He is a visionary filmmaker and one of the theater’s most influential choreographers and directors. She is the greatest Broadway dancer of all time. Only Bob can create the groundbreaking musicals that allow Gwen to showcase her greatness. Only Gwen can realise the unique vision in Bob’s head. Together, they will change the face of American entertainment – at a perilous cost.

As Bob journeys from fledgling Broadway choreographer to lauded auteur of stage and screen, he fuels his manic creativity with drugs, alcohol, and sex, often abusing his celebrity and power to feed his appetites. Meanwhile, Gwen goes from a legendary triple threat, winning four Tony Awards in six years, to an actress struggling to stay relevant in an industry obsessed with youth and novelty and riven with double standards.

Through it all, Gwen plays an instrumental role in Bob’s work, not only as the greatest interpreter of his choreography, but as a largely unrecognised collaborator, even as their marriage unravels in the face of Bob’s increasingly self-destructive tendencies. Together, Bob and Gwen raise daughter Nicole (Chandler Head & Blake Baumgartner), who finds herself growing up in the long shadow of her parents’ illustrious careers, caught between her desperation for their approval and her determination to forge an identity of her own.

Bob and Gwen surround themselves with a tight-knit coterie of fellow artists, friends, collaborators, and rivals: the brilliantly acerbic playwright and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky (Norbert Leo Butz); former modern dancer turned homemaker Joan Simon (Aya Cash); Joan’s husband, the comedic genius, playwright Neil Simon (Nate Corrdry); and legendary theater producer and director Hal Prince (Evan Handler). Eventually, as Bob and Gwen’s marriage reaches the breaking point, Bob will forge a connection with Ann Reinking (Margaret Qualley), an up-and-coming Broadway dancer who has all the talent and tenacity of a young Gwen Verdon. She hopes to follow in Gwen’s footsteps, but may not have the stomach to put up with everything Bob demands.

Featuring show-stopping choreography, including original pieces as well as some of the most iconic works of Bob and Gwen’s careers, Fosse/Verdon will tell the story of these two brilliant, complicated individuals – the love they shared, the art they created, and the price they paid in the pursuit of greatness.

Thomas Kail, Steven Levenson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Joel Fields, Sam Rockwell, Michelle Williams, and George Stelzner are Executive Producers of the limited series that is produced by Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions. Levenson, who will serve as showrunner, wrote the premiere episode which will be directed by Kail. Actress, dancer and producer Nicole Fosse, and daughter of Fosse and Verdon, serves as Co-Executive Producer and oversees The Verdon Fosse Legacy. Co-Producer Andy Blankenbuehler is serving as a Choreographer, as is Susan Misner. Erica Kay serves as Producer.

Starring Sam Rockwell (Moon), Michelle Williams (The Greatest Showman), Brandon Uranowitz (An American In Paris), Tyler Hanes (Cats), Norbert Leo Butz (Dan In Real Life), Margaret Qualley (The Leftovers), Aya Cash (You’re The Worst), Nate Corddry (The Circle), Evan Handler (Californication), Laura Osnes as Shirley MacLaine, and Kelli Barrett (The Punisher) as Liza Minnelli.

Fosse/Verdon premieres April 9th on FX.

Will you be watching Fosse/Verdon? Tell us in the comments below!

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Much like the movie, the series follows three vampires who live together: Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), and Nandor (Kayvan Novak) — the former two are husband and wife. Also living with them is a fourth vampire named Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), who’s an “energy vampire.” Instead of blood, he sucks the energy out of his victims by boring them to death with mundane anecdotes and bad jokes. The office is his feeding ground, but his powers also work on his vampire roomies.

The self-appointed leader of the group is “Nandor The Relentless” (Kayvan Novak), a great warrior and conqueror from the Ottoman Empire, who has taken the helm of the group despite many of his Old World tactics resulting in what some might politely refer to as bupkis. Then there’s the British vampire “Laszlo” (Matt Berry) – a bit of a rogue and a dandy and a fop, he might say. He’s a lover of mischief and a great soirée, but not as much as he loves seeing Nandor fail miserably in every attempt. And then there’s “Nadja” (Natasia Demetriou): the seductress, the temptress, the vampiric Bonnie to Laszlo’s Clyde. Her wisdom and provocative tales from times past allow us insight into the many ups and downs of living an immortal life.

At New York Comic Con last year, executive producers Clement, Waititi, and Simms spoke about the series during a panel. Waititi confirmed that the series take place in the same universe as the original film, also teasing a potential crossover with the original’s characters.

“I’d like to say that our characters [from the film] are still in New Zealand at the same time, there’s a chance that there could be some crossover,” said Waititi.

Starring Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Kayvan Novak, Mark Proksch, Harvey Guillén, and Beanie Feldstein.

What We Do In The Shadows premieres Wednesday, March 27, at 10 p.m on FX.

Will you be watching What We Do In The Shadows? Tell us in the comments below!

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It has almost been a full 18 months since we’ve had the comedic genius of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on our screens. It was nearly too long in my opinion, but I’m thrilled that it’s back. There was some speculation for a while that season twelve would be its last, but “The Gang” has brought the goods again to kick of season thirteen with more ridiculous antics.

Quickly for those of you who aren’t familiar with the show, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (I’ll be calling it Philly for short) revolves around the daily lives of “The Gang”. They are twins Dennis and Deandra Reynolds (Glenn Howerton and Kaitlin Olson), Charlie Kelly (Charlie Day), and Ronald “Mac” Macdonald (Rob McElhenney) who were high school friends with Dennis. And finally, Frank Reynolds, who is played by Danny DeVito and is Dee and Dennis’ father. Together they own Paddy’s Pub in South Philadelphia where they constantly fight, do zero work, drink, and abuse any substance they can find, and indulge each other in ridiculous get-rich-quick schemes. With the right mix of toxic attitudes and disregard for humanity, “The Gang” cause suffering to whoever happens to stumble across their path. Cue hilarity.

New Beginnings?

To kick off the new season of Philly, “The Gang” appears to have magically matured overnight. A young Indian woman is making a speech about how accepting the people of Paddy’s are to a crowd of Liberals. After some touching words and applause, “The Gang” pull Cindy into the office and celebrate behind closed doors. The crowd outside had bought the lies Cindy was selling them in an attempt to drum up more customers for the pub. There had to be an ulterior motive somewhere. I was concerned for a moment, thinking that the characters had grown, but no, it was the perfect psyche out. It is also worth noting here that Dennis is still absent after his departure last season. New plans are discussed to take down the other Irish bar nearby, Murphy’s. “The Gang” all get their assigned jobs from Cindy who appears to be the new ringleader and go off to practice.

Special Delivery

Later that night, “The Gang” plus Cindy are having dinner at Mac’s apartment when he gets a huge crate delivered to his door. This is where Philly really comes into its own and things start to get weird. Mac opens the box to reveal a life-size Dennis looking sex doll.

Mac seems pretty happy with his purchase while everyone else is weirded out by his idolisation of his old roommate. In classic Philly style, it would seem that Mac misinterpreted what Cindy meant when she said that he had to fill the Dennis shaped hole inside him. Meanwhile Charlie’s girlfriend, The Waitress, is continuously calling him after some attention.

Mass Hallucination

The next day everyone meets at the bar again to discuss the plan. Mac, who spent the off season getting shredded, arrives in his trademark duster jacket and brings along the Dennis doll despite vowing to destroy it. Revealing his new muscles for the umpteenth time Mac tries to get his ripped bod into Cindy’s political plan. As it turns out, the Dennis doll told him to do it. When he says told, he really imagined what Dennis would have said in this scenario and applied it. Charlie and Frank also start giggling at something they imagined he would say and “The Gang” is once again off the rails, ignoring any good advice Cindy might have for them.

A Plan Comes Together and Falls Apart

Everyone is over in Dee’s apartment getting ready and it all looks good. Everyone is doing their bit and Frank even managed to learn the tuba for such an important plan. As they’re marvelling at this he stops mid blow and is psyched out by something. Dennis doll is looking at him, mocking him soundlessly. Frank loses his cool and suddenly everyone is imagining Dennis judging them, feeding their insecurities. One by one they crumble into jittery messes.

The Gang Has a Hard Night

To try to kill two birds with one stone, Charlie takes the doll back to his house and gives it to The Waitress. She can talk to it while Charlie is out with “The Gang” and it won’t be there judging him. Win-Win, right? Turns out while everyone was showing Cindy how little they had accomplished after Dennis got in their heads, The Waitress actually used the doll for its intended purpose and breaks up with Charlie while naked in bed with said doll and a bottle of wine. To drown their sorrows “The Gang” heads to a strip joint and vows to lift their game and change because Dennis is not coming back.

And on The Third Day He Rose…

Everyone arrives late for the plan that Cindy made, and Frank and Charlie make a dramatic entrance playing the Dennis doll-like a trombone by blowing through its butthole. Cindy comes to the disgusting conclusion that after the strippers, everyone must have gotten drunk and had a doll orgy to figure out how it could make that sound. While this is being discussed the real Dennis returns in place of the doll. He degrades Cindy out of her position of current plan maker and resumes what he believes to be his rightful place. “The Gang” grab a beer. Roll credits.

For anyone unfamiliar with the show, what I have just described sounds like the fever dream of a horrible human being. But that’s the appeal of the show. What makes Philly a funny show is that these terrible people have the opportunity to better themselves but simply refuse to. They continuously bring each other down. And after watching this episode, it is safe to conclude that the reason everyone sucks is because of Dennis’ own toxicity. Without him they seemed to do alright. All in all, it was a great way to kick off the season. Starting out by subverting expectations and then bringing it back to the status quo.

Did you enjoy the season 13 premiere? Tell us in the comments below!

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MAYANS M.C. is the next chapter in Kurt Sutter’s award-winning Sons of Anarchy saga. Set in a post-Jax Teller world, Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes (JD Pardo) is fresh out of prison and a prospect in the Mayans M.C. charter on the Cali/Mexi border. Now, EZ must carve out his new identity in a town where he was once the golden boy with the American Dream in his grasp.

Mayans MC isn’t the only show from the Sons of Anarchy world heading to our screens, as an official sequel and prequel projects have been given the green light too. The prequel and sequel projects will focus on Jax’s family and after his death.

Speaking about the show to The Hollywood Reporter, FX president of original programming Nick Grad, explained, “Kurt Sutter is a master storyteller and Mayans MC has the raw energy and intensity that are hallmarks of his signature style. Thanks to Kurt, co-creator Elgin James and this amazing cast, Mayans MC builds on the legacy of Sons of Anarchy, taking it in a thrilling new direction that we can’t wait for the world to see.

The series also stars Clayton Cardenas, Edward James Olmos, Sarah Bolger, Michael Irby, Carla Baratta, Antonio Jaramillo, Raoul Max Trujillo, Richard Cabral and Danny Pino. Recurring stars include Emilio Rivera, Frankie Loyal, Joseph Lucero, Vincent Rocco Vargas, Maurice Compte, Gino Vento, Tony Plana and Ada Maris.

MAYANS M.C. was co-created by Kurt Sutter and Elgin James. Norberto Barba directs the first two episodes. The series is executive produced by Sutter and Barba, with James as Co-Executive Producer. The 10-episode first season is produced by Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions.

Mayans MC premieres September 4th on FX.

Are you excited for Mayans MC? Tell us in the comments below!

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Set in the 1980s, poised somewhere between fiction and documentary, Pose looks at the juxtaposition of several segments of life and society in New York: the rise of the luxury Trump-era universe, the downtown social and literary scene and the ball culture world. With eight episodes in the first season, there is much to explore in the show since it takes place in New York City around the time of the AIDS crisis and the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

For those unfamiliar with ball culture, it dates back further than the 1980’s to around the 1920’s. A moral form group known as The Committee of Fourteen frequently investigated rumours of these events. They described them as “a scene filled with ‘phenomenal’ ‘male perverts’ in expensive frocks and wigs, looking like women.” Over the years, they’ve been known as many things including Masquerade and Civic Balls, or called “Faggots Balls” by the general public. That being said, the balls continuously attracted more than just queer regulars with admirers outside the LGBTQ community frequenting the events for their own pleasure and entertainment. It was in the 1960’s that black drag queens and other minorities took a stance against the racist ball culture and began their own underground balls.

The new series stars some big names, including Evan Peters, who is a frequent star in Ryan Murphy’s shows, and Kate Mara, with the pair playing New Jersey couple Stan and Patty, who find themselves captivated by the talented ballroom dancers. However, the reason Pose won’t be like any other show as it’ll feature five trans actors, all women of colour, which brings the series to have the highest number of transgender series regulars. This just goes to show just how much the television world is progressing and changing for the better. The series also has a mentoring program for transgender directors, along with more than 100 trans actors and crew members employed by the production.

As for our leading characters, here’s some information about them:

• Blanca (MJ Rodriguez) who, after a life-threatening medical diagnosis, decides to take fate into her own hands and form a “house” — a self-selected family that provides safety and support to LGBT youth rejected by their birth family.
• Elektra Abundance (Dominique Jackson) is the reigning queen of the ballroom community and house mother to Candy and Lulu, played by Angelica Ross and Hailie Sahar.
• Ryan Jamaal Swain plays Damon, an ambitious aspiring dancer from Allentown, Pennsylvania, who moves to New York City and joins Blanca’s house after being kicked out of his home for being gay.
• Billy Porter plays Pray Tell, grandfather to all the legendary children who compete in the house balls.
• Indya Moore plays Angel, a Puerto Rican streetwalker who develops feelings for a new client, Stan, and discovers true love comes at a cost.

Ryan Murphy has also announced on Twitter he’s donating all of the profits from the series to trans and LGBTQ charitable organisations. Nearly all of the groups he’s selected are completely dependent on charitable donations to keep going, he says. “So my goal is to double that for all of them in the course of a calendar year,” he says.

In addition to his own donations, Murphy pledges to hold fundraising screenings and other benefits to help raise awareness, as well as potentially set up  scholarships for trans and LGBTQ kids who need educational resources.

Ryan Murphy co-created the show with frequent collaborator Brad Falchuk (Glee, American Horror Story) and Steven Canals. Murphy’s American Crime Story collaborators Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson (The People v. O.J. Simpson and The Assassination of Gianni Versace) as well as Alexis Martin Woodall (The Normal Heart, Feud, American Horror Story) and Sherry Marsh (Vikings) will executive produce the Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions co-production. Murphy will direct the first two episodes. Ballroom legends and survivors serve as consultants for Pose, including Hector Xtravaganza, Skylar King, and Sol Williams.

The series stars Evan Peters (American Horror Story), Kate Mara (Fantastic Four 2015), Indya Moore, Angel Bismark Curiel, Jeremy McClain, Angelica Ross (Claws), MJ Rodriguez (The Carrie Diaries), Dominique Jackson, Hailie Sahar (Mr Robot), Ryan Jamaal Swain, Billy Porter (The Get Down), Dyllon Burnside, James Van Der Beek (Dawson’s Creek), and Charlayne Woodard.

The series will premiere Sunday, June 3 at 9 p.m.

Will you be watching the series? Tell us in the comments below!

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The new instalment in the anthology series will explore another major 1990s event: the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace in front of his Miami Beach mansion in 1997. Over the season, it will lead up to the 50-year-old’s death as seen through the eyes of the Versace, his sister Donatella Versace, his partner, Antonio D’Amico and Andrew Cunanan, the 27-year-old serial killer who shot him on the steps of his home in Miami Beach. Cunanan then committed suicide on a house boat nearby after eluding the police for eight days after killing Versace.

Just like the People vs. O.J Simpson season, Versace is pulled from Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth’s book about the murder, Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History.

Cunanan also killed five other people that year and the series will touch on those murders as well as his life in the San Diego gay community, and the strong presence of homophobia in the 1990s.

Starring Darren Criss (Glee), Penelope Cruz (Murder on The Orient Express), Edgar Ramírez (The Girl on The Train), Ricky Martin, and Max Greenfield (New Girl).

The nine-episode season premieres Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 10/9c on FX.

Will you be watching American Crime Story: Versace? Tell us in the comments below!

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If we are to trust Murphy’s cryptic Instagram posts, then each season of American Horror Story correlates with one of the Nine Circles of Hell found in Dante’s Inferno—a 14^th century epic poem recounting the journey of the writer through hell’s many layers. In attempting to break this theory down, hopefully we can get a picture of Murphy’s plans for the future of this show.

Murder House (Limbo)

“Here suffer those who did not sin, yet did not have the required portal of our faith. Their punishment is the denial of Paradise.”

Limbo is the first circle of hell and in Dante’s Inferno, this is where souls are trapped somewhere between paradise and eternal punishment. In Murder House, it takes a double meaning. For the restless spirits that inhabit the building, it is their sad existence of being caught between life and death. For the living, it is the constant, unsettling sensation of never fitting in anywhere.

Despite being located in the middle of suburbia, the Harmon family never felt so disconnected from the rest of the world as they did in their last few weeks living in the Murder House. Whether it was Violet’s teenage angst or Vivien’s marital struggles, Limbo manifested itself in the utter hopelessness that kept the Harmon’s from ever being truly happy.

Asylum (Fraud)

“I live in shame, a whore awash in sewage. I confess I teased and seduced hundreds, led them to sin for my own gains.”

No one in Asylum was ever who they seemed to be. Even Briarcliff, which was meant to be a mental institute, was instead a cover for torturous human experiments, a Nazi doctor, a demon-possessed nun, a serial killer psychiatrist, a man falsely accused of murder… and a whole menagerie of other disturbing liars.

For this reason, Asylum represents Fraud. Nothing was real, and everyone had a secret they were ashamed to confront.

Coven (Treachery)

“The lowest, blackest, and farthest from Heaven. Well do I know the way.”

Treachery, the lowest circle of hell, is reserved for those who betray and cheat. That pretty much sums up the bitchiness that was Coven, a season that saw our favourite alliances end through backstabbing every damn episode. Marie Laveau wanted to kill Fiona, Fiona slit Madison’s throat, Madison entombed Misty, and even Cordelia’s husband turned against her when he blinded her with acid.

Pitting a coven of sassy witches against each other in a competition to find the next Supreme only brought out the worst in each of them. By the end of the season, there were very few left who hadn’t been driven to madness with ambition and vanity.

Freak Show (Greed)

“For the crime of Greed do these souls suffer. Those clerks asquint of mind made no measured spending in life.”

Greed is characterised by a selfish desire for more than what one currently possesses. This is no more evident anywhere else as it was in Freak Show, where there were only two things that ever mattered to anyone: fame and money.

The most obvious representative of this was Dandy, the pampered mummy’s boy who wanted to own the freak show out of a childish thirst for power. But Elsa was also just as willing to exploit her workers, with her motive coming from a desperate desire to be recognised in the entertainment industry. And as innocent as they were, even Bette and Dot let their naïve hopes for a perfect, materialistic life sweep them away from reality.

Hotel (Gluttony)

“For the ruinous fault of Gluttony, so are these sad souls broken by the rain and the mud.”

Gluttony is more than just food. It is the over-indulgent hedonism that defined the lives and deaths of the inhabitants inside Hotel Cortez. It distinguishes itself from Greed by being less about that physical act of ownership, and more about a person’s addiction to unhealthy pleasures.

So quite suitably, Hotel was full to the brim of drug-addled, sex-addicted monsters constantly thirsting for blood and their next hit of heroin. The design, cinematography, symbolism – absolutely everything about this season committed to over-stimulation of the senses and excessively jarring imagery.

Roanoke (Anger)

“See the souls whom anger prevailed. In the warm bath of the sun they were hateful, down here in the black sludge of the river Styx do they wish they had never been born.

Let’s be fair; there is nothing wrong with feeling angry. But when it is left to fester and eat you away from the inside, it can turn into pure, unadulterated rage. This kind of deep-seated fury resided in many of Roanoke’s main characters, and in the end most of them snapped to reveal the monster that lived beneath the façade of fame.

The Butcher embodied Anger the most, as she lived in a ghostly afterlife dedicated to relentlessly pursuing and slaughtering those who occupied her land. But it also cropped up in Agnes, who takes on the Butcher’s persona in a murderous mental breakdown; the Polks, who stopped at nothing to avenge their dead family members; and even Shelby, who killed her cheating husband in a jealous rage.

Unlike the slaughters of other seasons, the murders in Roanoke weren’t part of any grand schemes with complex motives. These murders were all committed simply to quench an insatiable inner anger.

Cult (Heresy)

“Here you will find the heretics and followers of every cult and pagan sect, all buried together, burning in eternal fire.”

The most recent season remains fresh in our minds, and most closely mirrors Heresy in its worship of false idols and takedown of authority figures. At first the Heresy was evident in Kai’s rejection of traditional politics, establishing himself as the leader of a cult with Satanic undertones. He was a heretic against the mainstream political establishment.

But after turning himself into a divine ruler, Kai suddenly found that he was the one dealing with rebels who had their own unorthodox ideals. Cult showed us that as long as there is an underground opposition to a mainstream ideology, Heresy will always run rampant in society.

What’s to come?

Now that American Horror Story has been renewed for two more seasons, it is looking more and more likely that this theory will fit with Ryan Murphy’s overall plan. We are left with Lust and Violence – two themes that haven’t exactly been absent from previous seasons, but both of which have lots of potential to be explored in more depth.

How will these themes will be handled, since they are both associated with more restricted classification ratings?

How exactly will Violence be dealt with as an act of murder independent of the other Circles of Hell, such as Treachery or Anger?

And lastly, since the theme of Lust was touched on in both Murder House and Coven, can we expect their crossover season to focus on this Circle of Hell?

It’s a little less than a year to go before season 8 hits our screens, but with what little information we have right now, the Nine Circles of Hell theory is a decent starting point for speculation.

What do you think of this theory? Sound off in the comments below!

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Starting with Roanoke, however, AHS started to traverse some pretty experimental territory. This season not only played with the very structure of the show’s format, but also delivered a highly secretive marketing campaign, effectively building intrigue from start to finish.

So where does Cult fit into this? It is our first season that has no supernatural element at all, and also the first to deal so directly with current world events. Its story exists in a world where ghosts and vampires exist, and yet it is entirely separate from all of that. Its horror doesn’t come from the unknown fantasy of the paranormal. Instead, it draws on a more familiar horror—the capability of humans to turn on each other with so little provocation.

The campy glitz and pure horror are still there (nothing can erase from my mind the image of that tortured gimp), but in terms of story placement it undoubtedly fits right next to Roanoke. At this stage in American Horror Story’s progression, its novelty relies on fresh, untried ideas that distinguish it from seasons past.

Unlike other seasons, Cult was not intended to be a piece of escapist fiction. Its socio-political commentary made us look at ourselves and examine our insecurities. We were forced to scrutinise the arrogance of the left-wing, the selfishness of the right-wing, and the apathy of the apolitical. But this was also handled in a way that avoided stereotyping; after all, the disenfranchised come from both sides of the political spectrum. Everyone is pretty frustrated with the state of the world, but everyone has different ideas of how to go about fixing it. Any time one side tries to make a difference, their opponents block them.

So what’s the best way to unify people beyond political affiliations? Well if your name is Kai Anderson, the answer is to start a cult. It’s purpose? To tear down society. It’s end goal? Well, that was never entirely clear.

I don’t even think Kai really knew at any point. At first it was some sort of weak commitment to Bebe’s plan to ignite the feminist rage. Then they just wanted to spark anarchy, then it became a group for misogynistic white nationalists, then a prison gang. And somewhere in there it also started to get religious with Kai dubbing himself the Divine Ruler.

Much like Kai, we delude ourselves into believing we know what we want. We vote for political parties we think represent our interest in the pursuit of happiness. But we aren’t really sure ourselves what this is. Do we want someone telling us what to do so we can relinquish control, like Ivy? Do we want someone to shelter us from our own insecurities, like Detective Samuels? Or do we simply want to assert power over others, like Beverly? Regardless of what we want, there is always one reliable method that we jump to – tear down the current system.

This rollercoaster of a season demonstrated that there is no such thing as a utopia. Humanity is built on the rise and fall of empires, constant change, and the pursuit of something we can never attain. American Horror Story: Cult has taught us that no matter how many movements or ideologies spring up, the constant clash between them means that none of them can ever be achieved.

What did you think of the AHS: Cult? Sound off in the comments below!

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Skipping 11 months down the track, we are treated to the classic AHS epilogue-style finale. Somehow Kai has ended up in jail, and has recruited both prisoners and guards alike to his cult. Meanwhile, Ally is profiting off her now-successful restaurant, has gained public recognition for escaping the cult, and even has a new girlfriend in tow.

It takes a little longer than desired to adjust to this new setting. But by jumping forward to this point in time we are reminded that, despite their hardships, both Kai and Ally are still powerful leaders. Should the episode have unfolded chronologically and bared their vulnerabilities straight away, this key characteristic may have easily been forgotten.

The preceding events are then revealed, with Ally’s plotting being conducted completely under the surface of her facial expressions and fake words. As she lurks in Kai’s shadow, offering a helping hand whenever she can, Kai is preparing for the “Night of One Hundred Tates” (a drastic reduction from his original, unrealistic goal of “One Thousand Tates”).

Kai’s guided walkthrough on how to kill a pregnant woman and her baby with one stab went to some pretty dark places, and may have crossed a line for many viewers. But AHS has never shied away from controversial, disturbing ideas before, so this isn’t exactly unexpected.

As the final remaining member of the original cult, Beverly shines in her secondary role this episode. To be honest, Adina Porter’s billing as a guest star for the second season in a row is a travesty. Whether she is sardonically praising Kai’s leadership, or dryly interrogating Ally over a glass of red, Beverly constantly reaffirms why she became a fan favourite this season. She is intelligent, witty, manipulative – everything that appeals to the AHS fanbase.

Then Ally’s final betrayal brings everything crashing down. The months of planting seeds of paranoia in Kai’s mind finally pays off. His fall from grace is suitably dramatic, with guns blindly shooting into a fog of tear gas, and his final words to Ally being sworn revenge.

As we move forward 11 months back to the episode’s start, we get to see more of how Ally has tried to deal her fame. Believing she has a duty to create a hopeful future with her newfound strength, she announces her run for Senator of Michigan in 2018. At the same time, Kai is planning his prison escape with the help of his new cult members.

And so the final confrontation reveals itself in the climax of the season. Ally presents herself as a Hillary Clinton-esque nominee – clear, articulate, and very conscious of how the public perceives her. Dressed in a pantsuit and armed with an acerbic wit against her political opponent, she exudes the kind of confidence that only a few episodes ago was non-existent.

Enter Kai, pistol in hand. His rhetoric has changed as well. Where he used to believe in the power of many working together, his delusions have led him to a new conclusion – that the leader is the key to a movement. Destroy a symbol, and you destroy its ideology. But of course, this isn’t completely accurate. Ally has become an icon for feminist politics in Michigan, but by no means does this mean that the movement rests on her shoulders.

It is in this key point we can see how far Kai has loosened his grip on reality. He has mistaken his petty desire for revenge for a law of the universe, and this is his real downfall.

But there is one other thing he didn’t count on too – that Ally could possibly be ten steps ahead of him. Through some double-crossing from his own followers arranged at Ally’s hands, the pistol he is holding is empty. And when it comes down to it, in those final moments, everything he ever believed becomes meaningless. He is not a Divine Ruler. He is not anointed with any kind of holy blessing. He is a mortal man, with human weaknesses.

Then in possibly my favourite line of this season, Ally delivers a callback to both episode 1 and the third presidential debate of 2016.

“You were wrong. There is something more dangerous in this world than a humiliated man. A nasty woman.”

Boom. Gunshot to the back of the head, and Kai is finally dead. Beverly’s blow is cathartic for everyone, including us, the viewers. Kai used to be a cunning leader, but even the most intelligent of people are susceptible to their own egos.

While we are left to ponder whether Kai’s cult continues to live on with a new leader or whether it dissipates completely, we also realise that this question is completely irrelevant. Humans will always want be part of a structured hive mind, and so hive minds will always exist in one form or another. Kai’s white nationalist pals from the jail may or may not continue his legacy, but there will always be some sort of xenophobic or misogynistic movement that they can put their weight behind.

Just as the well-meaning feminist ideology was corrupted into SCUM, Kai’s desire to help the disenfranchised was twisted into a murderous cult. As soon as a movement grows corrupt, it is fragile enough to be replaced by another. And this is all too clear in our final shot, as Ally raises a hood strikingly similar to Bebe Babbott’s. Kai destroyed the modern iteration of SCUM, and quite poetically, Kai was destroyed by it in return.

In this sense, AHS: Cult ends on a bittersweet note. Our big bad villain is dead, but we have also discovered a terrible truth about human nature in the process. When a victor triumphs over evil, their own arrogance may turn them into a greater evil than the one they defeated in the first place.

What did you think of the finale? Tell us in the comments below!

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Starting with a flashback to pre-election Kai and Winter, we once again revisit the political origins of AHS: Cult. Hillary vs Trump, or as this season so satirically portrays, the arrogance of the left vs loathing of the right. We find out that at this time Kai’s fragile ego and inner rage led him to anger management sessions with Bebe Babbitt. During their meetings, she recognised his untapped potential to lead a revolution, aggravate women, and thus provoke the matriarchy to revive Valerie Solanas’ SCUM manifesto.

When Bebe realises Kai has taken off with this idea in his own direction, she intends to put a bullet through his head – only to have one put through hers by Ally. Her plan was never going to work. Kai is a complete wild card, and how Bebe couldn’t see this is beyond me. All in all, it is a little disappointing to see how this subplot fizzled out after a few episodes of being left ignored.

Catching up with our main characters in the present day, Kai’s descent into paranoid madness is at an all-time peak. Maybe it’s the Ritalin, maybe it’s the power going to his head, but there is undoubtedly something that is responsible for his mental breakdown. His most recent cultish obsession is revealed through a late night story-telling session, taking us back to the Manson Family Murders of the 1960’s.

In a grindhouse-style sequence we are introduced to the chilling Manson Family cult members. They bear striking resemblances to members of Kai’s own cult, with Charles himself being played by Evan Peters. AHS is known to have actors playing different characters from season to season, but the use of this device in this particular scene teases the idea that perhaps Kai is simply telling his own version of historical events, whereby the charismatic leader is freakishly similar to himself.

Inspired by the Manson Family’s murder of the pregnant Sharon Tate, Kai announces a “Night of a Thousand Tates” – with some vague connection to a pro-life attack on Planned Parenthood. To be honest, it seems like it was just an excuse to work in a story about Charles Manson.

The plan goes down a completely different direction anyway, with the cult sacrificing Gary and leaving his bloody, beaten corpse outside a Planned Parenthood centre. The aim is to frame left-wingers, but this confusingly contradicts itself when the cult also leaves a “Stop the Slaughter” sign next to his body. If they were framing Planned Parenthood, why would they leave him with a pro-life sign? I don’t really have any answers for this, and frankly it just feels like messy writing.

A shining light in this episode though is Adina Porter’s beautifully broken reporter, Beverly. The abuse she has suffered at Kai’s hands has damaged her beyond repair, to the point that she cannot bring herself to escape the cult even when Winter offers her the perfect opportunity to do so. This shift in Beverly’s character has been gradual and absolutely earned. Even though it has often been relegated to the background, her season-long development has been a constantly intriguing dissection of the hive mind mentality.

Then in a strange twist of fate, Kai finds out about Beverly’s ticket to freedom and believes that Winter bought the ticket for herself. In a fit of tears and fury, she has the life choked out of her with Kai’s bare hands wrapped around her neck. It is sad to see her depart without fully understanding her true intentions, but for Kai this act of desperation goes to demonstrate that he has truly hit rock bottom. Looking back, it is hard to see how Winter’s tragic story could have ended any other way.

At this key point in the story arc it is disheartening to have an episode that attempts to tie up loose ends, but fails to create a storyline as cohesive as last week’s ‘Drink the Kool-Aid’. Considering the mostly consistent season we’ve had so far though, we can still hope that next week’s season finale will satisfy our dark, sinister desires.

What did you think of the episode? Tell us in the comments below!

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