Warning: spoilers ahead for the October 3 episode of American Horror Story: Cult, called "Holes."
American Horror Story has been creepier than ever in this latest batch of episodes, featuring everything from creepy clowns to crawly bugs to plenty of murder and mayhem. In "Holes," we got some answers to questions that many of us have been asking from the beginning, including whether or not Ivy is part of the cult and working against Ally. (She totally is.) That said, the biggest shocker of the evening had everything to do with Kai's backstory. As it turns out, Kai has a family connection to a character that few of us could have possibly predicted: Dr. Rudy Vincent.
The reveal that Dr. Rudy Vincent is actually Kai and Winter's older brother came when Kai was finally telling the truth about his life prior to becoming part of a cult. When Beverly demanded to know his backstory, Kai began to share the grisly tale of what happened to his parents. His father was apparently a successful lawyer, but a motorcycle accident left him paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair. Kai's old man didn't deal with his new situation well, and he began to lash out at Kai and Kai's mom, including accusing his wife of cheating on him and knocking the dinner she made for him off the table.
Kai's mom could only take the abuse for so long, and she ultimately snapped and shot her husband to death with Kai in the house. He discovered his dad bleeding to death, then turned just in time to see his mom shoot herself in the head. Understandably panicked, Kai called his big bro for help, and Vincent arrived with a doozy of a plan: they would cover their parents' bodies in lye to preserve them and prevent the scent of decaying flesh from pervading the house.
Kai was appalled at his brother's suggestion, but Vincent argued that reporting their parents' death would have meant paying "a death tax" that would have taken a serious chunk out of the settlement their father received after the accident. The money was being used for Winter's education, and the boys could definitely use a share as well. Vincent also raised the point that he was just starting out in his medical practice, and news of a murder/suicide in his family home wouldn't exactly help him attract patients.
Vincent ultimately won Kai over, and they covered their parents' bodies in lye and put a single rose on the door in their memory. This all went down three years prior to the action in the present of American Horror Story: Cult. Now we know a family connection for Kai and Rudy Vincent, and there are now plenty more questions. For one thing, we have to wonder about the not-so-good doctor's real name and if/when he changed it. For another thing, we definitely should consider that Vincent may actually be the big bad of Cult. We can only wait and see how the rest of the season explores this family connection.
New episodes of American Horror Story: Cult air on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on FX. For your other viewing choices, take a peek at our fall TV premiere schedule.
