I tried to reply to this last night, but seemed to come in in the middle of some board maintenance
Anyway, I did spot the cane in the episode, and I definitely think it was intentional, and very cool!
Like the others said, each season is self-contained, with the a good number of the actors from season 1 in totally different roles this season. I love this aspect- I agree that it's very Dark Shadows-like (even *more* so, since a lot of the DS characters were relatives of characters in a different time period). It gives the feeling of it being like a repertory company or something, kind of like, oh, I don't know... Tim Burton with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter
At first, I was thinking that this season is a little too busy and packed with too many crazy stories and plot points that seem unrelated. However, as the season is developing, I am adjusting to the crazy atmosphere, and I'm reminded that this was similar to the style last season, as well- I remember thinking the show was pretty disjointed and cray-cray, but that is part of the charm and the style, and it ends up serving the story.