The end of episode 2.9, which began a two-week break for "American Horror Story: Asylum," left Kit's (Evan Peters) fate precarious, and the Monsignor surely dead. However, the trailer for last night's episode 2.10, The Name Game, revealed the Monsignor (Joseph Fiennes) would, indeed, survive. And the episode's opening relieved fans about Kit, whom Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) resuscitated at the eleventh hour.
Shocking, however, that by episode's close, two main characters perished, with Arden's unanticipated death trumped only by that of Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe), who'd been set up as the demonically-possessed ultimate villain. The episode's clever trailer tricked viewers into the false belief that the season's last four episodes would focus on a showdown between Mary Eunice and Sister Jude (Jessica Lange). Evidently, that's not to be.
Back to the eight teasers about The Name Game from the Starpulse article published prior to the episode's airing:
1. Grace has a protector. And it’s not who you would expect given the fact that they can speak. Episode 2.9 revealed that the aliens returned Pepper (Naomi Grossman) to serve as Grace's (Lizzie Brocheré) protector. The aliens gave Pepper the ability to speak, and in The Name Game, she sure did, as odd as it seemed, testifying that she was never guilty of the crimes that placed her at Briarcliff.
2. Yet another person – besides Grace – who you thought was dead… isn’t. The trailer confirmed the Monsignor's survival, so this was known before the episode aired.
3. Much to Lana’s horror, someone gets a full-time position at Briarcliff. Not too hard a stretch to guess Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto) here, as predicted in an Examiner article yesterday.
4. Someone loses their virginity. Yesterday's Examiner article guessed Sister Mary Eunice, who was indeed involved, but the episode posited that the virgin was actually the Monsignor, while it was Mary Eunice who deflowered him.
5. There’s a musical interlude at one point that informs the name of the episode. With three pregnant women, the Examiner article assumed the name game would relate to choosing a baby name. Bad assumption! Instead, after Mary Eunice's heinous administration of shock therapy on Jude, Jude's thoroughly muddled brain fantasized a delightful early-60s style musical number, along with the other Briarcliff patients who inhabit the dayroom. An unexpected treat and relief from the season's darkness.
6. The Black Angel of Death visits someone else. Which astonishingly turns out to be Mary Eunice. At episode's start, the Dark Angel (Frances Conroy) informs the Monsignor that he must live to drive Satan from Mary Eunice. Instead, Mary Eunice seduces him. Distraught at his failure, he consults Jude, who advises him to kill Mary Eunice. He does, and the Dark Angel takes not only the poor girl trapped inside but also the demon that overtook her.
7. A father and son meet for the first time. And someone wants to get married. As suggested as a possibility in yesterday's Examiner article, the father and son meeting results from the birth of a child, specifically Kit and Grace's. The "someone wants to get married" turns out to be Jude, who, when delusional from the high intensity shock therapy, suggests she will marry the Monsignor in the Vatican when his is Pope! Not much of a teaser since the idea is completely laughable.
8. Dr. Arden gives up. Between his witness of the relations between Mary Eunice and the Monsignor and Pepper's information that all Arden's great experiments, when put beside those of the highly-advanced aliens, are insignificant, Arden gives up on all and takes his own life. He enters the crematory alive with the dead body of Mary Eunice and sets the door to close behind them.
Although Jude was incoherent and delusional through much of the episode, when visited by the Mother Superior (Barbara Tarbuck), she had a moment of clarity in which she confessed she falsely committed Lana (Sarah Paulson) and asked the Mother to effect Lana's release. The trailer for next week's episode 2.11, entitled Spilt Milk, surely indicates the Mother Superior's success.
So, with Mary Eunice and Arden out, seems the last three episodes will revolve around Bloody Face - both Thredson and his son Johnny Morgan (Dylan McDermott) - and the alien plot. Questions remain unanswered, such as will Thredson remain on staff at Briarcliff now that Mary Eunice, who hired him, is dead? And what has become of Kit's wife Alma (Britne Oldford), who was also expecting? Since Grace gave birth, has Alma also, unbeknownst to Kit? And with the death of Arden, will the skeletons in the Monsignor's closet ever be brought to light?
Since the aliens seem to have the advanced scientific knowledge to bring the dead back to life, might the final episodes bring back the many who died? Arden, Mary Eunice, Shelley (Chloë Sevigny), Frank (Fredric Lehne), Sam (Mark Margolis), Wendy (Clea Duvall), Spivey (Mark Consuelos), Jed (Devon Graye)? Possibly even those who died in the present day? Theresa (Jenna Dewan), Leo (Adam Levine), Johnny's therapist (Brooke Smith)? One thing that can definitely be said for "American Horror Story," the show keeps fans guessing, and coming back week after week to see just what crazy ideas they will come up with next.
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