I have been trying to find a new television series to binge during quarantine. The new Netflix show “Ratched” grabbed my attention, but it didn’t keep it for long. 

The show is set in the late 1940s at a mental hospital, and it follows the character nurse Ratched from the classic 70’s film, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” The plot surrounds Mildred Ratched (Sarah Paulson), her serial killer brother (Finn Wittrock) and Mildred’s attempts to save him from the death penalty. Ratched has to prove that her brother is clinically insane and she goes to extreme ends to do so. 

First off, this show does an incredible job with the overall aesthetic. Everything makes it feel like it’s the 1940s, the sets are beautifully designed and every detail was thought of when the sets were put together, from the furniture to the old medications. The costume designs are perfectly matched to the time period, making it look so much more realistic.

This show was created by the same people who made “American Horror Story,” which would make sense because “Ratched” is so creepy. At some points, I couldn’t even watch. They show extremely graphic scenes like dead bodies, lobotomies through the brain and eyeball, a man being boiled alive with his skin peeling off his body, and multiple gunshots and stab wounds. It just made me want to look away and stop watching. 

Another point I couldn’t get over is how sexual the show is. I kept track of how many sexual scenes there were, and in one 40 minute episode, there were at least four sex scenes. I don’t think it adds anything to the plot or movement of the story, and after a while, it just made me uncomfortable. 

If you can get over the creepiness and over-sexualization of this show, the plot is amazing and Sarah Paulson is able to pull the character off effortlessly. I would recommend it, but only to people who can handle it.

“Ratched”: ★★★☆☆