The Testaments

This is Radio Free Boston with an update.

- Gilead forces... -

Mayday bombs were unsuccessful...

We're fighting for you.

And for everyone still inside,

keep your head down and stay safe.

For our Mayday heroes behind the line, tonight's messages are...

...turn your dial to 101.6.

- ...99.2... -

This is Radio Free America.

Forever the sound of freedom.

...the possibility of raising sanctions

against the Gilead state.

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.

Blessed morning, 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.

Just reading one could cost you a finger.

Zilla is going to be doing your hair now.

You learned to mark time in other ways.

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.

I was a Plum.

In my world then, that made all the difference.

It was all we wanted.

And it also terrified us.

The Commander doll was always doing very important work,

just like my father.

Keeping us safe from heretics and Mayday terrorists.

The Martha dolls were always busy.

But at night, they would let the little girl doll

sit in the kitchen with them.

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

- -

There is a Wife doll.

In blue, of course.

That would be Paula,

who was my new stepmother then.

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.

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.

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.

Well, she's certainly an improvement.

That last one we had was a Chatty Cathy.

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.

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.

Please keep the counter clean, Rosa.

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

Don't slouch, dear.

Slouching girls get fat husbands.

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 slut.

That was for smiling.

I wonder what would happen if I kissed one.

- -

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

They were fun.

Some parts more than others.

I got you!

Come along, girls.

- Come on, girls, come. - Quickly.

Quiet, quiet, quiet.

- -

- - Gross.

Hulda, enough.

God's justice is beautiful.

I'm sorry, Aunt Vidala.

Friends...

these men...

do you know what crime they committed?

Yes, Shunammite.

Rape!

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

It's for rape.

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.

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.

Praise be His judgment.

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.

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.

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.

Check the vehicle.

- Clear. - All clear.

I was a precious flower.

Then why did I sometimes feel like a prize pig?

All clear. Good to go. Open the gate.

- -

Secure the gate and take up your posts.

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

Plum dresses were for older girls like us.