S01E04: Angel of Mercy, Part II

"Angel of Mercy, Part II"

Season

1

Episode

4

Air date

September 18, 2020

Writer

Ian Brennan

Director

Michael Uppendahl

Episode guide
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Angel of Mercy	The Dance

"Angel of Mercy, Part II" is the fourth episode of Season One of Ratched, as well as the fourth episode of the series overall. It premiered on September 18, 2020.^[1]

Synopsis[]

Ratched helps Edmund find an outlet for his urges and offers her services to Wainwright. Tired of living a lie, Gwendolyn leaves her husband.

Plot[]

Mildred brings Edmund his lunch and confronts him after his last encounter with Dolly. His actions risk their plan. Edmund wonders what life is supposed to be like in the world for him. He blames Mildred for depriving him of the touch of a woman. He claims that he wants to be normal and wants to know love. He grabs her hand from between the bars and tells her that she’ll have to suffice. Mildred jerks away and tells Edmund that she will never do that with him again.

Gwendolyn has packed her bags with plans to leave Trevor. She can no longer live a lie. She’s found someone and she hopes that Trevor will. He begs her to stay, but Gwendolyn leaves with her suitcase.

Gwendolyn arrives at the Sealight Inn. Louise questions her as she checks into the motel, asking if she’ll be alone or expecting company. That's when Gwendolyn discovers that Mildred also stays at the motel and reveals that she left her husband earlier in the day. Mildred helps Gwendolyn get situated in her room. Gwendolyn explains that she couldn’t live a lie anymore and was ready to open herself up to a true and full love.

Dolly sympathizes with Peter as he is so young. She doesn’t see the harm in daydreaming. Mildred wonders if Dolly daydreams and then asks if she masturbates. She confronts Dolly for giving Edmund a hand job though she understands that everyone has erotic needs. Dolly’s mother didn’t view it like that. If Dolly so much as looked at a boy, she'd get ten lashes and called a whore. Dolly had always been attracted to dangerous men. Soon enough, she realized that sex was all men viewed her for. She liked it and was ashamed of it at the same time. Mildred reveals that Dolly is a nymphomaniac. She has insatiable sexual desires, though it’s a mental illness for which there is no cure. But Mildred can arrange for Dolly to have relations with Edmund. It may help his rehabilitation. Mildred will have it arranged for when Nurse Bucket goes to lunch. Mildred tells Dolly to meet her in the tub room at exactly 2:05.

Just as Nurse Bucket sits down to eat her lunch, she gets word that Mrs. Cartwright is claiming that she lost her wedding ring during treatment in the tub room. As She goes to the tub room to search for the ring, a nurse reveals that they’ve already recovered the ring.

Dolly enters the tub room. Mildred gives her five minutes alone with him. Edmund wonders if Dolly trusts him what his cuffs off. She doesn’t, but it excites her. She reaches for his pants, but that’s not what he wants. He simply wants to kiss her as it has been a long time since he’s kissed a woman.

A poll reveals that 67% of Californians are in favor of the death penalty. The percentage has risen since Edmund Tolleson’s arrival. Governor Wilburn demands that Gwendolyn get Hanover to agree that Edmund is fit to stand trial.

Mildred informs Ingrid that it’s time for her hydrotherapy. She’s fearful after speaking with Lily, who now refuses to even look at her. Ingrid tells Mildred to boil her until there is nothing left. All Ingrid’s life she has been fighting her urges until it finally drove her mad. She could feel the real Ingrid begging to be let out. Mildred promises Ingrid that there will be no death today.

Mildred wheels Ingrid into the tub room, where Nurse Bucket and Huck await. She assures Ingrid that she will soon be a better woman. Huck goes to prepare the tub but it won’t start. Nurse Bucket discovers that the cord has been cut. Huck claims that it was rats, but Nurse Bucket isn’t convinced. She warns Huck that he will be fired for his insubordination.

Charles enters the front office of the motel to find Louise covered in leeches. It’s for her arthritis. He asks if he has any messages. Louise claims that he got a phone call from a woman who said it was urgent. He also got a note from Mildred, who claims that she had information he would like. Louise inquires about their relationship as she doesn’t tolerate fornication in her motel. Charles slams his fist down and asks for the phone.

As Henry plays a game of chess with one of the servants, Lenore gets a call from Charles, who reveals that he has yet to capture Hanover. Lenore tells him that everyday he fails to kill Hanover, he will lose $50,000 from his fee. Gwendolyn overhears Charles’ phone call and then follows him out to Mildred’s room.

Mildred confronts Charles with the fact that she knows that he’s hunting Dr. Hanover. She recalls the remark he made about chasing a Filipino and offers to help him find Hanover. Mildred then approaches Charles and begins role playing again as she undresses him. Mildred throws him on the bed, and they have sex. Unbeknownst to either of them, Gwendolyn listens from outside. Afterward, Mildred tells Charles that she will make to call to draw Hanover to the hospital.

Gwendolyn knocks on Mildred’s door and asks to come in, but Mildred fears that people may get the wrong idea with two women entering a room together. Gwendolyn asks about Charles, but Mildred says that her personal relationships are no concern of Gwendolyn's. Gwendolyn then explains the real reason she came over — Governor Wilburn wants Hanover to rule Edmund fit to stand trial. If not, Wilburn will defund the hospital.

Mildred and Charles drive to the hospital. Not long after they depart, Gwendolyn gets in her car and follows them.

Huck warns Mildred that Bucket fixed the tub and that Ingrid is scheduled for hydrotherapy in the morning, leaving Mildred and Huck with no choice but to act now. So she tells him to get Lily while and meet her out front.

Charles sneaks inside the hospital and up to Hanover’s office. As he looks inside the bathroom, Hanover creeps towards him and knocks him over the head with a blunt object.

Huck sneaks Lily out to his car. Gwendolyn arrives and asks where Huck is taking this patient. He replies that she isn’t a patient and leaves.

Mildred enters Dr. Hanover’s office to find him standing over Charles’ body. He’s alive but unconscious. They put him in a wheelchair and stroll him to the tub room. They put him inside the heated tub and turn the temperature up to 150 degrees. Hanover then goes back to his office to clean up the mess. He hides Charles’ gun in his desk.

Harold finds Peter wandering around the hospital. He claims that he just wanted a glass of milk.

Dr. Hanover gets high in the supply closet as Gwendolyn enters his office. She finds the blood on his carpet and inquires about the mess.

Mildred wakes Ingrid from her sleep and takes her outside, where Huck awaits in a car with Lily. She puts Ingrid inside and hands Huck some petty cash she took from Bucket’s office. She instructs Huck to put them on whichever train is going furthest. Ingrid is appreciative and asks Mildred why. Mildred replies that she relates to the struggle of hiding one’s true self.

Charles screams out for help as the heat becomes unbearable. He manages to escape the tub, though he has suffered serious burns. He crawls towards the door and makes his way into the hallway, where he crosses paths with Harold and Peter. Harold grabs his gun and tells Peter to go back to his room, though the boy believes that what he is seeing is merely his imagination.

Gwendolyn explains to Hanover that it’s important to the governor that Edmund Tolleson be declared fit to stand trial. They are joined by Mildred, who asks what the problem is.

Harold demands that Charles stop, but he keeps coming towards him and Peter, so Harold fires two shots at Charles face, killing him. Between the burns and bullet holes in his face, Charles is unrecognizable. Mildred, Hanover, and Gwendolyn arrive on the scene. Mildred and Hanover order Harold to take Peter back to his room and to take the rest of the night off. They claim that Charles was a patient who they left in the tub after learning there was an intruder in the hospital — the intruder being Gwendolyn. Hanover claims that he’ll call the authorities. Gwendolyn wants to speak to the police when they arrive, but they advise her against it as it would ruin the governor’s campaign if it got out that his secretary played a part in a man’s death. With that, Gwendolyn decides to leave.

While Mildred cleans up the blood, Hanover puts Charles’ body in the incinerator along with his belongings.

Mildred returns home to find Gwendolyn sitting in her car. Mildred claims that the man that died wasn’t human and hadn’t been for a long time. She asks if Gwendolyn will be telling Governor Wilburn what happened. She also asks that Gwendolyn hold off until she’s had enough time to absorb it. In the meantime, Mildred says that she’d like to go to the oyster bar again.

Mildred sneaks into Charles’ room and goes through his findings. She discovers a large check written by Lenore Osgood. Mildred then calls Lenore to inform her that Charles is dead. So they arranged a meeting at the Sealight Inn.

Mildred and Huck overhear Mr. Cartwright asking about his wife, who can’t be found. Huck fears what Bucket will do when she returns, but Mildred isn’t concerned. Huck tells Mildred that she’s an angel of mercy. Mildred recalls her time at war and how a soldier had lost his leg and was suffering from unbearable pain. He asked that she kill him to spare him the agony. Seeing just how much pain that he was in, Mildred reluctantly killed the man by suffocating him with a pillow.