Ever since premiering on September 18, 2020, Netflix's new dramatic series One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, in which the title character of Nurse Mildred Ratched is given a dramatic backstory during the 1940s to explain why she became so wicked three decades later as a cruel institutional orderly.
In this series, Finn Wittrock, Cynthia Nixon, Judy Davis, Sharon Stone, Amanda Plummer, and Charlie Carver lending ing roles. In anticipation of season 2, here's how the first eight episodes of the show have stacked up.
Mildred And Edmund (Episode 8) - 7.5
According to IMDB, the finale of Ratched went out with a bit of whimper, as it's the lowest-rated episode of the first eight. The inaugural season concluded with Ratched's attempt to oversee Edmund's (Wittrock) execution herself after a clemency appeal fails.
However, Ratched isn't afforded the chance due to Charlotte's (Sophie Okonedo) violent rampage upon finding a gun in Dr. Hanover's desk and killing Huck (Carver) and a security guard. Huck and Charlotte escape with Louise (Plummer), vowing revenge on Gwendolyn (Nixon) and Bucket (Davis) in Mexico three years later.
Pilot (Episode 1) - 7.6
Next to the finale, "Pilot" is the second lowest-rated episode of Ratched, per IMDB voters. Directed by Ryan Murphy, the introductory episode establishes the setting and various characters of the show, and the dramatic throughlines set to unfold over the succeeding seven chapters.
In 1947, Edmund Tolleson (Wittrock) is committed to Lucia State Mental Hospital in Northern California after slaughtering four priests. Nurse Mildred Ratched immorally blackmails a fellow orderly to get a job at the hospital, currying favor from the Governor by prompting a medical emergency in an elderly patient so she can in turn save his life. The episode ends with Ratched coercing a patient to commit suicide.
Ice Pick (Episode 2) - 7.7
In the second frame of the series, Dr. Hanover (Jon Jon Briones) resorts to a controversial ice-pick lobotomy when traditional methods fail to get the job done. Nurse Ratched meets with Father Andrews, a surviving priest from Tolleson's grisly murders to convince him to tell his story to Dr. Hanover.
After being mistaken for a homosexual while enjoying a lady's club in Monterey, Ratched takes her ire out on Father Andrews when inviting him to her hotel room to record his story for Dr. Hanover's assessment. When Ratched informs Andrews that she is Tolleson's sister, she performs the ice-pick lobotomy on him in ruthless fashion.
The Bucket List (Episode 7) - 7.9
Directed by David Lynch's daughter, Jennifer, "The Bucket List" refers to Nurse Betsey Bucket's (Davis) learning of Ratched's identity and deadly duplicity. After Ratched explains her past, Bucket s her cause and becomes an accomplice to protect Edmund from the electric chair.
Elsewhere, Charlotte goes postal, murders Dr. Hanover, and asks Ratched to help her escape. Ratched agrees, gives Hanover's severed head to Lenore Osgood (Stone), who in turn shows it to her son Henry (Brandon Flynn). Henry has his butler murder Lenore, only to learn her will stipulates that Henry be institutionalized. In the end, Nurse Bucket is given control of Lucia State Hospital.
Got No Strings (Episode 6) - 7.9
Romance looms large in "Got No Strings," the sixth episode of Ratched 1. Edmund and Dolly remain on the lam and seek shelter in a condemned farmhouse. Meanwhile, Ratched's feelings for Gwendolyn continue to strengthen when the latter awakes from her coma in the hospital.
While watching a puppet show with Gwendolyn, Ratched suffers a harrowing flashback to her traumatic childhood, prompting a public outburst. Ratched confesses to Gwendolyn that Edmund his her brother. In the end, Dolly is shot dead in a police shootout and Edmund is returned to Lucia State. Governor Wilburn (Vincent D'Onofrio) is so irate that he fires Gwendolyn and demands Edmund be put on trial.
Angel Of Mercy (Episode 3) - 7.9
In "Angel of Mercy," Lenore learns from a private-eye named Wainwright (Corey Stoll) that her son Henry was butchered by Dr. Hanover, an alias for his real name of Manuel Banaga. With the information, Lenore hires Wainwright to murder Hanover.
Back at the hospital, Hanover introduces a radical method of treating patients by plunging them into scalding hot water. Ratched fantasizes about Gwendolyn after a hotel-room encounter with Wainwright. When Edmund explains his role in Henry's botched surgery, Ratched agrees to help him hide from the authorities.
The Dance (Episode 5) - 8.0
Upon being promoted to head nurse at Lucia State, Ratched throws a dance for the patients to cut loose. Ratched's feelings for Gwendolyn are bolstered after asking her to accompany her to the dance. Charlotte Wells is itted to the hospital for Multiple Personality Disorder.
The episode also includes Ratched blackmailing Hanover over finding Edmund unfit for a criminal trial. When Hanover fails to cooperate, Ratched and Osgood conspire to murder him. In the end, Edmund can't control his insane urges and murders a security guard. Edmund escapes with Dolly, who fires a gunshot at Gwendolyn.
Angel Of Mercy: Part Two (Episode 4) - 8.1
According to IMDB, the best episode of Ratched belongs to "Angel of Mercy: Part Two," the fourth frame of the season. As Wainwright continues to track Hanover, Ratched plays both men from each side of the moral coin.
Ratched first agrees to help Wainwright find Hanover and invites him to the hospital to assist him. Once there, however, Hanover knocks Wainwright unconscious and Ratched helps Hanover dunk Hanover a scalding vat of water. Wainwright escapes the murder attempt, only to be killed by a guard in his attempt. When Ratched helps two abused patients escape, she is given the name Angel of Mercy by Huck.