"The Name Game" is the tenth episode of the second season of the FX anthology television series American Horror Story.
The episode, written by Jessica Sharzer and directed by Michael Lehmann, originally aired on January 2, 2013.
In the episode, Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) puts an end to his experiments; Kit (Evan Peters) and Lana (Sarah Paulson) continue to pressure the killer Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto), who reveals several secrets to Kit; now a patient and known by her common name, Judy Martin, Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) gets subjected to the asylum's inhumane treatments; and Monsignor Howard (Joseph Fiennes) takes the fight to the possessed Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe).
After Monsignor Timothy Howard is injured from being crucified, he has been told by Shachath that he must help her force the Devil out of Sister Mary Eunice, but he must keep his thoughts of doing so hidden from the nun.
Arden allows Mary Eunice to work the controls; she sets them past his requested amount and turns on the machine, seriously inhibiting Jude's mental capacity.
He climbs on top of Mary Eunice's body as she enters the furnace, and starts the conveyor to immolate himself.
"The Name Game" was written by co-executive producer Jessica Sharzer and directed by Bored to Death veteran Michael Lehmann.
The idea was to really do a musical number that was something very '60s crossed with Jacob's Ladder because it was in her head and it was sort of the beginning of her descent.
"[1] Murphy also commented on the final scene and Dr. Arden immolating himself, "Our version of that character was his whole life was someone who really thought he was not capable of love and to do all the inhuman acts that he did, he had hardened himself.
"[2] "The Name Game" was watched by 2.21 million viewers and received an adult 18-49 rating of 1.2, down slightly from the previously aired episode.
The critical consensus reads, "The action-filled "The Name Game" raises questions, offers closure to a couple of wicked characters, and climaxes with a shocking scene.
"[4] Matt Fowler of IGN thought "The Name Game" was "jarringly good", adding that the episode "despite its dalliance with a Glee-inspired dance-macabre number, gave us some big game-changing deaths.
It heaped a ton of woe onto Jude and Timothy, giving them both powerful ways to atone for their past misdeeds.