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American Horror Story: Cult

  • Plot: In the wake of the 2016 election, the world is on fire. Democrats like Ally Mayfair-Richards (Sarah Paulson) are devastated. As the dust settles, Ally becomes a sort of symbol for the dread that's seeping into the skin of American citizens. We then meet Kai Anderson (Evan Peters), a man who is intent of seizing the chaos in the world and elevating it to utter destruction and discord. Over the course of the season, he builds a cult in Michigan by recruiting some of the more influential people in the community: news anchor Beverly (Adina Porter), police officer Samuels (Colton Haynes), and so on. His goal is to work his way up in politics until he controls the nation.
  • Ending: While you might be tempted to argue that Cult's ending is boring as f*ck, you can at least admit that it ties up all the loose ends. Ally manages to rid herself of Kai for good. She gets her son Oz back. She manages to begin her own steady climb through the political ranks. Sure, she may be in a cult of her own, but there's still some kind of hopeful sense that all the madness is over.
  • Scariness: Is Cult terrifying? I'm going to give it a solid "sorta." The season starts off by throwing everything at the wall: murderous clowns! Bleeding food! Home invasion! You name it! There are definitely some scary moments, but by the time we reach the halfway point, all the terror seems to have drained out of the plot. Once we see the identities of all the clowns and once Kai establishes himself more as a caricature than a villain, it's more ridiculous than nightmare-inducing.
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