American Horror Story: Cult - Finale Review (Spoilers)

In this review I will be discussing the finale of American Horror Story: Cult. This is it folks, the last episode and, naturally, it's virtually impossible to discuss the episode without spoilers. Anyone who plans to view it has had ample time to catch up now and so in this review I will divulge plot points and character motivations to better explain my points and analyse the episode. This will not be an Episode Synopsis or Breakdown however. If you truly want to go into the episode blind and not having any future enjoyment of it spoiled then I recommend bookmarking this review and reading it after seeing the episode. If you don't mind spoilers however then dive in. 

Episode 11 (Finale) - "Great Again"

There isn't much to say about this episode that I didn't already cover in my review of Episode 10. Sadly the whole thing ended exactly as I predicted: There are no good people, women in power would be a scary cult or evil, just like men. The world is doomed and we should all be scared of everyone. But fear is bad as that's what gets manipulated to empower the evil people. So, what? Should WE all just shut up and get on with our lives. Should we accept that we have no real power? Or does power by its very nature corrupt? Big questions and none of which are handled satisfactorily for me. It's good they're able to be asked but too much of the writing seemed to reinforce that our patriarchal society is all men who are afraid of women. But then that's presented as somewhat justifiable. Where was the middle ground? And what possible solutions did the show present us with? Sure, there was a great punch-the-air moment when Ally uttered the infamous "nasty woman" line but it comes across as being written and interpreted by someone who completely missed the point and historical context of it's origin. Couple that with the fact that ultimate power is handed to a black woman because "she doesn't fit the profile" (which reeks of the people who complain about affirmative action) and a lesbian mother ("children need a father" cry the voices of homophobia). Far from being a decent exploration of cult mentality then this season should perhaps have been better titled " AHS: Straight, white, male privilege shits itself".

I don't really have much else to say. I'm sure women everywhere are relieved that a bunch of men have warned them not to turn into Valerie Solanis'. And the show can't even keep that part of it's logic consistent. If Ally's end game was reviving S.C.U.M then why did she murder Bebe? Too much of this season just makes no sense to me.

Finally, I see the point in criticizing our divisions. That was good. Calling out how political parties are essentially cults is bold and thought-provoking. But again, the show doesn't offer an alternative here and, like the last election, turns it round to being about gender. Maybe that was the point but, again, what is the show trying to say with this? That gender is a cult constructed by society? Or that men are the safer pair of hands? Either the show was never meant to be read this deeply in which case it's poorly written surface shock-horror with no real depth, or it's giving off wrong, bizarre and/or mixed messages.

Likewise the presence of clowns in general, and Twisty in particular, is never explored or developed in any meaningful way. It comes across as the worst type of fan service. When Twisty was literally seen in the early episodes (played by the same actor) was that just a hallucination? Or someone dressed as him? And if he's an actual serial killer from the AHS version of history then isn't it really weird that a young boy goes to sleep at night cuddling his effigy? It's a perfect summation of this season. It either means something horrible or nothing at all. But hey, it's familiarly AHS. Poor finale to an ultimately very disappointing season.

* (1/5)

MM