Oh, my God, girls, the halfway point of "American Horror Story: Cult" was a confusing, and psychologically disturbing bloodbath.
It is clear now Ivy is part of things. Though her derision at times makes me wonder if she eventually will be bumped off. When she and Winter are driving in her car, and Iyy is stating how she hates this country, and what it has become, I was unclear what she meant. Does she hate the direction Trump is taking things, or the anti-Trumpers? And why escalate change with violence, when history has already proven that to not work? But coming from the owner of The Butcher On Main....well, it does make an odd kind of sense.
The scene between Ally and Oz, which should have been sweet, was abruptly hurtful by his cruel, childhood remark that she is "weird." This clearly indicates he is being groomed for membership as some sort of prepubescent Michael Myers.
The most interesting bit, casting and otherwise, turned out to be Bob, the sleazy TV exec, who was pawing Serena last week. Casting Dermot Mulroney, still one of Hollywood's hottest straight men, was a brilliant stroke. But, to have him turn out to be sadistic bisexual serial killer, who trusses up ugly looking guys, like Gary (Chaz Bono) is sheer genius. Bob's murder, shown, ostensibly, on local television, was the highlight of the episode.
Which leaves Ally in the position of victimhood, but I would not rule her out just yet. Because, don't forget that mojo she displayed when confronting the Wiltons. There is a lot of unbridled in anger in Ally, and sooner, or later, it will come out.
I think Meadow is dead!
And next week, we get Mare Winningham!
It was a surprise the psychiatrist, Winter, and Kai, were siblings, but I do not buy how the parents went down. I think it was something more participatory, involving their children. I mean, Winter was going to Vassar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Adina Porter is fabulous as Beverly Hope. I don't she buys Kai's story of his parents, and I am with her.
Brilliant as she is, it would have been a bigger kick if, cast in this role would be the one bitch who has experience with murder!
That's right! Miss Diana Ross!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My take on Ivy is that she really has no idea what exactly she signed up for. Ryan has fooled me before into thinking he's making sly social commentary, only to pull the rug out and have a storyline dead end. This time, I'm reasonably sure he is quietly, subtly mocking the violent hysteria of the "antifa" crowd, so stoked on class hatred they can't tell they've become the very creatures they despise.
ReplyDeleteThe clue that Ivy falls into this camp is her conversation with Winter in the car. She is so utterly pissed off and confused by Trump's victory over Hillary that her grip on reality is slipping: she personally blames and HATES her own wife, the biological mother of her child. She's so consumed by disappointment and misdirected rage that she can't function coherently (like, oh, 50 or so million actual American liberals who need to get a friggin grip before they unintentionally cement Trump-topia into a permanent state).
As to Ally, once again Ryan Murphy successfully misled everyone with the advance publicity. Its become clear she was never meant to voluntarily join the cult at all, nor is she a desirable acquisition for Kai. The only reason the cult bothers her is to help Ivy drive her insane, thus guaranteeing Ivy gains sole custody of Ozzy and the restaurant. I would be very surprised if Ally's remaining story goes any further than banal "turn the tables on my tormentors" boilerplate.
Much as you love sinister child storylines, I think you'll be disappointed. First, the Ozzy kid isn't a good enough actor to pull that off. Second, it doesn't really fit into this season's story arc. Third, Ryan is holding the "demon child" trope in reserve for the final AHS mash-up season, which will see the return of the Omen child from season one (which ended some years later with him still a young child, he could plausibly still be 12 or so in AHS timeline).
The gimp in the attic was simply bizarre, with no apparent payoff. Dermott gave no hint of bisexuality, much less sadism. And the gimp itself was beyond unrealistic: painful masochism is one thing, being suspended by filthy rusty meathooks in a hot airless attic, with sait hooks tearing thru your flesh and organs, is quite another. The gimp wasn't so much as moaning: ludicrous unless he was drugged (which they made clear he wasn't). That whole sidebar struck me as a tacky attempt to be shocking for shocks sake. And it felt out of character for Kai to insist on killing it so savagely: he's a psycho, but even he would have been un-nerved enough to just leave the guy be.
Beverly vs Kai is gonna be the endgame: you could feel it as soon as she joined the cult, and her cold indifferent embrace of Kai after his confession drove the point home as precisely as the axe she drove into Dermott's skull.
ReplyDeleteAs I have said, I thinks are not
going to end well for Ivy...unless
that scene where she is so hurtful to
Allly for giving her ha gift is who
she really is.
You are right about the kid--he is
not a good enough actor for my scenario.
But he is kept around for a reason.
Beverly livens things up. I think
she and Kai will have a showdown.
Unless the siblings combine.