It’s that time of year again. When the air begins to chill and the leaves begin to fall. This signals the arrival of a new season of American Horror Story. I would be lying if I was a little bit hesitant of the seventh season considering season six was such a disaster but my faith in Ryan Murphy remained steadfast as I watched the clues for the theme of the new season unravel. Murphy loves a good riddle. He released teaser image after teaser image and it sure was fun to watch the internet speculate. With the big reveal of the title at the San Diego Comi-con, American Horror Story: Cult looked like it was going to be going back to the original format with an opening credit sequence and regular narrative. For long time fans, this was a welcome development. Early on it was announced that the show’s theme would have a political tone. With a hinting at clowns, trypophobia and the return of Twisty the clown, this season was the one we didn’t know we needed.
Episode 1 started off with a bang. It’s Election Night 2016. Sara Paulson is Ally, a woman with crippling anxiety and phobias that put insane stress on her partner Ivy (Alison Pill) and their son, Ozzy. They are only made worse after the results of Trump winning the presidency. Kai, played by Evan Peter’s is an almost fanatical Trump supporter who is all too ready for the revolution to begin. Winter, played by Billie Lourd (the late Carrie Fisher’s daughter to those of you who didn’t know) is Kai’s sister is heard lamenting over her dropping out of Vasser to campaign for Hillary. She and her brother share some sort of weird pinky promise handshake where Kai asks her a lot of weird questions you would probably never want to ask your sister. The effect of Election Night is clear in all of these characters. Their lives soon intertwine when Winter is hired as Ally and Ivy’s nanny. It’s clear she is there at the urging of her brother who seems to have some master plan to help The Donald in his cause to “Make America Great Again.” This is no more obvious in a scene where he pisses into a condom and tosses it at a group of Mexican’s, yelling racial slurs and causing them to beat him up, all the while videotaping it. Episode one has some great creepy moments. Ally being tormented in an empty grocery store by a group of people in some of the scariest clown masks I have ever seen, Winter making Ozzy watch people being murdered on the “Dark Web” (which you cannot get to with Google. THAT’S NOT HOW THIS WORKS!) And the return of Twisty the Clown from Season 4. While it was only in a comic book, it was still creepy as ever.
This season is going to be a dark one. Not only because of the creep factor being high, but because of the current political climate of our Country. The characters are a pretty decent representation of extremes on both sides. The uber liberal left who believe Trump is the antichrist and the fanatical bordering on Fascism right who take our President’s word as Gospel. The visuals are terrifying and visceral as usual but the subtlety that Ryan Murphy manages to weave throughout his shows is insane. From the tiny clustered holes in the clown masks creating a phobia-ception to the words in the speech Kai makes to the city council, the nuances and small details of this show are just too perfect. The title of the show rang so true with me. I am not political but I know people who are and like any organized group there are certain aspects that remind you of Jonestown or Heaven’s Gate. Those so fanatical in their devotion to their leader that they will defend them and their ideas to the death. Episode one was a hit, a perfect way to kick off a season of redemption. American Horror Story is back, with a vengeance.
Living Dead Girl Reviews 