Spoiler warning: This article contains spoilers for the first three episodes of American Horror Story: 13.

AHS and I have had an on-again/off-again relationship, but this season is giving me a reason to come back. Actually, after the first three episodes? It might be doing more than that.

I went into American Horror Story: 13 willing to give it a chance, and somewhere between all the 13s, the returning faces, whatever the hell Mr. Nas is, Twisty showing up and an actual portal to Hell, I realized I was completely locked in.

And I have missed that.

The 13 Thing Is Everywhere, and I’m Loving It

This season is absolutely obsessed with the number 13. Kira loves it. Ben very clearly does not. It shows up in deaths, times, floors, artwork, religion and probably ten more places I missed because at some point I stopped counting and just accepted that 13 is basically another character.

Normally, something that repetitive could get annoying. Here? It works. It gives the season this weird little thread tying everything together, even when the story is bouncing between completely different kinds of chaos.

And I already want to know what it actually means beyond the obvious superstition because there is absolutely no way they are hitting us over the head with this number for no reason.

The Returning Faces Got Me Immediately

I knew there were going to be familiar faces. I was not prepared for how happy some of them would make me.

Sarah Paulson showing up with magic involved? Of course. Emma Roberts walking in with that familiar attitude? Yep.

Then Jessica Lange appeared.

Done. You got me.

And Constance is still very much Constance, which might be one of my favorite things about this so far. She can say something horrifying, wildly inappropriate or completely suspicious and somehow deliver it like she is just making polite conversation over coffee.

Then Evan Peters shows up. More than once.

At one point we have Tate and Kai in the same place, which is basically Evan Peters acting opposite Evan Peters, and somehow that is exactly the kind of AHS nonsense I wanted.

What the Hell Is Mr. Nas?

I genuinely do not know what that man is.

Devil? Vampire? Devil-vampire? Something worse?

All I know is there are weird bumps on his head, I swear I saw what looked like a tail, there are snakes, blood and black liquid that Ben describes as black, viscous and looking like crude oil.

Meanwhile, Constance is over there acting like Pepto is going to take care of everything.

Sure.

Ben knows something is wrong too, which I appreciate because at least somebody is reacting appropriately to this madness. He has experience caring for people and immediately knows what he is seeing is not normal.

What really caught my attention, though, is the way Constance treats Ben. She keeps pacifying him instead of getting rid of him. Then she drugs him, tells him she senses there is something more to him and says maybe when he wakes up he will know who he really is.

When Tate asks if she wants Ben gone, she says no. Leave this one be.

That matters.

I have absolutely no idea why yet, but Ben is important.

This Is More Than Nostalgia

Twisty came back. There was a clown massacre. Elizabeth Short started remembering what happened to her. Then Kai said the word that really made me pay attention:

Rebirth.

That changed the whole thing for me.

Suddenly these returning characters stopped feeling like they were simply being brought back because fans would recognize them. There is a reason they are here. Something happened after their deaths. They remember darkness and waking somewhere else, and now they are all connected to whatever Constance is planning.

That is what I want from a season like this. Give me the familiar faces, absolutely, but give me a reason for them to be here too.

And apparently there is one.

Club Hell Is Apparently Very Literal

Then everyone starts leaving to do their part. Constance is talking about sacrifices that have to be made and some special place waiting for them in the future.

We get to Club Hell.

Kai asks if they know where they are.

Sarah Paulson looks up and tells them it is the portal to Hell.

And then that is it.

We are done.

Excuse me?

Fine, AHS. I’m Back.

That is really where I am after these first three episodes.

I’m excited again. I’m curious. I’m making theories while I watch. I want to know what Mr. Nas is, why Ben matters, what Constance is actually planning, how all these reborn characters fit together and what the hell the number 13 is eventually going to mean.

I was a little unsure when I realized how short the episodes were because part of me wondered whether they would feel like they were not giving us enough.

Right now, my bigger problem is that I want another one.

Immediately.

So yes, American Horror Story: 13.

You might have just pulled me back in.