I already knew a bit about episode 6 of American Horror Story: Cult several days before watching it. In the aftermath of the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas, Ryan Murphy was faced with a dilemma in airing this week's episode which features a shooting at a political rally. I had read he edited the shooting portion out of respect for the Las Vegas victims and their families, but what we see tonight is still very unsettling. Here's what went down in "Mid-Western Assassin."
My Odds Are Stacked
The hour begins with Kai making a speech at a pretty well attended rally. I personally haven't seen that kind of turnout for anything City Council related and I even live in the DC area. We hear Kai's booming voice, and then we hear chants, and then we hear gunshots. The camera follows Ivy as she makes her way through the crowd, trying to escape. She ducks behind a fountain with Harrison, but he bolts soon after and Ivy is too shaken to move. She sees a S.W.A.T. team move in on the shooter...and we see Ally drop a handgun as Kai remains motionless on the stage. Oh. Shit. Cue the opening music.
And My Tears Dry
We jump around a lot tonight, and we go now to the day after the election where Ivy is standing on Winter's front porch, telling her about Gary showing up to the polls without a hand. She's panicking, thinking she and Ivy will be arrested for tying him up to begin with, but Winter tells her to calm the fuck down. "You have to meet my brother. He can fix anything." Ivy heads down to the basement to meet Kai, but she laughs at him when he suggests they link pinky fingers. He then tells Ivy that he is the person who set Gary free so he could exercise his right to vote. Kai says Gary is doped up in the hospital at the moment, "but he's gonna be back here with us soon and do you want Gary to find out who's responsible for what he's lost?"
Ivy sits down and links fingers with Kai, and his first question cuts deep. When he asks what fills Ivy's heart with dread, she answers, "our new president" but Kai asks her for the truth. Ivy then says, "the thought of laying in bed next to my wife." Ouch. Kai wants the background to that statement and Ivy's resentment goes all the way back to her son's birth. Ally had carried Ozzie and was very particular about breastfeeding until the kid was 3 years old. Ewww. Ivy talks briefly about Ally's phobias and says the last straw was the election and Ally's vote for Jill Stein. The tears are rolling down Ivy's cheeks as Kai says, "I see before me an empty carcass, devoid of happiness. She has sucked every bit of it out of your marrow. But there's hope. Would my young, hot sister make you happy?" Ivy doesn't hesitate. "Only if I could have Oz as well." While Ivy admits she has wished Ally was dead, she never wants her son to go through that trauma...so they come up with a plan to make sure Ally would never be awarded custody. Can we pause for a minute to note that Ivy has known Winter for 48 hours? I get that her marriage has been crumbling for a while, but Ivy is wayyyy to quick to say Winter could make her happy. She hasn't even given me the impression that she's into Ivy.
I Tread A Troubled Track
We go back now to the night Meadow was banging on Ally's window and begging for help. For those who don't recall, Ally sat on her floor crying and did nothing when Meadow was yanked away. We resume that scene now as Ally is locking all of her windows (shouldn't that have been done already? I mean...she has bars on the doors for god's sake), and standing in the kitchen with a "what the hell do I do now?" look on her face. Her cell phone rings and Dr. Vincent pops up on her screen. He had received a call from Ivy and wanted to check in. Ally tells Dr. Vincent that she doesn't know who she can trust anymore. "The best thing you can do tonight is do nothing. Please go and get some sleep." She agrees, hangs up the phone, then fiiiiiiinally does something that will make me root for her. Ally grabs a knife and a can of mace and heads back across the street.
The Wilton's bathroom window is unlocked and Ally is able to get into the house. Harrison is busy getting busy with Detective Jack, so she grabs Harrison's keys out of the pile of clothes on the floor unnoticed. Ally finds Meadow tied to a chair in the garage and sets her free. Harrison and Detective Jack hear the commotion when Meadow grabs her purse and knocks a bunch of shit over, and they go after the women. Ally sprays mace in Harrison's eyes before she and Meadow hop in the car and drive away from Detective Jack.
Ally takes Meadow to The Butchery and Meadow immediately asks for a cappuccino. I really do love her. Meadow tells Ally all about the cult and how Kai is trying to create an environment of fear in order to get elected. She says the Tommyknockers trucks are just water trucks, but they put poison in their bird feeders to make it seem as though someone was poisoning the neighborhood. Ally is having a hard time believing Meadow and .... wait... really? She's having a hard time believing Meadow but truly thinks she saw clowns having sex in the produce section of the local grocery store? Sigh. She tells Meadow that Ivy could never be in a cult because Ivy doesn't believe in anything. Meadow smirks. "That's kinda how it starts. If you already believed in something there wouldn't be any room for him." Meadow says Kai paid protesters to stand outside The Butchery so he could then be the hero and get rid of them. He has people everywhere.
He Left No Time To Regret
Meadow takes us back to December 2016, a month or so after the election, and she is feeling very much like the third wheel in her marriage as Harrison and Detective Jack have become...very close. Meadow has started to redirect her feelings toward Kai. See, she designs the clown masks and costumes and every time Kai gives her a compliment, it's better than sex. He makes her feel so special, saying things like, "I know I've asked a lot, but a larva bee has to shed its skin to become the queen. It can be painful, but the dark must prevail to bring forth the light." Meadow explains that he set her free in many ways and thought she and Kai would be unstoppable together. This changes the day Meadow ventures down to Kai's basement and hears him saying the same "special" lines to Ivy. At that point she tells Kai he is full of shit and leaves to go pack a bag. Harrison, Detective Jack, and Kai follow her to try to reel her back in but Meadow is pissssed. "Can I ask you a question? When was the last time a seat on the zoning board lead to world domination?" Ha! Kai doesn't realize what a gem he has here. He instead looks at Harrison and says "It's time to call the police. Something terrible has happened to your wife." Meadow is thrown into the ditch Ally found her in last week and now Ally is up to speed on the cult and the roles people play. Meadow says there is no one they can trust and the only way to stop Kai is to kill him.
For whatever reason, the TV in the corner of The Butchery is on and we see Kai debating his only opponent in the race for City Council seat. As he walks around near his podium preaching that "now is the time to be scared," a woman yells "bulllllshit" from the back of the room. AHS alum Mare Winningham plays Sally Kefler this season, and Sally is tired of the reports about "a community in terror." She says crime is down 14% from last year and almost 30% from 1980. Kai doesn't have a response and Sally goes on. "We need to get serious about finding whoever is responsible for the crimes you are talking about, but you're just trying to make these people scared." She says a few more things to put Mr. Anderson in his place before declaring her own candidacy for City Council. Kai reminds her that the deadline for submitting paperwork has passed and the ballots have already been printed. Sally understands, which is why she will be going to the clerk's office the very next morning to file a letter of intent to officially declare her right in candidacy. Kai has an "oh shit" look on his face as the crowd applauds her. The other guy he is running against doesn't even get a word in.
We Only Said Goodbye With Words
Ally takes Meadow to Dr. Vincent because she feels she can trust him. Damn it, Ally. I was starting to like you a little. Just a little. Ally asks Dr. Vincent to talk to Meadow so he can be her "expert witness" and then leaves Meadow there. Literally leaves. I'm sorry...if almost everyone I knew was in a cult and trying to make me believe I was batshit crazy, and there was one person who could prove them wrong, I most likely would not let that person out of my sight. Just sayin.
Where does Ally go? She pays a visit to Sally Kefler's house to tell her all about Kai and his cult. She says she can prove it because there's a girl who escaped who is willing to tell Sally everything....except Ally didn't bring this girl with her....because Ally is stupid. Sally listens as she rolls a joint and she is on board with bringing Kai down. "Every society that has ever chosen to lead with fear has undone itself." This conversation is cut short as the clown posse breaks into the house. Ally leaves her new found savior in the dust and runs to a bathroom, and Sally pulls a gun on the first few clowns she sees. One sneaks up behind her though and grabs the gun, so we know she's toast. Kai removes his mask so Sally will know before she dies that she fucked with the wrong dude. Beverly removes hers as well (another power play?) but everyone else keeps their masks on. Kai notices Sally's laptop is open, so he posts a "suicide note" on her Facebook page, holds Sally's gun against her chest, and pulls the trigger. Ally does some sort of crying yelp when she hears the gunshot and clown Ivy goes to check out where the noise is coming from. Ivy still has her mask on when she finds Ally, but Ally recognizes her. Ivy slams the bathroom door shut and leaves with the other clowns.
You'd think at this point Ally would call 911, but I guess she's still worried about who she can trust and heads back to Dr. Vincent's office instead. He says he spoke with Meadow for a few minutes and she left. We see a quick flashback of Meadow sitting in the office and she must not know Dr. Vincent's connection to Kai. She looks as though she is about to spill her guts when her purse starts vibrating. Kai is calling her and she dips out. When Ally learns that Meadow didn't mention anything about a cult or being in danger, she flips out on Dr. Vincent and says he shouldn't have let her go. No, dumbass. You should have taken her WITH YOU. Ally cries and Dr. Vincent again suggests she check herself into a facility. She says "fuck you" and leaves.
Back To Black
We pick up at the rally now from the beginning of the episode. Ally approaches just as Kai is telling the crowd that Sally Kefler "tragically committed suicide last night" and he pledges that he will never desert his followers like she did. Too soon, buddy. Too soon. Ally sees Meadow and calls out to her. Meadow starts making her way toward the stage and Ally follows her. Meadow takes out a handgun and shoots a woman standing closest to the podium. She shoots Kai in the leg. She turns around as people start running and shoots at least 3 more people before Ally tries to grab the gun from her. Meadow looks at Ally and says "this is the face of true love" before turning the gun toward the inside of her mouth and pulling the trigger. Meadow's body drops to the ground and now the S.W.A.T. team is surrounding Ally.
The episode is not over...we go back now to the night when Kai told Harrison, "something terrible has happened to your wife." Meadow is tied up but has not been thrown in the hole yet. Kai is alone with her and unties her legs. He kisses Meadow and tells her she is everything to him. "You're the only one who sees me." Kai agrees that the City Council is too small and something big needs to happen to get him on the national stage. He needs an assassination attempt and he needs Meadow to do it. Meadow is hesitant but then Kai takes off her pants and...shows her how much he appreciates her. In between thrusts he tells Meadow that first she will bear witness and tell Ally everything so the truth can hide in plain sight. Meadow wants to do this for Kai but is worried she will crack under pressure and won't be able to lie to the police. Kai has no intention of letting Meadow get caught by the police. "It will be our eternal secret. Our everlasting love. Do you understand?" Cut to the scene of the crime where Ivy sits terrified and Kai is rolled away on a stretcher with a huge smile on his face. Now we're done.
So I have to assume Kai told Meadow not to shoot anyone in the clown posse as she went on her rampage...they were all there and they were all panicked. But people had to have seen Meadow with the gun, right? They had to have seen Ally try to take the gun from Meadow before she killed herself, right? Or is this somehow all going to be pinned on Ally? That will greatly annoy me. I know Detective Jack is in on everything, and I assume he somehow got the police report from Sally's house to reflect a suicide even though she never fired a gun and the windows were broken (otherwise we have another gaping plot hole), but how are they going to explain Meadow's emergence? The last news story on Meadow showed her as a missing person whose blood was all over her "marked" house. Detective Jack did a great job of making sure Harrison was only questioned once on that front....then the whole thing went quiet. Will Kai's bullet to the leg propel him to the national stage? Will the shooting be the final straw for Ivy and her involvement in the cult? Will she go back to her wife and try to bring down the clown posse? And finally, who is Beverly's new cameraman? Dude has to realize that folks in the newscasting profession have been dropping like flies in that area. Might be time for a career change. 
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