Got No Strings
With Edmund and Dolly on the run, episode 6 of Ratched begins with a manhunt underway. Stripping down so the dogs can’t trace their scent, the duo make it to a conveniently deserted farmhouse. Once there, they agree to hold out for the night. Dolly seems completely lackadaisical to the whole situation while Edmund pleads with her to see reason. As she picks up a shotgun and pretends to fire, her maniacal streak comes forward. The two make love in the barn and spend the night together. In the morning, Dolly decides to kill a chicken for food. Only, Edmund isn’t happy about it and turns his head away in disdain. While Gwendolyn lies fighting for her life, Mildred heads in and decides to tell her the truth. Only, midway through Gwen opens her eyes and brings nurses in to tend to her. Despite a manhunt being underway, Gwen invites Mildred out to attend a puppet show. Only, she’s clearly not enthused by the idea and it seems like something happened in her past involving these wooden items. Eventually Mildred agrees to go with her. As she takes her place in the theatre, flashes from Mildred’s past comes to light through the puppets. She was beaten by her Father and formed a close bond with Edmund on the back of this. Their “fairy godmother” was child protection services who forged documents and made them biological brother and sister. Only, their foster parents also beat them too. They ran back to the caseworker and another family was brought forward for them. On the surface, this one seemed much better. Unfortunately a puppet show in the basement shows the start of their nightmares. This puppet show down in the basement was actually a stage for Edmund and Mildred to perform together for wealthy patrons. Only, they were forced to perform unspeakable acts that clearly psychologically damaged them both. Edmund’s rage manifested into an unstoppable beast. He went after his foster parents and gouged their eyes out with a pair of scissors. Mildred meanwhile, head out alone and sobbed under the trees. Suddenly, she stands up and screams at the puppet master as she snaps back to reality. On the back of this, Mildred repeats verbally what we’ve just witnessed to Gwendolyn. She confirms that Edmund is her brother and spills her secret to a seriously influential person that could do a lot of damage to her plan. Elsewhere, Edmund awakens and starts getting dressed. Only, police have the barn completely surrounded. Dolly asks for the shotgun but Edmund convinces her to stop. He’s going to hand himself in and convince the police that he kidnapped her. When he heads outside unarmed, Dolly comes running with a shotgun and fires at the police. They open fire and kill her in cold blood. Edmund meanwhile is taken back to Lucia State while Hanover’s barn starts to take shape. The Governor heads in but severs ties with Hanover on the back of such disastrous issues inside the hospital. He forces Hanover to sign the forms declaring Edmund fit to stand trial. Furthermore, he also fires Gwendolyn from her position. As she watches helplessly, the doors shut in front of her.
The Episode Review
The previous cracks last episode are just starting to form into bigger chasms. Characters are acting irrationally, there’s so much melodrama and contrivances here and all of this hinders on past trauma that puts both Mildred and Edmund in a precarious position. Speaking of which, what’s happened to Dolly? Her character has done a complete change from what she was before and it’s incredibly jarring. She’s a complete psychopath and it doesn’t make any sense. Even more problematic is when she shoots Gwen and then has no remorse for it. She even goes gung-ho and starts shooting at the police at the end. That’s to say nothing of the sloppy screen-play. After a decent puppet show re-enactment, we then bear witness to the exact same story again from Mildred. It’s completely unnecessary and wastes screen-time. Hopefully this one can pick up for the remaining two episodes but Ratched has been a rather turbulent drama thus far.
