Ratched Season 1 Episode 4 Recap – Angel of Mercy: Part Two

[00:01:00] Mildred brings Edmund a meal in his holding cell. He thought it was Dolly. Mildred tells Edmund she knows what he did with Dolly, so she scolds him for jeopardizing their chance of being free together. Edmund wants to have a chance at love and life; he thinks he’ll find it with Dolly. Mildred tells him they will be free together once they get out of the hospital. He tells Mildred she’ll have to suffice if she doesn’t want him to come near other women. She stops Edmund’s hand and tells him she will never do it with him again. Edmund ends their conversation and proceeds to eat his meal. Mildred keeps talking with Edmund, but she knows he will no longer respond, so she just leaves.

[00:04:30] Trevor prepares Gwendolyn’s lunch. She comes downstairs with a suitcase in hand. “Please tell me you have a day trip to San Diego, and you’ll be back?” Trevor asks her. “I’m leaving, Trevor. I have to,” Gwendolyn replies. It may seem harsh, she explains, but they will now have a chance at true love. Trevor refuses for her to leave. He blocks the doorway, but she threatens to knock him out if he doesn’t move from the doorway. Trevor didn’t have any choice and allowed Gwendolyn to leave. She heads over to the motel where Mildred is staying. Mildred is just on her way out when she sees Gwendolyn checking in for the night. She tells Mildred she left Trevor.

[00:07:30] Mildred helps Gwendolyn unpack her stuff. She asks Gwendolyn if Trevor has hit her. She tells Mildred she left Trevor to find true love. Mildred finds her reasoning ridiculous; she leaves for work. At work, Mildred confronts Dolly about what happened between her and Edmund. She finds dangerous men attractive; she can’t control herself around them. Dolly recalls her mother used to lash her ten times and call her a whore just for looking at boys. Mildred tells her she’s a nymphomaniac, and there is no cure for such mental illness. She wants to set Dolly up with Edmund, thinking she can help with his rehabilitation. Mildred tells Dolly she can provide emotional support and sexual release for him from time to time. Dolly worries about how she will engage Edmund, but Mildred tells Dolly about her plan.

[00:11:00] Mildred explains that Nurse Bucket always eats lunch at exactly 2:00 p.m., so she wants Dolly to be in the tub room at exactly 2:05 p.m. Mildred tells her she will handle bringing Edmund to her. Meanwhile, Richard drove over to the coast to have a little rest. He takes a full dose of drugs through a syringe, proving he’s a junkie. Back at the hospital, Dolly ends her shift as Nurse Bucket enters the dining hall. She is about to eat lunch when another nurse tells her about Mrs. Cartwright’s wedding ring—they think she lost it inside the tub room. Nurse Bucket stops her lunch and goes to the tub room to find the ring. Edmund is already in the tub room with Mildred while Dolly is heading there to have sex.

[00:13:30] Nurse Bucket is about to enter the tub room when the other nurse tells her they have already found the wedding ring. Nurse Bucket returns to her lunch as Dolly sneaks inside the room. She asks Mildred to remove Edmund’s cuffs. “Are you sure?” Mildred confirms with her. “Yes, take them off,” Dolly answers. Mildred removes the cuffs and leaves the room. Edmund asks Dolly if she trusts him without the cuffs. Dolly says no, but having Edmund to herself without the cuffs excites her. He tells Dolly he could snap her neck like a twig, but he wouldn’t do it to her. He then asks her if they could just kiss—he hasn’t kissed a woman in a while. She slowly kisses Edmund. He kisses her back as he grabs her ass.

[00:15:30] Meanwhile, Gwendolyn went to Governor Wilburn’s office. He shows him the polls where 67 percent of Californians are now in favor of the death penalty. Three months ago, it was just 46 percent. She knows the change is because of Edmund. The governor agrees, so he needs to fry Edmund in the electric chair to be reelected as governor. She assures Wilburn she will get Dr. Hanover to agree with Edmund’s death penalty.

[00:16:30] Mildred brings a wheelchair to Ingrid—it’s time for her treatment. Ingrid already knows what the treatment is like; Mrs. Cartwright told her. But she no longer wants to see Ingrid after the treatment. Ingrid tells Mildred to boil her to death, so she wouldn’t have to hide her true identity. Mildred tells her Dr. Hanover is trying to cure them of their disease, but she doesn’t want the cure. Ingrid wants to be free. She wants the real Ingrid to be free. Society doesn’t accept lesbians, so she tries her best to keep the real Ingrid inside her. But she can’t contain her true identity anymore. Ingrid felt free as she did the deed with Mrs. Cartwright, and things will never be the same ever again. Mildred tells Ingrid to stop crying as she won’t die today.

[00:20:00] Mildred brings Ingrid to the tub room. Nurse Bucket and Huck are waiting for them. Nurse Bucket tells Ingrid that Dr. Hanover only has her best interest at heart. After the procedure, she will be a new woman. The head nurse tells Huck to start the tubs. But it won’t turn on. She sees someone has tampered with the machine: the plug was cut. She blames Mildred for trying to undermine her authority, but Mildred has nothing to do with it. Huck tells Nurse Bucket the procedure is barbaric. She tells Huck she will make sure he gets fired for his insubordination.

[00:22:00] Mr. Wainwright, the man following Dr. Hanover, goes back to the motel and asks if there are any messages for him. The owner tells him she received a call from some woman who didn’t want to disclose her name. Then she gives him a note from Mildred. Mr. Wainwright calls Miss Osgood, who answers the call and immediately asks for details about Richard’s death. He tells Miss Osgood he’s having trouble killing him but assures her he’ll do it. Miss Osgood doesn’t like the bad news and tells him he’ll start to lose $50,000 for each passing day he fails to kill the doctor. Gwendolyn goes over to the icebox and overhears Mr. Wainwright’s conversation on the phone. She doesn’t see his face, so she follows him and sees him go to Mildred’s room.

[00:24:00] Gwendolyn wants to confront Mildred, but she allows for some time to see what will happen. Mildred tells Mr. Wainwright she knows about his plan to kill Dr. Hanover. She explains Richard is the only Filipino in Lucia, and he’s her boss. In exchange for the doctor, Mildred wants Mr. Wainwright to take back what he said about her being his worst sex partner. He wants Mildred to prove herself first. Gwendolyn goes to Mildred’s door and hears the moans and screams. She knocks on Mildred’s door as Mr. Wainwright leaves her room. She wants to know who Mr. Wainwright is for Mildred, but she refuses to tell her. Gwendolyn tells Mildred about Governor Wilburn’s message.

[00:29:00] She tells Mildred Dr. Hanover needs to sign Edmund’s death penalty or Wilburn will pull out all of his funding from the hospital. Mildred responds she will relay the message to Richard, but that’s all she’ll do for her. Mildred goes along with Mr. Wainwright to the hospital. He sneaks inside the hospital and goes to Richard’s office. Huck urgently tells Mildred that Nurse Bucket fixed the tubs, and Ingrid is scheduled for her treatment the next day. She tells Huck they need to get Mrs. Cartwright and Miss Blix out of the hospital that night.

[00:33:00] Huck sneaks Mrs. Cartwright out of the hospital as Gwendolyn arrives. She asks him where he’s bringing the patient. “She’s not a patient,” Huck tells Gwendolyn, then drives away. Gwendolyn enters the hospital to look for Richard. Meanwhile, Mr. Wainwright sneaks inside Richard’s office. Dr. Hanover creeps behind Wainwright then hits him on the head with an ashtray. Mildred arrives. She sees Mr. Wainwright’s body lying on the floor. Richard asks for her help, so they bring his body in the tub room, locking him in the tub Mildred set at 150°F.

[00:35:30] Mildred tells Richard to clean up his mess inside his office while Mr. Wainwright boils to death. She goes to Miss Blix to wake her up and help her escape the hospital. Gwendolyn arrives at Richard’s office. She sees the pool of blood and asks Richard whose blood it is. Richard can’t answer, so Gwendolyn changes the topic. Meanwhile, Mildred meets Huck at the hospital’s parking lot. He will drive Mrs. Cartwright and Miss Blix to the train station. Mildred gives them petty cash and tells them to leave. Ingrid asks Mildred why she’s helping them. Mildred responds she understood their feelings.

[00:39:00] Harold sees Peter out of bed. Peter tells him he’s looking for a glass of milk, so Harold accompanies him to get one. Gwendolyn tells Richard about the governor’s message while Mildred enters Richard’s office. Meanwhile, Mr. Wainwright manages to escape from the hot bath. He gets out of the corridor. Harold and Peter see him. Peter thinks Mr. Wainwright is just a figment of his imagination. Harold goes to his desk to get his handgun and points it at Mr. Wainwright. He tells him to stop approaching them, but he won’t stop. Harold shoots him in the face. Everyone hears the gunshot, so they go over to check what happened.

[00:41:30] Richard tells Harold to take Peter back to his room before taking the rest of the night off. Gwendolyn wants to call the police to report what happened, but Mildred tells her otherwise—telling the police won’t have any good effects on the governor’s reelection campaign. Richard seconded Mildred’s statement before sending Gwendolyn away. Mildred and Richard clean up the mess and incinerate Mr. Wainwright’s body. Richard takes Mildred back to the motel where Gwendolyn waits for her to arrive, seated in her car.

[00:43:30] Mildred enters Gwendolyn’s car to talk to her. She seems shaken up seeing a dead man’s body. She tells Mildred the man didn’t even look human. Mildred tells her the man wasn’t human, and the man God intended him to be is long gone. Mildred invites Gwendolyn to dinner over the weekend so that they can celebrate her new life. Gwendolyn agrees and bids Mildred goodnight. Mildred fakes entering her room, and goes back to check Mr. Wainwright’s room.

[00:46:00] Mildred rummages around before seeing Richard’s file along with a check named to Mr. Wainwright. His first name is Charles. She also sees his diary where she found a number. Mildred calls the number and speaks with Lenore Osgood. She tells Lenore that Charles is dead and his room just became available at the motel. She’ll come to Lucia to visit her, Lenore tells Mildred. The next day, Mr. Cartwright arrives at the hospital demanding to know what happened to his wife. Huck tells Mildred he got both of them on a train without any issues. He tells Mildred she’s an angel of mercy for what she did. She tells Huck she’s never heard anyone call her an angel.

[00:49:00] Mildred lied to Huck. She walks away from him while she remembers what happened during the war. One of the soldiers she was looking after needed morphine, but they no longer had any stock. The soldier begged Mildred to kill her, so he could no longer feel any pain. Mildred said she couldn’t kill him, but the man claimed he could already see angels. The man referred to Mildred as an angel, ending his suffering by taking a pillow and suffocating him to death.