American Horror Story: Cult premieres in less than two months. Which means it’s time to speculate just what the new season of the horror anthology series might look like. Here’s what we know so far:
American Horror Story: Election?
The mess began on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen back in Febuary. When Andy offhandedly asked for some updates on the seventh season of American Horror Story. Ryan Murphy simply stated, “Well I don’t have a title. But the season we begin shooting in June, is going to be about the election that we just went through.”
Cue the chaos. Many began to speculate what this new “election themed” season might look like. Who would play Donald Trump or Paul Ryan? Maybe Melissa McCarthy would cameo as Sean Spicer. I myself wrote an article about it.
Meanwhile, just over a week after the initial “election” announcement Ryan retracted some of his comments at the Publicists Guild Awards Luncheon stating that there would not be Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump characters in the new season. However, his teases on a politics-based season never let up. Rather that the new season would be representative of both sides of a political divide. He also said that he will be “illuminating” different minority groups that feel “ignored by the current administration and who are afraid that their lives are going to be taken away.”
AHS Season 7: Red, white and blue clue
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Finally, Ryan Murphy announced on Twitter that the new season would take place in Michigan. Those who watched the 2016 Presidential Election will remember Michigan was one of many battleground states where it was “too close to call” most of the night.
Although President Barack Obama dominated Michigan in both 2008 and 2012. The state went to President Donald Trump that night, ensuring his candidacy. We later learned that the season would begin on Election Night 2016, and the season would deal with the aftermath of what we all know occurred that night.
Complete with multiple red, white and blue themed clues on Instagram, American Horror Story: Cult is rounding out to be the most politically-based season the series has seen yet.
Bees?
One of the most confusing teases Ryan Murphy made was posted to his Instagram days before the title reveal. Simply put: a man covered in thousands of bees. It wasn’t until days, and even more honeycomb-shaped teases, later did we understand the exact and true nature of how insects would play into the new season.
“It’s not COLONY,” Ryan Murphy said on Twitter an hour before the reveal. “It’s not HIVE. It’s not ANN COULTER.” It’s Cult. And though bees are not the title of the show, honeycomb still decorate the entirety of this new season’s promotion. The FX website for the show shows us the hexagon. The teaser below also gives us a glimpse of the six-sided shape multiple times. Not to mention the clown who literally screams a swarm of bees in the very same promo.
It’s a clear allusion to the cult that this season will feature. Honey bee colonies consist of a single queen as well as thousands upon thousands of drones and worker bees. Which begs the question: If there is a cult, who is its leader?
Information given by Murphy himself may hold the answer. Murphy told fans on Twitter, “This is [Evan Peter’s] heaviest season yet.” Peters is playing a mysterious character named Kai, who has been seen filming with blue hair, black eyes, and a broken arm. Could he be the political villain that carries out the horror’s of season 7? It seems likely.
Cults and clowns
Finally, before the official teaser was released at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con we already knew that somehow, some way, clowns were going to be back on our television screens. By the time Roanoke ended we knew that season 7 would be connected to Freak Show. How, was a completely different question. Freak Show took place in 1952 Jupiter, Florida. As we now know, Cult takes place in post-2016 election Michigan.
A series of clues involving an Instagram post featuring a Twisty the Clown comic book may string together some of the answers we are looking for. Twisty has obviously gone down in legend. His killings in the name of “protecting children” may have spawned the birth of countless copycats. Or in the case of this season, and entire cult.
Additionally, an official teaser that aired on FX Brasil earlier this month gave us our first look at one horrible clown we might be facing this upcoming season. However, it wasn’t until last Friday at Comic-Con that we really understood how heavily involved clowns would be this season. A swarm of them dominate the clip, haunting us with a call to arms.
“Do you ever feel alone? Does it seem like no one really understands you? Do some people just make you sick? Are you afraid? We can set you free. We will make you strong. We want you.”
“We want you.” Uncle Sam’s words have never seemed so eerie and demanding. It is a clear referral to the World War I propaganda poster. The cult of season 7 is looking for recruits. The question is whether or not watchers will be willing to join the cause. Knowing Murphy, he will most likely give a compelling argument for both sides.
All the pieces
Regarding the information given, there is a lot to digest. Clowns, cults, honeybees, and President Donald J. Trump. It seems that we are headed into a political nightmare. As mentioned before, in the article I wrote a back in February I asked readers a question: “When do politics become scary?” It looks like Ryan Murphy is about to give us an answer as he sheds light on the ways that certain minority groups are neglected by administrations.
This Hypable writer is ready to take the bet that the cult featured in the new season is about to show us just how far some groups of people are going to go to suppress, alienate, and even harm those that they believe are different from them. Murphy has never shied away from talking about the hard stuff. This season is bound to feature black lives, American immigrants, as well LGBT and gender minorities in a way that we have never seen them before.
Meanwhile, as the weeks towards the premiere of Cult wind down the official season website, ahs7.com is allowing you to join their cause and receive new teasers each week leading up the premiere.
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