Everyone's a Suspect in 'American Horror Story'
The phobias continue to multiply in American Horror Story: Cult, and every character is a suspect in Episode 3. Here's everything we learned from the latest episode, "Neighbors from Hell":
1) Dr. Vincent becomes a prime suspect.
Episode 3 opens with Ally's therapist, Dr. Vincent (Cheyenne Jackson), speaking with a patient, Rosie, and her husband. Rosie describes her Feretrophobia, a fear of caskets and being buried alive, which stems from being locked in a cupboard as a child by her father. Every time she tried to have sex with her husband, she would be mentally transported into a closed casket. Thanks to Dr. Vincent, Rosie has conquered her fear, and even manages to go to her father's funeral, closing the lid on her trauma. Vincent tells Rosie he's proud of her for "facing the real source of her fear" - her father.
Back at home, Rosie's husband says he has a surprise, and disappears into the other room. Rosie hears a strange noise, and opens the dining room door to find two empty caskets. The clowns - the very same ones who have been haunting Ally and her family - appear and throw Rosie and her husband into the caskets, bolting them shut. Rosie screams and claws at the lid but can't get out.
Later, a news report reveals the couple weren't discovered for a week. Is Dr. Vincent behind this sick realization of his patient's greatest fear?
Later, Dr. Vincent tells Ally, "Your phobias are at least partially responsible for your actions the night of the shooting," and suggests she check into an in-patient facility. He's also shown playing with a set of creepy pins on his desk, each featuring a different smiley face. Is he one of the killer clowns?
2) Pedro died from his wounds, but Detective Samuels says Ally acted in self-defense.
The episode picks back up with Ally following last week's shooting, when she mistook Pedro, one of the chefs from her restaurant, as an intruder during a blackout and shot him.
This week, we learn Pedro died after the shooting, but Detective Samuels (Colton Haynes), who also investigated the murder in the house across the street and the murder at Ivy's restaurant, tells Ally she acted out of self-defense and won't be charged.
Detective Samuels justifies Ally's actions, saying, "You saw a dark figure coming into your house. You felt threatened... It's no surprise to me that that kind of man would be a threat to a woman alone in the house with a young boy." Ally is horrified by his racism.
3) Protestors believe Ally is racist for murdering Pedro.
At the restaurant, protestors hold signs calling Ally a murderer. Distraught, Ally begs Ivy to take her home, but Ivy says she has to run her business, leaving her wife in tears. Once again, Ivy lets Ally down.
4) Ivy continues gaslighting Ally.
Harrison and Meadow visit the house and tell Ally she's a racist for murdering Pedro. After, Ally tells Ivy, "It was a threat. I don't feel safe with those people across the street." Ivy replies, "You didn't feel safe before either, baby."
Ivy also defends Winter when Ally is angry the babysitter deserted her during the blackout. Ivy assures Winter she still has a job and reiterates that Pedroisn't Winter's fault, firmly placing the blame on Ally.
Later, Ally accosts Meadow and Harrison, demanding they stay away from her family, but Ivy is far from supportive. "You're acting like a goddamn lunatic," she tells Ally. "This thing you're becoming. This is not the person I married." She's perpetuating the idea that Ally is crazy and acting out of character, a classic gaslighting technique.
5) The clowns are using chemical warfare.
Ally sees a chemical truck spraying an unidentifiable green substance over all the lawns on her street. In the morning, dead birds litter her garden, but the council says the truck doesn't belong to them.
When the truck comes back the next night, Ally tries to stop them. When the truck refuses to stop, she jumps out of the way and hits her head on the sidewalk, and the truck sprays her with the chemicals. Has she been poisoned? If so, with what?
On the third night the truck appears, Ally accosts a person in a hazmat suit spraying her lawn. She unmasks them, but underneath the helmet is a smiley face mask, just like the symbol which keeps appearing at the murder scenes (it was at the Chang's in Episode 1 and behind the coffins at the beginning of this ep).
6) Ally and Ivy are doxxed.
Someone posts Ally and Ivy's address on the internet in the form of a personal ad, which reads, "Searching for stud with stamina to satisfy two horny lesbians... Caucasians preferred. Latin lovers need not apply." Winter "accidentally" lets one applicant into the house. He strips naked and starts masturbating, but when Ally and Ivy scream at him to leave, he says, "You lure men over here just to get them all amped up and then you humiliate them?" This sounds like something Kai would say.
7) Ozzy gets a new pet, but it doesn't turn out well.
Meadow and Harrison give Ozzy a guinea pig, and when Ally tells Ozzy he can't keep it, he tells her, "I wish I could say my goodbyes to you." Brutal.
Later in the episode, Ally changes her mind and agrees to let Ozzy keep Mr. Guinea. When they arrive home, their front door open and the smiley face symbol is painted on their front door. Mr. Guinea isn't in his cage. Instead, he's in the microwave, and the family enters the kitchen just in time to see him explode.
8) Ally threatens Meadow and Harrison with violence.
Ally storms over to Harrison and Meadow's house and punches Harrison in the face, telling them, "I will kill you both."
9) Meadow and Harrison are definitely in Kai's cult.
Both Meadow and Harrison are seen sharing their fears with Kai. He encourages the married couple to turn against one another.
The couple also threatens Ally, almost as if part of their plan is to infuriate her. Arriving at her door wearing sombreros, Harrison and Meadow express their anger at Ally for murdering Pedro. Harrison says, "I gave you a gun to protect yourself, and you used it to commit murder. I feel dirty!" Meadow concurs: "We want racists out of our neighborhood!"
10) Detective Samuels is hooking up with Harrison.
We're shown a glimpse of Detective Samuels watching TV with Harrison. Meadow tells Kai, "He has a friend now. They whisper about me and share looks."
11) Ozzy finds a video of Ally and Winter's flirtation on the dark web.
Ally and Ivy discover Ozzy watching videos on the dark web, which Winter introduced him to. The video is of his Ally being caressed in the bath by Winter. Ivy is livid. She accuses Ally of having an affair with the nanny, shouting, she's "fingering you in the tub!"
We also learn that Ivy's password is "clownz." Clearly, she's evil.
12) Meadow has disappeared.
Before Ivy and Ozzy can leave the house, sirens sound. Outside, Harrison is screaming at police and covered in blood. When Ally approaches, Harrison points at her and says, "She's the one. She's the killer... What kind of Gone Girl shit are you up to?"
Harrison is arrested, and back inside Ally and Ivy's house, the walls are covered in blood and the clown symbol is painted on the wall. Are they next?
Also worth noting:
We already know Ivy and Winter share a surname (Ivy Mayfair-Richards and Winter Richards), and though some outlets are calling her Winter Anderson since they they think she's Kai's sister, FX press photos label her as Winter Richards. If Ivy and Winter are related, is it a stretch to assume Meadow might be related to them, too? Their nature-inspired names suggest a connection, and as Meadow is married to Harrison Wilton, we don't know her maiden name yet. Just sayin'.
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