After delivering a staggering Episode 1 breakdown Marley Eleven Bury is back again with his Ratched Season 1, Episode 2 review.
Ratched continues to be a superbly complex exploration of human psychology, sexuality and morality
Following on from last week’s episode, this once is once again directed by Ryan Murphy; whose directorial flair continues to impress. W
ithin the first minute of screen time, we already have exceptional character work and visual creativity; as Dr. Hanover is shown bathed in red-light.
Clearly under enormous pressure, he is inhaling anaesthetic gas and/or some other kind of medication; to calm the stress on his mind.
This character is evolving into one of the show’s most tragic presences, the breakdown of a deeply flawed but good man; lost in the pursuit of a noble goal.
After the episode has introduced us to the upcoming victims of a lobotomy; who Ratched treats with such tactful warmth as saying: ‘You’re a lesbian, that much is plain. It’s made obvious by your facial structure’.
Though darkly funny, this sets-up one of the episode’s key emotional challenges for Ratched and will eventually serve as a reminder; both within the story and our own world, of the foolishness of such mind-sets.
The episode then goes into the new title sequence, set to the backing of Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens; originally released in 1874.
The cinematography for this sequence; combined with effortlessly slick editing, ends on a chilling close-up of Mildred Ratched and it is a testament to Sarah Paulson that this simple shot left me with chills and dying to see the rest of the episode.
Continuing onwards, the episode has a few subtle reveals; that add further intrigue to the story.
Mrs. Briggs; who I initially believed to be his wife and secretary, is confirmed to only be the latter. Also revealed as a lesbian; subtly shown by her horror at the lobotomy process to ‘correct’ homosexuality, this was a strong piece of character-writing for both her and Dr. Hanover.
From a modern perspective, the audience feel nothing but sympathy; watching someone be forced to see their sexuality as something to be ‘cured’.
Meanwhile, it shows the flaws in Hanover’s philosophy. In many ways, he’s a socially progressive and deeply empathetic person; yet his saviour complex is still limited by some of the attitudes of his time.
The lobotomy scenes; though not visually gory, have terrifically gruesome sound-design that can turn even the hardest of stomachs; as it does for even the fearsome Nurse Bucket.
Mildred’s manipulations of Hanover; by providing the strong-stomached practitioner Hanover is looking for, allows her to manipulate him into securing better conditions for Edmund Tolleson.
Prior to this however, Ratched is shown visiting the surviving priest from Edmund’s attack; Father Andrews. Costume designer Lou Eyrich continues to impress, as the latest costume perfectly captures her villainy.
She may mask it but underneath, her nature is sin and her intentions; dark as they come, even the glasses she wears are tinted a shade of green.
It is simply phenomenal work and truly some of the best costume design TV has to offer right now, thanks in no small part to showrunner Ryan Murphy, who is quoted by Eyrich as having taken: “Weeks upon weeks upon weeks” to be satisfied with the shade of fabric for the hospital uniforms alone.
That attention-to-detail is one of the show’s greatest qualities.
Playing on the priest’s desire for revenge; though it clashes with his catholic faith, Ratched lays the foundation for the episode’s disturbing conclusion with her usual manipulative genius.
However, one of the most intriguing aspects about this episode is in showing that; while an incredible manipulator, Mildred Ratched is fundamentally thrown by simple social conventions and dynamics.
Nurse Bucket; eating the peach she’d saved for lunch, nearly drives her into open-rage and her following scenes; post Hannover’s ice-pick lobotomy, with Mrs. Briggs truly highlights her social ineptitude in many ways.
When the dynamic is one she fundamentally can’t win, control or manipulate for her own ends, she is driven to anger on in the latter’s case, actually starts to open up.
Her warm smiles and gentle laughter when wanting to have a second Oyster are incredibly endearing and highlight a theme of the episode: The many faces of trauma. Some hide; or are trapped, behind grief and fear, such as Father Andrews.
Others turn to violence; like Edmund Tolleson, while whatever fundamentally shaped Mildred Ratched has made her desire control above everything else.
In one of the episode’s saddest lines, she states: ‘I believe there are some things that are worse to feel than simply feeling nothing’.
Clearly, she is talking about herself and the key question now: Why?
Here, the episode also pays off its setups earlier and Mrs. Briggs takes Mildred Ratched into a ‘Woman’s bar’; shocking her as she had no clue she was a lesbian.
Yet again, this shows that for all her devilish brilliance, she simply does not truly understand people and is limited by the biases of her own thinking.
Whether the show will explore further the possibility of Ratched repressing her true sexuality is an intriguing possibility and even as a standalone plotline for this episode, works well to explore her complex; yet frighteningly naïve, understanding of social dynamics and emotional connections.
Meanwhile, I eat humble pie in the next scene. Yes; I admit it: I was completely wrong about Finn Wittrock.
His character came into his own in this scene; thanks largely to Wittrock’s excellent performance.
Here is a man faking insanity to escape the death penalty; while Dr. Hanover tries to crack his façade, determined to find the root-cause of his rage.
Finn is so convincing that; if you didn’t already know it was an act, you’d believe it unquestionably: A perfect representation of schizophrenia and psychosis, though as Hanover himself notes: ‘So perfectly presented they actually strain credulity’.
These two actors steal the episode with this phenomenal battle of wits and it adds further tragedy to Hanover’s character.
In a world where most want to see Edmund executed, a dark few lust over his actions and one is willing to sacrifice all morality to absolve him of responsibility, Dr. Hanover is the only one who believes Edmund deserves a chance to heal, reform and face his punishment; not through death, but instead through redemption.
He expresses his disgust for the death penalty as ‘State-sanctioned murder’ and even when Edmund is clearly eyeing up a knife, he holds his nerve; adding further complexity to his drug-taking in the beginning, as he refuses to take the easy way out and instead tries to break Edmund’s façade.
The editing for this scene is also phenomenally slick, with the tension rising in every moment after Hanover reveals that he has seen through this charade.
It is such a phenomenal display of acting and character humanisation for both men, that one can even forgive the admittedly stupid-logic of how a doctor who; after losing a patient to suicide by letter-opener when they got into his office, would allow a knife to be laying around just days/weeks later.
Following on from such a terrific confrontation, it would have been easy for the conclusion to be overshadowed; yet Sarah Paulson does not know the meaning of being out-acted.
Instead, her interview, poisoning and lobotomising of Father Andrews via ice-pick is horrifying; yet subtle.
It is disturbing; yet almost gentle, depraved and complex in equal measure. Listening to the actions of Edmund Tolleson from a victim’s perspective; now confirmed to be her brother, she cries in response to Father Andrew’s pain… yet persists.
Once he is bound, helpless and about to be rendered completely unfit to aid in Tolleson’s trial; by a brutal ice-pick lobotomy, she confesses her familial connection and says of him: ‘He wasn’t born a monster… somebody turned him into one’.
The delivery is chilling and once again, she may as well be speaking about herself. When we eventually find out the full-details; combined with Sarah Paulson’s superb acting skills, it will likely be a highlight of the entire show.
The episode ends on Father Andrews; now mentally destroyed, alone and doomed to be forgotten, without justice for the horrendous crimes he witnessed and suffered from. One final brilliant touch from Lou Eyrich is having Father Andrews in a green jumper, the latest victim of Nurse Ratched and her disturbing machinations.
The episode then ends on a close-up of his drooling face and lifeless eyes, leaving the audience chilled to the bone and Mildred Ratched one step closer to achieving her goals.
Another episode in and this show proves its initial greatness was no fluke.
The supporting cast stepped up their game in this episode, with Jon Jon Briones and Finn Wittrock excelling as Dr. Hanover and Edmund Tolleson respectively.
Sarah Paulson continues to lead the pack in quality with a stunning, career-best performance and while the production values and script aren’t quite as strong as last week, they are still extremely strong overall.
I cannot wait to watch the rest of this season and have no intention of doing so.
My ongoing binge of Netflix and no chill continues.
Let’s see where this goes.
Ratched Season 1 Episode 2 review by Marley Eleven Bury
More Ratched Episode Reviews
Our Rating
Summary
While the script and production values have dropped slightly in quality, the episode still features great writing, masterful costume design and lighting, a supporting cast that are rapidly proving their worth and a lead character & performance so compelling, she could carry the entire show alone if needs be.
