AHS Fans Felt The Name Game Scene In Asylum Was A Breath Of Fresh Air

Each season of "American Horror Story" offers its own brand of terror, though "AHS Asylum" was a truly wild ride. Featuring sadistic doctors, aliens, serial killers, bloodthirsty humanoids lurking in the woods, and demonic possession, Season 2 offered a little something for everyone. "Asylum" takes viewers to Massachusetts in 1964, where a dedicated journalist is committed to getting her big break, an innocent man has been framed for a terrible crime, and a killer lurks in the shadows. Looming over it all is Briarcliff Manor, the titular asylum where all these threads come together in a deadly tangle. Despite the grim subject matter, Jessica Lange managed to squeeze in a quick musical number. 

Every longtime "AHS" fan knows the scene. Jude has fallen pretty far since her days as the head nun at Briarcliff. Now that Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe) and Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto) are in charge, Jude has become a patient herself and things aren't looking good. After receiving electro-shock treatments, Jude struggles to maintain her grasp on reality. Lana (Sarah Paulson), taking pity on her former captor, asks the former nightclub singer if she knows her name. Jude tries to communicate how she's feeling in the only way she knows how –-with music. She plays "The Name Game" by Shirley Ellis on the jukebox and suddenly the drab rec room is transformed into a much livelier environment. 

Even years after the episode first aired, fans are still loving this moment and it's easy to see why.

There are plenty of "AHS: Asylum" moments that brought fans to tears, but it's still hard to watch Jude fade away right after finding inner peace and redemption. Before her death, she endured many of the treatments she forced on Briarcliff patients. However, in the middle of these harrowing events, we get a scene that's full of bright colors and boisterous dancing, a sharp contrast to what it actually represents: the slow decline of Jude's mental state. Even though it's not real, fans loved this scene because it showed the characters experiencing joy for the first time all season.

"Honestly, I loved this scene. It was refreshing to see these characters actually smile and have fun, even if it was just a vision/daydream. I bet the actors had a blast filming this," said YouTube user @eremikahaven4796. Not many characters get a traditionally happy ending on "AHS: Asylum," so this scene was a nice addition. "This was such a dark season but this scene was truly adorable," wrote user @bushybrow8331. 

Viewers also enjoyed the scene's symbolism within the overall narrative. "This was the only moment with real happiness in the entire story," commented user @davider3590. "Very sad and very poetic.️"

After the music fades away, reality crashes down on Jude and she's left stranded at the asylum until Kit Walker (Evan Peters) rescues her. Thankfully, the true story behind the musical episode is much less serious.