What American Horror Story: Cult Fans Didn't Understand About Kai

Perhaps no "American Horror Story" season was more prescient — and according to fans, more underrated – than Season 7, "Cult," to say nothing of its inexplicably charismatic lead character, Kai Anderson (Evan Peters). "Cult" premiered in September 2017, and the installment follows a group of characters whose lives intersect in disturbing ways following the 2016 presidential election.

Set in a small town in Michigan, the story centers around married couple Ally (Sarah Paulson) and Ivy Mayfair-Richards (Alison Pill). After Donald Trump's win, Ivy and Ally's marriage begins to implode due to Ally's anxiety and multiple phobias. Further sowing the seeds of discontent between the two is Kai, who hopes to benefit from the deeply divided factions of the country: He preys on disgruntled, disillusioned, and displaced individuals who serve as his acolytes, including Ivy, whose resentment towards Ally is predicated by her wife's choice to vote for third-party candidate Jill Stein over Hillary Clinton.

Ally's journey from a self-indulgent victim to Kai's most formidable adversary is interwoven with Kai's increasing madness, as well as his chaotic and deadly agenda. In the end, Ally emerges triumphantly, but the season left some fans confused about Kai's storyline. They took to Reddit to discuss a sticking point of the plot.

The question at the heart of the matter, frankly, is why Ally waited so long to act against Kai. As Reddit user fortheloveofsyd asked, "Why couldn't she [Ally] have called the FBI earlier rather then wait for "innocent people" to die along the way? I feel like Kai held meetings often and she could have gotten the FBI to raid then earlier on. Maybe I am missing something. I guess the raid could have been delayed to drag out the season as well."

In response to this, DonnieDarkoRabbit pointed out Ally had her own agenda regarding Kai and his cult. "She [Ally] played her time, though. She first wanted revenge on Winter for ruining her marriage and convinced Kai to kill her himself, and he's certifiably crazy. She wanted the therapist dead for letting Kai get access to her secrets. She wanted Ivy dead for obvious reasons, except she killed her herself as a power move," they responded.

In "American Horror Story's" Season 7 finale, Ally tells Beverly Pope (Adina Porter) the FBI offered her immunity to infiltrate Kai's cult. That means Ally had a free pass to execute her revenge plans. Not only could she blame Ivy's death on Kai, but she manipulates him into killing Winter, who had as much of a hand in trying to destroy Ally's life as Ivy. In the end, Ally alerts the FBI before Kai and his army can attack truly innocent people (100 pregnant women).

There are some other factors that are important to note, when the storyline is viewed on a broader scale. In the same Reddit thread, Pantera42 argued that Ally lacks credibility early on. "They [FBI] probably wouldn't have taken her seriously at first. When this all started, Kai was just a dumbass handing out fliers and ranting. By the time she went to the mental ward, about 6 months had gone by, and he had become much much more extreme."

The first part of the season constructs the narrative that Ally is erratic and unstable — she's in the psychiatric ward for three weeks. Ally tries and fails to get help, since one of Kai's devoted followers is a police detective. However, her stint in the hospital doesn't dissuade the FBI from using her to gather incriminating information.

There is one large plot hole the show doesn't explain when it comes to Kai. In the finale, Speedwagon (Cameron Cowperthwaite), a member of Kai's inner circle, reveals to Ally he is working undercover for the state police. After Kai strangles Winter, Speedwagon panics, fearful of Kai's retribution if he finds out. However, Speedwagon is in the room in Episode 8 when Kai murders his brother Vincent (Cheyenne Jackson). Why didn't Speedwagon take that information to the authorities after Vincent's death? Unlike Ally, his actions aren't fueled by revenge, and there's no way the police knew and continued trying to gather evidence when they already had enough to convict Kai. Was Speedwagon too frightened to leave, or did he briefly fall under Kai's spell? This matter is left unresolved.