This episode of American Horror Story: Cult, titled “Winter of Our Discontent,” picks up three weeks after the rally shooting. Ally has been released from the psychiatric ward, Vincent has a few truths to tell and Beverly is ready to cut the snake off at the head. It looks like nobody is safe anymore from the wrath of the evil and fearful Kai.
9 Perfectly Terrifying Episodes of AHS to Watch This Halloween >>>
Vincent Tells Ally the Truth
After weeks of wondering whether Vincent was part of the cult, fans finally get an answer. The smiley face badges were a red herring after all. It turns out Vincent never really believed Ally at first and never actually realized that his own brother, Kai, was tormenting her. After the rally shooting and a talk with Kai about getting his message out nationwide, Vincent is surer than ever.
That would be great if someone was on Vincent’s side. Ally has learned that the only person she can trust is herself. When Vincent tells her that he will have Kai committed, Ally does the one thing that will save her for now: she tells Kai the truth. It’s not without some sort of payment. Ally wants her son back and knows Kai can arrange that for her.
One thing Kai notices is that something is different about Ally. She’s certainly not the scared, wimpy little girl anymore. Despite all the horror that Kai caused, he has managed something nobody else could. He has cured her of all her fears.
Winter Shares Kai’s Backstory
Meanwhile, Beverly, Winter and Ivy are working the kitchen at the restaurant, under the watchful eye of Kai’s latest citizen security detail. It’s all a punishment after the murder of Harrison in the previous episode of American Horror Story: Cult, and Beverly is angry that things have gone this far. They’ve lost the momentum of their own little cult, and they need to stop Kai before it’s too late.
Winter doesn’t want to kill her brother, though. She’s sure she can get through to him. After all, he was never always like this and she owes him her life.
It turns out that two years earlier at Halloween, Winter and Kai were trolling people on the dark web, pretending to be true believers. They get an invite to Judgment House, where a creepy pastor has set up what looks like a number of horror rooms to tell a story, except the people in these rooms aren’t actors.
The pastor took a woman from Planned Parenthood, assuming she was going for an abortion (she was getting treated for a UTI); a former drug addict who was going to support groups to get clean; and a man who was volunteering at an AIDS center. Kai realizes that all these people were innocents in the wrong place at the wrong time. As he gets them free, Winter goes for help, only to be stopped by the pastor. She would have been one of his next victims had Kai not saved her.
Beverly agrees to allow Winter to deal with Kai in her own way for now, but Beverly will kill him at the end of the week if she has to. Winter isn’t about to let that happen.
Quiz: Which Creepy TV Show Should You Binge-Watch on Halloween? >>>
Kai Wants a Messiah Baby
If American Horror Story: Cult hadn’t been creepy and twisted enough, it gets a lot more twisted in this episode. Kai loves Winter so much that he wants her to have his Messiah baby, only it’s not going to be through direct incest.
He wants Winter to sleep with Detective Samuels while Kai sleeps with Detective Samuels. It’s a twisted mind Kai lives in, as he claims that by doing this in a sacred way, Winter’s child will be Kai’s. Samuels is more than happy to oblige, completely and utterly believing in the cult now. Winter isn’t so certain. While initially she goes through with it, she decides that Kai is talking nonsense about a ritual he only made up that afternoon.
As punishment, Winter is forced to dress in red and eat gruel, delivered by Samuels. He finally shares more about how he got involved in the cult. He had originally caught Kai for selling prescriptions to drug addicts (after stealing Vincent’s prescription pad) and made it clear that he wanted 70% of the profits. One night, Kai caught Samuels not quite successfully romancing a woman, and he finally gave in to his sexuality since Kai removed the “gay label.”
Winter is angry at Samuels blindly following Kai and realizes that it’s too late for the two of them to get out of this situation. When Samuels decides that he will impregnate Winter after all, she pulls his gun from him and shoots him.
A New Member Joins the Cult
Who gets the blame for Samuels’ death? Beverly, of course. Winter shares that she was going to be a dutiful member, eating her gruel as her punishment, when Beverly shot Samuels in cold blood. Beverly is sentenced to solitary confinement because death would be too good for her.
At the same time as her punishment, Vincent is punished for his threat to have Kai committed. Kai wastes no time in chopping Vincent’s pinky finger off and then stabbing him in the neck.
As everyone removes their masks, Kai welcomes the new member to the cult: Ally.
Did you expect to see Ally join the cult? What did you think about Kai’s backstory? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
American Horror Story: Cult airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on FX. Want more news? Like our Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of FX)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Alexandria is a full-time freelance writer and journalist. Alexandria studied Computer Science at Aston University and Criminology at the Open University. She enjoys writing about TV shows and entertainment news. Other than writing, Alexandria loves reading, exploring new countries, and relaxing with her family.
