Nurse Ratched is, of course, one of the most infamous nurses in the history of literature, film, and now television. Cruel and merciless, her name is synonymous with all of the things that people fear most about hospitals. However, every villain has a backstory, and the new Netflix series Ratched, starring none other than the great Sarah Paulson, aims to explore the events of her early life that led her to become the person she would be in later. In fact, it's one of Ryan Murphy's best shows.

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As a result, the series manages to capture both sides of Ratched, the side designed to terrify and that which is fundamentally human— while leaving plenty of questions for a second season, of course.

Terrifying: Where She Lobotomizes The Priest

The series begins with the brutal murder of a group of priests by a man named Edmund Tolleson. It is ultimately revealed that he’s Ratched’s foster brother, and she is determined to save him. As part of that, she ends up lobotomizing the surviving priest, whose ability to identify Edmund could seal his fate. The fact that she does so with an ice pick is truly horrifying, and it reveals the lengths to which she’ll go to protect her brother.

Humanizing: The Puppet Show

Later in the season, Mildred goes to a puppet show with her lover Gwendolyn. Though seemingly innocent, the whole thing ends up being an extended delusion, in which the viewer learns about Mildred’s childhood trauma, when she was shifted from foster home to foster home before ultimately ending up with a pair that forced her and Edmund to commit unspeakable things. It’s a humbling reminder of the many things that she’s endured in her life and of the trauma that’s key to her identity.

Terrifying: Her Declaration To Edmund That She’s Coming After Him

Ratched Edmund Phone Call

Ultimately, Mildred has to come to terms with the fact that her brother can’t be saved, either from himself or from the governor who is determined to have him executed in order to solidify his re-election chances. Edmund, however, manages to escape, but not before learning that Mildred had planned to euthanize him.

It later turns out that he’s traced her location to Mexico. Mildred, however, coldly reminds him that she’s the one who will be coming after him, and the absolute steely determination in her voice is terrifying to behold.

Humanizing: When Gwendolyn Shows How Sick She Is

Ratched Gwendolyn Cancer Scene

There’s a powerful and genuine chemistry between Sarah Paulson and her costar Cynthia Nixon, who plays the governor’s press secretary and with whom Mildred develops a passionate attachment.

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Unfortunately, it turns out that Gwendolyn has breast cancer, and there’s a very touching scene in which Mildred speculates that they will be able to escape to Mexico, where they can start over and where Gwendolyn can get the treatment she needs. It’s sweet and tender, and it shows the more sensitive, loving side of Mildred’s character.

Terrifying: When She Manipulates A Patient Into Suicide

Ratched Patient Suicide

Very early on in the season, Mildred determines that she needs to become one of the powerful people at the mental hospital, and to do that she needs to make sure that Dr. Hanover sees her as indispensable. Thus, she manipulates a troubled patient into taking his own life in the good doctor’s office, with the doctor's own letter opener.

She proceeds to help Dr. Hanover cover up the whole incident, in the process not only revealing her cunning and her ruthlessness, but also putting him into her debt.

Humanizing: Her Desire To Euthanize Edmund Rather Than Send Him To The Chair

In one of the series’ most horrifying scenes, a man is electrocuted, but things go horribly wrong and his suffering is truly horrid to behold. Mildred, realizing that this is the fate that awaits Edmund if the governor has his way, decides that the better thing would be for her to humanely euthanize him rather than let him suffer.

It’s obviously more than a little horrifying in its own way, but it also reveals that, in her own mind at least, Mildred really does see herself as an angel of mercy.

Terrifying: Her Fantasy With Wainwright

Ratched and Wainright affair

From the beginning of the series, it’s pretty clear that Mildred has a very complicated relationship with her own sexuality, and one of the first signs of that is the means by which she tries to get herself in the mood to seduce the private investigator Wainwright. It involves her having him play the role of a wounded soldier that she is trying to help in his last moments. It’s truly disturbing, and it vividly shows that Mildred has a very complicated psychology.

Humanizing: Her Rejection Of Huck’s Romantic Overtures

Ratchet and Huck in hallway

One of the series’ most straightforwardly heroic characters is Huck, who was badly scarred in the war but has a heart of gold. In one touching moment, he asks Mildred if she would like to go out with him. Given that, by this point, she’s come to terms with her own homosexuality, she gently declines his offer. However, she does it in a very touching way and, ultimately, she ensures that he becomes the head nurse at the hospital.

Terrifying: Her Locking Wainwright In The Boiling Water

Ratchet Hanover Wainwright Bath Scene

Considering that Wainwright has been paid quite a lot of money to kill Dr. Hanover, it’s not surprising that he would go to the hospital to try to do so. Unfortunately, things don’t go as he planned, and Hanover and Ratched end up locking him in a tub full of boiling water.

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The fact that Ratched would do this, even knowing how excruciating the pain would be for him, doesn’t paint her in a very flattering light.

Humanizing: When She Helped The Lesbians Escape The Hospital

Ratchet Escape Lesbians

During the first several episodes, the viewer meets two women who have been committed— or perhaps committed themselves— due to their "lesbianism." Though Ratched participates in attempts to “cure” them, she ultimately decides to help them escape the hospital and, with Huck’s connivance, they succeed. This act really works to humanize Mildred, and it shows the viewer that she’s not a complete monster, that there is in fact a great deal of compassion in her nature.

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