By We have hit peak spin-off, everyone. When One Flew Over the Coocoo’s Nest is getting a prequel then there’s nowhere else to go with the remakes, spin-offs, reboots, etc. We’re done… and yet it is hard to be angry at Ratched because it actually looks and sounds really good.
The show, which just landed its first images, stars Sarah Paulson as the infamous nurse from Coocoo’s Nest as she is just starting out in her career. It also comes from Ryan Murphy, who has collaborated with Paulsen for years in American Horror Story, and is one of TV’s best producers. With that in mind, and the somewhat surreal feel given off by these pictures it actually seems like Ratched could be really good despite triggering the downfall of all entertainment as we know it. Also, stop making other things and get to work on Tiger King, Murphy.
The show will hopefully humanize nurse Mildred Ratched a bit from the terrifying human that we meet going up against Jack Nicholson’s McMurphy in the film and book. The plot description says that the character will look perfect but a growing darkness will start creeping out of her as she works on a clandestine mission in the health care system. Whatever the storyline, Paulson should be able to nail it and I’m hoping for a good dose of psychological horror throughout. The images themselves are mostly just people in 1947 garb but the colorization and lighting to hint at something surreal. In fact, if I didn’t know that this was Ratched I would have assumed it was images from a new season of American Horror Story.
The 8-episode series is set to premiere on Friday, September 18.
