Ratched Season 1 (2020)

Genre: Drama, Thriller, Horror Fiction

Review By Mehnaaz Patel

I was so excited to watch Ratched when it came out, thinking about the character of Nurse Ratched in One flew over Cuckoo's nest, I knew this was a character that can be explained more through such medium. I watched every single episode of Ratched and unfortunately I am utterly disappointed. Ratched doesn't give you what any fan of the 1975 movie expect. It gives you a nurse ratched that is a far cry from the one you watched in the movie or in the novel.

The popping colours, the beautiful dressing styles of Sarah Paulson and the exquisite scenarios doesn't make it better, it actually doesn't sit well with the way the movie was. Great actors are just wasted in this series, like Sarah Paulson, Sharon Stone. Some of the scenes just doesn't make any sense like why does Wells character doesn't kill Edmund when he kills the guard she liked? Instead they actually team up and Wells character helps Edmund get out of the psychiatric hospital.

Another thing that doesn't make sense is that they try to make Ratched a grey character, calling her angel of mercy twice and also with the "I have to save my brother, that is why I did so many heinous crimes" thing.Throughout the series, Ratched is shown as a repressed lesbian but in the movie during the last half, Ratched mentally pressures a patient who his her friend's son into thinking what will his mother feel about the one night stand and what he did was disgusting and immoral which results in the patient committing suicide. This clearly indicates that may be asexual or is just disgusted with the idea of sex.

Then why make her something which she isn't? I would have liked this series and Evan Romansky's writing if it wasn't adapted from One flew over Cuckoo's nest. If it was a part of American Horror Story, I still would have liked it because Ratched presents gore and blood more instead of a psychological thriller which was so beautifully presented in the movie and the book.

So if you are looking for the Mildred Ratched from the movie then I would suggest watching this series would be a waste of time. If you are just a fan of Evan Romansky amd Ryan Murphy then you should go for it.