Episode 5 of 'AHS: Cult' Was the Most Brutal Yet
If you've found this season of America Horror Story difficult to watch so far, then look away now, because Episode 5 was the most gruesome insta'lment yet. With a title like "Holes" it should've been obvious that the episode would deal with phobias in the worst way, and the murders would be way more brutal than ever before.
1) The episode zooms in on Trypophobia.
Episode 1 revealed that Sarah Paulson's Ally suffers from Trypophobia, a fear of holes. A plethora of objects trigger her phobia, including honeycomb and coral. In Episode 5, Ally's Trypophobia is triggered by a dream in which she scratches holes in her neck and black bugs crawl out, and by a grave dug in Harrison's back yard.
Using Ozzy's telescope, Ally watches as Harrison arrives home with a bodybag. As he goes into his house, Ally sees Detective Samuels inside too. (Remember, he was shown watching TV with Harrison and Meadow in Episode 3.) Ally watches Harrison and the Detective kiss and she decides to investigate Harrison's backyard. She finds a freshly-dug grave with Meadow lying inside, still alive and begging for help.
Hearing noises from the house, and distressed by her trypophobia, Ally runs back to her house and calls the police. No one picks up and the 911 answering machine reveals the line us receiving a very high level of calls. Ally then calls Ivy, who tells her she shouldn't be calling. The pair are separated following a video surfacing of babysitter Winter fingering Ally in a bathtub.
2) Meadow is probably dead.
While Ally was on the phone to Ivy, Meadow turned up at Ally's window begging for help. She revealed that everyone they knew was in a cult, even Ally's wife, which made Ally suspicious but uncertain. Before Ally could offer to help her, Meadow was dragged away, presumably by Harrison and Detective Samuels. She has not been seen since.
3) Kai decides the murders need to be scarier, and more disgusting, to capture the public's attention.
At a cult meeting at the start of the episode, Kai voices his frustration at the fact that the general public isn't distraught enough about the murders that have been taking place. To stoke the public's fear further, it's decided that the murders need to be more gruesome and broadcast on TV so everyone can see the clowns. This is when Kai hatches the plan to kill TV anchor Bob, who also happens to be cult member Beverly's boss.
3) The cult murders Bob - and his gimp.
The clowns attack Bob in his kitchen, but before they can murder him and film the entire thing to be broadcast on TV, Bob reveal he has a gimp (remember the suit from Season 1?) in the attic, and no-one would look after it following his death. As if the revelation that Bob has a gimp wasn't crazy enough, the killer clowns murder them both in the most disgusting way.
The clowns find Bob's gimp with a mask over his face hanging by hooks in the attic, completely unaware of what's going on around him. One cult member, Beverly's cameraman RJ, reasons that since the gimp hasn't seen or heard them, it should just be set free. Obviously, Kai isn't happy about this suggestion, and proceeds to fatally stab the gimp, who is still completely unaware of what's happening.
Bob is then brought into the attic, where the killer clowns begin filming and chanting as each member of the cult takes a turn stabbing Bob. Beverly then reveals her face to Bob so he knows she was the one responsible for his death.
The footage of Bob's murder was then, of course, leaked to the local news, with Beverly first on the scene to report his grisly murder - stoking the community's fear even further.
4) RJ has disobeyed orders before.
Poor RJ was never cut out for cult life. During the cult meeting at the start of this episode, RJ asks why Kai is even running for a position on city council. In response, Kai hits RJ across the face and proclaimed, "Because the perception of credibility leads to the perception of power." RJ's lack of understanding regarding Kai's plan for power is a major source of tension throughout the episode.
We also see a flashback to when the killer clowns shut two of Dr. Vincent's patients in coffins in Episode 3, effectively burying them alive in their house.
Following the coffin incident, RJ asks why they couldn't just set the couple free instead of leaving them to die. His weakness - not wanting to actually murder people unnecessarily - only becomes more obvious, and he's ousted from the cult in a truly upsetting manner, which we'll discuss shortly.
5) Ivy is a bonafide cult member.
Despite running off to throw up when Kai murdered Bob's gimp, it's clear Ivy was a member of the cult and was present for all their murders so far. Why, Ivy?!
6) The cult kills RJ and it's painful to watch.
Kai makes the other members of the cult kill cameraman RJ to make an example of him as a traitor who refused to kill and believed half-measures were acceptable. In an act of pure brutality, Kai selected a nail gun and made Ivy deliver the first one to RJ's head. Kai explains humans can survive for a long time with nails in their skull, depending on where in the brain they hit (anyone who's ever watched Grey's Anatomy will know this to be true). RJ is still alive after several nails to the head, and Kai licks the blood from the former cult member's face. He then delivers the fatal nail to RJ's skull, killing him and setting an example for the rest of the cult.
7) Ivy and Ally's relationship was suffering way before the election.
Even before Ally chose not to vote for Hillary against her wife's wishes, the couple was having problems. As Ally discusses the relationship with her therapist, a flashback to October 2016 reveals she tried to reignite her wife's passion by buying her a vibrator, but Ivy shot Ally down and the cracks in their marriage began to show. Presumably, their disconnection is in part what led Ivy to seek out and join Kai's cult.
8) Kai's tragic back story is finally revealed.
Before Episode 5, Kai remained a mystery. Despite being an enigmatic character whose charisma captivated a cult of killer clowns, we barely knew anything about him. But in "Holes," Kai opens up to Beverly, and his reasons for starting a cult become clear.
When Kai had just started college and was living at home with his parents, his dad became disabled following an accident and took out his anger on Kai's mom. One night, Kai heard gunshots from his room in the basement, and ran upstairs to find his father had been shot by his mother. She turned to Kai and said, "It's the only way out," before shooting herself. With both parents dead, Kai called his brother to help him with the shocking scene. The devastating and gruesome deaths of Kai's parents were formative, in the same way that the death of Norman Bates' mother created the legendary Psycho serial killer.
9) Dr. Vincent is Kai's brother.
Kai calls his brother following the deaths of their parents, and who should turn up but Ally's therapist, Dr. Vincent. Having just started his practice, Rudy Vincent took control of the situation and wouldn't let Kai call the police. Instead, he came up with a gruesome plan that Norman Bates would be proud of: put both their parents in their beds, cover them with lye, and wait for them to decompose.
Rudy justified the plan by saying Kai's life would be ruined if they called the police, especially since he just started college and had his whole life ahead of him. Dr. Vincent also reasoned that his medical practice would suffer if his patients found out his parents had been involved in a murder-suicide. There was also the issue of money, mom's pension and dad's disability check, which would cease following their deaths.
10) Winter is Kai's sister - but is she also related to Ivy?
When Kai asks Rudy if he should tell Winter, who's away at college, about the tragedy, Rudy tells Kai not to - proving there's some animosity between the siblings. Despite Winter's role as an important member of the cult - and her clear relation to both Kai and Rudy - her surname on the FX website is listed as Richards, while Ivy's is Mayfair-Richards. Is this a hint that Ivy and Winter develop a romantic relationship, or later marry? Or do they share a parent?
11) Is Ozzy, full name Ozymandias, a future cult leader?
Just as Breaking Bad used Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "Ozymandias" to convey Walter White's fall from greatness, it seems significant that Ally and Ivy's son was named after the classic poem. Does this mean Ozzy has a greater significance within the cult than we previously knew? And who did Ivy and Ally enlist as the sperm donor? So many questions.
Ivy also reveals to Winter that Ozzy has been asking if Winter is going to be his third mom, which definitely suggests that something romantic is going on between Ivy and Winter.
12) There was an American Horror Story: Hotel shout out.
Speaking to Ally, Dr. Vincent asks, "Is there any way you can stay in a hotel?" After a long pause, Ally says there's not. Actor Cheyenne Jackson, who portrays Dr. Vincent, also appeared inAmerican Horror Story: Hotel, as Will Drake, the hotel's owner. Sneaky.
If Episode 5 made anything clear, it's that Beverly is only growing more powerful within the cult. It's hard to imagine that next week's episode will be quite as disgusting as "Holes" though, which you won't want to watch twice.
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