American Horror Story Cult Episode 4 & 5 Synopsis (Contains Spoilers)
(Photo: Frank Ockenfels/FX)
American Horror Story Cult episode 4 may just be the most fundamental to the series. The opening scene focuses on the realities of voting in America. There is a slight "joke" about how people should be required to take a test to vote. This echos past and present voter discrimination laws created by the United States political parties agendas. It also opens with the man whose arm is cut off - which we later find out why. What many missed however was that scene was very metaphorical to the 2016 election. People were willing to sabotage the greater good, possibly their own livelihood for the sake of a different candidate. Or even worse, people would cut their arm off before they see a woman be president of the United States.
(Photo: FX Networks)
It also touches on the psychological phenomena known as "the bystander effect". People see that this man is bleeding, and outside of the voter check in agent, nobody seems to do anything other than watch while this man dripped blood all over the place. This ties into a larger thing about how society is selective about what they truly care about. Sort of like how people "Pray for Paris" but not Nigeria. Or "Pray for Texas/Florida" but bystander effect Puerto Rico. In fact, I found myself informing my own people (Americans) that Puerto Ricans were in fact also U.S. citizens. Ultimately the bystander effect intersects among many different avenues, but this show is entirely based on political phobias and ideologies so we will focus on that.
In this episode Kai (Evan Peters) finally shows you his gift: The art of liberation through manipulation. The ability to take fear or sadness, and turn it into a blinding rage controlled by the simple feeling of having someone, "To believe in" is the blueprint of his cult. Remember when we discussed the counselor being a more important role? That is to come. Kai breeds the "nature of their beast" into something only he can see and tame. Seeing each individual go through their own anguish one by one begins teaching the viewer how the mind of a cult leader works. What does it take to create a following? Leaders create followers by empowering them to be more yet needed (something we all want).
(Photo: FX Networks)
He begins discussing how hypocritical and divisive diversity is and uses unity to create marginalized radical movement. Does diversity's problem lie within unity being second to exclusivity? Kai has the privilege of neglecting minorities but knows how the culture matters to each individual.
For instance in episode 4 he says: "You are a Black woman, you have it the worst!" Him acknowledging the very fabrics of other cultures and exploiting them to his own benefit is the root of cultism. In addition, it is a populist approach that only President Trump could dream of. The issue is, how far will Kai go for them? He claims to go above and beyond both criminally, physically, sexually, and emotionally. Kai takes the element of fraternization - brotherhood/sisterhood and makes that the root of his movement. In the same way that the Crips were originally supposed to be a positive movement (Common Revolution In Progress) Kai uses the tactic of "I'll do anything for you so you do anything I wish."
(Photo: UnitedGangs.net)
As you saw, murder is nothing more than a mere event in the eyes of Kai and his followers. Kai does something that many of us forget to acknowledge:
Making sure we all matter individually.
This was the root cause of why many people switched parties in 2016. Democrats were split: Blue vs Green because of how Bernie Sanders was treated by the DNC and because Hillary is seen as an unfit candidate by many liberals, leftists, and democrats. Trump gained rural conservative voters who loved Sanders' ideas because Sanders spoke to the poor people of the inner cities, but also them. Republicans who could not stand Trump voted for Gary Johnson or not at all. All these voters share one common element: THEY FELT UNHEARD BY THEIR OWN. Even AHS Cult captures this with Ally voting for Jill Stein and Ivy voting for Hillary Clinton.
(Photo: IndianExpress.com)
Kai's claim that, " The world is so tiny " addresses the power of internet/cyber bullying. These tactics have become so simple that no one is doing it. Technology has created a world too familiar. Is our diversity truly dividing us from the bigger picture? Was Kai right in the opinion as liberals, they are so worried about labels they forget what unity sacrifices? An important thing to note is when he states, "People don't want to watch the news, they want to be distracted by it." The theme each one of Kai's cult followers have two things in common: Fear and Sadness. These two emotions are the constituents of the root of rage. "Nowhere is a great place to be" sent chills because he acknowledged the social issue that many people today feel over-obligated and overwhelmed, and being able to accept "nowhere" means the individual is ripe for the picking to go somewhere.
(Photo: FX Networks/Slashville.com)
The rite of passage within a cult is unique and as we begin to watch further, I believe that we learn to sympathize with these followers... This is exactly what happens in episode 5, and as as predicted Ivy (Allison Pill) was in on it. Episode 5 shows critical evolution in all the characters. It opens up Kai's dark past, it shows Beverly's (Adina Porter) rise to power. It also shows the spectrum of collectivism. Some may be deeply entrenched in a group's philosophy but others may be leery or regretful of joining. This happens with Ivy and a few others in Episode 5.
Many will say, "That would never be me." Without realizing, we are only one pinky promise away from our own truth.