American Horror Story: Ranking Every Season Premiere From Worst To Best

8. Election Night

As previously mentioned, American Horror Story certainly knows how to reel viewers in from the get-go, and Cult's premiere episode is proof of just that. The narrative - and its characters - are established almost immediately in Election Night, which introduces viewers to a world that is scarily similar to the one in which we're currently living.

Set during the 2016 presidential election, the focus of the episode shifts between two central characters. The first is anxiety-ridden protagonist Ally, who is distraught at learning Donald Trump has been elected president. These scenes are nicely juxtaposed with images of Kai Anderson, who has a very different reaction to the political event. It's an intense episode, especially because Kai's minions repeatedly use Ally's fear of clowns to intimidate her.

Using the current state of the world as the basis for a season of American Horror Story is an admirable move, but it's not one that pays off, as - even though it's grounded in our reality - Cult is too comedic for its own good. It's obvious that the showrunners wanted to satirically attack the state of the world - and in this they absolutely succeed - but that's not what AHS is meant to be.

Camp may be a common component for the show, but the tongue-in-cheek tone established in Election Night was a step in the wrong direction.