Ratched Season 1 Review

 

Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis: Ryan Murphy’s latest production Ratched follows the rise of the titular character to head nurse from the literary classic and later Oscar-winning film One Flew Over A Cuckoo’s Nest.

 

My Thoughts: Like many people, I share some mixed sentiments regarding the show. Starting on a more positive note, the cinematography had an elegantly stylized quality to it which when combined with the dramatical soundtrack inspired by the likes from motion picture composer Bernard Herrmann, creates an enthralling spectacle aurally and visually pleasing. To say it is mere eye candy would be a slight understatement since the visuals are utilized to an astoundingly emotive effect heavy on metaphor to convey different moods and atmospheres. For instance, according to the show fashion designer Rebecca Guzzi, red hues symbolize chaotic sequences while green, the most predominant hue, signifies a multitude of themes such as envy, greed, violence, oppression, etc. with flashes of it alluding to lust. Furthermore, the casting choice felt very appropriate with Sarah Paulson playing the role of Nurse Mildred Ratched, Cynthia Nixon as our antihero’s sapphic lover/press secretary of governor George Wilburn (Vincent D’Onofrio), and Finn Wittrock as convicted murderer Edmund Tolleson to name a few. In addition, the show did a good job demonstrating the barbaric procedures psychiatric hospitals applied including hydrotherapy and lobotomies at a time when things such as homosexuality and daydreaming were considered mental illnesses. While I know many of the show detractors have criticized it for deviating from the original source material’s raw look into inhumane practices within mental institutions during the early 60s to a gory, over-the-top melodrama tainted with horror elements emulating American Horror Story: Asylum using an antagonist who was intended to be a flat emblem of an oppressive system. This being my first Ryan Murphy show, I have nothing to add regarding the AMS: Asylum analogy though that description of it now makes me interested in seeing it. However, for me, the different take off Nurse Ratched mixed with lurid campiness just so happens to be the uncanny mixture that made me enjoy the series with the end of every episode leaving me enticed to see what occurs in the next installment. As for whether Ratched’s more overtly malicious actions are in direct contradiction of her more orderly nature in OFCN, I interpreted it as a setup meant to contrast the person she became later on which might evolve in the coming seasons. With all that being said, there are a fair amount of criticisms I agree on:

1. The treatment of mental illness/disorders – On in particular which I found unsettling is the character Charlotte Wells (Sophie Okonedo), a black woman with dissociative (then called multiple) personality disorder who is first introduced in the fifth episode “The Dance”.  Initially, she shows some promise as a troubled woman who wants helps controlling her alters. This portrayal quickly jumps the shark as one of her alters displays murderous traits in the following episode devolving into yet another harmful, Hollywood depiction which does nothing the reduce the stigma of people with DND.
2. Inconsistency – Sometimes, the show gets too carried away with its posh style that it ends up being inconsistent with its character motivations. Take for example Nurse Ratched and Bucket, they begin as rivals towards each other before becoming friendly acquaintances after Ratched openly confides a secret to her which makes very little sense given their disdain for one another.

 

Final Thoughts: Ratched is an elegantly styled drama which if you’re in the mood for some gory campiness with addicting thrills.