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5 Reasons Why “Ratched” Rules
The creepy, stylish show is racheting up the tick in time we spend on the (edge of the) sofa. No wonder Netflix just announced a subscription rate hike. You can’t turn away from an evil nurse in an eerie green uniform and crisp, pointy-cornered cap. Can you?
2 min readOct 30, 2020
- The story line is all sewn up. Set n 1947 at a psychiatric hospital near the California coast, the chilling tale is the prequel to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and unveils why Nurse Mildred Ratched is such a troubled soul. Master minds Ryan Murphy and Evan Romansky nimbly sew a dark thread from priests to monstrous treatments. Do not enter the Tub Room.
- The precise acting. Hang on every word, and gaze, from Sarah Paulson as Nurse Ratched; Cynthia Nixon as Gwendolyn Briggs, suited press secretary to the governor; Judy Davis as Nurse Betsy Bucket. Add a murderer and stolen sex through prison bars. Every role in all eight Season 1 episodes is expertly filled. Every.single.one.
- The wardrobe. The two women in charge are costume czars. Lou Eyrich and Rebecca Guzzi followed Murphy’s vivid color vision and dug up Vogue covers from the era. Uniforms, capes, peplum waists, gloves, hats — I dare you to peel your eyes away…
