Ratched Season 1 Episode 2 Recap – Ice Pick

[00:01:00] Dr. Hanover begins his day with a little puff from his drug storage. It’s not clear whether he’s on medication or if he just gets high by choice. A few people are there to see Dr. Hanover that day. After Governor Wilburn supported his hospital, people started visiting him, seeking his special treatment. Len Bronley seeks Hanover’s help to cure his memory loss, while Ingrid Brix needs a cure for her melancholia. Lily sees a boy from across their table. She approaches him to ask why he’s visiting Dr. Hanover. His name is Peter, and he’s suffering from daydreams. Dr. Hanover meets with all four patients and instructs them to change into gowns for the procedure. He also tells everyone that some people from the government will be watching the operation.

[00:04:30] Lily is a lesbian—she doesn’t want anyone to know about it, but Mildred says it is evident by her facial structure. As the patients are getting ready, Gwendolyn welcomes the government officials joining them that day: Randall Berglund, Head of the State Detentions Bureau; and Annie Hardcastle, Administrative Assistant to the Director of State Finance: Stan Powers. They take a photo outside before joining the others who came to watch the procedure.

[00:07:00] Dr. Hanover tells everyone he’s performing a lobotomy on all four patients. He brags about finishing the procedure in 15 minutes for all four patients, and they would no longer suffer the illnesses that brought them to his hospital. Hanover starts the operation with Mr. Bronley. He makes an incision on the left side of his head and drills a hole on it. He brags that the patient feels nothing from the procedure, but as the doctor is drilling into Bronley’s skull, his arms flap to try and stop Hanover. Nurse Buckets controls the hand movement, while Hanover explains those are just involuntary movements caused by the operation. Annie can’t contain her emotions and faints just as Hanover completes the procedure on Mr. Bronley.

[00:10:30] Dr. Hanover instructs Mildred to take care of Annie while he proceeds with the other three patients. Later that day, Mildred visits the only surviving victim of Edmund, Father Andrews. She tries to convince him to commit to an interview with Dr. Hanover—he’s the key whether or not Edmund lives or dies. Father Andrews doesn’t believe in putting anyone to death. Mildred agrees, but the case is different with Edmund. She tells him that if Edmund lives, he will kill again. Father Andrews bursts into tears while talking with Mildred. He can’t relive the events, so Mildred gives him a small prayer book and leaves.

[00:15:30] Mildred goes to the pantry to eat her peach. She checks the fridge, but the peach isn’t there. She sees Nurse Bucket with a peach in her hand, so she tries to reclaim it. They end up arguing over the peach, but Nurse Bucket doesn’t give it back—she bites the peach in front of Mildred and asks her what she’s going to do about it. Mildred quietly stares at Nurse Bucket, telling her she’s thinking about what she will do to her. Dr. Hanover enters the pantry and invites them to the operating theater for a private demonstration.

[00:18:00] Dr. Hanover tells his staff the reception he got for the lobotomy the other day wasn’t what he had hoped for. He offers an alternative: the transorbital lobotomy using an ice pick—a procedure he thinks will not make viewers feel queasy. He places the ice pick on top of the corpse’s left eye and tells everyone he will insert the ice pick just above the eye to access the thinnest part of the skull. He taps the ice pick using a hammer. Nurse Bucket can’t keep her stomach together and pukes all over the operation theater, which angers Hanover. He approaches and scolds the head nurse before the entire nursing staff, then sends her and Nurse Dolly out of the theater—their behavior is unacceptable for him.

[00:20:30] Mildred tells Dr. Hanover to continue his demonstration. He picks up the ice pick and starts tapping into the corpse’s skull. He explains how to access the frontal lobe using the ice pick and then pulls it out, proudly telling everyone there is no noticeable bleeding that will make people queasy. Mildred claps her hands enthusiastically; the rest of the staff is awed by what they witnessed. Dr. Hanover dismisses the whole staff, but Mildred decides to stay. She wants to talk with him about Edmund’s treatment—a little flirting goes a long way with the doctor. She tells him that Edmund showers like a circus animal, chained up while they lather and rinse him down with a hose. She hopes to get fair treatment for Edmund while he stays at the hospital.

[00:24:00] After speaking with Dr. Hanover, Mildred visits Edmund to give him a soap bar. She tells him he can shower like other patients moving forward. She assures Edmund she’ll get him out of the hospital and leaves. She goes to the pantry to enjoy her lunch. Gwendolyn arrives looking for her lunch, but she can’t find it. Gwendolyn formally introduces herself to Mildred, but she already knows her. Nurse Bucket ate her lunch, Mildred told her. Then, Gwendolyn invites Mildred over to Monterey to eat in an oyster bar—Gwendolyn is a lesbian. Mildred tries to decline the invitation, but she manages to make her agree, so they drive up to Monterey later.

[00:28:00] They talk about Dr. Hanover’s lobotomy as they wait for the oysters to arrive. Gwendolyn thinks the voters won’t approve of such a procedure, but Mildred defends it. She tells Gwendolyn the voters are foolish not to approve. She adds that Governor Wilburn is wise to follow Dr. Hanover for his reelection campaign. As the oysters arrive, Gwendolyn teaches Mildred how to eat them. She describes eating oysters as making love with the ocean as if she’s trying to seduce Mildred to make love with her. Mildred can’t eat the oysters, so Gwendolyn gives her a little help. She takes the shell and puts it in her mouth. Gwendolyn tells Mildred to swallow the oyster whole.

[00:30:00] They go back to the lobotomy topic. Mildred tells Gwendolyn she believes lobotomy cures the patients of whatever troubling issues they may have with their minds. Gwendolyn thinks they’re playing God, but Mildred thought otherwise. It’s better to feel right than to feel wrong or feel nothing at all, she responds. She assures Gwendolyn she’s seen the wrong feeling, and no one deserves such a place. After their talk, Gwendolyn asks Mildred to accompany her for a nightcap. She agrees, so Gwendolyn drives over to a bar in the middle of the forest.

[00:32:00] As they enter, Mildred notices the couples inside the bar are lesbians—some are dancing, talking, and kissing while dancing to the slow music coming from the jukebox. Mildred tells Gwendolyn she needs to leave. Gwendolyn tries to stop her, leading to an argument. She asks Gwendolyn why she brought her to such a place: a woman’s bar. Gwendolyn says she thought Mildred wanted a nightcap. Mildred doesn’t believe her, so she tells her the truth—she thinks Mildred is also a lesbian. Gwendolyn apologizes for assuming, but she still tries to push the argument that Mildred is also a lesbian. Mildred doesn’t like what Gwendolyn is insinuating. She offers Mildred a drive home, but Mildred doesn’t want to come with her. She enters the bar to call a cab.

[00:34:00] Back at the hospital, Dr. Hanover speaks to Edmund for the first time. He asks the guard to take his cuffs off and invites Edmund to sit in his office. Edmund keeps whining about having a radio mouth. Dr. Hanover doesn’t understand what he means, so he asks him about it. Edmund tells Dr. Hanover he killed four ballet dancers. He tells him he didn’t kill them, but people keep telling him he did. Dr. Hanover tells Edmund he killed four priests and not ballet dancers. Edmund tells the doctor people keep switching what he’s thinking about. Edmund talks about how four to five guys came into his apartment to tell him they placed antennas in his mouth. People in the organization keep listening to his conversation, switching his thoughts and selling them to others.

[00:36:30] Dr. Hanover invites Edmund to sit somewhere more comfortable. They move over to the couch, where Dr. Hanover tells Edmund he’s displaying multiple features of schizophrenia. Although Edmund is displaying signs and symptoms of schizophrenia, Dr. Hanover thinks Edmund is faking it. Edmund decides to cut the tension by asking for a cigarette. He stands up and goes over to the bar to find a lighter. Dr. Hanover slowly walks over to the bar himself as he sees Edmund eyeing the knife. He tells Edmund he doesn’t believe in the death penalty as a punishment—it doesn’t deter anyone from committing heinous crimes and only causes social dysfunction instead of providing an adept solution for society. Dr. Hanover adds that a person can lose control and snap due to certain stimuli.

[00:39:00] Once a person loses control, they can commit unspeakable acts of violence and depravity, which seems absurd to the rest of society. Dr. Hanover refers to what Edmund did to the four priests and assures him that he can help him avoid the death penalty. He just wants to know the truth. Edmund takes a puff from his cigarette and puts it out. The doctor tells him he cannot fool him; he just wants to help. Dr. Hanover tells Edmund to just tell him the truth, but Edmund no longer wants to talk. Dr. Hanover calls the guard over to escort Edmund back to his cell. Meanwhile, Mildred interviews Peter to see if his symptoms are getting better. Peter tells Mildred he no longer has any thoughts after the operation. She goes over to the pantry to eat another peach.

[00:41:00] Nurse Bucket enters the room to tell her about a private call—it’s Father Andrews. He tells Mildred he’s ready to tell her his story: the night when Edmund killed his fellow priests. Mildred asks Andrews if he’s truly ready. The priest tells Mildred he wants Edmund to be put away for good, so he can’t further harm other people. Mildred fetches Father Andrews and takes him to her motel room. She asks Father Andrews to speak to a recorder so that Dr. Hanover will have a file for review. She promises Andrews only Dr. Hanover will have access to the recording. Mildred asks Father Andrews what he saw the night of the murders.

[00:43:00] Father Andrews can’t see Edmund’s face from under the bed. But he could see the monsignor getting mutilated as Edmund continuously stabbed him to death then left the house. While Andrews recalls what happened, Mildred makes him a cup of tea, slipping a few drops of medicine. Andrews continues telling his story. Once Edmund left, Father Andrews called for help. He saw the other priests Edmund killed. He ran outside, and that’s when he saw Edmund smoking under the street lamp. He tells Mildred that Edmund didn’t even run away. He put out his cigarette while calmly walking away. Father Andrews breaks down in fear that Edmund is still out to kill him. Mildred tells him to finish his tea.

[00:46:00] Father Andrews finishes his cup of tea but starts to feel drowsy. Mildred helps him to her bed, where she ties him up while she gets her ice pick and hammer. As he wakes up, Mildred tells him Edmund is her brother, who she says wasn’t born a monster, but someone turned him into one. She starts the transorbital lobotomy on Father Andrews. After that, Mildred takes Father Andrews back to where he’s staying. Two men from the state attorney’s office came by to interview him. One of the nuns looking after Father Andrews tells them about Mildred and his weekend getaway with him. The men want to ask for an affidavit from Father Andrews, but they can no longer speak with him. The transorbital lobotomy was a success. Father Andrews can no longer speak to anyone about Edmund Tolleson.