Gaslighting (verb) - to manipulate (someone) by psychological means into doubting their own sanity.
Gaslighting is a form of manipulation that seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or members of a group, hoping to make targets question their own memory, perception, and sanity. Using persistent denial, misdirection, contradiction, and lying, it attempts to destabilize the target and delegitimize the target's belief.
Instances may range from the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents ever occurred up to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim. The term owes its origin to a 1938 play Gas Light and its 1944 film adaptation. The term has been used in clinical and research literature, as well as in political commentary.
Episode 3 - The Neighbours From Hell
Episode 3 of AHS: Cult drops the political pretence almost entirely in favour of a much deeper dive into emotional horrors and psychological torture in it's third episode. There are a couple of important clues dropped for attentive viewers and the beginnings of an intriguing examination into cult thinking. Themes of paranoia vs victimisation, possible mind control and induction techniques are all present, along with a harrowing but bloodless pre-credits scene and a truly grotesque moment involving a domestic pet. The result is an excellent episode, but one which leaves the rest of the season with a lot to do in order to deliver on it's promise.
The episode opens with a scene which was personally amongst the most harrowing to watch in all of AHS (and there have been some crazy intense moments over the years). This is despite the fact that it's not in the least bit gory, instead playing on the use of real psychological fears and trauma. Perhaps it's because it represents a fear I didn't realise I shared (although any sane person would, in my opinion). Maybe it's because it's terrifyingly real, featuring no monsters or supernatural elements. Or it could be my unease at having someone's genuine anxiety-inducing phobias used so cruelly against them. Indeed the scene is reminiscent of almost a bloodless Saw, with its "poetic justice" style killings, although no such motivations are presented here (an issue with these early episodes which I hope will be resolved).
All this is before even the credits roll, after which we join the season's protagonists Ally and Ivy in the aftermath of last week's shocking ending. Turns out things are as bad as we feared, and Ally is intriguingly both villain and victim here. Her actions lead to consequences for her, despite not being obvious. At first it seems like she will get away scott-free but this leads to results which may be even more sinister and harrowing. This is where the episode, and the season thus far, excels. Even after commiting one of the most heinous sins of mankind we sympathise with Ally, but we also completely understand and identify with the angry mob and the eccentric neighbours who now target her. It's a masterclass in showing how situations and people can be manipulated and taken advantage of, and a possible learning experience in the way it holds a microscope to society as a whole.
Related to this is the apparent antagonist of this season; Kai. Although it's put into doubt later on that he is the true mastermind (at least not on his own), he is presented as being very much the person who is in control of everything, manipulating events and people for his own anarchist end-goals. It's really intriguing how scary this is, in a rather different way than most villains. Kudos must go here to actor Evan Peters, in lesser hands Kai could come across as merely an annoying prick (and there are shades of that), but Peters imbues him with real menace, even when seemingly doing something good for other people. Crucially he is also weirdly charismatic, even when he is slapping women or drawing out people's darkest fears and impulses. It's believable that he could part a crowd and have these people follow him. Not unlike real life cult leaders, oddly enough.
And here we get to the spoilery stuff, so skip to the next paragraph if you don't want to be spoiled before watching the episode. We get several intriguing clues and developments in this episode. As early as the opening scene we suspect that Dr Vincent (Ally's psychiatrist) may well be involved in the villainous shenanigans of the clown-obsessed cult, due to them knowing exactly how to exploit his patient's worst fear. This is only cemented later when we see him play with badges, one of which bares a striking resemblance to the smiley face logo graffiti of the clown gang. He is shown to be notably disdainful of Ally in a phone call she makes to him for support, seemingly giving her advice that may keep her isolated and afraid. Related to this is the continuing manipulation of Oz, and Ally, by Winter. That she disappeared in time enough to avoid preventing Ally's fatal mistake last episode is bad enough, but she continues to do subtle things which are just disruptive enough without seeming aggressive (i.e letting in a pervert who is responding to a fake ad to engage in fellatio with Ally and Ivy). If it wasn't already clear that she is somehow under Kai's thrall and working towards his agenda then it becomes more obvious every episode. Crucially her actions with Ally last week come into play in a big way. Which brings us to our biggest reveal. Although treated as a throwaway line Oz reveals Ivy's computer password and seemingly implicates her as being involved in, or even the architect of, Ally's gas-lighting. Although this detail is glossed over or not noticed by Ally in all the ensuing (staged?) commotion. Is all of this a revenge plot against Ally, by Ivy, for; "voting for fucking Jill Stein instead of Hillary"? (One of only two very subtle references to the 2016 election which nevertheless could be vitally important). It's potentially great if this is true as it would play into the themes I discussed last week of evil begetting evil, with Trump's victory leading to a scared populace looking for anyone to blame. Even outside of all of this we learn that Detective Samuels is a personal friend of the neighbours who may or may not be persecuting Ally (he always seemed a little suspicious to me, and is definitely played as such by Colton Haynes). And I haven't even touched on the mysterious truck spewing chemicals (some of which Ally massively comes into contact with, perhaps importantly). I have no idea what this means, possibly a mind control agent used by the clown gang? In any case I'm suitably intrigued, but hope the answers are satisfactory (AHS has let me down on that front before).
All in all then a great episode, which may prove vital to the overall picture, seemingly fitting pieces into place whilst continuing to represent the themes of cult manipulation and paranoia. It'll be interesting to see how I'll view it as part of the bigger picture, but for now...
****1/2 (4.5/5)
MM
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