Summary
The Testaments is arguably at its most sinister in “Ball”, which reimagines the only teen staple of the prom as a creepy patriarchal nightmare.
Prom is a perennial fixture of teenage life and, by extension, teenage media. And while I’m not sure The Testaments necessarily qualifies as younger-skewing entertainment, it is about high-schoolers, technically, so it stands to reason there’d be a prom sequence. Episode 5, tastefully titled “Ball”, is that episode, only there are significantly more creepy old men present than you’d typically expect. Welcome to Gilead.
This show hasn’t skimped on truly awful stuff; only last week, it was heavily implied that Agnes was sexually assaulted by her best friend’s father. But I think there’s a case to be made that this is the most horrifying chapter yet. At some point during the third dance sequence, which is when all the old dudes filter in, I’m pretty sure I made some sort of involuntary noise of disgust, like I’d just walked in on a parent getting changed or something. God’s will? If you say so, Gilead. Anyway, let’s get on with it.
Skipping Stages
Agnes doesn’t know what Dr. Grove did to her, but she has a pretty good idea. Not that it really matters, since she can’t tell anyone, and Gilead has groomed her for her entire life to tamp those kinds of concerns down. She mostly deals with the trauma by being standoffish with Becka, which is a shame, since Becka’s arguably having an even worse time than she is. We’ll get to that in a minute, though.
Agnes is back on narration duties in “Ball”, and she makes a salient point that one of the unique ways in which Gilead functions is to essentially strip adolescence from the aging process. The girls go from children to married women, with nothing in between. This prom is their one chance to feel like teenagers, even if it doesn’t afford them the opportunity to act like teenagers, as we’ll see.
This strikes me as an important worldbuilding detail, a little like how fascists always control education and reading because it’s pretty well understood that intelligent people will seek their freedom. Teenage girls aren’t known for being reasonable, so the patriarchal structure essentially denies them their rebellious years. They’re groomed into compliance from birth and then fast-tracked into servitude. They never get the chance to fight back.
A Match Made in Heaven
The ball is nicely choreographed and impressively costumed, which is worth pointing out. There are multiple dance numbers, first with just the girls, then with the girls and their fathers — Agnes flinches when she spots Dr. Grove — and then with the girls and the lower-ranked Commanders. Agnes is paired with a dork who tries to explain Jaws to her, and given the circumstances, a part of me hoped she’d marry him on the spot, since he’s probably the nicest guy she’s going to meet. At least he has good taste in movies.
But no such luck, obviously. Pretty soon, the more senior — read: older — Commanders arrive and start creepily whispering in the Greens’ ears. The prom night lustre very much wears off when the granddads arrive, let me tell you. Agnes lucks out, since her dance partner is called away, leaving her to waltz with Garth. Becka’s, meanwhile, pours half a hip flask into her drink and leaves her staggering through the corridors, absolutely steaming.
Aunt Gabbana takes Agnes to a sit-down interview with some Commanders who want to meet her. The interview is conducted by Penny’s husband, Commander Judd, who is sitting in front of a giant video screen full of leering old faces. It’s like the worst Zoom call ever. Judd, who seems to have some real seniority in Gilead, coaches Agnes through the process when she starts crying. But it’s very clear she only has eyes for one person, and that it isn’t a Commander. Not yet, anyway — towards the end of the episode, it’s revealed that Garth is due a promotion and will soon become a Commander himself, so Agnes allows herself the private fantasy of the two of them being matched with each other.
Daisy’s Intervention
Daisy doesn’t have a great deal to do in The Testaments Episode 5. As a Pearl Girl, she’s mostly left to stand in the corridor handing out towels, but when she’s set upon by — all together now — a creepy old dude, she answers back, causing a bit of a scene that Garth intervenes in. He’s still pressing her to acquire more information on what Commander McKenzie is doing with the Japanese, with Mayday’s working theory being that he’s brokering some kind of deal.
The only other thing Daisy does in “Ball” is help out Becka when Shunammite spots her staggering through the corridors. This is a quiet scene, but it shows a tender side to Daisy, and also confirms what we already knew about Becka’s really obvious unrequited attraction to Agnes. Later, she shares a little moment with Agnes where they essentially make up after their earlier frostiness, but there aren’t any romantic connotations to it.
Call me crazy, but I don’t think Becka is going to fare especially well as a married woman.
Shunammite Isn’t Too Bad
I’ve largely harboured nothing but unpleasant thoughts about Shunammite, not without reason, but she kind of comes into her own a bit in “Ball”. She and Hulda drink some kind of homebrewed herbal tea to improve their chances of starting their periods — both are smarting about being left out of the festivities — which is a funny visual, but also speaks to a desperate underpinning longing that makes me miserable if I think about it too much.
It’s also Shunammite who spots Becka and hands her off to Daisy so that the Aunts don’t catch her legless. She also slaps Jehosheba, who is deeply awful in this episode, for badmouthing Becka. Fair play! All this development only makes it more depressing when Hulda starts her period, leaving Shunammite as the only girl who seems to be being left behind.
Still, she sucks it up to congratulate Hulda. Maybe I was underestimating her.
