By “American Horror Story” creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk may be the last people who you would expect to use their platform to take a political stand, but “AHS: Cult” makes for a pleasant satirical surprise.
The season, which premiered on Sept. 5 is the seventh installment of FX’s horror show. While past seasons have been about ghosts, asylums, witches and the like, audiences are now being taken in a new direction.
Only two episodes have aired, but it seems this season is taking a more realistic approach.
Rather than monsters, this season is about the political fear that rose when Trump became president, which is explored through hilarious stereotypical examples of members of the Democratic and Republican Parties.
Ally Mayfair-Richards (Sarah Paulson) is a liberal whose life comes crashing down when Trump is announced president.
Kai Anderson (Evan Peters) is on the opposite side of the spectrum; he’s ecstatic when hearing Donald Trump’s name called as the winner, saying that the time for revolution is here.
The scripts for the characters seem like an exchange on Twitter between angry liberals and conservatives. The dialogue is nothing special, but it makes the characters relatable and realistic.
The difference between scrolling through Twitter and watching “AHS: Cult” is, rather than getting frustrated at one political party, “AHS” is making fun of them equally.
This isn’t named “American Comedy Story” though. There still needs to be horror.
Clowns are the primary fear source so far, which seems like overkill with the recent release of “It.” Frankly, the clown seems like a last ditch effort, especially since the show is reusing the same character from season four “AHS: Freak Show.”
Newsflash: not everyone is afraid of people in spooky clown masks. Honestly, I think clowns are hilarious.
Regardless of the plot, Paulson and Peters have done a solid acting job from season one until now.The several writers are the ones that are problematic. They seem like they all have their own ideas of where they want to take the show, and often end up clashing with each other.
Sure, there can be multiple storylines going on in one season, but the additions should add to the overall plot of the season, rather than simply provide shock value, which is what we have seen from AHS in the past.
For example, in season three “AHS: Coven,” it’s unclear whether one of the witches has sex with a minotaur man. The minotaur is killed shortly after, and while the death signaled the beginning of the war between the witches and the voodoo queen, the gross scene wasn’t at all necessary.
Additionally the aliens in “AHS: Asylum,” season two, only show up a few times and with no explanation. They seemed to be a last minute idea that the writers decided to throw in while adding in nothing of substance to the plot.
Murphy and Falchuk tend to start the season off strong, but mid-season the writers throw spaghetti at the wall to see if it sticks.
The first two episodes seem silly so far, but maybe that’s what the writers are aiming for.
It’s too soon to tell whether “AHS: Cult” will be a decent season, but so far it’s had some good laughs.
