01x01 - Precious Flowers

[bunniefuu]

[man 1] [on radio]
This is Radio Free Boston with an update.

-Gilead forces...
-[static crackling]

[woman 2] [on radio]
...was unsuccessful...

[woman 3] [on radio]
We're fighting for you.

[static crackling]

And for everyone still inside,

keep your head down and stay safe.

[garbled radio chatter, static]

[man 2] [on radio]
...turn your dial to 101.6.

-[woman 2] [on radio] ...99.2...
-[static crackling]

[woman 3] [on radio]
This is Radio Free America.

Forever the sound of freedom.

[man 3] [on radio]
...the possibility of raising sanctions

against the Gilead state.

[birds chirping]

[horse snorting]

[horses neighing, nickering]

[♪ gentle music playing]

[whinnying]

♪♪

[Agnes MacKenzie]
You want to know what it was like for me,

growing up in Gilead?

I'm ashamed to say
that I believed in Gilead once.

I guess it's easier to accept a story,

even a childish one,

rather than believe that
the people around you are monsters.

[window squeaking]

[horse neighing]

Blessed morning, Agnes.

[Agnes] In this story I'm telling,
I'm not really sure what year it was.

Sorry.

It's hard to remember actual dates because

-girls were forbidden to have calendars.
-Blessed morning.

[Agnes] Just reading one
could cost you a finger.

Zilla is going to be doing your hair now.

[♪ "Summer Song" by Remy Bond playing]

[Agnes]
You learned to mark time in other ways.

♪ In the summertime ♪

-♪ Driving up the west coast ♪
-I know I still had my dollhouse.

It looked just like our real house.

It had my bedroom and the dining room.

A Wife's parlor,
even an attic where the Marthas slept.

♪ They're in the bad lands
lookin' for me ♪

♪ We're in the city
gettin' high with the freaks ♪

♪ Put the jukebox back on Lou Reed ♪

♪ I'm free ♪

I was a Plum.

-I didn't have my period yet.
-♪ Hey, it's my life ♪

In my world then,
that made all the difference.

It was all we wanted.

And it also terrified us.

[♪ "Summer Song" continues playing]

♪ I... I know what to do ♪

♪ Now that I've got a man like you ♪

♪ In the summertime ♪

♪ It can be so cruel ♪

♪ Baby, don't be cruel ♪

♪ I... ♪

♪ I know what to do ♪

♪ Now that I've got a man like you ♪

-♪ In the summertime ♪
-[horse whinnies]

♪ It can be so cruel ♪

♪ Baby, don't be cruel ♪

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪

♪ Baby, don't be cruel ♪

The Commander doll was always
doing very important work,

just like my father.

Keeping us safe from heretics
and Mayday t*rrorists.

♪ I need real love ♪

♪ f*ck' in the backseat ♪

♪ Real love, just like Sid and Nancy ♪

♪ Real love,
nothing more than you and me ♪

[Agnes giggling]

[Agnes]
The Martha dolls were always busy.

But at night,
they would let the little girl doll

sit in the kitchen with them.

[Marthas chattering]

They would make her cinnamon toast
and they would all talk.

-[hoofbeats approaching]
-[horse nickers]

[♪ music fades out]

There is a Wife doll.

In blue, of course.

That would be Paula,

who was my new stepmother then.

[sighs] Blessed morning, Agnes dear.

Rosa, how's your leg?

Please tell me it's better.

Yes, ma'am.

It's kind of you to ask.

[Paula MacKenzie]
Praise be His mercy.

The high dusting is
catching up with us, I'm afraid.

Yes, ma'am.

I'll do that after
the Commander's meeting.

[Agnes] Thank you, Zilla.

Zilla was new.

Her tongue was removed as punishment
before she was posted with us.

Probably for blasphemy.

That was a big one for some Wives.

[Paula] Well, she's certainly
an improvement.

That last one we had was a Chatty Cathy.

[Agnes] Sometimes,
when I was playing with the dollhouse,

I would lock the Paula doll in the attic,

which was not nice.

The Paula doll would
pound on the door and scream,

but the little girl doll
would pay no attention.

And sometimes she would laugh.

Is that the new skirt?

Up, then.

Well, don't you look pretty as a picture?

Thank you.

Mother.

Huh. I was worried
it would make you look gawky.

But no.

[♪ gentle, tense music playing]

[loud thud]

Praise be His mercy...

for not making me look too gawky.

I'm an irritant to Paula.

She wants me married and gone.

I was born in the sinful before-world.

[Paula]
Please keep the counter clean, Rosa.

-We don't want to get ants again.
-[Rosa] Yes, ma'am.

Don't slouch, dear.

Slouching girls get fat husbands.

♪♪

[cutlery clinking]

[gates squeaking]

[bus engine rumbling]

[Guardian]
Blessed morning, Miss Agnes.

Under His eye, sweetie pie.

Bye, Rosa.

♪♪

Once, when we were Pinks,
I smiled at a boy on the playground.

The Aunts taped my mouth shut and made me
stand in the dining hall for two days,

holding the sign for a sl*t.

That was for smiling.

I wonder what would happen
if I kissed one.

-[engines rumbling]
-[gates squeaking]

[♪ gentle, tense music continues]

[helicopter hovering]

[♪ music fades out]

When we became Plums,
we started going on the field trips.

They were fun.

Some parts more than others.

[♪ "Dreaming" by Blondie playing]

[girls squealing]

I got you!

[all laughing]

♪ When I met you in the restaurant ♪

♪ You could tell I was no debutante ♪

♪ You asked me what's my pleasure ♪

Come along, girls.

-Come on, girls, come.
-Quickly.

♪ I'll have a cup of tea ♪

♪ And tell you of my dreamin' ♪

-♪ Dreamin' is free ♪
-[girls giggling]

[shushing]
Quiet, quiet, quiet.

♪ Dreamin' ♪

♪ Dreamin' is free ♪

♪ I don't want to live on charity ♪

♪ Pleasure's real or is it fantasy ♪

[♪ song fades out]

-[crow cawing]
-[ropes creaking]

-[caws]
-Gross.

[Aunt Vidala]
Hulda, enough.

God's justice is beautiful.

I'm sorry, Aunt Vidala.

[Aunt Vidala] Friends...

these men...

do you know what crime they committed?

Yes, Shunammite.

r*pe!

Aunt Vidala, that's what
the red "X" is for.

It's for r*pe.

[Aunt Vidala] Praise be.

Friends, these men...

these horrible men, these...

Rapists.

You say "rapists."

Rapists, yes.

Thank you, Shunammite.

Not "raper."

I didn't know that.

[Aunt Vidala]
Friends, it's a ghastly story.

These men stole a young girl,
much like yourselves.

This young girl was the kind
who liked being the center of attention.

A spirited girl.

That kind of girl often earns
a violent end for herself.

Praise be His judgment.

[girls] Praise be His judgment.

[Aunt Vidala] These men saw this girl,
and they were overcome by their urges.

They came in the night and took her.

From her own bed.

What about her Guardians?

Some of them were her Guardians.

[Aunt Vidala] The urges of men
are terrible things,

and those urges must be curbed.

That is the burden that God
has personally laid upon each of you.

[Agnes] Just by existing, we were mortally
dangerous to otherwise perfectly good men.

They were helpless to resist us.

Even us, the daughters of Commanders,
the most Godly of girls.

[quiet indistinct chatter]

[dog barking]

[brakes hissing]

[Guardian 1] Check the vehicle.

-[Guardian 2] [over radio] Clear.
-[Guardian 3] [over radio] All clear.

[quiet chatter continues]

[Agnes] I was a precious flower.

Then why did I sometimes
feel like a prize pig?

[Guardian 1] [over radio]
All clear. Good to go. Open the gate.

-[gates squeaking]
-[bus engine rumbling]

[Guardian 2] [over radio]
Secure the gate and take up your posts.

[bell tolling]

[Agnes] At the Aunt Lydia School,
pink dresses were for little girls.

Plum dresses were for older girls like us.

Predestined to marry High Gilead
Commanders once we became eligible.

Which only happened if God
blessed us with a period.

Then, we became Greens and got pins.

Blessed be the fruit.

You're insane. The skirt looks fine.

May the Lord open. Don't bother.

Even God knows Paula has no taste.

-[both giggling]
-Move along, friends!

[Agnes] Becka was the first person I met
when we moved here from Colorado.

She was my best friend.

Except we weren't allowed
to have best friends.

The Aunts said that best friends
led to keeping secrets,

and secrets led to disobedience,

and disobedient girls became women
who were immoral, obviously.

We've been sent good weather.

His blessing.

You have your dress fitting?

[Aunt]
Keep moving, girls. Let's go.

After lunch.

[Agnes] Becka was already Green.

She was getting ready to be matched.

She was moving on without me.

But we didn't talk about that.

This will be our third seamstress.

My mother thinks if she gets
the bodice just right,

everyone will forget my dad's a dentist.

Maybe you should dress as a tooth.

-[both chuckle]
-Blessed day.

Blessed day.
We've been sent good weather.

That I receive with joy.

Very, very cute hair.

Yeah, I definitely agree.

Thanks. New Martha.

Blessed be yours, too, seriously.

My Martha sucks.
I look like I have bedhead.

[Aunt Vidala] Shunammite.
Chitter-chatter, chitter-chatter!

Flap your tongue around
and you're likely to lose it.

[Shunammite] Yes, Aunt Vidala.

Have a graceful day, girls.

[Aunt]
More haste, less speed.

[school bell ringing]

[Agnes] Aunt Lydia was a legend.

Blessed day, Aunt Lydia.

[Agnes] She had been worshipped,
then vilified...

-Thank you, Aunt Lydia.
-[Agnes] ...then worshipped again.

Blessed day, Aunt Lydia.

In the four years since
The w*r of Massachusetts,

the purges had happened.

As always, those remaining
were able to shape history as they liked.

Some people were hung,

and some had schools named after them.

[Pearl Girl]
At one time, we too were foolish,

-disobedient, deceived...
-[doors opening]

...and enslaved
by all kinds of passions and envy.

We lived in malice and envy,
being hated and hating one another.

But when the kindness and love
of God our Savior appeared, He saved us.

Not because of the righteous
things we've done,

but because of His mercy.

He saved us through the washing...

[Agnes]
White was for the Pearl Girls.

They were new arrivals
from outside of Gilead.

-[Pearl Girl] ...haven't been justified...
-[Agnes] Converts to our Godly struggle.

[Pearl Girl] ...you might become heirs,
having the hope of eternal life.

[Agnes] Aunt Lydia and her missionaries
gathered them from all over the world.

They were mostly runaways.

Of course, they had to be young
and possibly fertile.

Weirdos.

[Agnes] The Aunts said the Pearl Girls
came eager for a new start.

They were even more eager
to prove their Godliness

by telling on you to the Aunts.

We all knew someone
who had been ratted out by a Pearl Girl.

[Pearl Girl] Amen.

[Agnes]
The passion of the converted.

What a pain in the a*s.

[♪ light, curious music playing]

[looms rattling and clacking]

Nice work, Constance.

♪♪

Pretty daisies, Hulda.

Really?

Thank you, Aunt Estee.

They're actually Black-eyed Susans.

Should you be thanking me?

No.

No. Thank Him, Aunt Estee,
for making me able.

And for the flowers He made.
And the thread.

Pray forgive me?

You are forgiven.

Just be mindful around Aunt Vidala.

[door opening]

Aunt Gabbana, blessed morning.

Agnes?

Aunt Lydia would like to speak with you.

Come along.

Agnes, get up, please.

I'm sure it's good news.

[cheery] Back to work!

[door opens]

[♪ tense music playing]

[door closes]

[looms rattling and clacking]

[♪ tense music continues]

[door opens]

By tradition,

only dead people are allowed
to have statues.

I have been given one while still alive.

Praise be your works, Aunt Lydia.

I have been prematurely petrified.

Agnes MacKenzie...

how the time goes by.

I have been watching you
for quite a while now.

Why, Aunt Lydia?

Soon to be eligible?

May God make me truly worthy.

Ah, you will be rewarded.

If you are free of sin, of course.

Do you know why this statue was erected?

So you can always be watching over us.

Yes.

We inspire the world
with our good works, Agnes.

Do you agree?

Yes, Aunt Lydia.

Excellent!

I have good work that needs doing.

Helping a new friend feel welcome.

Agnes, this is Daisy,
one of my precious, precious Pearls.

Recently arrived.

Daisy may be joining your class.

She's going to be a Plum?

Perhaps.

I'd like you to show her around,
make her feel comfortable.

Be her shepherdess.

It's an honor for you, Agnes.

Thank you, Aunt Lydia.

Daisy, be a good girl and stay with Agnes.

Lambs don't stray.

Yes, Aunt Lydia.

Thank you, Aunt Lydia.

Wonderful. Go in grace.

Blessed fruit.

May the Lord open.

[♪ classical music playing faintly]

Painting and sketching.

Music classroom.

[♪ class playing classical music]

Comportment's this way.

Domestic management is upstairs,
with Aunt Loreal.

Hospitality, decorating, culinary arts.

Fiber Arts, like embroidery, lace-making.

You can make a tablecloth.

If you dare.

And Scripture class.

[Daisy] Praise be His word.

[Agnes] Weirdo.

Aunt Lydia didn't tell me much about you.

Did she tell you anything about me?

Nothing, Miss Agnes.

[footsteps approaching]

[bell ringing]

Did she ask you to watch me?

Of course, Miss Agnes.

To learn how to behave properly.

Discipline and Corrections
are in the Aunts' wing.

You only go there when you earn it.

And lunch.

Blessed be His bounty.

[students chattering]

This is the dining room.
Pray obviously.

-[dishes and cutlery clinking]
-Let's eat.

You cannot be mistress of a house
unless you are the mistress of yourself.

Do you understand me, girls?

[all girls]
Yes, Aunt Vidala.

It is an offense to God to waste food
with poor preparation.

If your meal is unacceptable,
speak firmly to your Martha.

Do you understand me, girls?

[all girls]
Yes, Aunt Vidala.

Friends, let us give thanks to Him.

And...?

[all girls]
God is great, God is good.

Thank you, God, for our food.

By His blessings, we are fed.

Give us, Lord, our daily bread.

Amen.

[Aunt Vidala] Girls...

you may socialize.

[all chattering happily and excitedly]

What is all this then?

This is Daisy.

Aunt Lydia asked me
to make her feel welcome.

Hey.

It's a blessing to meet you all.

Ditto.

[lively chatter continues in hall]

We're enjoying very fine weather.

By God's blessing.

It's a high-pressure system, I think.

-Hm.
-[Shunammite] Daisy,

pray, where do you hail from?

Toronto, Canada,

-Miss...?
-Shunammite.

Oh. That's a beautiful name.

It is.

I imagine Canada's
very different from Gilead.

Toronto has been forsaken by God

and defiled by Satan.

It is suffocating in sin.

So, do you miss it?

I pray it will be swallowed
whole by the Earth.

Oh. Uh... May He hear your prayer.

Daisy... do you like soft-serve ice cream?

Food is one of His miracles.

They have it here.

Strawberry and vanilla.

Hulda will take you.

Yeah, I can make you a swirl cone.

I'm sort of an expert.

Aunt Lydia urged me
to stay with Miss Agnes.

Ice cream is definitely
one of His miracles.

And you wouldn't want to insult God.

You should get some.

Come on.

[Daisy chuckles softly]

[chair scraping]

They stuck you with a Pearl Girl?
What did you do wrong?

She didn't do anything!

[Shunammite] This is unprecedented.

So, what did Aunt Lydia say?

She said she's new here.

I'm just supposed to be a shepherdess.

I don't like her.
She didn't seem very nice.

Well, you can't trust her.
She'll tell Aunt Lydia everything.

She's a Pearl Girl.

Becka?

Your Martha is here to collect you.

Yes, Aunt Estee.

My fitting.

Pray for me.

I wish I was Green this season.

I wish we all were, together.

It's starting to move very, very fast.

It's a dress, not a husband.

Not yet.

[Shunammite] Well, I can't wait
to have a husband.

Becka, pray, come along.
Shake a leg.

Go in grace.

In grace I go.

[chair scraping]

[indistinct chatter]

You should tell on her.

Your Pearl Girl.

For what?

Just say that she gossips
or has a foul tongue.

-Shu...
-Or that she ran off to go get ice cream.

That could be plausible.

[softly] She'd be punished.

-You're an awful person.
-Stop.

I didn't say to make her
a gender traitor or anything.

Just something small.

Agnes, I know that
you are very, very nice,

but it's time to Plum up
and get her before she gets you.

Cinnamon toast.

-Praise be His bounty.
-[chuckles]

Is it awful?

[sighing] Ah. God never sends us
more than we can bear.

[chuckling]
Sometimes He does get close, though.

[Rosa sighs]

Becka had her final fitting.

[Rosa] She must be happy
to be getting a new dress.

I'm sure she looks perfect.

She's a beautiful girl.

She could get an offer
from a Commander at the dance.

Her dad could.

She could marry one
who lives in Wyoming...

or anywhere.

Not Maryland.

She won't move far
if she marries a High Commander.

They need to live near the capital.

She could marry one who...
doesn't let his wife have any friends.

Try not to think about it.

Rosa, how did you meet your husband?

Before, I mean.

[chuckles softly]

Oh, we met in a bookstore.

Almost everyone we knew then
was meeting online, on Tinder, Bumble.

We met in the cookbook section.

What's Tinder?

It's not something you're
ever gonna need to know, Pumpkin.

-[dishes clinking loudly]
-Blessed evening, ma'am.

The Commander will be home Thursday.
I have some things for the Marthas to do.

You said your leg was better.

It is, ma'am.

Good.

Head up to the third floor.
We'll start there.

Yes, ma'am.

[♪ soft, tense music playing]

I grew up riding.

When a horse would come up lame,
my father would sh**t it.

It was hard.

But it was the merciful thing to do.

Haven't I told you that story?

No, Mother.

I learned that sometimes
you have to be hard.

Sometimes you have
to cut off weak branches.

And bothersome ones.

You'll understand when you're
running your own household.

Blessed evening.

[♪ tense music playing]

-[bell tolling]
-[students chattering]

[♪ gentle, solemn music playing]

[bell ringing]

[Aunt Vidala] Assembly time, my Plums.
Two lines, two lines.

-[rod smacking]
-Posture, Agnes.

[Agnes] I'm sorry, Aunt Vidala.

[♪ gentle, solemn music continues]

[Aunt] [over PA]
Plums, please assemble in the dining hall.

[Aunt Vidala] Hurry along!

[Aunt] Pinks. To your classes. Chop, chop!

[Daisy] Blessed day, Miss Agnes.

♪♪

Blessed day.
[whispering] How was it?

May the Lord open. Fine.

[whispering] Shut up. It was fine.

If you like puffy sleeves.

[both giggle quietly]

Blessed day, graceful friends.

We need your energy

because we have some
difficult work to do today.

For Him.

[drops extension cord]

Are you ready?

[all girls]
Yes, Aunt Estee!

Ooh, someone's in trouble!

[Hulda] Good.

He's the gross one.

[Aunt Estee] This man is a sinner,
hidden amongst us.

He was found touching himself.
Abusing himself. On school grounds.

[♪ tense music playing]

Gilead trusted him to protect you,
God's most precious girls.

Instead, he chose wickedness.

We do not play with the power of creation.

[softly]
What are they gonna do to him?

[Aunt Estee] Quiet!

He deserves our judgment,
but do not relish in it.

You are not blameless, girls.

Shame upon any of you that tempt a man!

Now... this is your decision.

You will have to make many
difficult decisions when you are wives.

So, what do you say, girls?

Should this man go unpunished?

[muffled] Please. Please.

-Please!
-Or should he pay?

-[screaming] By His hand!
-[screaming] By His hand!

[all shouting]

Punish him! By His hand!

[♪ unsettling, tense music playing]

[shouting continues]

[cranking]

[Guardian shrieking]

I am so proud of the women
you are becoming.

[shouting continues]

[girls] [chanting]
By His hand! By His hand!

[table saw whirring]

By His hand! By His hand!

[Guardian whimpering]

Oh, my God.

[muffled whimpering]

[all]
By His hand! By His hand!

-[whirring continues]
-[Guardian shouting in terror]

Justice! Justice! Justice! Justice!

Oh, my God.

Pray, are you okay?

I'm fine. Praise be your concern.

-[saw cutting, bones crunching]
-[muffled screaming]

[♪ unsettling, tense music continues]

[all]
By His hand! By His hand!

-[distant screaming]
-[♪ music continues]

[retching]

[coughing and gagging]

[Agnes] Daisy? Daisy!

[shouting continues in distance]

f*ck! What the f*ck was that?

He broke the rules.

They cut it off. I saw his arm.

Jesus Christ, he was f*cking wide awake.

For f*ck's sake!

-Jesus, what the f*ck? [panting]
-[door opens]

I'm-- I'm sorry. I'm--

-Agnes.
-[door closes]

-Agnes.
-[approaching footsteps]

[whispering] Don't, don't tell.

Oh, sweetie.

Agnes, help Daisy get cleaned up.

[distant shouting]

[breathing heavily]

How do you feel?

They told us about assemblies...

but I didn't think it'd be like that.

Like what?

[sniffles, exhales]

Thank you for taking care of me.

When Aunt Lydia gives you
an assignment, you do it.

Miss Agnes, I am so sorry.

I committed blasphemy.

You were unwell.

I took His name in vain, Agnes.

There is no excuse.

I know I must confess.

Okay.

Aunt Lydia is in charge
of punishing Pearl Girls.

Okay.

Praise be her discipline.

I need to learn.

Do you think she'll cut out my tongue?

There are stories.

Pray, no. Not for this. Probably not.

Okay.

If it's God's will.

If it's God's will.

If it's God's will.

If it's God's will-- I can't.

Agnes, I can't.

It's okay. You don't have to.

You don't have to.

[whispering] It was just us.

God sees our sins.

[♪ tense music playing]

We'll pray together.

We'll show contrition.

God is merciful.

The Aunts, not so much sometimes.

Are you sure?

[softly] Our secret.

-[door opens]
-[distant footsteps]

[Agnes] Shunammite said
Daisy was dangerous.

She was right, of course.

She said you should never,
ever trust a Pearl Girl.

But that was exactly what I did.

[dogs barking in distance]

[softly]
Blessed night, my Pearls.

May God protect you.

[dogs continue barking]

[door opens]

[door closes]

[♪ suspenseful music playing]

[radio static crackling]

[radio channels tuning]

[DJ] [over radio]
...this is Radio Free Boston.

If you're hoping for some tunes,
you're in the right place.

For our Mayday heroes behind the lines,

tonight's messages are on channel 99.2.

And remember, folks,
don't let the b*stards...

[radio static]

[DJ 2] Red Dog, Green House, White Barn,
you have packages waiting.

If you're in the paperclip club,
sit tight.

That's it for tonight.

[♪ "Dreams" by The Cranberries
playing on radio]

[♪ "Dreams" continues playing]

♪ Oh, my life ♪

♪ Is changing every day ♪

♪ In every possible way ♪

♪ And oh, my dreams ♪

♪ It's never quite as it seems ♪

♪ Never quite as it seems ♪

♪ I know I've felt like this before ♪

-♪ But now I'm feeling it even more ♪
-Hey!

♪ Because it came from you ♪

♪ Then I open up and see ♪

♪ The person falling here is me ♪

♪ A different way to be ♪

♪ Ah ♪

♪ La-ah-la-ah ♪

♪ La-la-la ♪

♪ La-ah-la-ah ♪

♪ La-ah-ah-ah ♪

♪ I want more ♪

[Agnes] It was still cold.

But I remember the nights
were getting shorter.

The shorebirds were back.

You could hear them really high up.

A sure sign of spring.

I didn't know who my mom was yet.

My real mom.

That would come soon.

I had no idea how much
that would change things.

Without calendars,
you learn to mark time in other ways.

It was when I became eligible.

And when I met Daisy.

It was when it all started.

♪ A totally amazing mind ♪

♪ So understanding and so kind ♪

♪ You're everything to me ♪

♪ Oh, my life ♪

♪ Is changing every day ♪

♪ In every possible way ♪

♪ And oh, my dreams ♪

♪ It's never quite as it seems ♪

♪ 'Cause you're a dream to me ♪

♪ Dream to me ♪

♪ Ah ♪

♪ La-a-la-ah, la la la ♪

♪ La-a-la-ah ♪

♪ La-ah-ah-ah ♪

♪ Ah, la... ♪

[♪ song fades out]

[insects chirring]

[rooster crowing]