One of the best horror shows on television continues to attract even those that dislike the genre. The newest "American Horror Story" episode, titled "Election Night" (first episode of the newest season -- "The Cult"), promises one of the most exciting seasons thus far. The critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads: "Filled with paranoia-fueled chills, 'Election Night' launches another unpredictable, satirical season of American Horror Story."
Fear
Judging by the first episode, fear will be a recurring, underlying theme in "The Cult". Not in a superficial, slasher horror way, but more as an exploration of personal and collective anxieties as well as the mass frightening of the American people, perpetrated by the media and cultivated within opposing societal echo chambers.
If you expected the newest AHS season to be a cheap-shot at Donald Trump or typical liberal Hollywood propaganda, you're in for a surprise. Judging by the first episode, the newest season will be anything but an attack on the president. This could be an incredibly unpredictable and satirical season. If parallels and comparisons have to be made, then "Election Night" is better compared to shows like "Black Mirror." The signature AHS horror will most probably resurface later on, but so far -- "The Cult" seems different than anything Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, creators of the show, have ever done.
Predictions
What will the rest of the season be like? It's impossible to predict, but one thing's for sure.
Murphy and Falchuk have done a great job keeping us all curious. On the other hand, producing a satirical season, without picking sides, without taking cheap shots at the POTUS (isn't everybody tired of that?) like most of the mainstream media does is quite an accomplishment in today's hectic sociopolitical climate in the United States.
Will this make some of the show's fans detest it? It most probably will, but the public will get another intelligent show. Mixing horror with satire is far from an easy task, so it remains to be seen how the rest of the season will go. Kai Anderson (Evan Peters' character, a cult leader and a skilled manipulator) could turn out to be the most exciting, the most demented and the scariest character of them all.
"The Cult" will drive some fans away and bring some new ones in. Will it turn out to be the best season of "American Horror Story?" It may not, but it could turn out to be the most important one.
