Dead Digest: The Walking Dead (SSN 8, Ep 3)

Episode 3: Monsters

Oh lordy, I love this title. We’ve all heard the show’s tagline, “Fear the living, fight the dead” these past seasons. I feel like we are going to be pushing and exploring that theme. Fissures are forming. Can the group of super friends stay together? Or will they be driven apart?

Good King Ezekiel kicks things off with a fancy speech. That beautiful man. It’s brief and full of Dungeons and Dragons-like prose. He and Carol’s team are a well-oiled machine for the whole episode until they get ambushed. It looks like we will lose some members of the Kingdom today, but we won’t find out who and how many tonight. I just noticed Ezekiel added a nifty red feather to his dread’s at some point. 

We all know the man with a gun in Rick’s face. We met him a LONG time ago, when Shane was still alive (remember Shane?!?)! He was lost until the Savior’s gave him purpose. We hear him doing the old, “we’re not so different, Rick, you and I…” speech until Daryl sneaks up and gives him a bolt to the head. Rick points out they knew him, and our resident biker seems indifferent. Probably not the reaction Rick was hoping for. After lots and lots of guns firing, (we win, yay!) it looks like Rick and Daryl will be heading out, when some geeky kid from the Saviors shoots at them. The nerve. Anyway, Rick gives his word that if the guy comes out and gives them info about where the heavy artillery was moved to, they’ll give him a car and he can leave. He obliges, and Daryl AGAIN shoots to kill. Rick, AGAIN seems taken aback. Clearly he and Daryl need to have a chat because they’re not on the same page right now. 

Speaking of, Jesus/Tara/Morgan’s group are marching on to Hilltop with the POW’s roped together. Jesus points out to the naysayers that they all kill, but to kill those who surrender would be execution. Which is tacky and wrong. The party comes under attack from walkers and one section of the chain gang runs off. Their leader is that one really nasty chap with the long hair. Anyway, we get to see some great gory zombie stuff. Including an especially gruesome head bite. Morgan takes off after the escapees and shoots one! Jesus interferes, saving the prisoners. Badass Morgan has met his match in Jesus who is apparently Steven Segal in disguise. Reality hits and Morgan knows he’s cracking. He knows he cannot stay here and stay sane, so he appears to…leave. Oh, do you hear that sound?? That is my heart BREAKING. My precious Morgan is leaving me. Again. I hate it when he does this. Come back soon, please.

ANNNNND on the topic of heart break, we have Aaron and Eric. Eric’s gunshot proves fatal, and the couple share a good-bye moment beneath a tree. As if this beautiful scene was not terrible enough, it gets worse. Aaron leaves to fight (at Eric’s insistence) and when he comes back for his man, he sees newly formed Eric-zombie shambling off. There wouldn’t have been time to save him, but talk about insult to injury. Aaron loses it, and so do we all. When he’s composed, he offers to take baby Gracie back to Hilltop. He and Eric were supposed to return there, and he needs purpose. Aaron, you are a beautiful soul that we do not deserve. I am officially not happy about Eric passing. I don’t like yet another queer character dying off. BUT splitting up couple’s with death is a common theme on the show. It’s happened before and will happen again regardless of sexual orientation. Why do we fans love this torture??

Disgraced Gregory shows up at Hilltop. He begs and pleads with Maggie and she lets him back in after she yells a lot. She knows she can’t trust him, and will probably kill him eventually, but for now she chooses mercy. Jesus and the gang show up with the POW’s. Maggie isn’t pleased to see them, much to Jesus’s dismay (I assume). Yet, what can she do? Keeping these people alive is the righteous thing to do. 

These cracks are slowly but surely forming and splintering our friends apart...Let’s close on an image of the Slimy Walker from the other night that I loved.
 

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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!

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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.

   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…

   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.

   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.

   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!

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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

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.

Dead Digest: The Walking Dead (SSN 8, Ep 2)

Episode 2: The Damned

Now that is a title I can get behind. Let us begin!

Welcome back to Camp Negan! Everyone looks so severe here. Their business as usual is broken up by Rick’s army who proceed to raise hell. They trap the Saviors like vermin and let their own fallen dead take them down from the inside. Smart!

Season 8 challenge: Can there be a better quote than this from Morgan, “I don’t die.”? That pretty much sums him up. And show-runners, please keep my precious, wonderful Morgan alive. Don’t force me to pull Morgan out of this program and keep him safe and protected on a shelf in my home. When Morgan is not in pacifist mode, he is a brutal beast. He’s way too good at killing people.

King Ezekiel talks, swaggers, and teaches Carol about hope. He is, in general, amazing. Carol, when are you gonna hook up with this lovely man??

This episode has lots of shooting. Bullets are flying! But again, this is war.

I have to say, I’m impressed with all the new recruits from the three allied settlements. They’re holding their own in battle! Well, all accept that one guy. He kinda loses his cool and ruins things in the Tara/Jesus Team Stealth mission. Nice going!  

Tara and Jesus disagree about what to do with surrendering Saviors. A little sibling spat I guess. Tara says Dad aka Rick will side with her, and Jesus thinks Mom/Maggie will back him. I’m with Jesus on this one. I don’t think all of Negan’s worker bees need to die. But do we have a plan for them? Some sort of POW camp until the war is over?!?

Out in the middle of nowhere, the gang finds a slimy walker unlike any they’re seen before. Foreshadowing much?

Rick and Daryl clear a building in the Savior compound. Rick finds a baby. That’s right, a baby. “Gracie” is printed on her painted walls and she has a crib and all the baby trappings. Great, Rick, you killed Gracie’s father. Maybe her whole family is gone now because of your war waging! I guess you didn’t figure these people could have families. His shock is short lived when he finds a gun in his face. Cliffhanger!

Shiva gets to kill someone!

Eric (Aaron’s husband) takes a bullet to the stomach! NOOooooo!!

NOW this episode hit me where I live. I am officially 100% dialed in and ready for what is to come. Just leave Morgan alone. And let Eric pull through.

Twitter: @LilMsMnstr
Instagram: @littlemsmonster

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Dead Digest: The Walking Dead (SSN 8, Ep 1)

Episode 1: Mercy

Hi zombie friends! I’m so excited to back in action with our intrepid heroes fighting for their freedom in the post-apocalyptic landscape! Let’s get into it!

Why not open with a rousing speech to inspire the troops? Maggie, Rick, and Ezekiel are the dream team of the new world order. And of course we get a little peek at Shiva, resident tiger. Hey, girl!

So this is interesting, we keep getting these flash-forwards of Rick and his family enjoying the good life in Alexandria. Rick has a white beard that any elder wizard would be proud of. Are these visions of the future? Or just Rick’s dreams?

Rick & The Gang have spent the off season planning and training up their troops. And planning. And more planning. Because MASSIVELY big things are in the works. They’re starting this war and bringing it to Negan. Good thing we still have charred man on the inside, Dwight! Dwight and Daryl pass battle scheme notes via firing cross bows at one another. Adorbs.

Eww, Carl really needs a new patch. This one is looking haggard. A haircut is also a good idea. A stranger at the gas station hides in fear from Carl and Rick and asks for food. He quotes from the Quran, “My Mercy prevails over my wrath.” Rick shoots at the guy (warning shots!), Carl is a grump.

The party splits up. I’d want to go with Daryl, Tara, Carol, and Morgan. AKA The Cool Kids Club. They’re working on herding large numbers of walkers toward the Sanctuary. Obviously, this is gonna take a while.

I’m sad Morgan is not a pacifist anymore. He’s sad too. We’re all sad.

An electrocuted, puffy, half melted walker is tonight’s grossly awesome find!

Rick wants to retire after the war and let Maggie take over ruling the land.  I say Long Live the Queen. Rick and Maggie take their soldiers over to Negan’s house and lure the villain out with some witty banter. Oh, Gregory is there. The disgraced former leader of The Hilltop. Rick’s side drive an RV turned BOMB into the building and start shooting. Chaos ensues!

Father Gabriel being the kindly soul he is, stops to help stupid asshole Gregory to safety. Surprising no one, Gregory betrays and leaves the pastor to hide in a storage container. Stranded, with Negan. Outside is swarming with walkers. Yikes.

But let’s not end on a negative note! Let us hear another inspiring speech!

Thoughts? Feelings? Emotional outbursts? I’m happy with this season opened. I’m not thrilled. But I like that a tone has been set. And what is up with bearded Rick and his delusions/glimpses into the future?

Twitter: @LilMsMnstr
Instagram: @littlemsmonster

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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.