American Horror Story: 13 Episodes 1-3 Recap: Is Ben’s Mysterious Client at the Center of the New Season’s Horror?

American Horror Story returns for its thirteenth season on FX, and it opens with three episodes titled 13, 1:13 AM, and Rauhnacht. The new season from Ryan Murphy follows Joey Pollari’s Ben DeSoto, a hospice worker whose fear of the number 13 turns out to be entirely justified.

After surviving a plane crash that kills his girlfriend, played by Madelaine Petsch, he takes a job caring for a dying man on the thirteenth floor of a hotel called the Apollyon, and almost nothing about that patient adds up. Watching over him is Jessica Lange’s Constance Langdon, last seen burying her own monstrous family in Murder House.

By episode three, it is clear that every returning face has gathered for one reason. Here is everything that goes down.

Who Is Ben’s New Client in American Horror Story: 13?

Ben’s new client is known only as Mr. Nas, and he owns the entire thirteenth floor of the Apollyon. Ben is hired as the nighttime attendant, which means he is alone with the old man during the hours when things go wrong. The warning signs arrive fast.

Mr. Nas is attended by a doctor named Mr. Phibes, played by John Waters, whose blood draws are far larger than any dying patient should need, and whose case turns out to be full of snakes. Ben clocks it, but is dismissed quickly.

During his first time bathing Mr. Nas, Jessica Lange‘s Constance tells Ben to clean his client’s urethra with a Q-tip. Ben once again flags it and is dismissed again. The strangest night comes when Ben hears a noise, finds the room empty, and lies down in exhaustion, only for his client to reappear on the bed. Constance explains it away, but strange things continue to happen.

During the next bath, something moves in the water. He also hears a strange popping sound coming from the tub. However, Ben tries not to get too paranoid. Then there is the ageing. Ben overhears Phibes telling Constance that the biomarkers have moved their patient’s age from 87 to 89, and soon to 90.

Whatever is happening to Mr. Nas, it is being measured rather than treated. And it isn’t normal at all. Later he finds Mr. Nas standing with his back turned, making a squeaking sound, and when he faces Ben, his mouth is covered in dark liquid.

What Is Jessica Lange’s Constance Hiding from Ben?

Constance greets Ben by telling him he looks like someone she used to know, which is a loaded thing to say from a woman whose family destroyed everyone around them. Her real function becomes obvious across the second episode.

Every time Ben sees something impossible, Constance produces an explanation. When asked about Mr. Nas moving around in his room, she explains that he only has Lewy body dementia and that he is not a cripple. The dark liquid is explained as dried blood from a bleeding ulcer that never healed.

She sits him down and talks each incident away with total calm, which is unsettling. She also offers a story about herself, describing her failures as an absent mother and framing hospice work as her penance. Anyone who watched Murder House knows how much that account leaves out.

The most alarming detail is one Ben uncovers alone. Rosalind Myers, the woman who cared for Mr. Nas before him, died by suicide. Ben starts photographing the paintings and objects around the suite and researching them, finding connections to the number 13 everywhere he looks.

By episode three, Constance is still playing Ben. Furious that Ben has turned up on his night off, she hands him a drink, and he quickly grows dizzy. With him unconscious in bed, she turns to execute her plan.

Who Are the Returning Characters and What Are Their Motives?

The gathering is the real story. Sarah Paulson‘s Cordelia Goode appears early, training a new witch named Ophelia. Emma Roberts‘ Madison Montgomery is also back with her famous “Surprise bitch!”. Cordelia tells Madison that she senses a harbinger of doom approaching.

At the Apollyon, the guest list reads like a reunion nobody should want. Jamie Brewer’s Adelaide is alive again, with Constance welcoming her back to the mortal coil. Evan Peters turns up in two roles, Tate Langdon and Cult‘s Kai Anderson. Billie Lourd’s Winter Anderson arrives escorting a masked woman who is revealed to be Mena Suvari’s Elizabeth Short.

What they are celebrating is Rauhnacht, which is described as the night the barrier between light and shadow thins, the dead leave their graves, and demons pass freely through hell’s gates. The black Christmas tree they decorate marks it.

Short’s account of her own death, and Constance’s reminder that it happened on the 13th, make the pattern explicit. So does John Carroll Lynch’s Twisty the Clown, who returns to massacre a clown school run by Tig Notaro’s character in Episode 2, leaving exactly 13 dead.

The third episode ends where all of it has been pointing. As per Constance’s plan, Tate takes Short down to the basement beneath the Apollyon, where Cordelia is waiting to tell her where she has ended up. Short is in the portal to hell.

What did you think of the American Horror Story: 13 premiere episodes? Let us know in the comments!

American Horror Story: 13 airs on FX, with episodes streaming the next day on Hulu.