In this review I will be discussing the fourth episode of American Horror Story: Cult in broad terms. However I will allude to, and may divulge, plot points and character motivations to better explain my points and analyse the episode. This will not be an Episode Synopsis or Breakdown and heavy spoilers will be clearly sign-posted. 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.
11/9
Okay, first I have to take a moment to acknowledge the title of this episode, as it's cleverer than I think many people have noticed. This instalment is called "11/9", which ostensibly refers to the day immediately after the 2016 U.S Presidential Election. But it's also a direct inverse of the, now infamous, "9/11", inviting the comparison that this, too, was a moment that shook the U.S.A, and the world. The episode reflects this as we see how this day is changing people's lives on a personal level, all involving Kai.
Episode 4 takes a step back, stumbles, almost falls but when lingering in this precarious spot reveals hidden depths and puzzle pieces. It's just a shame there's not that much horror. It does clearly and strongly present the Cult part of the title, but it did feel a little bit like American Politics Story this week. To clarify I don't just mean in the obvious way by commenting, as it does a heck of a lot, on "deplorables", "nasty women", and "grabbing by the pussy" either. No, broader strokes of liberalism and conservatism are presented here too, as is Kai's own brand of anarchism. It's scary but it's all still politics. 'Cos we haven't heard enough about that in the last twelve months!
Let's start with Kai. First I want to address a misconception about Kai that Lil' Bro brought up, but I think a lot of people may share. He was confused how Kai seemed to be a Trump supporter, given his enthusiasm for getting him into office but also seemed to be manipulating and sympathizing with liberals, such as Harrison or Winter. I pointed out that his motivation here wasn't as Democrat or Republican. In my opinion, Kai merely wants the outcome that would cause the most upheaval, playing into his goals for, in his own words, "world domination". He is not on the side of Trump, he's on the side of chaos. This plays into "The Donald" however as his rise to power shows that anything is possible in leadership politics. Suddenly the idea of a lunatic like Kai getting real power isn't so far-fetched. Indeed, people like Kai might feel emboldened by the turn of events. It's an interesting twist to explore this scenario rather than the rise of more obvious fascists, racists and misogynists in the Republican ranks and beyond, although they are explicitly mentioned in case the metaphor went over your head. If Kai, the fictional anarchist, has been vindicated and empowered then we must see that these people could have been too. It's all the more sad that this was obviously written before some of the more recent events and news, as it now seems depressingly and terrifyingly redundant.
Anyhow, let's finally get into the episode proper. We open with the reveal that this is, indeed, an episode of flashbacks, beginning on election night of 2016 with the news reporter we've seen before; Beverly Hope (the excellent Adina Porter). She reports from the polling stations as we see all of our main characters discussing the candidates and casting their vote. We then see Kai burst into the polling station with a severely injured man who insists on voting (Chaz Bono) and presents us with one of only two moments of horror (via gore) in the episode, along with screaming the seasons none-too-subtle theme of this season; "Welcome to Trump's America, fuckers!" The episode follows all of these people and let's us learn how they got here, as well as their links to Kai and the Clownz gang.
We begin with the Wilton's, specifically Harrison, as we see how Kai inserted himself into their lives through befriending and seeming to empathise with him. I won't spoil it but suffice to say that Kai seems to identify possible vulnerable or pliable targets for his "induction". We see how his insidious mind controlling techniques manipulate misfortunes and desperation (exacerbated by the politics of the day, of course) to lead Harrison down a dark path, and presumably, SPOILER! grow his band of murderous clowns, here getting the first two people who are presumably in the costumes we've seen this season. Here is where the episode ran into it's biggest problem for me. The actors playing Meadow and Harrison are great, but clearly the weak link in this episode. I don't think it's their fault though, but rather that they are very poorly written. Kai's seductive insidiousness is well portrayed but it's still a huge leap to the level of immorality he leads Harrison to. I never really believed it and it's played more for camp value than any serious attempt to explore how Kai could break through human ethics and values. It's a shame as I found myself losing interest in the episode here.
Mercifully the rest of the episode improves as we delve into the other characters, who are presented as much more rounded and believable in their descent into darkness. This leads us nicely into Beverley's story.
We've already seen glimpses of Bev via news clips reporting on some of the murderous events this season, but it becomes apparent that she is far more important and connected to our story, with deeper motivations than most of our characters thus far to boot. It's in this section of the episode that I perked up a little as I was pleased to see the return of AHS veteran Emma Roberts.
The lovely Miss Roberts plays a rival news reporter to Bev, a less capable but more attractive, younger and more promiscuous reporter who is willing to exploit her sexuality to sleep her way to the top. I'm not sure what this character is meant to be saying, and she is presented and played far more in line with the kind of character performance we saw in Roberts' previous show; Scream Queens, which veers a little too far into teen soap-opera territory. She provides understandable motivation for Beverly as a genuine rival who she has reason to detest. I guess her character reflects that the rise of sexism is allowing people like Bev to unfairly be superseded by "dolly bird" types who allow themselves to be exploited, but it's very muddled. Without spoilers we do see the biggest moment of actual horror here though, so at least that's something. It's also a tad redundant as Bev reveals that she feels continuous seething rage. This is fantastically portrayed but I'd have loved to see further exploration of why this is, we presume due to sexism (which is touched upon) and racism (which isn't) but it might have been nice to show that.
Finally, in the final third, we see how Winter and Ivy previously met, seemingly confirming a lot of the suspicions of Ivy that I and others have had thus far. This is the most interesting part of the episode as it seems to imply that even pre-election Winter might not have been entirely innocent either. And at the very least we see seeds of exactly what might lead her to Kai, if she isn't already working for his goals. The descent of this pair into extreme behaviour is far more believable, coming as a reaction against a particular man (Chaz Bono from the intro) who is a now all-too-familiar type of villain; the sexist, misogynist, sexually abusive, probably racist Republican supporter. Although, in fairness, Bev's story does have this motivation touched upon too. The worst crime of this particular third of the episode though is that it tries to deliver horror and fails. The moment of what should be tension is killed by the ridiculousness of the situation (just tell Kai to go get something else!) and the fact that it is a blatant and unashamed rip-off of a hugely famous 2004 horror movie. There are more little reveals here which I feel may be vitally important but too spoiler heavy. Suffice to say you should watch carefully.
Overall then, this episode seemed to be presenting us with a deeper illustration of how "the fear in a small Michigan town can infect the entire country". But I think by this point we get the picture. I certainly do. It wasn't a bad episode, and there were definitely great moments, but too much didn't quite work and overall my memory of the episode is that it was a bit dull. I appreciate that we get some further reveals this episode but I'm concerned that we are almost half way through the season and don't have answers to a few bigger questions yet. Just what is the deal with Twisty? (Entirely absent AGAIN this week), why did the Cult choose a clown motif? (It can't be because of Ally's fear, and is remarkably convenient now that she is a target). What was the deal with that green chemical stuff? How do Dr Rudy and Detective Samuels fit into this? And just what exactly is Kai's motivation? (It had better be more impressive than just being a crazy, genius. I want to know how and why). All that considered leaves me still very much on board and intrigued for next week, but prepared to call this the weakest episode of Cult so far, and I'm now on the tip of beginning to worry for the season as a whole. The episode and season are saved from worse vitriol by great performances though (stand up Adina Porter, Evan Peters and especially Billie Lourd).
*** (3/5)
MM
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