


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.

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     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.

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     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.

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     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.

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     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…

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     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.

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     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!

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     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?”


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

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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.