It's hard to wrap one's brain around what's happening on American Horror Story this season. Is Kai (Evan Peters) really the leader of the murderous cult? Is Ivy (Alison Pill) low-key one of his followers? And what the heck is up with the "neighbors from hell," one of whom may or may not have killed his wife?
The FX series isn't being particularly forthcoming with its answers, but one new American Horror Story: Cult theory from Reddit is attempting to explain the purpose of that truck spraying green gas that Ally (Sarah Paulson) keeps seeing... and it makes a lot of sense.
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Here's what we know about the alleged gas so far. It seems to have an effect on birds (a bunch of them were found dead on Ivy and Ally's front lawn), can cause some sort of human reaction (though how severe we won't know until Ally gets those blood tests back), and the spraying of it isn't sanctioned by the town.
That's not much to go on, but obviously, any truck spraying bright green gas in the middle of the night is going to seem seriously nefarious. Except...what if it's not?
Redditor Gentoon has an idea about the gas that fits in perfectly with this season's theme of fear causing mass chaos.
In a post titled "the lighted gas is literally gaslighting," Gentoon writes:
"I don't think the gas actually does anything, it's a prod at conspiracy theories of people spraying things to control her mind. It's probably literally water, meant to have Ally distrust those around her for not seeing the same things that she does."
Note that the gas has a place in the American Horror Story: Cult opening credits, seemingly suggesting it does have a big place within the scope of the story. Gentoon states in the post that maybe it's the cult's way of making Ally distrust the people around her — eventually turning her into a sympathizer for the cult.
The Redditor adds that it might be Ally's therapist (Cheyenne Jackson) who is the one "gaslighting" her, or making her think she's going crazy.
"The more she solves her problems, the further she gets from taking the pills that the doctor gives her. Assuming the doctor is evil, this could just be another thing that he's using to make Ally question her own sanity to keep her under control."
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It actually makes so much sense. We saw Ally pass out from the gas, but what if it was merely a panic attack that caused her to lose consciousness? Her fear could be the thing causing physical effects, while the gas itself is completely harmless.
And you thought the clowns were trippy.