American Horror Story

The concept for Tuesday night’s premiere of American Horror Story: Cult is so on-the-nose it can only be called brilliant. ... A murder investigation (led by Colton Haynes), and also a dizzying array of new plot points that distract from what works the best about this standout first episode: the crippling battle between politics and paranoia.

The metaphors may be a problematic mess (I’ll wait to see the whole series before making any judgment), but there’s a crackling energy to Cult as it explores the consequences of a society desperate to assign blame for consequences we don’t even fully understand yet. Cult mines satire out of a real-life farce, and finds terror there too.

The seventh season--subtitled “Cult”--is among the most smartly written and addictive.

Perhaps best of all, it really is a horror story. One that uses artful cinematography and remarkable performances (Grossman and Paulson are best in show) to remind sympathetic viewers of the foreboding dread that hasn't abided since last year and to gin up pit-of-the-gut outright terror.

It’s about the instability that has unearthed itself from the ground since Donald J. Trump was elected, one that feeds our greatest fears, from either side of the aisle, and, while it sometimes displays Murphy's go-for-broke inconsistency of character and style, it also makes for very fascinating television.

This show is trying to do a lot. Some may find that approach excessive and the idea of Grand-Guignol–ing what’s happening in our country a little crass, especially since the show takes some pretty pointed jabs at progressives. Others, especially those well-versed in the series’ over-the-top sensibility and drily snarky humor, will dig into it all with complete relish ... The whole cast is terrific, but the series is (no surprise) a real showcase for Paulson, who’s a bundle of jangled nerves and teary-eyed fear.

So far, I'm properly disturbed by Murphy and company's much-too-close-to-home allegory, amused by some of the sharp social satire and endlessly impressed by Sarah Paulson. That should keep me with American Horror Story: Cult longer than I've stuck with several other seasons.

Unlike the previous six seasons, there is no supernatural element to this one. It’s just people being unsavory people, which is scary enough.

The horror is what counts in any American Horror Story, and judging from the opening three episodes, it’s more than adequate in Cult. It’s also relentless, grisly and deeply warped.

Unsurprisingly, though, it is not Cult’s take on Trump voters that has any real frisson. Murphy doesn’t respect that point of view enough to make it sound like anything other than raving semi-philosophy. But the show is more scathing about liberals and Ally in particular.

The fears fueling Cult are internal and externalized in an intensely gruesome fashion. It feels like just the ticket at some points, and at many others, seems too unsustainable to bear for an entire season. Its relative appeal, then, feels like a moment-to-moment determination.

You’ll have to sit through a few lackluster episodes before American Horror Story: Cult becomes truly enjoyable, but if you’re a fan of the show, it’ll be worth it. Seeming to have found itself with episode four, it’ll certainly be exciting to see if the season can continue its upward trend from here.