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American Horror Story: Cult Rewatch--Episode IV, “11/9″

SPOILERS for the entire season and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. (Screenshot by me, from Netflix. And ha, it looks like they’re looking down at my notes.)

The episode flashes back to election night, before the cult starts.

Winter takes a selfie in the voting booth. Isn’t that illegal and causes your vote to not count?

Ally promises to vote Democrat, but then votes for Jill Stein, which Ivy knows about in the first episode. When did she tell her? Did she even tell her, or did Ivy find out on her own?

Kai and Gary jump the voting line. Gary obviously needs a doctor, but wouldn’t Kai be told to go to the back of the line? What are the rules of this polling station?

Everyone votes very quickly. What about the rest of the ballot? Don’t you have to fill that out too?

I’m positive that if a man pulled out his bleeding stump of an arm at a polling station, he would be rushed to a hospital to recover, then be psychologically evaluated. Has Gary been evaluated? He needs it.

After the intro, the date is 09 November 2016, so Kai seems to begin to form his cult on that day, meaning the previous episodes (with the exception of the first scene) take place after that, likely in the rest of November and December 2016 or January of 2017.

How long has Kai been watching the Wiltons, that he selects Harrison as the first person to recruit for the cult? They appear to vote before he comes in, so he probably didn’t see them then. How did he find them? Was it just because he was a member of the gym, or did he join to find Harrison? How much control does he have at this point? It’s only one day after the election!

Kai knows enough about Harrison to know he’s gay even though Harrison’s just met him. Again, how long has been be watching them? How has he been watching them? Does he have cameras everywhere or something?

Kai says he works in technology, specifically coding. He could probably hack into a camera in someone’s house and watch them. On the other hand, he could be lying. I’m not entirely sure he even has a job prior to deciding to run for city council. He also says that he tested at a genius IQ level at age ten, which could be possible--he is very intelligent and good at getting in people’s heads, but again, that could be lying. There some things he says that I know aren’t true, and some things he says that I’m not sure about.

Kai tells Harrison that while he likes women, he will fight and kill for anyone, man or woman, if they’re part of his team. He adds that “and if they wake up in the morning with a hard-on that won’t quit, I will find a way to make sure they know how much I love them.” This is the start of indoctrination: letting Harrison know that he’s okay having sex with men, opening up the possibility of them sleeping together, if Harrison is with him in his endeavors. He’s using his sexuality to draw Harrison in.

Harrison says that sometimes people masturbate in the steam room--are people allowed to masturbate in a gym steam room? What if someone else is in there? Doesn’t that count as sexual harassment, then? Or indecent public exposure?

When did Kai have the time to sneak into the steam room and draw the smiley face without Harrison noticing? He went right there from the end of their session.

About the shower masturbation bit: How is Kai so sure that Harrison is going to walk in on him doing that? What if someone else came in? Why wouldn’t he close the door just in case and then open it when he saw that it was Harrison coming in? Why does Harrison just watch him? Does this count as indecent exposure in a public place? (He’s probably doing it on purpose to let Harrison get an eyeful, though… Kai likes to use sex to get people interested, which is interesting in of itself. He is later established as a complete misogynist, and yet he uses a traditionally feminine means of villainy--sexuality. What is this archetype of the person who uses their sexuality as a weapon often called? The femme fatale--which is French for “fatal woman.” The femininity is right in the name. Why would a man who so disdains women employ a tactic that he likely associates with them, and therefore would disdain as well? I won’t deny I like seeing the trope gender-flipped, though. It’s cool, and fun to think about.)

The “Macbeth scene” (my name):

It’s been at least twelve or thirteen days since the election, since this apparently Kai and Harrison’s last session out of twelve.

Kai has somehow managed to get into Harrison’s head well enough that the bullshit he spouts about being a mirror and quoting Nietzsche makes sense to the latter and he doesn’t ask questions. Then again, Harrison is very vulnerable here--he’s about to be homeless, and he’s feeling down on himself. It’s classic cult leader logic--get them when they’re feeling lost, and reassure them to make them think that you have all the answers.

“Harrison, I’m just a mirror. Anything you see in me is in you.” (Kai). These words are almost lifted directly from a 1970 Rolling Stone interview with Charles Manson, a man who (in my opinion) Kai might as well be. They’re so similar that the season is kind of just that history repeating itself. Perhaps this is the writers trying to seed the Manson material that wil happen later. (An additional note: I discovered this completely by accident about a week after watching the episode while reading this article. It even mentions this season!)

The actual Macbeth part begins with Harrison cleaning up in the steam room and Kai walking in. Harrison, like Macbeth, is in a place of uncertainty; Kai, his Lady Macbeth, urges him to take power and control of his life, which in both cases means murder. There’s also a bit of a gender thing going on--Lady Macbeth insults Macbeth’s masculinity to encourage him, and Harrison probably is feeling a bit emasculated right now, being made to clean up other men’s semen, which leaves him vulnerable to Kai’s manipulations. Harrison, however, is more willing than Macbeth--he doesn’t ponder killing as Macbeth does, he simply does it. On the other hand, his reaction to murdering Vinny is almost identical to Macbeth’s to murdering Duncan--freaking out. Kai is the opposite: calm and covering up the murder, just as Lady Macbeth does.

Kai is able to hack into Vinny’s phone to send a text from it as well as erase three weeks of security footage seemingly due to a computer virus. Perhaps he’s not lying about working in tech. Either that or he’s a really good hacker.

He also confirms that he’s been watching Harrison and everyone around for a long time. How? In person? Through cameras? What kind of operation is he running?

More classic cult leader logic: Kai tells Harrison that they’re going to destroy everything to create a better world. He smartly doesn’t specify what that world is, but promises a better one to someone who’s having a hard time, which is part of seeming like he can provide all the answers.

Kai apparently knows enough about the human body to instruct Harrison how to cut off a head. Has he done this before? As a matter of fact, did he ever kill anyone before he started the cult?

Cut to December of 2016, when Beverly is reporting on Vinny’s murder. I’m guessing that his body wasn’t found for about a month or a little more than a month.

Beverly’s not a part of the cult during this report, since it’s this that draws Kai to talk to her and recruit her.

Kai takes Adderall, which is prescribed at one pill a day, but he’s also popping more than one at a time. Also, I just want to point out that he looks like a modern-day, ratty Daario Naharis in this scene.

Beverly understandably cracks after being harassed during work, but still checks herself into a rehab facility, which doesn’t really seem like her, since she’s very headstrong. Was she made to by her boss?

Once again, Kai practically appears behind someone, this time Beverly. Honestly, does the man wear some kind of noise-cancelling shoes?

Beverly takes up Kai’s offer for coffee even though she has no idea who he is. Why would she do that? Why would anyone do that? He could be dangerous! He is dangerous! The fact that she took him up on the offer and didn’t walk away is honestly a stroke of luck for him.

Kai almost acts as a more chaotic version of James March here, asking Beverly how it felt to do something bad (as March often does with John), and encouraging her to kill people. He tells her that fear gets stronger and scarier as it spreads (which is pretty obvious) and essentially asks her to be his minister of propaganda. An earlier scene has shown that Beverly is worried about her job, as Serena seems to be rising in the ranks of the news station. Kai is preying on that here; giving her an opportunity to become valuable when she feels like she isn’t.

“If you get the world scared enough, they will set the world on fire for us.” (Kai). So he wants people to be so scared that they’ll do anything for him. Does that mean he’s going to make people scared of him, or of the world at large so that they’ll cling to him? Maybe both.

The backstory Kai gives Beverly (Iraq, Yale, etc.) is such blatant lying that I’m not entirely sure she believes him either, given the indulgent smile she gives him after. Did he really think she going to believe him, or is he using the lie to paint himself as stupider than she thinks he is, so she’ll underestimate him and he’ll be able to control her later?

Beverly tells Kai that there aren’t any open seats on city council, so this is before the Changs are murdered, meaning that they were probably murdered in mid-December of 2016.

“I need you, Beverly.” (Kai). The vocabulary is specific. Beverly isn’t feeling especially needed at her job at the moment, given the assignments she’s been getting (such as the landfill), but Kai is there to fill that hole. Like with Harrison, he takes advantage of a person at a moment of low self-esteem and unhappiness. Once again, pretty classic cult recruitment.

Only Harrison, Meadow, and Kai show up to kill Serena and her cameraman. Are Samuels and Gary not part of the cult yet, or could they simply not make it?

As the clowns walk away, Kai appears to be holding Serena’s heart in his hand. Holy shit. That’s all I can say. Jesus freaking Christ. That’s… that’s another level of depraved.

Two people are dead, but at least the puppy is alive. The puppy lives, and that makes me happy. Also, I want to pet it.

Meadow is clinging to Kai’s every word in the next scene. I’m guessing she’s already in love with him, and he probably knows it, given that he’s going to use her love for him to his advantage in two episodes. (Just a note on the way Kai talks here--he’s very slow and deliberate, building up anticipation for his reaction to the masks. He knows he’s got them (or Meadow at least, Harrison doesn’t look too interested) completely in his thrall.)

Kai tells Beverly that he will do anything for her, a probable callback to him telling Harrison something similar earlier in the episode (see above). So he wasn’t lying about that--he’ll do anything for anyone in his circle, or if he thinks it’ll get them in his circle. And it’s part of indoctrination--he’s making Beverly feel like he cares about her, like he’s one of the only people who cares about her, so she’ll come to rely on him.

Beverly is next seen reporting on the finding of Vinny’s severed head, which was reportedly alerted to the police by anonymous tip. Did one of the cult members call it in, to work more fear-mongering?

Flash back to 07 November 2016, the day before the election. Ivy first meets Winter when the latter defends the former after Gary sexually assaults her. I’m guessing that Ivy met Kai through Winter, likely after confiding her frustrations in her about Ally voting for Jill Stein. An important question: is the cult tormenting Ally only because Ivy is angry and wants to hurt her, or does Kai have some vested interest in Ally? (I’ve seen the interpretation that he’s in love with her, which is interesting to think about.)

Kai must have some kind of ability to move without sound, because he opens the door to Winter’s room and walks in without her noticing. How stealthy can he be? I’d swear he was a ghost if this season wasn’t the only one without supernatural elements or magic.

He also seems to notice the blood on Winter’s finger even though she’s standing far from him in a dimly, red-lit room. Again, does he actually have some kind of power?

Kai honestly looks rather aroused when Winter tells him that hurting Gary “felt fucking fantastic” and orders her to tell him everything. It’s like if James March and Viserys Targaryen had a son. An extremely disturbing son.

Given that Kai frees Gary from the basement, Winter must have told him everything, but why, when it’s not in her interests at all? My guess: she’s afraid of what he’ll do to her if she doesn’t. Even though the cult isn’t a thing yet, he still exerts some power over her, especially since she likely knows of his violent tendencies and inappropriate attraction to her. (I am using the words “likely” and “probably” a lot in these notes. I’m sorry; it’s simply that not everything is confirmed and I must hazard guesses based on dialogue and body language.)

When Kai goes down to find Gary, there’s a shot where the background is completely black, and he’s the only thing in the shot that’s lit. No comment here. I just think it looks really cool.

“Humiliation” and its varieties is a word Kai uses with almost all of his followers recruited so far: Harrison, Beverly, Meadow, and now Gary. He even uses it to refer to himself in the first episode. Humiliation is key here; Kai takes people that feel humiliated and works with it, because people hate feeling humiliated (in my experience), and he’s promising them that he can take away that feeling, and maybe even help them punish those who humiliated them. He’s using it to get them to do insane things that they would otherwise never do (i.e., Gary cutting off his own hand). Throughout this whole episode, he’s been doing that, and I won’t say that it’s not clever, since it’s working very well.

I don’t like Gary at all, but I do feel sorry for him. No one deserves an insane man manipulating them into cutting off their own hand. Not even to vote.

Kai looks unnerved by Gary cutting off his own hand. This man cut out a woman’s heart without flinching, and this freaks him out? What the hell are his standards for gore? Not self-inflicted?

#american horror story #ahs #ahs cult #kai anderson #winter anderson #harrison wilton #beverly hope #ally mayfair richards #ivy mayfair richards #akh rewatches ahs #akh.txt