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Rating: 3.5 / 5.0 (43 Votes)
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Recap

On election night 2016, Ally (a Michigan voter) watches in horror with her wife Ivy and their next door neighbors the Changs as Donald Trump unexpectedly wins and becomes president of the United States. Ally has an intense emotional breakdown, while Ally and Ivy's housekeeper shields their young son Ozzie, who is troubled by his mom's reaction.

On the flip side, Kai (a blue-haired, basement-dwelling Trump supporter) celebrates Trump's victory alone in his house, smearing ground Cheetos all over his face and combing his hair to mimic the president-elect. He goes into the room of Winter, a progressive who dropped out of Vassar to campaign for Hillary, and she accuses him of rubbing Trump's victory in her face. She confesses that she's scared.

Twisty the clown from American Horror Story: Freak Show attacks a young couple making out in the grass, killing them both.

In the aftermath of the election, Ally's latent phobias come to the surface, including her fear of clowns and her fear of holes. Her psychiatrist prescribes her a mild anti-anxiety medication, which she is hesitant to take. Ally's anxiety, phobias, and paranoia causes a rift between her and Ivy and affects Ozzie as well. When Ally spots Ozzy reading a comic about Twisty, she melts down.

Kai goes to a community meeting led by Mr. Chang and gives an impassioned speech about people loving fear. His belief is that they should let chaos reign, in a personal bid for power -- whoever is left, unafraid, should be in charge of leadership. Chang dismisses him, and Kai gives a veiled threat.

Another night, Kai links pinkies with Winter and quizzes her on intimate details, revealing her sadomasochistic nature. Kai also antagonizes a group of Mexican immigrants until they brutally beat him, recording it all on video.

Ally goes to the grocery store and is tormented by a gang of ghoulish clowns, having sex next to the produce and following her around the store. She fights them off with bottles of rose, then crashes her car in an attempt to flee. Back at her house, a cop tells Ivy that he didn't see any clowns, leading Ivy to believe it was some type of hallucination or breakdown.

The rift between Ivy and Ally widens when Ivy points out that their sex life has been suffering and that Ally has let the election consume her life. Ivy also holds a grudge against Ally for voting for Trump.

Meanwhile, Winter applies to be Ozzie's nanny, after the housekeeper either leaves the country or is deported following Trump's election. She is hired, but appears to be in cahoots with Kai to cause some type of mischief. When left alone with Ozzie, she convinces him to watch people dying on the Darknet. When a band of the same clows who terrorized Ally arrive next door and brutally murder the Changs, Winter takes Ozzie over and makes him watch and report back to her.

When Ivy and Ally return to the house and find police everywhere, they panic, but find that Ozzie is safe. Ozzie mentions that Winter took him over to see the murders, but Winter quickly convinces them that Ozzie is making things up. Ivy believes that Ozzie was having night terrors. They quiz the detective about whether they are safe in their home, but the detective tells them that the deaths appear to be a murder-suicide -- Mr. Chang killing Mrs. Chang and then himself.

That night, Ally hears noises in the house. When she rolls over to ask if Ivy heard it, she instead sees a creepy clown looming over her.

Show:
American Horror Story
Season:
Episode Number:
1
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