My Review of Ratched's 1x05: "The Dance"

 

Written by Ian Brennan

Directed by Michael Uppendahl

Hanover: "From this day forward you will never bark another order at me again, do you understand? I am your superior."

Mildred: "Of that, you are very, very mistaken."

And with that, Mildred let her mask slip off a bit more. I think if Hanover wasn't written to be such an idiot, it probably wouldn't have taken him five episodes to stand up to Mildred but whether he likes it or not, she's basically got him exactly where she wants him, even if this week she did push her luck by a lot.

Mildred began the episode by blackmailing Hanover into demoted Nurse Bucket and promoting her as Head Nurse while also making sure that Hanover accompanied Bucket to the Spring Fling dance at the hospital, all at the same time devising a plan for Edmund to prove his insanity.

Of course while Mildred had Hanover in the palm of her hand, several things went south for her. Hanover exposed his true colours to Bucket, which put Mildred in the position of trying to comfort a woman she had set up for humiliation while Dolly proved to be the worst influence on Edmund than Mildred anticipated.

I'm surprised if took five episodes for Edmund to actually go off script and escape the hospital and I felt bad seeing Harold die in front of new patient but at the same time, while Edmund had no problem murdering an innocent security, he seemed annoyed that Dolly shout Gwendolyn. I'm not worried about the latter though. If anything, Gwendolyn's near death experience at Dolly's hands seems to be a motivator for Mildred to embracing her feelings for the woman.

Keeping with the female characters this week - can I just say that Sophie Okonedo was absolutely amazing as Charlotte Wells? Her backstory was harrowing to the point that even Hanover seemed genuinely happy when he thought he helped her and devastated when she regressed at the dance. Not to mention meeting Charlotte's other personalities as well. Sophie really stole this entire episode right out from under everyone. 

Then there was Lenore. Sharon Stone is having a ball, playing this overly campy villain and the back and forth between Lenore and Mildred was entertaining enough. I do think Mildred needs to keep an eye on Lenore as she did prove not be so easily swayed in this episode. Saying that, Lenore should also keep an eye on Mildred too. 

- Charlotte's other personalities included Baby Taffy, Ondine and Apollo. I also felt so bad for that violin player she berated in public.

- I could be wrong but I think Huck might have a bit of a crush on Mildred and Bucket also suspected that something was going on with Mildred and Gwendolyn.

- Standout music: Gerald Wilson's Moon Rise and Dinah Shore's Shoo-Fly Pie And Apple Pan Dandy.

- Chronology: It seems we're in the Spring of 1948 going by this episode.

The Dance definitely was the strongest episode so far in this series. Largely down to an incredible central performance from Sophie Okonedo and really upping the ante with everyone else as well, especially as Mildred suffered some big set backs with this episode.

Rating: 8 out of 10