American Horror Story: Cult - Episode 5 Holes (Review)

The perception of credibility leads to the perception of power. People don't follow experts

anymore, they follow titles. - Kai Anderson

American Horror Story: Cult continues to push the envelope with its fifth episode titled 'Holes.' This season feels more grounded than others without the supernatural aspects, but it continues to be a nice change and has no hampered the story in any way. This is another stand out episode, which is really making me wonder just how long they can keep up this streak! Will this now become my new favourite season?

We pick up this episode with Beverly Hope continuing to spread fear through the media. She is reporting on the murders from Ally's neighbourhood saying how the government seems to have left its citizens in peril. We see Kai interviewed once again making his pitch for why he should be elected to the city council. The footage is paused by Bob, Beverly's boss, who chastises her saying she is spreading fake news. Beverly tells him that her reporting is not fake and people would believe her if he had aired the footage of Serina's murder. He refuses and tells her that she needs to start reporting facts or he will fire her. She accuses him of not wanting to air it because he was in a sexual relationship with her. He tells her she is fired, but she threatens to tell everyone he was sexual harassing Serina.

Back at Kai's Winter is telling the group that she is running her own polls for the election and Kai is down at the moment. The rest of the cult members are revealed in this scene which includes Harrison, Detective Samuels, Beverly and her cameraman RJ, Gary, and Winter herself (wow that is almost everyone). RJ questions why they even care about winning an election when Kai stands up and slaps him across the face. Because the perception of credibility leads to the perception of power. Because people don't follow experts anymore, they follow titles. And we we get our shit together, and cause enough panic and fear, the sheep are gonna turn to their leaders to save them.  Kai continues saying that people aren't nearly scared enough yet. Harrison questions why their methods have not worked yet when beverly chimes in. The world isn't 'tell me,' it's 'show me.' People aren't scared because they haven't seen the goddamn clowns. Kai adds that they would if Beverly had gotten her boss to show the Serina tape. She retorts that he'll never show it and is starting to suspect her. Kai then decides that they will just have to kill him and film it for everyone to see (of course!). After this Ivy walks down the stairs and asks what she has missed (I KNEW IT!).

The cold open of this episode may seem relatively tame compared to some of the previous, but this scene manages to feel just as engaging. I found myself extremely invested in the conversations that were happening. Watching Kai and the rest of his cult make their plans is extremely interesting. The Ivy reveal will probably not come as a surprise to most of the viewers as the writers have been practically putting it right in front of our face, but I still found myself feeling betrayed by her. Kudos to Crystal Liu who wrote the episode for creating dynamic and engaging dialogue.

After the credits we get a wonderfully creepy scene with Ally. While washing her face she notices some marks appear on her neck. As she examines them they begin to grow into deeper holes. She begins scratching at her her neck in terror, when suddenly a black bug begins to crawl out of one of the holes (absolutely disgusting). We cut to her having a session with Dr. Vincent. It is revealed that that sequence was a nightmare (phew) and she woke up having scratched her neck. She tells him about all the stress she is under with the new living situation. She feels trapped since Ivy shut down all of the credit cards (wow Ivy wtf) and all of Ally's money is tied up in the restaurant. She says how it's almost as if Ivy had planned for this. Dr. Vincent tells her to focus on what is in her control instead of worrying about Ivy. He asks her if there is anything he can help her fix that she has control of. She tells about her visits with Ozzie. Ivy has convinced the judge to only allow supervised visits and Ally does not know how to act in them. We get a heartbreaking scene of her trying to bond with Oz while Ivy is watching. Ozzie notices how awkward she seems and shuts her down. I actually found this scene rather sad. She then asks Dr. Vincent to help her not lose her son. I'm still not sure about Dr. Vincent at this point. The writers are doing an excellent job of making him seem both uninterested in helping Ally, but also other times like this scene genuinely caring.

We next get an interesting scene between Ivy and Winter. They are in the car together, presumably on their way to kill Bob. Ivy is on the phone with Ozzie, who is staying at a friend's house. She tells him to listen to his friend's mom and to have fun. Winter tells Ivy that he sounds like he's doing well. Ivy replies that he is enjoying living in a hotel. Winter asks her if he has asked about Ally. Ivy says that he asked if Winter is going to become his third mom (No. Let's not do that). Winter tells her that he had to be the one to find the tape. Ivy replies that she knows what has to happen and has been complying so far. After Winter tells her that things are about to get really real, she proclaims Radicals are the only people who have ever gotten anything done. I'm ready.  I hate this country. What it's become. I hate my fucking wife for letting it happen. The only thing I love right now is my son and I will do whatever it takes to make the world a better place for him, even if it means burning it all down. We finally get what Ivy's motivation in all this would be and get and even bigger insight into how Kai has manipulated people with completely different goals to follow him.

The cult is now preparing for their murder. Kai tells everyone to utter the phrase 'Ave Satanas' as they kill him. Harrison asks why they don't just say 'hail satan' in English so people understood it. Kai replies with the line of the night, Not that I feel the need to explain myself but it's about spreading terror. Latin is inherently scary (Yes it is Kai. Yes it is). Kai pops some adoral and they walk away. They seem to be throwing little hints on how much adoral Kai actually does. Perhaps the writers are trying to show his persona breaking a bit. The cult breaks into Bob's home as he is walking down the stairs licking blood off of latex gloves (wtf Bob). They all begin to assault him chanting when he yells No one will take care of it! They all stop for a brief second as he tells them that he has a gimp in the attic (why is everyone on this show so horny!?). Kai tapes his mouth shut and they all walk upstairs. 

When they reach the attic they see a man suspended off the ground by hooks punctured into his skin that are attached to the ceiling (wtf is happening on this show). They debate over what should be done with the gimp until Kai decides to kill him. RJ protests, but Kai walks over to the gimp and stabs him in the chest with a knife. The rest of them follow, except for Ivy who runs out of the room. Winter chases after her and finds her puking in the bathroom. She tells her that it's different when you see it in person (ya think?).  

After killing the gimp they bring Bob back up into the attic and show him the body. He begins to yell underneath the tape over his mouth. Kai asks him if he has any last words, but they are muffled by the tape. Kai scoffs at him and replies, Just as I thought. All show and no substance. They then proceed to stabbing him multiple times. They continues taking turns stabbing him until they bring him over to a wall. They hold him down as Beverly walks up to him. She stands in front of him and takes off her mask. He begins to yell and she looks down on him. Ave Satanas motherfucker! she says before cracking him over the head with an axe. He dies as blood pours out of his head over his face (this scene is gruesome AF omg). We then see Beverly reporting once again as the first to scene of the crime, but this time the footage of Bob's death is aired. This scene is put together extremely well. I actually found myself having a hard time watching it. Director Maggie Kiley does an excellent job making sure that all the performances are nuanced and feel realistic while also keeping with insane material of American Horror Story. 

We come back from the break to Kai and Beverly once again meeting at Ally and Ivy's restaurant. She asks him if he noticed anything bothersome about the night before. He says that he did not expect Ivy to become squeamish, but Beverly says that is not what she is referring to. He adds, Honestly you're the only one that impressed me. All they others... They all ask too many questions.  She tells him that they can bring them all to heal if they take care of the weakest link. We then get a flashback to the coffin murders. As they are setting them up RJ constantly questions everything they are doing. Once they get the couple into the coffins Meadow asks how long they are going to keep them in there, but Harrison shuts her down. RJ agrees and says that what they are doing is messed up (you just now noticed this RJ?). After the flashback she looks to Kai and says, His weakness is a cancer. He simply replies, Then we need to cut it out. I had a feeling Kai was gonna turn on one of his own this episode, but they through me for a bit of a curveball with the reasoning.

Back at the Mayfair-Richards' Ivy is spying on Harrison using a telescope. She sees him moving something in a large duffle bag that seems to be a body. He walks back into the house to greet Detective Samuels. They embrace and begin to kiss (I KNEW IT). Ally sneaks over to the Wilton's while Harrison is inside with Samuels and makes her way to the backyard. She finds a large hole dug up in the yard and falls to the ground beginning to have another panic attack. She pulls herself together and crawls over to the edge of the hole. When she peers over the edge she sees Meadow tied up lying at the bottom. Meadow opens her eyes and whispers, Help me. Ally hears Harrison coming back and runs home.

When Ivy reaches her house again she immediately calls 911. The operator says that they are overrun with calls at the moment and put her on hold. She hangs up and calls Ivy. She tells her that Harrison is going to kill Meadow. Ivy asks what she is talking about and she explains how she saw Meadow in the hole in the Wilton's backyard, but Ivy does not believe her. Suddenly, banging can be heard on the front door. Ivy asks what's going on and Ally says that someone's there and is probably trying to kill her. As Ivy is telling her to hang up and call the police Meadow appears outside her window asking her for help. Ally says the police are coming, but Meadow warns her instead. It's a cult, Ally. It's a sick cult, and everyone's in it. The police, my husband, your babysitter, your wife! (OMG she told her!) Someone grabs Meadow and puts a sack over her head. Ally falls back and looks at Ivy's name on the phone, then hangs up.

We cut to Ivy over at Kai's again, while Harrison and Samuels walk in. Ivy asks where Meadow is and they simply reply, She's with a friend (ya. okay. sure). She asks how long the meeting is going to take and Beverly says she does not know. Kai walks in and tells everyone that he has great news. Winter explains that ever since the video was released Kai has been rising in the polls and is now ahead of his opponent. They all cheer.  He says that they've done great things together but he feels resistance. He walks over to Ivy and pulls his hands on her shoulders and reiterates. I feel... dissent in the ranks. He explains that if they want to win they can't ignore the problem. He then tells them that they are going to take care of it right away and brings them all down to the basement.

When they reach the basement they find RJ tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Kai tells them that if they want to ascend to greatness they must cut out the weakest link. Both Winter and Ivy protest saying that he is one of them, but Kai says that he is an anchor holding them down. He pulls out a nail gun and walks over to Ivy. If I remember Ivy, you ran away before we killed Bob. That showed an appalling lack of solidarity. He explains that she cam make of for it by taking the first shot on RJ. She protests until he continues to push her, even threatening her. She takes the nail gun and walks over to RJ. She struggles to hold the gun up to his head but eventually pulls the trigger. After Ivy they all take turns shooting RJ in the head until Kai finally has the gun again. He looks around and jokes about taking another round, but decides that they have all proven their loyalty. He walks over to RJ and holds the gun to the back of his neck. He pulls the trigger shooting RJ in his medulla oblongata killing him. Here we get another extremely disturbing scene that I found uncomfortable to watch. The writing by Cyrstal Liu and the directed by Maggie Kiley is top notch all throughout this episode but both really shine in these murder scenes.

We come back to see Beverly and Kai doing the pinky ritual. Kai begins to ask her his normal questions, but she shuts him down and asks him about himself. He tells her that he is whomever she wants him to be. She doesn't take that answer and tries to dig deeper by asking him about his parents. He again tries to shut her down, but she persists until he seems to open up to her.

What we get next is a very interesting back story for Kai that honestly may or may not be true. He tells the story of how his father was a lawyer who got paralyzed in a bike accident. Once he became paralyzed he started to abuse Kai and his mother. We see them at the dinner table as Kai is working on a laptop. His father chastises him for not having a job, but Kai tries to explain that he didn't get a degree to work a coffee shop or in a cubicle. His father scoffs at him for getting a degree in religious studies (I mean, I could see that being true). He throws a plate across the room after Kai's mom brought him a taco, then asks her who she is having sex with now that he is paralyzed. Later, Kai is sitting in the basement on his computer when he ears two gunshots. He runs upstairs to see his father bleeding. He turns to see his mom standing in front of him holding a gun. She tells him it was the only way, then shoots herself.

Beverly asks him if he called the cops, but he explains that he instead called his older brother, Vinny. This is revealed to be Dr. Vincent (WTF). Vinny convinces Kai to keep their parents' bodies in the room and deadbolt it so they don't lose all of their money. He says it can be like some sort of shrine. We see him do the pinky ritual with Kai. After they put the bodies in their beds and bolt the door Kai asks him what they should do about Winter. Vinny tells him to tell her when she comes back for Thanksgiving (wow Vinny how considerate). We then cut to Winter and Kai standing in front of the door. She calls him an asshole for not telling her and they open the door and walk in. He tells her, This is the end, but it's also the beginning of something. The omega and the alpha. We're free now.

Beverly asks him if the bodies are still there and he tells her that he still visits them to talk to his mom.  He tells his mom he misses and loves her, then turns to his dad. I still hate you, asshole. I brings me pleasure to see you literally rot into nothingness. He turns back to his mother. I'm gonna be something someday, for you. I'm gonna make you so proud. I promise. We cut back to Kai and Beverly as he begins to sob. Beverly stands up and rests her hands on his shoulders.

This final scene makes it feel like Beverly is going to eventually dethrone Kai and run the cult herself. However, Kai could just as easily be lying to Beverly just like he did with everyone else to work some kind of angle. This episode answers questions and once again leaves us with even more. The story is progressing along extremely well and each episode is leaving me wanting more.

 
American Horror Story: Cult continues to deliver extremely well-written episodes. The story is very engaging and at times downright disturbing. One of the biggest points I've loved about this season so far is that it seems to have a specific purpose. The writing is guiding us to a conclusion which I imagine is going to make the audience self-reflect on ourselves and society around us as we navigate an increasingly chaotic world. The message does not distract from the horror and I don't think that is going to change.

Once again for the third time in a row I'm giving American Horror Story: Cult 5 out of 5 cauldrons for Episode 5 Holes!

I hope you enjoyed this review and feel free to leave your comments below! Did you enjoy this episode as much as I did? What do you think is in store for us the rest of this season? Let's discuss!