American Horror Story: Cult - Episode 1 Review (Spoiler-Free)

In this review I will be discussing the premiere of American Horror Story: Cult in broad terms. I will allude to, but not divulge, plot points and character motivations. However, everyone's spoiler sensitivity is different and if you truly want to go into the episode blind and not even being coloured by my views then I recommend reading this after seeing the episode.

Episode 1: Election Night

  It's good to have American Horror Story back. More importantly, after Hotel, it was good last season (Roanoke) to have it back on form. We can only hope this season also delivers and proves that single, truly awful, season to be a blip. So far, so good.

  There's an old adage I used to hear about science-fiction, that it's at it's best when it's genre is used to reflect current-day society and it's issues, fears, even controversies. As a Trekkie I first learned of this being used to describe the brilliance of Gene Roddenberry's original 1966 series. Back then it was how Roddenberry was able to tell stories about race relations, sexuality, politics and more in a way that he described as going "right over the network's heads". AHS: Cult is nowhere near as subtle in it's reflection of the horrors and fears in present society (as the title of this episode implies). However, I do believe that horror, like it's genre cousin sci-fi, can do really well when it comments on real-life issues. AHS this season has, in my opinion, been really clever in embracing the real horror that many people felt in November of last year (and, let's be honest, multiple times since). Indeed the show begins in this way as more of a social drama or satire, but is, if you think about it, just a different kind of scary. What perhaps makes it even more unsettling is that it is painfully real, and this is reflected throughout the episode.

  Lest we get too political or outside of the genre it's not long before we see the (welcome) return of the creepy and evocative AHS title sequence. Immediately afterwards is perhaps my favourite scene of the episode. Without spoiling it, the joy here is seeing an almost shot-for-shot remake of a scene from my favourite past season. It's like the episode is saying, "yes we're doing some social commentary this season but we're still THAT show". Some people may dislike this, or see the return of these elements as a re-tread but it filled me with warm nostalgia (weirdly, given what the scenes involved). Smartly it also uses the history of the show to succinctly fill us in on the lead character Ally (played by the amazing Sarah Paulson). Ally suffers from severe anxiety and irrational phobias. This is handled remarkably well by Paulson (as an anxiety sufferer myself I can confirm the truth of the performance, although I can only imagine feeling this severe).

 Throughout the episode Ally's anxiety, as well as the aforementioned call-back, makes us, as the viewer, question what's real. Is Ally hallucinating? Is young Oz seeing things? How can THAT character exist in this world, let alone in this way? This uncertainty is not given an easy answer, and I like that. It makes things more unsettling and the drama more compelling.

  On the more negative critical side I will say that this first episode did seem to show a bias. In a situation like this, when you're reflecting real lives, I think it would make for a better show, and social commentary, to show both sides of the story. Thankfully I'm on the side that the show seems to represent as the "good guys" but I do wonder if this will cost the show viewers in it's home country, and would have appreciated a representation of the more complex morality at play. I hope the show develops to seem a bit less black-and-white.

  My only other criticism is more of a personal one. I've always had issues with the horror genre exploiting children and there is a scene towards the end where a young boy suffers emotional traumas that seemed a little tasteless and too extreme for me.

  I couldn't leave without giving a quick view on the cast. This season seems to have the smallest cast to date but potentially seems like it could benefit from this in exploring the depths of these people. Without a big name star like Jessica Lange or Lady Gaga this is finally the time for Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters to take top billing, and centre stage. They deserve it after their work in the previous six seasons and thus far they do not disappoint. The new additions that we see here also make an impact. Alison Pill as Ivy comes across as a little aloof and unsympathetic but I suspect that's the point. Finally it's so good to see Billie Lourd (daughter of the late, great Carrie Fisher) get to show how good an actress she is. I watched her in both seasons of the wonderfully camp but completely ridiculous "Scream Queens" and while she killed at the comedy (no pun intended) we've already seen more depth and complexity to new character Winter than anyone in that show displayed.

  Finally, a warning. If you're a coulrophobe (afraid of clowns) then maybe give this one a miss, or watch with other people, in daylight, with all the lights on. It's not a phobia I have so it didn't affect me on that level, but I did appreciate the creepy nature of the imagery. It's especially effective due to how the show frames it and pushes it to extremes of taste and decency.

  Overall then not perfect but a very promising start. As with all AHS it'll be hard to judge until we see this as part of the bigger picture. There are still characters to introduce and the show has a habit of falling apart in the end of it's seasons. I'm super intrigued by this already though, with so many questions and genuine investment. I can't wait until next week for episode 2.

**** (4/5)

MM