Ryan Murphy fooled all of us.
"American Horror Story" fans fell deep into a speculating rabbit hole last year when Murphy pointed out a major clue appearing throughout Season 4 of the horror anthology series. The big Season 5 clue was the reappearing image of a top hat. "It’s an arcane clue," Murphy previously said, "but it’s very purposeful, and it illuminates something that you’ll be like, 'Oh! You dirty [bastard]!'"
That's exactly how we're feeling right now.
Multiple theories circulated over what the mysterious top hat could mean for the fifth season, the most popular being Operation Top Hat (more on that here). But now we finally know that the top hat was a direct clue to both Lady Gaga, who recently announced she's the newest "AHS" cast member, as well as the Season 5 "Hotel" theme.
Entertainment Weekly confirmed on Wednesday that the top hat was a clue alluding to the 1935 Mark Sandrich film "Top Hat," which is set in a hotel (here's the famous dance scene in Fred Astaire's hotel room). The second and even more "arcane" part? The film's song "Cheek to Cheek," which Astaire sings to Ginger Rogers, is also the title of Gaga's duet album with Tony Bennett.
So there you have it, Gaga and a 1935 musical -- yep, "Top Hat" is a musical, which makes it even more likely that Murphy will continue his "AHS" music numbers next season. We just wonder if Bennett will have a cameo for a spooky hotel duet.
For more, head to Entertainment Weekly.
"American Horror Story" returns in October on FX.
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