‘American Horror Story’ Season 6 Featured A Big ‘Coven’ Twist You May Have Missed

By now “American Horror Story” fans know there’s more to Season 6 than meets the eye. The show has made a number of connections to previous seasons, namely “Coven.”

During a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, creator Ryan Murphy noted that while many of the nods to Season 3 have been obvious there are things worked into the show that viewers with less of a keen eye may be missing. He confirmed for the first time that Lady Gaga’s character in Season 6, “My Roanoke Nightmare,” is the first supreme — just like Fiona (Jessica Lange) from “Coven.” Additionally, he has plans to delve deeper into another such witchy storyline in a future installment of “American Horror Story.”

“At some point, we’re going to do a return of the ‘Coven’ season,” he told EW. “I don’t know what season that will be.”

“Coven” isn’t the only past season of “American Horror Story” fans have seen callbacks to in Season 6. During episode 5 a new character — Edward Philippe Mott (Evan Peters) — was introduced as the original owner of the farmhouse that has since become Matt (Cuba Gooding Jr. ) and Shelby’s (Sarah Paulson) undoing. During the episode it is revealed that Mott moved into the home with a horde of servants, his lover and his prized art collection. Once settled in, he noticed strange happenings around the house — all of which he blamed on his waitstaff. He banishes them to a cellar below the house in the hopes of teaching them a lesson, but he is killed by the butcher (Kathy Bates) and her followers before he can ever free them. The deed to the house was passed through generations of Mott's, but the family died out in 1952 with a relative that lived in Florida. Sound familiar? It should — that relative is none other than Dandy Mott (Finn Wittrock) of “American Horror Story: Freak Show.”

There have also been nods to “Murder House” and “Asylum” throughout Season 6. One particularly strange nod relates to the spiral staircase at the center of Matt and Shelby’s eerie new home. During Season 6, episode 1 the camera pans up from the bottom of the stairs to a large skylight above. As was previously reported the scene in question occurred just six minutes into the new season and is something “American Horror Story” fans may recognize from “Murder House,” “Asylum” and “Freak Show.” There is no clear reason for Murphy and his team to continue using such a shot in the show, but that won’t stop us from theorizing.

According to DreamMoods.com, skylights often represent “enlightenment” or “bright hopes, big possibilities, insight or intuition.” Spirals are believed to be a symbol of spirituality, and can also be associated with “unity and ascension.” These are themes we have seen throughout many season of “American Horror Story.” The staircases have also been known to play host to a number of death scenes. In Season 1, Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott) is pushed off the staircase with a noose around his neck. In “Asylum” a similar situation plays out when Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe) is tossed to her death by Monsignor Timothy Howard (Joseph Fiennes).

What will be the next call back to a previous season on “American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare?” Tune in Wednesday at 10 p.m. EDT on FX to find out.