“American Horror Story” regular Sarah Paulson stars in “Ratched,” a Netflix Original created by Evan Romansky and Ryan Murphy, the latter known for “Glee,” “AHS,” and Netflix’s “The Politician.” Murphy’s style shows in every scene — the bright 1960s palette, the biting dialogue and his flair for the dramatic that sometimes misses the mark.
The show, whose first season and all eight of its episodes were released Sept. 18, begins with a quite violent first scene: another “AHS” alum Finn Wittrock plays the perpetrator, who gets sent to an insane asylum to be declared insane or face the death penalty for his crimes.
After a bit of gore, the idyllic California coast is shown, with nurse Mildred Ratched, played by Paulson, driving in her seafoam green coop to Lucia State Hospital, bathed in bright blues and yellows in contrast to the dark house of the crime.
Eye-catching colors — from the blue-green nurse uniforms to the pastel spa-turned-hospital — prevail throughout the show. The screen is also filled with a talented cast that delivers every line perfectly, even with campy lines and ridiculous one-liners.
“I’ll never forgive myself for that,” Sharon Stone says in the third episode before a long pause. Corey Stoll lights her cigarette, loudly flicks the lighter closed and sits in silence, dramatically continuing the pause.
Some of the biggest critiques of the show is the lack of connection between “Ratched” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” where the character of Mildred Ratched originates. “Ratched” gives the nurse’s history, almost as a prequel to “Cuckoo’s Nest.”
However, her evil character from the 1962 book and 1975 movie is not the same as the one in “Ratched” — it seems that Paulson’s character’s motives are sometimes selfish, while other times she is channeling the energy from the real Nurse Ratched.
Her selfish motives come into play when saving her brother from the death penalty. While the Mildred Ratched in “Ratched” systematically lays a plan to allow his escape, the Nurse Ratched in the original would never do something that would break rules or undermine her control.
However, Paulson’s character is laced with intrigue. The 1960s setting with the psychiatric hospital seems to be a somewhat tired background for a drama-thriller. The mystery keeps the viewer guessing and keeps the setting fresh.
While Ratched isn’t the nurse she is in “Cuckoo’s Nest,” she will be one day. Between awkward meetings with a man and a confused date with a lesbian, the show even alludes to Nurse Ratched’s sexuality being a factor in her characterization — especially because a lesbian is given a lobotomy in the second epsiode to “cure” her.
But many side plotlines stop this show from being a true origin story. Besides her name, there are not many real aspects that tie her to the original. The show should have been a simple “inspired by” story and just used Ratched to represent the horrors that psychiatric patients face.
The show is full of alarming “medical” procedures that make the viewer squirm, very similar to “AHS: Asylum,” or any “AHS” season for that matter. Ice-pick lobotomies and a boiling-hot bath to treat homosexuality grace the first few episodes, some so uncomfortable that skipping forward 10 seconds is needed.
Accompanying the drama, campy lines, great acting and overlapping plot lines is sweeping orchestral music that also gives the show a fresh take. Music by composers Philip Glass, Giacomo Puccini and Camille Saint-Saens gives the show an elegance and eeriness not delivered by the palette or gore.
Yes, the show is good. The production value is high, the cast delivers every time, but as an origin story, it misses the mark.
OMG! Have you seen Enola Holmes? It’s on Netflix. I can never get enough of Millie Bobby Brown! I loved her in Stranger things and she’s even better in this.