What we get in this first 87 minutes, with the fish-eye lenses, cat-growl soundtrack, and zingy Lange one-liners (“I mean, granted, he jerks around like some goddamn inflatable in front of a gas station”), feels like a relieving return to form.

Ultimately, 13 is (so far) a reminder that AHS can’t and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. It’s not difficult to forgive its flaws, no matter how numerous. It’s hard to predict where (if anywhere) the franchise will be able to go after this, its most ambitious outing yet, but that’s a future problem.

When Lange isn’t holding our attention, these early episodes are borderline incoherent, if not just plain boring. .... Still, the show’s pitch-black sense of humor and ostentatious visual style can make even its most inane moments hard to resist.

If there’s anything clear from the first three episodes of “13,” it’s that this season was written with superfans of the series in mind — for better or worse.