Tonight on American Horror Story: Cult we bounce mostly back to the present day where Kai is deciding on the next steps to defining his, uh, legacy. Ally returns to us this week with her own power play (sans 10 minute emotional breakdown), and there is of course much more bloodshed. Whose Cult journey ends in this hour? Here's where we are after "Winter of Our Discontent."
I See The Questions In Your Eyes
We open with Dr. Vincent paying a visit to his little brother and congratulating him on his big win. Kai gives him shit for not coming to see him in the hospital and accuses him of staying away because his patient "colluded" with the woman who tried to murder him. Dr. Vincent seems a bit nervous. He says Ally is a sick woman and he was indeed a little ashamed to be associated with her. He compliments Kai on what he has accomplished though, saying he had no idea exactly what Kai had been up to and he wants to help Kai get his message out with the right strategy. Kai is all for getting his bring brother's help...but from now on Kai wants to be referred to as "Councilman." So much for sibling terms of endearment. My big takeaway here is, if Dr. Vincent had no idea about Kai's followers and planned movement, how are his patients being terrorized?
Ally is back at home now (after 3 weeks in a psych ward) and Dr. Vincent heads over to her house to check on her. He's quite the busy bee today. Dr. Vincent tells Ally he believes her now and reveals that Kai is his younger brother....and Winter is their sister. Drop the mic, bro. You deserve it. After the chuckle I get out of Ally yelling "your sister is screwing my wife!" I notice Dr. Vincent has tears in his eyes. Ally accuses him of giving Kai information about all of her fears but he swears that Kai must have broken into his office and stolen the case files. I believe him. Dr. Vincent promises Ally he will find a way to have Kai committed and he promises to reunite Ally with her son..."if it's the last thing I do." Oh boy...
The Shadow That's By Your Side
If you're wondering about the whereabouts of Kai's followers, the man army is dining at The Butchery, I'm assuming for free since that place doesn't seem to ever be taking in any money, and they don't like the food. Kai had instructed the women (yes, the women are working in the kitchen to feed the men) to make healthy dishes. How did Beverly, Winter, and Ivy go from Harrison hackers to food servants? Well apparently Kai convinced the City Council to vote for a motion to arm a group of private citizens (Kai's dudes) for additional protection in the community. Beverly thinks the only way combat this is to "cut off the head of the snake." Winter is adamant that going after Kai is a suicide mission and Beverly tells her, "You're either with us or against us. You think big brother is gonna spare you? Reward your loyalty? Wake up, little girl." Winter explains that Kai would never hurt her and has saved her life once before...
We flash back to Halloween 2015, where Kai and Winter are trolling the dark web and leaving messages on "social justice" websites. They receive a message from a man called Pastor Charles inviting them to his home, which he calls Judgement House. The duo decides to visit the house and Pastor Charles turns out to be a total psycho. Think Jigsaw but not quite as clever. Kai and Winter enter the first room and a woman is lying in a bed, bleeding out from an abortion. From another room, Pastor Charles activates the electric collar around the woman's neck and she convulses until the lights go out. The Anderson siblings head to the next room and find a guy hooked up to over a dozen IVs. The man says "he's corrupted be by the drugs of my choice" and tells them he is dying from the inside out. Winter freaks out and runs into room #3 where another man is strapped to a chair, begging for help. Pastor Charles speaks to Winter and Kai over a loud speaker, explaining that this man has sinned..."man shalt not lie with man - it is an abomination!" Kai gets the man out of the chair just before knives plunge through his chest and both men help the drugged dude while Winter tries to find a way out. Pastor Charles grabs her and wants to put her in his show. Kai hits Pastor Charles and straps him to the chair his most recent kidnapping victim had occupied. Turns out the abortion girl only had a UTI, the drugged dude had been trying to sober up in rehab when he was kidnapped, and the supposed gay man had been at an AIDS clinic volunteering his time. Pastor Charles had these sins wayyyyy off. This group has the option of calling the police, but instead Kai wants "to do what's right." Winter tells him to kill the motherfucker and we see the knives plunge through Pastor Charles' chest. I'm not sure what happened with the body or the other three people. The story ends there.
Back in the present day, Winter tells the ladies Kai has just lost his way but can be put on the right path. She looks directly at Ivy and promises to go talk to him. "He'll listen to me." Ivy gives her a hug and a kiss and this is really the first time I've seen this relationship confirmed. I'm not sure I'm buying it. Seems like Winter is just going through the motions on that front. Beverly tells Winter she has until the end of the week to get everything straightened out. Otherwise, she's going after Kai. Yeah...good luck with that, Bev.
I Know My Part
Winter and Kai play the pinky game and Kai tells his sister he's not mad about what happened to Harrison. He wants to make sure Winter loves him and will always be loyal to him. "It's time for you to understand your place in the bigger picture." I'm thinking this means being his right hand, or leading a female army or something, right? No... he wants to make a family with her, as in, baby. "From the blood we share, a savior will arise to carry on our mission. You will be the mother of our messiah baby." Winter points out the whole obvious incest thing, and Kai tells her Detective Jack will be the instrument of the union. "As he enters you, I will enter him. That way I will be the father but you will remain pure and unsoiled. You cool with that?"
Detective Jack is on board with the plan because he believes this is the most important thing they will ever do. He and Winter wear robes and wait for Kai and whatever ceremony/ritual is coming their way. So, Winter is seriously going to do this? There's no chance she consulted with Ivy before agreeing to bear the next Councilman savior. Anyway, Kai arrives in his own robe and tells them the time of anointing is at hand. Any seriousness of this scenario is then destroyed completely when he turns on "I Swear," by All-4-One as the baby making music. Great song. Wrong venue. Kai proclaims that "I Swear" is a holy song now and shall be played whenever a messiah is conceived...not really taking into account that there's only supposed to be one. Winter lays down and Jack climbs on top of her. He can't quite get it up though since he isn't into girls and Kai talks some more about the process of sacred copulation. NOW Winter thinks this idea is insane and she peaces out.
Winter's punishment for not participating in the not-so-holy sex ritual is picking up trash on the side of the road in an orange jumpsuit and dunce cap. Jack drives up to bring her lunch and Winter hops into the passenger seat for a delicious bowl of...gruel. Yuck. She asks Jack for a bite of his apple (the forbidden fruit?) but Jack doesn't want to deviate from any orders. Winter calls him Kai's bitch and Jack is quick to tell her it used to be the other way around. Jack had once busted Kai for using his brother's prescription pad to sell drugs. Instead of putting Kai behind bars, Jack just wanted a percentage of the money as any crooked cop would. One night when Kai showed up at Jack's to drop of his cut, he overheard Jack in his bedroom with a women...not able to get hard. Kai convinced Jack he needs men because women make him weak, and here we are. Kai said it, so it must be so. Winter tells Jack that it's not complicated and it's not about power - "it's as simple as you like dick." She throws the gruel on Jack's lap and he is super pissed off. He climbs on top of Winter, saying he's going to impregnate her like Kai wanted and she grabs the gun from his belt and shoots him in the head. I'm sure going to miss looking at that pretty face every week.
Till Death Do Us Part
In another move I didn't see coming, Ally invites Kai over to her house for dinner (you read that right) and she wants to make a deal. In exchange for making sure she gets her son back, Ally tells Kai his brother is working to have him committed. Whaaaaaat? Ally, this guy is LEADING A MURDEROUS CULT. What kind of longevity could a deal with him hold? And also, Dr. Vincent is seriously your ONLY friend right now. This bitch is killing me.
Kai gathers his man army and his clowns in the basement, as well as Vincent and Beverly who he is calling "the betrayers." Kai confronts Vincent about trying to send him to a loony bin, and Vincent doesn't deny it. He tells Kai he's worried about him and they need to talk about the path Kai is taking. "All I want is to see you succeed. No matter what happens, you are my brother and I love you." They both tearfully link pinkies and Kai chops off Vincent's finger. Kai then slashes his brother's throat without hesitation, causing me to yell "holy shit!" out loud. Winter rips off her mask and cries but the other clowns and the man army make no movements. I guess maybe Vincent can join the master bedroom mausoleum with mom and dad?
Next up is Beverly and I assume she is also about to meet a bloody end. Kai tells her that Jack deserved more than a cheap bullet to the head and Beverly doesn't know what he's talking about...because she didn't kill Jack...ah, but Winter told Kai that she did. Beverly tells Kai that his sister is lying and he hits her. She starts yelling at him, saying he is the one who betrayed her by shoving her in a kitchen instead of giving her the equal power he promised. "You're a fake. You don't stand for a god damn thing." Kai says death is too good for Beverly and orders his man army to put her in an isolation chamber. He then addresses the rest of the group and says their loyalty must be absolute. His final task of the evening is welcoming the newest clown...who seems to be wearing Beverly's former costume...and it's Ally.
The episode ends there and while I was initially pissed at Winter for throwing Beverly under the bus so quickly, she made a very smart move. Clearly Kai had no issues murdering his brother, so Winter understands now that no one is safe. Did Ally realize that she was signing Dr. Vincent's death warrant with her betrayal? Will she and Ivy reconcile now that they are both kinda, sorta on the same side? What's going to happen to Beverly? Did Ally have Bev's clown costume dry cleaned before she wore it? There's literally a bunch of blood, sweat, and tears that are consumed in those outfits in each event. How do they keep these clothes so clean? And most importantly...where the hell is Oz these days?
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