** This post contains spoilers**
The Story- After Dr. Arden lies to Kit about the aliens not showing up, Kit loses hope for his future. Unbeknownst to Kit, Grace is pregnant with his child, while Pepper, assigned to Grace as a protector by the aliens, watches over her.
Mary Eunice’s devious ways continue, as she torments and punishes Jude. Dr. Arden is about to crack, but he attempts to make one more desperate plea to bring back the real Mary Eunice.
Meanwhile, Thredson believes he’s in the clear, but Lana has other plans.
My Thoughts- Who would’ve thought Pepper would join the list of people to verbally annihilate Dr. Arden? With the aliens giving Pepper an upgrade for intelligence and a more sharp sense of confidence, Pepper wasted no time in tearing into Arden. Mocking him for his failed experiments, Pepper told Arden the aliens think he’s a fool and a complete joke.
Pepper knocking Arden off of his own pedestal was a great way to start the episode. Arden is such a pompous and arrogant blowhard, and he didn’t take being humbled too well. Depressed and distraught, Arden decides to end his experiments by killing all the creatures. Another sign that Arden is completely defeated in this episode? He refused Mary Eunice’s request to do a lobotomy on Sister Jude. Think about that for a second, Arden hates Jude. He has a golden opportunity to make her miserable, and he refuses.
Dr. Thredson weasels his way back into Briarcliff. Not only did Mary Eunice help him escape, but she also gave him a full time position at Briarcliff. Of course, Lana and Kit are his two primary targets. As Grace gives birth to her and Kit’s son, Thredson tries to use the baby as leverage, so Kit will give up his confession tapes.
Kit agrees to give Thredson the tapes, but a “plucky” Lana was smart enough to hide them again and keep them for herself. It’s Lana’s only insurance policy at this point, and Thredson is once again up that famous creek without a paddle.
Sister Jude hits a rough patch here. After Mary Eunice finds a cucumber in her room, Jude dares Mary Eunice to punish her, and unfortunately she takes her up on that offer. Mary Eunice intentionally cranks the juice up way too high during Jude’s shock treatment therapy. The end result? Jude becomes a mumbling and incoherent mess.
Jude is down, but there’s a scene in the common room, where she has a hallucination, dancing and singing the song The Name Game by Shirley Ellis on the common room’s new jukebox. Although it was just a hallucination, it was nice to see Jude happy and having fun for once after all she’s been through. This scene also genuinely felt like a happy and positive breath of fresh air, especially when you consider the constant dreary and depressing atmosphere at Briarcliff.
Monsignor Howard is truly put to the test here. There’s a manhunt for an escaped Leigh Emerson, but he’s got bigger problems to worry about. Howard seemed ready to die, but The Angel Of Death told him his work is not done, and he has an important task to accomplish: drive the devil out of Mary Eunice. After a failed surprise exorcism, Mary Eunice rapes Monsignor Howard.
Mary Eunice basically tries to bully Howard into being at his side, as his rises through the ranks, while also tempting him with possibility of being the next Pope. If any of this sounds familiar, it’s because Mary Eunice wants to steal the same “dream” Jude had envisioned with Howard.
Feeling hopeless with his failed attempts to save Mary Eunice, Howard turns to a broken Jude for help and advice. Jude’s suggestion? Kill Mary Eunice. For a moment, the real Mary Eunice surfaced, pleading with Howard. She was tired of fighting the evil inside of her. Howard was able to get Mary Eunice to lower her guard, and he used this opportunity to throw her off the top of the stairs, killing her.
A sad ending for Mary Eunice, but maybe it was the only way? You could definitely say Mary Eunice was too far gone at this point. Arden’s constant pleas were ignored and mocked by her, Jude failed (although Arden played a big part in that), and Monsignor Howard’s exorcism attempt was easily thwarted. So maybe this was the only way to defeat the devil and finally set Mary Eunice free. There’s a somber and poignant moment before the Angel Of Death kisses Mary Eunice. The real Mary Eunice is ready to go, and the Angel Of Death simply replies “I’ll take both of you.”
While preparing Mary Eunice’s body for cremation, Dr. Arden decides to get on top of her body. He willingly chooses to burn himself alive in the crematorium with Mary Eunice’s body. I guess you could say after his experiments failed and after he failed to save his precious Mary Eunice, Dr. Arden believed he had nothing left to live for. I mean, Arden was literally on his knees begging Mary Eunice to show pity for him, but that didn’t work.
Arden was such a cold, twisted, and evil person, so it’s hard to feel sympathy for him. Earlier in the season, Arden paid a prostitute to dress up like a nun. You could probably guess his twisted fantasy was to have sex with a woman who resembled Mary Eunice, because he would never actually have sex with Mary Eunice, someone who he considered to be pure and sacred. Also, seeing Mary Eunice on top of Monsignor Howard probably sent him over the edge. Still, the closing moments of this episode with Arden and Mary Eunice’s corpse going into the crematorium was a chilling and dark ending. The flames rising, and hearing Arden’s screams, as he burns to death is more than enough to make you squirm.
Jude’s guilt about imprisoning Lana prompts her to ask for a big favor from Mother Superior Claudia. She wants Claudia to help get Lana out of Briarcliff for good. This was an emotional scene. You could see the heartbreak on Claudia’s face, as she watches Jude slur her words and ramble on about her dream with Monsignor Howard, and how Mary Eunice needed to die.
The Name Game is loaded with exceptional performances from top to bottom. Lily Rabe was great this season. Starting out as the sweet, nervous, and jittery nun. But she also effortlessly transitioned into the cruel and vindictive possessed menace, who made early season Sister Jude look like a saint by comparison. This episode definitely has a big time feel to it, with two major character deaths, and you get the sense everything is building to the big finale.
A lot of big questions to build anticipation for the next episode, including what will Dr. Thredson do now? Lana spoiled his plans again, and he doesn’t have the tapes. What’s going to happen to Kit and Grace’s baby? A baby is not fit for the horrors at Briarcliff, and the public still believes Kit is Bloody Face.
Rating- 9/10
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