Ratched (2020) s01e02 Episode Script

1
[clicks and hisses]
[inhales deeply]
[exhales deeply]
[man] And of course,
there I was at the foot of the stage,
beating my breasts
and howling at the sky…
[shouting]
"Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!"
-[faint jazz music playing]
-And then…
suddenly, the rest of the play was gone.
I could hear them whispering,
"Good heavens!"
"He's forgotten his lines!"
And then, it happened again
in St. Louis.
And the next night in Galesburg,
until finally I said,
"Len Bronley, you must do something!"
You're very full of yourself, aren't you?
I do beg your pardon?
No one cares why you're here.
You forgot your lines.
So what?
Maybe you're just growing old.
I was a legend.
A household name all over Europe.
I have played every opera house
from La Scala to the Bolshoi.
I have sung every great soprano role,
from Brünnhilde to Turandot.
I am here…
because I have no choice.
My melancholia…
has gotten the better of me.
I wake up in strange places…
[shuddering]
[voice wavering]
…not knowing how I got there.
When I read about
Dr. Hanover's miracle procedure
in The San Francisco Chronicle, huh…
[woman sighs]
…I knew I had to give it a chance.
I am hoping the procedure
evens me out a little bit.
Also…
I really need to quit smoking.
Hello.
What's your name?
Peter.
It's nice to meet you, Peter.
I'm Lily.
What brings you to see Dr. Hanover,
if you don't mind me asking?
My mom says I daydream.
Friends.
Today, we stand together
on the precipice of history.
It is truly a momentous day.
Nurse Ratched will get you prepped
while I scrub in.
Here are your gowns.
And a reminder, the procedure
will require some mild sedation.
See you on the other side.
Oh, I nearly forgot.
There will be some observers
in the operating theater today.
Just some government officials
and a reporter.
Nothing for you
to concern yourselves with.
I'm sorry, a reporter?
I was hoping that the details
of my condition would remain confidential.
What? That you're a lesbian?
That much is plain.
It's made obvious
by your facial structure.
I refuse to wear this!
My entire backside will be exposed!
Any glimpse of your backside,
Mr. Bronley, will be brief,
as it would cause even the most hardened
observer to promptly avert their eyes.
[older woman laughs]
Dr. Hanover has asked you to put on
the gowns and prepare to be sedated.
Following the procedure,
you will be woozy.
That's normal.
And there may be some dried blood
at the site of incision.
[haunting classical music playing]
Sorry I'm late.
Hi, Reggie.
Glad you could make it.
Where's the governor?
[woman] Campaign trail.
San Jose this morning.
How is this a major press event
when the governor sends his secretary?
You know full well
that I speak for the governor, Reggie.
And I'm confident you'll find
today's event worth your time.
Oh.
It is already worth my time.
[groans]
That took forever.
Hello, Mrs. Briggs.
Good morning. Reggie, this, of course,
is Secretary Randall Berglund,
head of the State Detentions Bureau,
and Miss Annie Hardcastle,
administrative Aassistant to the director
of state finance, Stan Powers.
The governor believes this facility
can become a shining example,
not just of what we can accomplish
as a state,
but what we're capable of as a nation.
And now… the main event.
Here's Dr. Hanover,
a visionary who, like the governor,
believes that our correctional system
should do exactly that:
correct rather than penalize.
[Annie] This is just very exciting.
Nurses, take your seats, please.
Ladies and gentlemen,
you're about to witness history.
I present to you the lobotomy.
In 1935, Portuguese neurologist
António Egas Moniz
first attempted a procedure
that I now wish to make commonplace.
A procedure so straightforward,
it can be performed on all four subjects
in a quarter of an hour.
The brain's frontal lobe
is the seed of its neuroses.
Juvenile distraction,
mania,
memory loss,
lesbianism.
All of these maladies can be subdued,
if not reversed,
by surgically disrupting a series
of neural connections
in the brain's white matter.
As you can see, the patients have received
only the lightest sedation…
and will awaken, though slightly groggy,
as brand-new individuals
unencumbered by the mental illness
that brought them to this place.
Now, I encourage you to sit back,
relax, and bear witness
as I touch the mind.
First, the incision.
You'll notice that
the patient feels nothing.
Next, the trepanning.
Oh, my. Oh, my.
[faint gasps]
[people gasp]
Now, we rotate the instrument,
creating a circular lesion in the brain.
[faint moaning]
You'll observe that
the subject is still totally insensate.
[gasps]
A reminder that these are
involuntary movements that emerge
as the neural connections are severed.
And the procedure is complete.
Miss Hardcastle!
Reggie, please.
Miss Hardcastle?
Nurse Ratched,
if you could quickly attend to our guest,
I'd like to proceed with today's program.
Now, on to the next patient.
Who are you?
A friend.
My name is Mildred Ratched,
and I work with Dr. Hanover
at Lucia State Hospital.
We're housing an inmate there.
Edmund Tolleson.
Do you recognize that name?
Yes [clears throat] yes, I do.
What do you want with me?
I drove an hour and a half to tell you
that I'm trying to get Mr. Tolleson
fit to stand trial,
so that he can be punished
for what he did to those priests.
And to you, his only surviving victim.
I don't want to talk about this.
I know what you've been through.
About your nervous breakdown.
I don't want to talk about this.
You see, Father…
I'm a Catholic.
But when I read
about what Mr. Tolleson did…
it destroyed my faith.
Help me, Father.
Help me cleanse the Lord's creation
of this evil.
How?
By having an interview with Dr. Hanover
and telling him what you saw.
It is Dr. Hanover's evaluation
that will determine whether Edmund dies.
Or if he's allowed to live out
the rest of his days…
in lavish, extravagant luxury.
No.
No, Church teaching is very clear on this.
I don't believe in…
-putting anyone to death.
-Nor do I.
Except in this case.
We cannot trust the system.
If he is allowed to live,
he will kill again.
I know it.
Please, Father.
Tell Dr. Hanover.
Not only the facts, but how it felt.
I can't.
I've already told the story.
I'm scheduled to… speak
to the state prosecutors in--
When?
In two weeks' time, I'm…
I'm just… [clears throat]
I'm not well enough.
[sobbing] I just can't.
I understand, Father.
Here.
My mother gave this to me
on the morning of my first communion.
And I want you to have it…
so you know there is another child of God
out there who is praying for you.
[indistinct chatter]
[Dolly] Why is he building a barn?
I don't understand it.
I have no idea.
Is it to house the patients?
No, it's an actual barn,
with animals.
I mean, it's like a real,
functioning, actual barn.
I overheard Dr. Hanover talking
about buying an Arabian stallion.
So I've looked into getting
riding lessons,
because maybe that's something
he and I could do together. [chuckles]
I haven't found the right teacher yet,
but I will.
[Mildred] Excuse me.
You're eating my peach.
I haven't eaten anything.
All right, you're holding my peach.
-So?
-So it's mine.
The peach in your hand.
I don't see your name on it.
-And who would do that?
-Do what?
Put their name on a peach?
Somebody who really wanted it.
-[chuckles]
-And how would one go about such a thing?
I don't know.
Felt-tip?
No one has ever put their name on a peach
with a felt-tip.
-I've seen it done.
-No, you haven't.
Maybe a pen.
You could gouge your name into it
with a pen.
That's my peach.
I brought it here.
And I brought it here.
I paid for it.
-Maybe you stole it.
-Maybe I didn't.
Well, what if you did?
Then whose peach is it?
It's still mine.
[inhales deeply] I don't know.
What I do know is I saw it rolling around
in the icebox, so I brought it here.
So now it's mine.
She kind of does have a point.
I mean, in a situation like this,
the peach is sort of like cash,
so it belongs to whoever is--
[loudly] No one is talking to you.
Ooh, someone's cranky.
[in Southern accent]
She sure could use a peach.
That is my peach.
No, it's a peach in my mouth.
Sorry.
You are not sorry.
But you will be.
Oh, really?
What? What are you gonna do about it?
What are you, deaf?
No.
I'm just thinking of all the things
I'm going to do about it.
[approaching footsteps]
Ladies, your attention, please.
I was appalled by yesterday's surgeries.
The lobotomies did not go at all
how I had hoped,
and I alone am to blame.
Therefore, I will be demonstrating
an alternative procedure
in the operating theater in 15 minutes.
I expect to see you all there.
I obtained these cadavers
from the Oakland County morgue.
Upon viewing the reaction
of our guests yesterday,
I realized the trepanning of the skull
by boring through the sphenoid bone
with a hand drill
might be a bit too graphic
to be accepted by the general public.
I recalled the observations of
the Italian psychiatrist Amarro Fiamberti.
He complained that
the prefrontal lobotomy
requires drilling through the skull
at its thickest point,
only to access
the site of the frontal lobe,
while its quivering underbelly
can be more easily accessed
through one of the skull's
thinnest points…
the eye socket.
Oh, no.
Behold… the transorbital lobotomy.
As if designed to comfort
any queasy onlookers,
the procedure benefits from
the everyday nature of its instrument.
A simple tool that John and Jane Q. Public
already have around the home.
An ice pick.
-God…
-Would you stop that?
Wait. Uh--
Are you going to stick that in her eye?
Above the eye,
against the thin layer of bone
at the top of the eye socket.
Oh, my God, I think I'm gonna be sick.
[Bucket] Just stop.
And we tap the ice pick,
driving it five centimeters
into the frontal lobe.
-[crunching]
-[retches]
-[Dolly groans]
-Oh, look.
My peach.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
That is unacceptable!
Are you a nurse, Miss Bucket?
Or a lily-livered hausfrau?
If you don't have the stomach
for a procedure
that could revolutionize
the field of medicine,
perhaps you should find other employment!
Now, go change a goddamn bed pan!
Both of you!
[door opens]
[door shuts]
Dr. Hanover, please continue.
The ice pick is driven
through the top of the eye socket.
[Dr. Hanover] Once inside…
the ice pick is pivoted 40 degrees…
[moist grinding sound]
…then returned to a neutral position,
and driven a further two centimeters.
[tapping]
And pivoted around 30 degrees each side,
cutting outwards…
and inwards.
The sequence is repeated
in the other lobe.
And the procedure is complete,
with no noticeable bleeding.
Simple.
Elegant.
[fast clapping]
[Dr. Hanover] Thank you.
That will be all, you're all dismissed.
[exhales deeply]
Excuse me.
I feel as if I've seen the future.
[Dr. Hanover] Oh.
You have.
I'm happy to be sharing this with you,
Mildred.
You're not like those other women.
You're different.
That's something my mother
used to say about me.
And while I don't believe
she meant it as a compliment…
I certainly do.
[chuckles]
One thing does occur to me, Dr. Hanover.
The refinement, the…
sophistication of this procedure,
is not reflected in some
of the other practices
in place at this hospital.
There's a patient here, Edmund Tolleson.
While other patients are allowed
to shower under armed guard,
Edmund remains shackled.
Lathered up and hosed down
like a circus animal.
[grunts]
Well, frankly, it seems barbaric.
[loud buzzer rings]
[door creaks]
[door clangs loudly]
[door clangs loudly]
Hi.
Hi.
Here.
From now on, you'll be allowed to shower
like every other patient here.
Under armed guard, of course, but
you won't be blasted with a fire hose,
and you'll be able to lather up yourself.
I kind of like that part.
I like feeling them soap up my balls.
Don't be vulgar.
This may not seem like much,
but it's a first step.
I'm going to get you out of here.
But you have to control yourself.
Okay?
Okay.
Don't do that.
[Edmund] Mm.
[Mildred] Gate, please.
[buzzer rings]
[door clang echoes]
[approaching footsteps]
Hi.
You don't know me.
We haven't been officially introduced.
I know exactly who you are.
Mildred Ratched.
Gwendolyn Briggs.
This is slightly odd.
I put a sack lunch here.
Would someone have thrown it away?
Nurse Bucket ate it.
Ah.
You're welcome to the other half
of my bologna sandwich.
Oh, no, I couldn't. Thank you.
I really don't mind.
No, I mean I don't eat bologna.
Why?
It's perfectly nutritious.
-I'm sure.
-Very filling.
I just don't eat extruded meats.
No offense.
Bologna is my favorite food.
[chuckling] You can't be serious.
I am completely serious.
So are you from the area?
No.
Well, it's a beautiful part of the world.
The views from this stretch of coastline
are simply magnificent.
Yes. I have a lovely view
from where I stay.
Of course, I don't get to see it much.
My work is very stressful,
so I try to go to bed early.
So…
how about you let me show you around?
I'm sorry?
I'm driving down to Monterey
this afternoon.
Would you care to join me?
No. Thank you.
Monterey is nothing but longshoremen
and morphine addicts
trying to sell their poetry.
[chuckles]
You sure?
It's a stunner of a drive.
And there's an oyster bar just off Route 1
I've been dying to try.
Oyster bar?
Yeah.
Well, won't there be a gentleman
accompanying you?
No.
Come on, it'll be an adventure.
"Brutal" is the word
that kept running through my mind.
This procedure is sadistic,
and Governor Wilburn is staking
his entire reelection on it,
something that I don't know
that voters are able to accept.
[Mildred] Then the voters are foolish.
-[Gwendolyn] Hm.
-Dr. Hanover is a true genius.
The governor is wise
to be following his lead.
[quiet instrumental music playing]
[waiter] Enjoy.
Thank you.
I, um…
I'm not sure
how I'm even meant to do this.
Well…
allow me to demonstrate.
First, a few drops of lemon.
Then you take this little fork…
and loosen the oyster from his shell.
Then cocktail sauce, if you're a boor
who likes hookers and cigars.
[chuckles]
I prefer just a splash of mignonette.
And then…
you just let it slide into your mouth.
It's like making love to the ocean.
Mm.
I'm sorry, I think the fact
that it's still alive as you eat it is--
Here.
Let me help you.
Just… open your lips.
Now swallow.
[chuckles]
[chuckling] It's tasty.
So you believe in it?
What?
The lobotomy.
You really believe in it?
If it does what they say it does,
yes, absolutely.
A disordered mind cannot ease
its own suffering.
A person can be burdened
by certain impulses and drives…
that are destroying their lives.
But then aren't we playing God?
Aren't we saying
there's one feeling that's right,
and another feeling that's wrong?
Well, there are rights
and there are wrongs, Mrs. Briggs.
I believe that.
I believe it because I've seen it.
I believe there are some things
that are worse to feel
than simply feeling nothing.
You know what?
I could go for a nightcap.
What do you say?
Yes. I would like that.
-[chuckling] I think I want another one.
-Do you?
I do!
[lively instrumental music playing]
[Mildred]
Are you sure you know where you're going?
[big band music playing]
What is this place?
Oh, it's just…
a little hole in the wall.
Relax.
It's an adventure, remember?
[Mildred chuckles]
[indistinct chatter]
Well, this is lovely.
Isn't it?
What'll you have? It's on me.
Oh, I don't know, just…
I'm sorry. I have to go.
Mildred!
Mildred, come on.
-Mildred, what is the matter?
-What is this place?!
It's a women's bar.
Why did you bring me here?
I asked you if you wanted a nightcap.
No, why did you bring me here?
Because I thought you were one of us.
One of you?
I don't even know what that means.
I think you do.
And what would have given you
that impression?
Aren't you married?
Look, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry if I… made an assumption.
It seemed quite clear to me
what was going on between us,
but I understand if that's not something
you're ready to face yet.
I don't like what you're insinuating,
Mrs. Briggs,
and I don't like your tone.
All right, fine.
I'm sorry. Let's just go.
No, thank you,
I will find my own way home.
Mildred, don't be ridiculous.
I'll drive you home.
I will ask the bartender
to call me a taxi.
-Do not touch me!
-Mildred--
Hello, Edmund.
Thank you, Harold.
You can unshackle his hands
and wait outside the door.
My pleasure, sir.
Mm. I don't want to miss dinner.
They keep taking me away,
and when I come back,
they say I already ate,
but I didn't get nothing, you know?
And that's not fair
'cause everybody else already ate.
[Dr. Hanover] Take a seat, Edmund.
Here?
How are you feeling today, Edmund?
Oh, just real warm, I guess,
'cause I'm feeling a little nervous.
Well, Edmund,
there's nothing to be nervous about.
I'm just here to get to know you.
Okay, yeah, but lots of the times
folks say that,
and then they try to read your mind.
That's why I'm so nervous, and…
that window's got a migraine,
and it's giving me one too.
[fly buzzes]
Those ladies at the A&P,
they were always trying to read my mind.
-That's why I killed them.
-Who?
Uh, those girls you say I killed.
Maybe I did on account of them trying to
switch my thoughts around behind my back.
I'm sorry, what girls are you meant
to have killed, Edmund?
Those girls you say I killed.
They all lived together in a house.
[fly buzzes]
They were ballet dancers,
and I followed them inside.
Says to 'em, "I ain't gonna kill you,"
but then you says I did kill them, so…
Edmund.
Those were four men you murdered.
They were priests.
[breathes deeply]
See, this is what I'm talking about.
[sobs]
That's why I gotta talk to the dentist.
Why would you need to see a dentist,
Edmund?
Because I got radio mouth.
I got radio mouth real bad, a bad case.
And you're listening in too.
I heard your voice before.
You're listening in
and whispering these numbers,
but you don't know I can hear you
'cause the antenna's so good.
What is "radio mouth"?
Well, see, I told them all before.
[sniffs] These guys come into the rooming
house where's I was staying,
four or five of 'em, they said,
"We want to sell you something,"
and I said, "I got a bus to catch,"
and then one of them said,
"Well, we already put it in there."
And they showed me.
And they put a little, tiny,
metal radio antenna under my back teeth,
right behind the gums,
and then when I'm sleeping,
these wires come out of my mouth
here, here, and here, and here.
-[fly buzzing]
-And back here.
The landlady downstairs says, "No, we took
those out while you were sleeping."
But I says, "Well, how come I keep pulling
wires out of my mouth, then?" [chuckles]
You know?
And she… she has one too.
They give 'em little receivers,
they tell 'em not to tell me,
they listen to what I'm thinking,
then they switch it all around,
and then they sell it…
to somebody else in the organization.
-[fly continues buzzing]
-So it goes on and on and on.
Let's sit somewhere more comfortable,
Edmund.
Okay.
I'm sorry, people listen to your thoughts
as you have them, and change them?
Mm-hm, mm-hm. They're doing it right now,
'cause it tingles.
And who do you think
is changing your thoughts right now?
I think it's the army.
Edmund.
The person I see before me exhibits
multiple symptoms of schizophrenia,
or perhaps schizoaffective mood disorder
with psychotic features.
You're experiencing
paranoid hallucinations,
both auditory and tactile.
Your delirium, the dementia,
your grossly disorganized speech,
the delusion of thought-broadcasting.
Your fears of an inchoate, unseen
conspiracy plotting against you.
These are all prototypical features
of schizophrenia.
Mm-hm, well, okay. Sure.
They're somewhat too prototypical,
actually.
So perfectly presented,
they actually strain credulity.
[sniffs]
Could I have a cigarette?
Well, see, Edmund,
I don't believe you're schizophrenic,
despite the show
you're so adeptly putting on.
And I also don't believe
in the death penalty.
It's barbaric, ineffective as a deterrent,
and it debases the moral character
of our society.
It's a cause of social dysfunction,
not a solution to it.
I've seen crimes so heinous
they beggar the imagination,
but not one that I felt
warranted state-sanctioned murder.
I believe that the human mind can crack.
I believe a person can snap
when experiencing certain stimuli,
specific traumas.
A person can quite literally lose control
and commit unspeakable acts
of violence and depravity.
They can rape and mutilate one priest,
stab another,
shatter the skull of a third,
and nearly decapitate a fourth,
and still they are not necessarily insane,
nor are they beyond rehabilitation.
You're not fooling me, Edmund.
I can help you,
but you have to help me.
You want to help me?
Yes.
But you're going about this wrong.
I can keep you out of the gas chamber,
but you have to start
being honest with me.
I need to know about the moment of rage.
What caused you to snap.
I don't want to be in this room anymore.
I think someone's trying to come in
through the window.
-[exhales deeply]
-Harold.
Think about what I said, Edmund.
And are you experiencing
any physical discomfort?
Peter?
Yes?
Any pain?
No.
"No, ma'am."
And are you experiencing
any of the symptoms that brought you here?
Scattered thoughts?
Distraction?
I don't have any thoughts at all.
[operatic-like singing]
[gasps]
Get out!
[approaching footsteps]
[Bucket] Hey, Ratched.
Private call on line three.
Who is it?
I'm not your secretary.
Pick up the phone and ask them yourself.
[receding footsteps]
[Mildred] Hello?
[man] I got your flowers.
They're wonderful.
Father Andrews.
They really brighten up the room.
Well, I'm just delighted to hear that.
I hope you know
your faith is very inspiring to me,
Mildred.
Is there something I can help you with?
I'll tell my story.
Tell you what I saw.
Are you sure?
[gasps quietly]
Yes, I'm sure.
That monster… needs… to be punished.
He must be put away.
Forever.
Very well.
I know just the place.
[Mildred] Dr. Hanover will be the only one
with access to this information.
Thank you.
[tape recorder whirs quietly]
Tell me what you remember, Father.
Did you see his face?
Edmund Tolleson?
Would you recognize it if you saw him?
From under the bed,
I couldn't see his face.
I watched… him…
mutilate the monsignor.
[fast breathing]
It seemed like it took hours.
To calm your nerves.
Then suddenly I realized he was gone.
I knew that they were dead.
I went to get help.
[screams]
That's when I saw his face.
Standing there, smoking.
Just staring at me.
And then he just walked away.
He didn't-- he didn't--
he didn't even run.
[breathing fast]
[voice breaking] Oh, God.
What if I'm next?
Finish your tea, Father.
That's it.
Finish it up, now.
Mm.
[Mildred] Good.
I don't feel so well.
It's all right, Father. Easy, now.
You've seen too much.
You're suffering.
Easy.
I'm going to relieve that suffering.
You see, Father…
Edmund Tolleson is my brother.
He wasn't born a monster.
Somebody turned him into one.
[gasps faintly]
[gasping]
God bless you, Father.
[wet thud]
He took a weekend trip
with a young woman several weeks ago,
and ever since
he just hasn't been himself,
but he's much more serene.
The night terrors have stopped,
and he's put on some weight,
so we do feel like he's progressing.
Right this way.
Father Andrews,
we're from the state attorney's office.
We're representing the people
in the Edmund Tolleson murders.
We need you to provide an affidavit.
Do you know what that is?
Father Andrews, can you hear us?
[older man] Let's go.
We're not gonna get anything out of him.
Sister, could you show us out?
[receding footsteps]