Ratched – Angel of Mercy Part 1

By: Kelly Kearney

In the third installment of Ryan Murphy’s twisted Ratched tale, Dr. Hanover spills the tea to Mildred about a dark secret that’s almost as horrific as Nurse Bucket’s new treatment for lesbianism. Its terrible tour deforce of shocking truths, boiling horrors and one pet monkey to lighten the mood. There is a lot to unpack in this wild episode so let’s dive right in.

Off With His Head!

We open on new character, Lenore Osgood (Sharon Stone), a woman of extreme wealth and even more extreme eccentricities which is only highlighted by her pet shoulder chimp and her penchant for revenge. Who is Lenore and how does she tie into this Cuckoo’s Nest of players? Right off the bat we see she is an overprotective mother (think Norma Bates meets old Hollywood dame) to her limbless son, Henry (Brendon Flynn). Henry is a precocious twenty-something who manages to take his Mama’s boy vibe to a whole new uncomfortable level. Using her considerable wealth to hire Charles Wainwright (Corey Stoll), Ms. Osgood wants to him hunt down Dr. Hanover (Jon Jon Briones) and bring her his head! Apparently, these two have beef and since Dr. Manuel Banaga changed his name to Hanover, Osgood lost track of him. With Henry’s 21^st birthday around the corner, the mother and her pet monkey have been dreaming of the perfect gift for her boy. Decapitation is the gift that keeps on giving. The good doctor’s head served to Henry on a silver platter will do just fine. According to Lenore this doctor destroyed her son’s life and she will not rest, and certainly doesn’t expect Charles to, until this “monster” is dealt with. With an offer of “$250,000 clams” worth of incentives, Osgood asks Charles to do her dirty work. The question remains: What did the good Doctor do to deserve her raging contempt? We find that out later, but for now it’s clear she thinks Henry’s condition is a direct result of Hanover’s treatments. With a quarter of a million reasons why Charles is perfect for this job, he heads to Lucia to collect the head of Lenore’s enemy. It’s an easy task since Hanover is all over the California news; shaking hands with the Governor and treating the state’s newest serial killer makes him an easy target. Be that as it may, Charles isn’t really the best at stalking since he’s already missed two chances to take the doctor out. First, in episode one we saw Charles spying on Hanover at the bar and then again when he takes a shot at the doctor at the gas station and totally misses. For that amount of money, you would think Charles would be better with the kill shots, but so far he’s had zero luck in granting Lenore her wish.

It’s not long before we find out the real reason Osgood has it in for Hanover. After a tiff with Nurse Bucket (Judy Davis) and an attempt on his life, Mildred (Sarah Paulson) tries to calm him with an invite to the oyster bar. Yes, the same bar Briggs (Cynthia Nixon) took her to. While slurping down the salty delights Nurse Ratched convinces Dr. Hanover to spill the beans on his complicated relationship with the Osgoods. He warns her the story is not for the faint of heart, but since the two of them have already hidden a body together Nurse Ratched might be the only person he can trust with the truth.

A Bad Trip

In a gory flashback we learn a young Henry Osgood had an uncontrollable kink for poking people with needle like precision. Nobody was safe from his sexual desire to puncture anyone who entered his realm. Dr. Hanover, at that time Dr. Banaga, was called in to counsel the boy and squash his unseemly kinks. At the time LSD was an experimental treatment used to help people suffering from such strange disorders. A small dose dropped into a drink to cure whatever ails you. Small being the operative word here. With Ms. Osgood away for the night Banaga plans for a safe and medially induced trip. Only when his back is turned Henry dumps the entire bottle of liquid LSD into his doctor’s drink and that’s when things get really crazy. Let’s just say hallucinations lead to a murdered gardener, two spare arms, a bone sawing dreamscape and an arts and crafts project that would make Dr. Frankenstein weep.

Once Dr. Hanover returned from his drugged out state, Henry had two new arms and a new love of sewing. Unfortunately, the transplants didn’t take and Dr. Hanover was forced to do his best to save Henry’s life. Without the ability to see her son for who he truly is, Ms. Osgood blamed Dr. Hanover for quadriplegic body. Now she wants payback for the pain and suffering she thinks Hanover forced her son to endure. It’s a case of blind familial love, something that maybe Mildred knows a thing or two about.

After dinner we head back to the hospital where we get an up close and personal look at Nurse Bucket’s brutality. Mrs. Cartwright (Annie Starke), the woman struggling with her lesbian tendencies, is suited up for another one of Hanover’s “cures” called hydrotherapy. A boiling bath to torture the gay away is just what the doctor ordered. Mrs. Cartwright is locked inside what can only be described as an iron coffin turned evil jacuzzi, so Nurse Bucket can burn “the sodomy right out of her.” It’s a brutal and archaic treatment and it’s enough to make Huck (Charlie Carver) the orderly and Nurse Ratched protest the cruelty of it all. As Mrs. Cartwright screams in agony, Huck tells Ratched he can not stand by and watch Bucket torture this woman. Mildred reminds the scarred faced man that his job opportunities are limited and his choices are to fall in line or hit the unemployment line. Apparently, her sympathies are only offered to the female patients and not the sensitive orderly.

love is in the air, or maybe that’s desperation

While the Governor (Vincent D’Onofrio) is occupied with his election and his need for the Clergy Killer’s execution, Edmund (Finn Wittrock) is in his cell occupying his time with push-ups. He is trying to squelch the flames of his own sexual awakening with good old fashioned exercise. That is until Nurse Dolly (Alice Englert) arrives with his meal tray and a helping hand. Edmund, A/K/A Eddie, asks the young woman to relieve him of his tension with a job for her hands only. With her own needs of sexual gratification, Dolly helps Eddie achieve the climax he’s been searching for his whole life. After all, any attempts in the past to find a romantic partner has been thwarted by his controlling sister, Mildred, and the killer has been frustrated for years. Not anymore, thanks to Dolly and her handy services.

Speaking of awkward sexual encounters. Charles visits Mildred for a little war time role playing with a big old helping of amputee fantasies. The sex is weird and full of cut screen moments of bloody surgical traumas mixed in with mentally absent intercourse. No matter how much Charles likes a controlling woman, this encounter is just too much for him. He leaves Mildred’s room, but not before he tells her she’s the worst night of his life. Harsh, even for the woman who gets turned on by a blood and pain. If only she could find a person who could love her for the strange bird she is. Maybe she already has? After their shared oysters, Gwendolyn cannot get Mildred out of her mind. Even her beard of a husband and their lavender marriage isn’t enough for her anymore. In fact, the closeted Gwendolyn is suffering so much that she tells her understanding husband she cannot live this lie anymore and maybe he shouldn’t have to either. He reminds her that their marriage allows them both live their lives in the shadows with the cover of a straight marriage protecting them from any boiling baths or spikes to the brains. Divorce is a risk, especially for the Governor’s secretary, but Briggs is ready to cut the cord and live out her lady lovin’ days with Mildred if she will have her. For now, Lucia’s newest nurse has her hands full with keeping her bother out of the gas chamber and her boss out of Charles Wainwright’s crosshairs. It’s a full time job and Mildred is just one woman. One very twisted and probably queer woman who could use a woman like Gwendolyn in her corner. Choices are headed to Mildred’s front step and it’s anyone’s guess which path she will choose.