Last week’s episode of American Horror Story was a flashback to election night and what went down; now we are back to where episode three left off at: Meadow (Leslie Grossman) missing.
Beverly is interviewing Kai (Evan Peters) about all the murders and mysterious events that have happened in the area and how Meadow has been missing. From last week, we know that Kai and Beverly (Adina Porter) are working together, so her having the advantage to be a part of the media could be a ploy.
Her boss, Bob (Dermot Mulroney), is skeptical of her reports by calling them fake news and is upset because Kai keeps getting put on the air. Beverly suggests showing footage of Serena’s (Emma Roberts) murder on TV, but Bob shoots the idea down. They go back and forth arguing, Beverly blaming him for sleeping with her. He tries to fire her, but Beverly knows too much about the situation between the two.
Kai holds a meeting in his basement with the members of the cult and discusses ways to get himself elected in the city council. The plan is to keep causing more and more problems for the city to scare the citizens so people turn to Kai for comfort.
But Kai is not happy lately with how his members have been dealing with the murders. They need to be scarier and the people need to see the clowns, but because Bob wouldn’t let them air Serena’s murder, they decide they must kill him too.
Lastly, Ivy (Alison Pill) shows up at this meeting which confirms she is also a part of the cult too. This shows that Ivy is fed up with dealing with Ally and is finally putting her foot down when it comes to dealing with her issues.
Ally (Sarah Paulson) wakes up from a nightmare about seeing holes in her skin and ends up scratching herself in real life because of it. She talks to Dr. Vincent (Cheyenne Jackson) about this and also the situation going on with Ivy, who left her. Ally thinks Ivy is prepared to leave her.
Later, the cult members arrive at Bob’s house. They make sure they video themselves torturing him, and he even reveals he has a “gimp” in the attic.
The members go upstairs to investigate and find a man hanging from multiple hooks by his bare skin with a leather mask over his face, not allowing him to see his surroundings. Kai murders the gimp, and then the rest of them murder Bob on camera. Ivy is then seen puking in the bathroom. Obviously, she is not handling this whole murdering thing well.
Ironically, Beverly is the first one on the scene. She claims she received an email with footage of the murder, which is then aired on live television.
That night, Kai has the members assemble once again to talk about how things went. He praises Beverly on how she acted, but everyone else needs some improvement. Kai pinpoints a weak link in the cult, RJ, who is Beverly’s camera guy. They flashback to a scene where RJ thought it was wrong when they were suffocating the couple inside the coffins.
Ally is home alone and not sure of what to do with herself, so she pulls out Ozzie’s telescope to spy on Harrison across the street. She sees him pulling a large bag out of his car and dragging it through the garage. She decides to investigate and finds a hole dug in the backyard with Meadow in it. Meadow notices Ally and begs for her help.
Ally runs back home to call 911, but they claim to be “experiencing a high call volume.” She calls Ivy for help, and Meadow appears, banging on the window, spilling secrets about the cult and who is part of it. Before more can be said, she is taken away by an unknown figure. Is this another ploy to try and get Ally to join Kai and the others, or is Meadow actually in trouble?
At another cult meeting, Winter (Billie Lourd) announces Kai is currently ahead of the other candidates running for council. They all head to the basement to get rid of the weak link with a nail gun. Ivy is scared again, and Kai asks if she is “with us or against us?” To prove her loyalty to the group, he has her fire the first nail into RJ’s head.
Then, Beverly and Kai are in a deep conversation about her fears. This time, Beverly wants to know more about Kai. She asks about his parents because she has noticed pictures of them around the house.
Kai gives in, and we find out that his dad was in a motorcycle accident. After being paralyzed and stuck in a wheelchair all the time, he built up a lot of anger and would take it out on Kai or his mom.
In 2014, Kai’s mother ended up shooting his dad and then herself, claiming it was “the only way out.” Beverly, being a reporter, does not remember this ever being in the news. Kai explains his brother, who we find out is Dr. Vincent, helped him cover it up in order to keep their parents' stable income. Now we know how the cult knows all of Ally’s phobias.
Kai breaks down in front of Beverly about his parents, who are kept in a bedroom, rotting away. Beverly might have the upper hand now that she knows something personal about Kai. As the season continues, Beverly may get the power she always wanted at the news station — but by being a leader of the cult.
American Horror Story: Cult airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.
