By: Michael DeFusco | Staff-writer
Like Icarus, some shows tend to stray too close to the sun; Netflix’s new series “Ratched” penetrates the sun’s atmosphere and flies directly into its core.
The twisted, overly ambitious eight-episode origin story takes you into the life of nurse Mildred Ratched, before she became the authoritarian menace from “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.” Unfortunately, instead of properly focusing on that foundational theme, the show takes you through a labyrinth of plots and fails to make a coherent story.
As many other critics have pointed out, developer Ryan Murphy seems to think he can take an origin story from a classic piece of cinema art and use it as a crude addition to his series “American Horror Story.” As opposed to staying true to the themes of its predecessor, “Ratched” attempts to shock you into believing it has a concise meaning underneath its maze of plot lines: like Ratched’s fling with boiling hot hitman Charles Wainwright, they are as insignificant as Wainwrights ultimate death- boiled alive by Nurse Ratched and Dr. Hanover.
Various other plot lines emerge as well, adding further confusion to an already jumbled story. In episode five, it becomes apparent the directors woke up in some fog and believed they were charged with creating a remake of “Bonnie and Clyde:” Edmund (Ratched’s brother and murderer) and Dolly (a Nurse at the institution), symbolically “break free” from society’s cruel constraints for a couple nights before they are broken up by bullets and Edmund is dragged to the cell he was in an episode before with nothing to show for the extra action. The only significance of this display is a demonstration of Edmund’s humanity, which was already starting to emerge without the overzealous “lovers on the run,” angle taken by the directors.
While the show indulges in an inconsequential storyline, the much more pertinent issue does not arise until episode 6 of 8: the issue being “why Ratched is the way she is.” Gwendolyn (Ratched’s secret partner) finally presents the question the whole show should have been focused on: “I wish that I could have met Mildred Ratched before the world got to her.” The answer is then given to you like a slap across the face when Ratched and Gwendolyn attend a puppet show and a series of flashbacks occur. Then, with an additional backhand, Ratched takes you through the same story again, minutes later at dinner with Gwendolyn, in case anyone was looking at their phone and missed it the first time.
If the question of Mildred’s childhood had been posed by Gwendolyn in episode 1 or 2 the show would have had a more concrete theme to develop, but the delay forced a direct and rushed explanation as opposed to a developed sub-textual one.
Aside from the lack of structural organization, the characters at times seem to have unrealistic developments and inconsistencies. Ratched, who is ultimately characterized by the epitaph “Angel of mercy,” shows little mercy at times with people who are objectively innocent within the context of the story. Although we learn that one of the murders executed by Edmund is justified, three of the victims are presumably innocent. One of these victims survives and is recovering until Ratched, in an unmerciful fashion, performs a lobotomy on the young priest to prevent him from giving a testimony against her brother Edmund. Although the love for her brother could possibly suffice as an explanation, Ratched executes her plan with zero empathy and could have killed the priest, which is most definitely the merciful option rather than leaving the poor man in a vegetative state.
However, before all these far-fetched “Inception” like twists and turns and character inconsistencies, the story appeared to stay true to the original themes. In episode two, “Ice Pick,” Dr. Hanover- representing the autocratic machine that Mildred Ratched did in “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”- barbarically lobotomizes several patients, who display traits (imagination, fascination and homosexuality) that threaten dominate norms.
Despite early signs that the show was headed in the right direction, it spread itself too thin by getting lost in convoluted side plots and failed to establish any central theme. Nonetheless, there is still time to wrap up the large (red) string of plot lines. Ratched is booked for 2 seasons with a potential for 4 total, leaving plenty of time for the show’s creators to untangle the web they’ve made for themselves.
Cover Image: Stethoscope by sergio santos is licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC by 2.0)
