Netflix’s Ratched is more like another horror series than American Horror Story
Ratched resembles another horror series more than American Horror Story
Ryan Murphy has a long history of putting out entertaining shows ranging from American Horror Story to Glee. Murphy’s upcoming psychological drama series for Netflix, Ratched, is sure to be no different.
The series is a prequel to the famed 1947 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and is an origin story for the notorious healthcare worker of dread, Nurse Ratched.
Murphy doesn’t only dazzle with a provocative premise; the cast is also very promising. Ratched will be played by Murphy’s AHS favorite, Sarah Paulson. Given that the two work so well together, Paulson’s rendition of Ratched should be something that we won’t want to miss. The rest of the cast is a jackpot of winners with Cynthia Nixon, Judy Davis, and Sharon Stone playing significant roles.
More from Netflix
- Bridgerton season 3: All the details to know about Penelope and Colin’s love story
- It’s a slow week on Netflix with only three new releases (Nov. 20)
- Exploding Kittens: From card game to Netflix animated series starring Tom Ellis
- The Crown and more Netflix shows and movies to stream this week (November 13)
- Escaping Twin Flames and more harrowing love-centered documentaries to watch on Netflix
Who is Nurse Ratched?
Nurse Ratched is the head nurse of a psych hospital in One Flew Over the Cuckoo‘s Nest known for her control issues and abuse of power. Her entire existence in the original novel revolves around playing mind games with patients and using torturous methods to get revenge.
She’s a complete psychopath that uses her profession and leverage to abuse those that have no way of being believed and therefore, can’t get help.
Ratched meets her match when a criminal named Randall McMurphy pleads insanity, hoping that a sentence in a psych hospital would be like taking a sabbatical. Unfortunately, Ratched is a control freak that runs a tight ship, and makes sure her patients live a miserable existence.
Those who don’t follow the rules experience the consequences of sedation, electroshock, and in extreme circumstances, lobotomies. Ratched’s dominion might as well be another ring in Dante’s Inferno.
McMurphy becomes a worthy opponent for Ratched, but the war is not won without many lost battles.
How is Ratched like American Horror Story?
A narrative that takes place in a mental hospital is not unfamiliar territory for Murphy. One season of American Horror Story took place in an asylum in the ’60s and explored institutional abuse of power amongst other problems plaguing psych facilities. In this case, the Briarcliff asylum is run by nuns, and Jessica Lange’s Sister Jude is as close to Nurse Ratched as it gets.
But playing a devious Nurse will be new for Paulson, who played the patient Lana Winters in AHS: Asylum. Winters was a journalist snooping around the asylum for a breaking story but experiences Sister Jude’s wrath and ends up admitted. It will be interesting to see Paulson on the other side of the table as a brutal nurse.
Watch the trailer for Ratched:
Ratched resembles Castle Rock: Misery as a prequel
While Ratched surely looks like it can hold its own as a season of American Horror Story, it closely resembles another series. The psychological horror anthology Castle Rock dedicated its second season to Stephen King’s novel Misery. Much like Ratched, Castle Rock provided a prequel for yet another maniacal nurse, Annie Wilkes.
The prequel allowed a thorough interpretation of Wilkes’ past and explained the evolution that led to the horror icon that she would become. We learn all about her childhood, untreated mental health condition, and even a more human side that reveals that Wilkes was not always a monster. Hopefully, Ratched will serve to provide a similar colorful background that will show the evolution of one of the scariest nurses in the horror genre.
Next. 5 most slept-on shows like Dynasty. dark
Ratched premieres on Netflix on Sept. 18, 2020.