American Horror Story Season 7: Cult ★ ★ ★ - Very Good I'm giving this season a lot of latitude because after 5 season I watched set around a particular Horror setting and/or sub-genre, the show uses a bunch of different threads to create a tale of modern terror that can be called completely original, while still owing a debt to many pop culture monuments. It's the most ambitious and thought-provoking season even though parts of it are as bad as the show gets, including an entire episode centered on attempted Warhol assassin Valerie Solanas, played by Lena Dunham acting way out of her depth. (It's like Stranger Things S2E7, derailing but not destroying the show.)
The season begins with 3 epsiodes centered on Sarah Paulson's character, who has an irrational fear of many things, from honeycombs to the Trump presidency, but nothing terrifies her more than clowns. The writers suppose what if all her irrational anxiety came with good reason, including a gang of clown-masked murderers. (The masks are Asuperplus.) Her fear is so constantly realized, we can't tell if she's being gaslit or if it's just the show doing it's thing.
Eventually, we get the other side of events. Evan Peters plays a hyper-intelligent, 4chan, Trump supporter with a plan to start the revolution with an army of followers. Peters has been a constant MVP to the show and this season he delivers his Tyler Durden (Fight Club). He also gets to play other real life cult leaders in side stories, from Jim Jones to Charles Manson. This may sound scattershot, but Evans charismatic psychopath is one of the most stable benefits to the season.
Paulson is at the top of her game too, but playing an irrational character means occasionally behaving irrationally, and some of her stupid mistakes are easy to see coming. Paulson is handed the gift of Alison Pill to act off of and the pair are exceptional, which helps because Paulson stops making sense by the final stretch of episodes. Peters has a sister played by Billie Lourd, and their relationship is more logical, but Lourd doesn't have the acting skill yet to hang in with Peters.