Even though Ryan Murphy claimed American Horror Story: Cult would be about the 2016 election, every trailer and video clip leading up to its release featured knife-wielding clowns, ominous people in hazmat suits, and creepy bugs. But the first episode proved that Donald Trump's win in the November 2016 election is instrumental to the new season of Ryan Murphy's show. From the characters' disparate reactions to the horror movie events which occur in the wake of Trump's win, the election is AHS: Cult's inspiration, and that's exactly why the first episode is so scary.
Here's everything we learned from the premiere:
1) AHS: Cult is very much set in our world, right now.
The episode opens with real-life footage of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton during their respective campaigns. The news clips end with Clinton saying, "You can't just say whatever pops into your head if you want to be the president of the United States of America." While Trump has disproven this theory on multiple occasions, it's an indication that the shock and disbelief Clinton voters have felt since election night is this season's inspiration. A reporter says onscreen, "There is a real, palpable fear out there today," and it's this instability that sets the mood for the rest of the episode.
2) This season follows two very different factions.
Sarah Paulson's Ally stares in disbelief at the television as Clinton concedes the race. Meanwhile, in a basement elsewhere, Evan Peters' Kai announces that "the revolution has begun," and proceeds to aggressively thrust his body against the television. Even if AHS: Cult manifests its horror in clown-like murderers, it seems its purpose is to show the tension between Clinton and Trump supporters.
3) Evan Peters' Kai, this season's antagonist, models himself on Trump.
Aside from humping the TV screen when the winner is announced, Kai attempts to physically emulate Trump in a very specific way: by putting cheese puffs into a blender and rubbing them all over his face to get the president's orange glow. He also styles his hair into Trump's signauture quiff. The look (in all its horror) is complete.
4) Billie Lourd's Winter lives with Kai but has very different politics.
Hearing the news that Trump is president, Winter asks a friend over the phone, "What if I get pregnant now? Where will I get an abortion?" Her concerns are the concerns of women all over the country. However, despite having an allegiance to Clinton, Winter lives with Kai, and as the episode progresses, it becomes clear that she might not be immune to committing acts of violence.
5) Twisty is back, but not in the flesh—yet.
As the trailer already revealed, AHS: Freak Show's Twisty is back, but only in comic book form. Though he appears in a slasher-esque scene and murders a couple who are about to have sex, it turns out that Ozzy, Ally and Ivy's kid, is just reading a comic book about Twisty and imagining the story in his head.
However, as clowns appear to roam the streets post-election, it wouldn't be surprising if the real Twisty appeared...
6) This season is about "trigger warnings," and the lack of them.
Ozzy's Twisty comic book triggers his mom's coulrophobia. When Ozzy has night terrors, Ally is concerned. "My phobias are starting to affect our son," she says. But clowns aren't her only worry; she tells her therapist she also hates "confined spaces, the blood particles in the air, the dark, that coral thing that's been staring at me since I came in here."
When Winter announces that CNN should have had a trigger warning before calling the election results, it's an important pre-cursor to the season. Some horrors we can't avoid—particularly in a post-election world we have zero control over.
7) Mediocre white men are the most terrifying monsters of all.
In a town council meeting, Kai suggests having less police officers on the streets is better—a way to encourage a society of fear. In response to his outlandish requests, Ally's friend Councillor Chang says, "I appreciate that a lot of you 4chan guys feel empowered to join the rest of us in civil society now that papa bear Trump is telling you it's okay. But let me send you a message: This is a blip." His words are eerily resonant given the events of Charlottesville just a few weeks ago.
Kai's response is key: "There is nothing more dangerous in this world than a humiliated man."
8) Cheyenne Jackson is Ally's ridiculously good-looking therapist.
His name is Dr. Vincent, and he's suspicious for three reasons:
1) He gives her medication for her anxiety. In the real world, this would be a totally normal, non-suspect thing for a doctor to do. However, in American Horror Story, this might be an example of sinister behavior (remember the Addiction Demon from Hotel?). And when the doctor is kind of hot, it's even more suspicious.
2) When Dr. Vincent recommends that Ally work out, as that's how he's been dealing with the political upheaval, Ally takes a closer look at his body. There's a totally flirty moment, in which she remarks, "You do look good." Ally is happily married to her wife, Ivy, but could an affair be on the horizon?
3) Dr. Vincent knows all of Ally's phobias. Has he been feeding this information to whoever is responsible for the clowns that keep appearing?
9) Ally's coulrophobia manifests in an intensely creepy way.
In the supermarket, the cashier's "Make America Great Again" cap starts a chain reaction. Ally sees two clowns having sex on the watermelons in the produce section. A man wearing a mask with three faces and riding a scooter chases her down. From the car, she calls her wife Ivy, but as the camera pans, it's clear a masked creature is sitting on the back seat. In reaction, she crashes her car. Still, no one believes her.
"They knew my fears. They wanted to murder me," Ally says, adding weight to the theory that someone she knows is deliberately sabotaging her life.
10) Ally didn't vote for Hillary.
She thanks her wife for not telling anyone that she didn't vote for Hillary, but her choice to vote for an independent is clearly a major source of contention.
11) Winter might be the nanny from hell.
After revealing to Kai that she hates children, Winter applies for the job as Ozzy's nanny and is hired almost immediately. She's also terrified of Kai, and he might be the reason she's taken the job. Later on in the episode, she shows Ozzy snuff videos on the Dark Web. It's clear she's about to cause trouble for Ally and Ivy's family.
It's also worth noting that her surname is Richards, while Ally and Ivy share the surname Mayfair-Richards. Could she be a relation?
12) There was a Lena Dunham shout-out ahead of her appearance in the season.
Winter proclaims, "My proudest moment was when Lena Dunham retweeted me," regarding her work on the Clinton campaign. Dunham will appear later in the season, as Valerie Solanas, the woman who made an assassination attempt on Andy Warhol.
13) Winter doesn't call the police when Ozzy witnesses a murder.
Instead, Winter takes Ozzy across the street and makes him look inside a house, where he witnesses a group of clowns murdering Councillor Chang (who wronged Kai earlier in the episode) and his wife. Winter tells the police and his moms that Ozzy imagined the clowns. Is she just covering for them?
Detective Samuels, played by Colton Haynes, rules the crime a murder-suicide. Is he in on the crime, too?
14) Ivy might be gaslighting Ally.
When Ally sees a clown masturbating in the restaurant, Ivy is short with her, and requests that she starts taking her medication. She blames Ally for their dwindling sex life, and she gently, on several occasions, suggests that Ally is ruining their family. Is she gaslighting Ally, a nod to the way the term went viral following Trump's election?
Clearly, American Horror Story: Cult is going to be filled with references to the election, but it's going to be every bit as gory and twisty, as every other season of the show so far. Stay tuned for more mayhem.
