Constance, Tate, Addy & More Return for a Hellish Gathering

American Horror Story: 13 wasted no time getting weird, wicked, and very familiar in its premiere. The season opened with Ben (Joey Pollari), whose fear of the number 13 seemed justified after a deadly midair disaster left him one of the few survivors. Meanwhile, Cordelia (Sarah Paulson) sensed “something wicked” coming at Miss Robichaux’s Academy, while Constance Langdon (Jessica Lange) resurfaced in New York caring for the mysterious Mr. Nas (Fedor Steer). By the end of the hour, Ben had taken a job as his night attendant — only to discover there’s something very strange about his new patient. Episode 2 picks up from there. Warning: Spoilers ahead for American Horror Story: 13 Episode 2 & 3.

Ben is still a little spooked by the swift-moving Mr. Nas (Fedor Steer), but Constance puts his mind at ease with charm and cookies. Ben shelves his fears and folds away the red flags as he gets back to his duties, washing Mr. Nas’ naughty bits (as he is contractually obligated to do), but other odd bits keep poking up from the water. Like Mr. Nas’ tail.

Eric Liebowitz/FX

Ben is a bit freaked out, which causes Mr. Nas to smile.

In his downtime, Ben looks up Mr. Nas’ collection of knickknacks and learns about the 13 figures at the table in The Last Supper, as well as the significance of the sunflowers in his house, which ties back to the Fibonacci sequence and, once again, the number 13.

Cut to… a circus! Or rather, a clown school. And while one very familiar clown (John Carroll Lynch) lurks in the shadows, the teacher (Tig Notaro) is looking to redeem clowns. Twisty the Clown enters the schoolroom looking to join, showing off his skills, including knife-throwing. As he massacres the students and teacher, he screams, “Clowns aren’t f***ing funny!” So much for redemption.

Eric Liebowitz/FX

Back at Mr. Nas’ house of horrors, Ben discovers his client contorting in the living room and throwing up bile again. He appears to be linked to these incidents of horror. When Ben tells Constance about the “black, viscous” liquid, she excuses it as a bleeding ulcer. And the things on his head? Well, that’s just due to age.

In an attempt to bond, Constance tells an alt-reality version of her backstory, where instead of lingering at the Murder House, she left her husband and went into hospice care. Though she admits she wanted to learn medical care in an attempt to bond with her children and save them. “But a mother can only do so much.”

As for the maid? “A bullet” made her see the error of her ways, as longtime fans are aware.

As Ben is eating his sad dinner of old spaghetti, he gets news of the clown school massacre in Los Angeles, in which 13 people were murdered.

Eric Liebowitz/FX

Meanwhile, Constance is with her daughter Adelaide (Jamie Brewer), having some quality mother-daughter time. “What a gift to have you back in this mortal coil.” Together, they decorate a black tree with Satanic figures to celebrate the 13 days after Christmas.

TV Insider spoke to actress Jamie Brewer, who was delighted to return to the series. “Honestly, being a part of this amazing 13 years, this family that I worked with, they have become like family in our personal lives,” said Brewer. “And Ryan is the head of this whole family.”

Brewer explained that what she loved most about the series is that it highlights diversity in its cast. “Every season highlights many characters that show diversity. Diversity is key.” While the show might showcase outsiders, Brewer makes a point of stating that “at the heart of it, we are not.”

Kai and Tate (Evan Peters) both appear to help decorate the anti-Christmas tree, as Winter (Billie Lourd) escorts them in a mysterious figure in a babydoll mask.

The special guest is unveiled to be Elizabeth Short (Mena Suvari), a.k.a. the Black Dahlia. It appears that Constance has a master plan, as she tells Ms. Short, “Very soon, you will be among 13 leading ladies, all as legendary as you are.” The group tells Elizabeth of the Rauhnacht, a time when the veil between hell and Earth is the thinnest. They are on the 13th day, and she is their special guest. In other words, they have plans for her.

Eric Liebowitz/FX

Gathered around the dinner table, they serve “special ham for special people,” as Adelaide watches with glee. Elizabeth cannot remember who she is or where she comes from, but Constance is kind enough to remind her that on January 13, she was quartered, thus becoming a gruesome piece of history.

She recalls when the ghost of Dr. Charles Montgomery (Matt Ross) mutilated her body after she was assaulted by Dr. David Curran (Josh Malina), but suddenly, she was alive again. Apparently, the same thing happened to Kai and Winter, but for Elizabeth wandered the streets until she is given a bus ticket and a mask to New York, where she will finally be a “shining star.”

Ben wanders in, and Constance is fuming because he was told he had the day off so she could have time for her unholy gathering. While his back is turned, she drugs his cocktail. As she spins her lies, the drug hits quickly and hard. “Perhaps when you wake up from all this, you’ll know who you really are.”

Constance won’t let the others kill him. They have bigger fish to fry.

Addy, Kai, Winter, and Tate take Elizabeth to the hottest club in New York, Club Hell, conveniently located beneath the Apollyon, where they come face-to-face with Wilhemina Venable (Sarah Paulson again), who informs poor Elizabeth, “This is the portal to hell.”

Both Paulson and Evans are already playing two roles just three episodes in, but according to Paulson, she wouldn’t have it any other way. “You are going to have to drag me out of this universe kicking and screaming,” Paulson told TV Insider. “I like doing it. Anytime a season’s over, I’m like, god, they’re gonna get me back another year, I can feel it.”

American Horror Story: 13, Season 13, Thursdays, 9/8c, FX and Hulu