An American Horror Story favorite returns to Apocalypse to rattle Evan Peters

After nuking most of the planet, last week’s premiere of American Horror Story: Apocalypse ended with the Antichrist Michael Langdon entering the concrete walls of Outpost Three, promising to bring the worthy to salvation in the mysterious Cooperative sanctuary.

This week, another Murder House character appears, offering viewers an even more direct connection to the events of the past.

But this is a Ryan Murphy show, so it’s also a guessing game.

[Ed. note: this post contains major spoilers for the second episode of American Horror Story: Apocalypse and the previous episode before it.]

Turns out Rubber Man, one of the most mysterious characters of the show’s first season, was lurking in the shadows of Outpost Three. Or maybe he was wished into existence to do a little dirty work? Whatever the case, Rubber Man enters the picture to engage Evan Peters’ character Mr. Gallant in some steamy sex. Just moments before the season one cameo, Gallant was being interrogated by Langdon — something he admits left him all bothered. When Rubber Man enters his chamber, he’s under the impression that the man in the latex suit is Michael himself.

His grandma Evie (Joan Collins) certainly seems to think so, when she peeps him through the cracked door. So does Venable (Sarah Paulson) and her right-hand Ms. Mead (Kathy Bates). Michael later reveals to a strung-up and whipped Gallant that it wasn’t him in the latex suit, and that he wouldn’t sleep with Gallant if he were the last man on Earth.

After Michael’s rejection, Gallant follows the latex-clad Rubber Man and confronts the figure, grabbing a pair of shears to stab it in the chest … only to have the body of his grandmother appear in its place.

Was it really Evie Gallant dressed up as Rubber Man in that final confrontation? She doesn’t appear to be wearing the leather costume when the camera pulls back to find her dead body bleeding out on the bed. So was Gallant hallucinating the whole encounter? Was Michael, who presumably possess some unholy power, actually just messing with his head the whole time?

Fans of American Horror Story know that there’s another kink (heh) to Rubber Man that could explain the situation.

By the end of Murder House, it was revealed that Rubber Man was none other than Tate Langdon, aka Evan Peters’ original character on the show. In that season, Tate was a ghost and his son Michael Langdon is presumed to be the Antichrist, born of human and spirit. A supernatural father-son reunion could be brewing here. Considering that Murphy previously teased Peters returning to the role of Tate, there is the very real possibility that Evan Peters literally fucked himself.

The last time we saw Tate, he was still bound to the Murder House property, and as far as AHS world rules go, ghosts can’t leave their property unless it’s Halloween. If this version of Rubber Man really is Tate, it could be some unholy conjuring of Michael’s or some other manifestation of sex and lust in Outpost Three.