Ratched (series)/Timeline

This article documents the timeline of canon events shown/mentioned/noted in Ratched, in chronological order.

1911

• DECEMBER: Either Mildred Ratched or Edmund Tolleson is born on December 1st.

1911-1929

• Mildred's father dies when she is young. After a few years as a single parent, her mother leaves her at an orphanage.
• Edmund's mother dies of an accidental drug overdose, leaving him orphaned.
• Mildred and Edmund meet at Mildred's first placement in foster care and bounce through various foster homes, all of which are abusive.
• Anna, a caseworker, is assigned to Mildred and Edmund and forges their documents to make them look like biological siblings so that they cannot be separated in future placements.
• After Edmund is nearly beaten to death, Mildred and Edmund run away from their foster placement.
• Mildred and Edmund are adopted by a rich couple who sexually abuse them.
• Edmund murders their adoptive parents and is apprehended by the police. Mildred flees.
• 1929 or 1931: Some years after their parents were murdered, 20 year old Mildred locates 17/18 year old Edmund at the Hale House School for Boys, a juvenile correction facility. After being discharged from the facility, he flees before they can be reunited.

1943

• Dr. Richard Hanover, under his original name of Manuel Bañaga, is divorced from his wife, Dalisay, and forcibly separated from his daughter, Marisol.
• One month later, he begins to treat Henry Osgood at the request of his mother, Lenore.
• MARCH: Mildred Ratched begins serving with the United States Army Nurse Corps in March, deploying to the Pacific Ocean theater of WWII.

1945

• Sometime in 1945, Gwendolyn Briggs and Trevor Briggs enter into a marriage of convenience.
• JUNE: In June, just two months before the end of the war, Mildred Ratched is asked to leave her service with the Nurse Corps due to her 'angel of mercy' killings.

1947

• NOVEMBER: On November 7th, Edmund Tolleson murders four priests at the St. John of the Cross rectory in Fair Oaks, California.

1948

Events of Season One begin

• MAY: Six months after the murders, some time around May, Mildred Ratched travels to Lucia, California looking to save Edmund Tolleson.
• The day of Mildred's interview at Lucia State Hospital, Dr. Hanover runs into Governor George Wilburn and futilely petitions him to support the hospital, catching the attention of his press secretary, Gwendolyn Briggs.
• Mildred blackmails nurse Amelia Emerson and acquires her job at Lucia State Hospital.
• As a political move, Governor Wilburn begins funding Lucia State Hospital.
• The day of Governor Wilburn's official visit to the hospital, Mildred misdoses Father Murphy and Dario Salvatore commits suicide. Mildred is introduced to Gwendolyn Briggs.
• The night of Dario's suicide, Edmund Tolleson arrives at the hospital.
• Dr. Hanover publicizes the lobotomy procedure of four patients, to unsatisfying results. Mildred visits Father Andrews to convince him to record a statement. Dr. Hanover then demonstrates an alternative lobotomy technique.
• Father Andrews agrees to meet with Mildred. She lobotomizes him in her motel room.
• Charles Wainwright reports his discovery of Dr. Hanover to Lenore Osgood. She agrees to pay him to kill Hanover for his medical malpractice with her son.
• Dr. Hanover installs hydrotherapy baths in the hospital. Lily Cartwright undergoes "treatment" with the new baths.
• Mildred and Huck Finnigan rescue Ingrid Blix and Lily Cartwright from the hydrotherapy "treatment".
• Charles Wainwright is killed in self-defense by Harold.
• Mildred blackmails Dr. Hanover into appointing her head nurse. She announces a "Spring Fling" for the hospital to be held the upcoming Thursday.
• JUNE 15: Charlotte Wells verbally accosts a violin player on a university campus and self-admits to Lucia State Hospital.
• Mildred goes on her first official date with Gwendolyn, inviting her to the dance.
• JUNE 24: The Dance occurs. Edmund murders Harold, Dolly shoots Gwendolyn Briggs. Edmund and Dolly escape.
• Mildred discloses her relationship to Edmund to Gwendolyn.
• Edmund and Dolly are caught by police. Dolly is killed in a shootout. Edmund is re-apprehended.
• Gwendolyn is fired by Governor Wilburn.
• Betsy Bucket investigates Mildred and Mildred discloses her relationship to Edmund. They form an alliance.
• Dr. Hanover is ejected from Lucia State Hospital by Betsy. Betsy becomes acting head of the hospital.
• Dr. Hanover flees with Charlotte Wells. Charlotte Wells murders Dr. Hanover.
• Mildred delivers Dr. Hanover's head to Lenore Osgood in exchange for $100,000. Henry Osgood murders Lenore.
• Mildred and Gwendolyn confess their love to one another and become a couple.
• Gwendolyn begins chemotherapy for breast cancer. Mildred moves in with Gwendolyn.
• Charlotte Wells enters Lucia State to break out Edmund. In the process, Charlotte kills Huck.
• SEPTEMBER: Edmund Tolleson is scheduled to be executed on September 14th, escaping with less than two weeks before his execution.
• Sometime after this, Mildred and Gwendolyn moved to Mexico to pursue treatment for Gwendolyn's breast cancer.

1950

• JULY: Betsy visits Mildred and Gwendolyn in Mexico. Edmund contacts Mildred in Mexico after murdering seven nurses in Chicago. Edmund, Charlotte, and Louise are traveling together in pursuit of Mildred.

End of Season One events

Discrepancies

• In the Director's Cut of Pilot, Gwendolyn Briggs tells Governor Wilburn that she and Trevor Briggs have been married for two years, contradicting the conversation in Angel of Mercy where she states they have been married for three years. This could be explained by the passage of time between the two conversations including their wedding anniversary, marking a third year of marriage.

There are a few discrepancies with the overall placement of events that occur between 1947 and 1948.

• Establishing scenes shown in Pilot merely note Edmund Tolleson's murders occurring in 1947, and Mildred Ratched's arrival in Lucia occurring six months later. More specific on-screen information comes from the newspapers handed to Mildred on her way to Lucia, which establish the murders as occurring on November 7th, 1947. This would put Mildred's arrival at Lucia firmly in 1948, around the month of May, which contradicts official off-screen information given about the show's season one setting.
• In contrast, a line by Father Andrews in Pilot notes that "Miracle on 34th Street is playing at the Westmont", indicating this a recent development and not a long-standing occurrence. Miracle on 34th Street was initially released in the United States in May of 1947, and was unlikely to still be showing in a local cinema in November. If, however, this was meant to date the murders as occurring in May 1947, with Mildred Ratched arriving at Lucia six months later, in November, this would line up with the official off-screen information regarding the show's season one setting.
• The employee card Mildred Ratched pulls from nurse Amelia Emerson's wallet in Pilot has an expiration date of January 1st, 1948. If the events at Lucia are meant to begin during November 1947, indicated by the known release of Miracle on 34th Street plus six months for Mildred's arrival as well as official off-screen information establishing season one as occurring wholly in 1947, this expiration lines up with those dates. However, the on-screen dates given for Edmund's crimes plus six months for Mildred's arrival put the expiration as five months out of date, as Mildred would be accessing the card in May 1948.
• A discussion between Lenore Osgood and Charles Wainwright in Angel of Mercy states that Charles's initial fee for tracking down Dr. Richard Hanover was $10,000, with Lenore saying she will change his final payment to $250,000 if he kills Dr. Hanover and brings her his head. This reveals that Charles had not yet been paid for his services prior to this conversation. While there is no indication of when this conversation took place, within the events of the show it does not occur until after Mildred Ratched's arrival in Lucia. The money transfer receipt detailing Charles's payment from Lenore shown in Angel of Mercy, Part II, however, is dated to April 26, 1947, contradicting both the conversation between Lenore and Charles as well as any known dates from the rest of the show, as six months have passed from Edmund Tolleson's murders, meaning the date of Mildred's arrival could be no earlier than June 1947.
• Governor Wilburn comments in Angel of Mercy, Part II, shortly before the events of The Dance, that the first primary of the election is "less than a month" away. Based on the on-screen dates given for the events of The Dance, this would put the primary as occurring at the very end of June or beginning of July, which falls similarly to the real dates of the 1946 and 1950 California gubernatorial race primaries, the closest elections to the events of the show. This would support Mildred's arrival in Lucia as occurring in May of 1948 (as per the newspaper articles plus six months) rather than November of 1947, as the events of the first season up to The Dance would have to span seven months to match the progression from November to June/July or the primary would be held uncharacteristically in December or January, though this contradicts the official off-screen information given regarding the setting of the first season.
  • Likewise, in their conversation in Mildred and Edmund, Wilburn reminds Mildred and Gwendolyn to vote for him in the upcoming November 9th general election. If Mildred had arrived in Lucia in November 1947, and the election primary held roughly a month later, Wilburn would be reminding them to vote nearly eleven months in advance.
• After being appointed head nurse in The Dance, Mildred announces a 'Spring Fling' to be held at the hospital. If Mildred had indeed arrived in Lucia in November of 1947, this would be a very out-of-place statement, as the dance would almost certainly have been oriented for the winter season rather than referred to as a spring occasion. If, however, she arrived in May of 1948, as indicated by the newspaper articles plus six months, the title of 'Spring Fling' would have been generous, given the nearness of summer months, but much more accurate.
  • As well, Charlotte Wells' patient chart, shown briefly in The Dance, notes the incident that led to her admittance to Lucia as occurring June 15th. She was shortly thereafter placed under a six-day sedative sleep before ultimately attending the dance, placing the Spring Fling as occurring after her admission to Lucia. If Mildred had arrived in November of 1947, the events of the first season up to The Dance would have to span seven months to match the progression from November to June.
• The newspaper given to Betsy Bucket by Louise in Mildred and Edmund states Edmund Tolleson's upcoming execution is set for September 14th, and that Edmund arrived at Lucia State Hospital for evaluation earlier that year. This fits with the dates given on-screen for Edmund's crimes and subsequent arrival at Lucia - the crimes occurring in November 1947 and his arrival occurring in May 1948 - as well as the on-screen dates and information given for Charlotte Wells' arrival, the hospital's Spring Fling, and the primary for the gubernatorial race, but contradicts the official off-screen information regarding the show's season one setting, as well as the dates implied by both Amelia Emerson's employee card and the release of Miracle on 34th Street in Pilot.
• While in Mexico, both in the dream sequence and later lunch scene with Betsy Bucket in Mildred and Edmund, Gwendolyn Briggs notes the passage of time from Edmund Tolleson's escape to the present day as being two years. As the scenes are both set in 1950, as shown on-screen, this indicates Edmund escaped some time in 1948. While this timing does not necessarily contradict the two conflicting timelines shown on-screen, as both possibilities place Edmund's escape some time in 1948, it does contradict the known official off-screen information regarding the show's setting, which gives the events at Lucia as occurring wholly in 1947.

Trivia

• In articles as early as October 2019, both Ryan Murphy and Sarah Paulson reported the show would start in 1946, "approximately 20 years before the events of [One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest]". This start date was changed to the 1947 shown on-screen, but indicates parts of the show may have been written with this timeframe in mind.