‘American Horror Story – Cult 7×03: Neighbours from Hell’ Review
If I was to write that American Horror Story: Cult is a brave show to air on television, I’m sure many would say “no, it just sucks.” The thing is with this year’s choice of subject, which has a focus more on the psychological, it is going to divide viewers. This is a year that is definitely trying to mess with anybody who chooses to watch it. The question is going to be, is the risk worth it?
After the shooting, last week Ally (Sarah Paulson) finds herself exonerated from any blame for her actions. This doesn’t make everybody happy though as Ally and Ivy (Alison Pill) find out when they find protests outside their restaurant. With Kai (Evan Peters) showing support for Ally though, just what is he up to?
This week’s episode managed to at first confuse me as to what it was trying to achieve, but then intrigue me in the long game it is playing. While the first two episodes were about building up fear and showing Ally’s anxiety, we are now introduced with a new side of her character which shows off a sudden show of strength against adversity. This bugs me, suddenly all her allergies are gone, and she is ready to battle to show everybody she is in the right in her actions.
Of course, this shows off the so called “white privilege” of the character, which provides a source for hatred to be thrown at her. The problem here is she shows this in all its glory, full of self-righteousness and also pity for herself based on what she is going through. In many ways, she is now drifting onto the side of Kai, even if their political beliefs are not the same.
Another change in tactic is the use of the clowns, who now feel more like masked freaks who are part of the “cult” of Kai. We assume that Kai is the leader, though there are hints as to another who may be pulling the strings. I won’t spoil who it is, but from the opening moments we see his connection to the murders, and we see a reason that Kai has put his focus on Ally and Ivy for his little games.
The choice of name for the episode “Neighbours from Hell” is interesting, because which are the real neighbours from hell? Harrison and Meadow Wilton (Billy Eichner and Leslie Grossman) may be there to “trigger” Ally, but her actions do show an insensitivity to the two, and play into their game. She is the aggressor, and she is the first one to throw the blame on the two. I picked up last week that Ally may be a character that is the cause to many of the deaths in the game, and this week we see more proof of it.
American Horror Story: Cult is a show that works on the extremes, and it is going to polarise a lot of fans. Some will enjoy it, while others will not be a fan of the new take on horror. One thing we can be sure of though is that there is still a long way to go in this season and as we know of American Horror Story, things can take a huge direction change at any time.
While I am enjoying American Horror Story: Cult, Neighbours from Hell is a testing episode that I’m sure many will not be fans of. I like the fact that we’ve been fed answers to some of the mysteries around the story, but I also expect things will change at any time. Where will American Horror Story: Cult take us? Who knows, hopefully though it is in a direction that can keep most of the fans happy.
**** 4/5
American Horror Story: Cult airs in American at 10pm on FX and in the UK on Fridays 10pm on Fox.
