This week's episode, "Drink the Kool-Aid," was directed by American Horror Story stalwart Angela Bassett (she appeared in Coven, Freak Show, Hotel, and Roanoke). As the third-to-last episode of the season, several plot lines came to a head. First, Ally and Ivy reunited and started searching for a way forward for their family—without the cult. Kai asserted his masculinity over a group of extremely loyal male followers. And Ozzy's parentage was questioned once more. Below, everything you need to know about American Horror Story Season 7 Episode 9, "Drink the Kool-Aid."
1) Kai compared himself to other legendary cult leaders, and Evan Peters portrayed them all.
From Marshall Applewhite, leader of the Heaven's Gate cult, to David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidians (who is soon to be portrayed by Taylor Kitsch in Spike TV's Waco) and Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple, Peters took on his greatest roles yet, playing infamous cult leaders who led their followers to suicide or death. Donning makeup to transform into each of the leaders, Peters was unrecognizable in each chilling recreation.
Kai drew parallels between his cult and the fatal cults of the aforementioned white men, who all convinced hoards of followers to believe their tales of eternal life. Having already killed strangers, cult members, and some of his own family, Kai is ready to take his cult to the next level.
2) Kai's male cult members call him "Divine Ruler" and they aren't allowed to masturbate.
In a series of sleepovers in his basement, Kai regales the male cult members with tales of other inspiring leaders. He's intent on convincing his followers to commit to him fully, to the point where suicide is an option. It's revealed that the men in the cult aren't allowed to masturbate, a policy which closely mirrors the rules of David Koresh's cult (Koresh fathered all of the children in the cult, and had every male member castrated). But Kai says he doesn't believe in castration because the men need to keep producing testosterone to keep them strong.
3) At a town council meeting, Kai passes an Internet bill, connecting all the town's computers to a private network.
Kai tells the room that several TV channels are perpetrating "fake news" and that "Pornography has desensitized our young men. We've lost a generation of moms to Candy Crush!" His solution is to connect every computer to a private network to monitor what citizens are looking at. Because the other members of the council are under duress and have been physically beaten by Kai's cult members, the motion passes. Then, Kai makes another special announcement.
4) Kai intends to run for Senate in 2018.
Trump supporter Kai's path to power will only stop when he's in the White House, presumably.
5) Ally and Ivy are reunited and Ozzy comes home.
Since Ally joined Kai's cult in Episode 8, she can now openly speak to Ivy about everything that's happened to them. Ivy reveals that she felt so lost and alone and disconnected from Ally following the election that she needed to skee guidance. Ally resents the fact that Ivy needed a "daddy" to look up to and take instruction from, but the pair decide to work together for the sake of their son.
Winter brings Ozzy home and he's happy to be reunited with estranged mom Ally. He tells her he missed her and she vows to keep him safe.
6) Winter Googles how to leave a cult, and suggests they all make a run for it.
Having watched Kai murder their brother, Dr. Vincent, in last week's episode, Winter seems to have realized that she can't trust Kai. As a result, she suggests that the women escape the cult as soon as possible. She produces some printed web pages from her bag which detail how to escape a cult. Before anyone can read them properly, Kai's minions knock on the door and demand to enter Ally and Ivy's house. Presumably, Kai's new Internet monitoring won't end well for Winter when he goes through her Google searches...
7) Kai demands an emergency meeting with the women.
Kai's male minions demand that Ally, Ivy, and Winter go to Kai's house immediately. Having just decided to leave the cult together, the women are understandably shaken, but they agree to attend the meeting, if only to keep Ozzy safe. Plus, Kai's minions have handguns, so no one is safe.
8) Kai makes everyone drink his Kool-Aid.
Replicating Jim Jones's mass suicide pact, Kai gives everyone a cup of what he says is poisoned Kool-Aid. One man who questioned Kai's plan earlier in the episode is asked to drink first. He refuses, and is shot to death. Crying, each of the women—Beverly, Ivy, Ally, and Winter—take a sip. Then, all of the men in the room drink from their cups. Only after everyone has drunk does Kai reveal there was no poison in the Kool-Aid—he was merely testing their loyalty. And since he's running for Senate, he needs the cult members alive so they can vote.
9) Ally and Ivy go to pick up Ozzy from school, but he's gone.
Deciding to make a run for it, Ally and Ivy take their passports and little else and go to pick Ozzy up from school. But when they get there, he's already gone. Winter picked him up—and she wasn't alone.
10) Kai reveals that he is Ozzy's father.
Having kidnapped Ozzy from school, Kai "bonds" with him, inviting him to play games in his basement lair. Once there, Ozzy and Kai "pinky-swear" and Kai reveals that he is Ozzy's biological father.
When Ally and Ivy storm in looking for their son, he calls Kai "dad" in front of them. This is when Kai reveals he's a regular sperm donor at the clinic they used to conceive their child. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen. Kai convinces the women to leave Ozzy with him for a sleepover.
11) Ally murders Ivy.
During a romantic dinner at home, Ally reveals, partway through their meal, that she will never forgive Ivy for abandoning her. During her several weeks spent in a treatment facility, Ally realized there was only one way forward for her—to murder Ivy and raise Ozzy by herself. Ivy refuses to believe that Ally is capable of revenge, telling her she doesn't believe she has the gumption for such behavior. However, Ally laced the wine and the pasta with arsenic...
12) Kai tells a story about Jim Jones' Peoples Temple and Ozzy disproves.
In telling the story of Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple, Kai says that following the cult's mass suicide, Jesus resurrected leader Jim Jones, who then used his newfound powers to resurrect all of his followers. But Ozzy uses Wikipedia (which Kai calls "fake news") to expose this as a lie. Kai isn't happy pleased about this and tells Ozzy, "Doubters get no cookies." Kai then instructs his followers to put the kid in "time out."
13) Ally goes to the clinic and finds out the true identity of Ozzy's biological father.
And it's not Kai.
14) Ally invites Kai to dinner and convinces him she believes in him.
Despite finding out that Kai is not Ozzy's father, Ally invites him round, cooks him dinner, and tells him HE IS the father. She gives him fake files that reveal it was his sperm that impregnated her. She tells him,
"It's like hitting the genetic jackpot. Somehow, all those years ago, I knew you were extraordinary. Without ever meeting you, or even knowing your name... Something about you spoke to me. This is cosmic, written in the stars, divine intervention, bringing us together."
With tears in his eyes, Kai tells Ally, "We made a Messiah baby."
Ally also reveals to Kai that she killed Ivy. Kai helps Ally dispose of the body in the locked room where he keeps his dead parents, of course. He then reunites Ally with her son, and says, "Now we can be a real family." Presumably by "real" he means heteronormative, something which Ally will hopefully rebuke by the finale.
15) A theory for next week.
Ivy isn't really dead. Sure, we saw her supposedly die from arsenic poisoning, but what if this was all part of Ally's escape plan? The look of concern on her face when Ivy was dumped in the death room with Kai and Winter's long-dead parents suggests that Ivy is merely sleeping...
