‘The Testaments’ Episode 9 Recap – Divine Justice Is Complicated

You might be fooled into thinking that there isn’t a great deal going on in Episode 9 of The Testaments, but don’t be so hasty. While “Marat Sade” begins with little consequence beyond Daisy seemingly taking her future into her own hands, the true consequences of her efforts to do so, not to mention the revealed implications of Agnes’s ominous narration, end up making “Marat Sade” the most dramatically potent installment of the season thus far, not to mention a showcase for Chase Infiniti and, even more so, Mattea Conforti in the thus-far thankless role of Becka.

The smug low-key villainy of Doctor Grove has been a theme since way back in Episode 4, and while it’s gratifying to see him being made to pay for his crimes in the most personal of ways, the knock-on effects of the events here are doubtlessly going to be profound. Several futures have indeed been ruined by Daisy’s do-the-right-thing attitude, and she’s going to have to reckon with the cost of rebellion having been paid in blood — and by her friends, no less.

Daisy Becomes A Plum

Despite going miles out of her way in the previous episode to keep her period quiet, here, Daisy — who once again narrates the episode — makes the reckless decision of ringing the bell for herself. She’s inspired, or so she claims, by the brand of justice that Gilead most prizes, the kind that leaves the floors slick with blood for the Pearl Girls to mop up after hours. In her head, she’s giving the regime a taste of its own medicine, but it smacks of finding a way to justify what she was already planning on doing anyway.

The aunts seem thrilled about the development, as do most of the Plums, with the obvious exception of Becka, who doesn’t seem thrilled about anything at all these days, particularly the distance that unfurled between her and Agnes following Daisy’s arrival. She thinks that Daisy, like all the Pearl Girls, is a spy for Aunt Lydia. How close she is to the truth.

But not close enough. Becka’s frustration is only compounded when she finds out that all the other girls knew about Daisy’s period in advance. She has become an outsider on every level.

Daisy’s Master Plan

Almost immediately after being “plummed up”, Daisy is summoned to the dentist. We all know what that means, including her, so Agnes volunteers to go along with her for solidarity, which only annoys Becka further. With Agnes and Aunt Estee sitting outside, Grove is unusually reserved with Daisy. The appointment goes as a normal one might, with no inappropriate touching whatsoever. It seems like Daisy is off the hook.

But that’s kind of the opposite of what Daisy wanted, since she has a plan. Instead, she rips her own clothes and screams for help, rushing out of the office to accuse Doctor Grove of having inappropriately touched her. He didn’t, of course, but he did it to Agnes and Hulda and presumably countless others, and would have likely done it to countless more. Daisy is doing the wrong thing for the right reason.

And because Daisy’s from the world outside Gilead, she can sell the lie better than Hulda could sell the truth. And she can’t be gaslit in the same way, though predictably, Aunt Vidala tries. But you can tell that Aunt Lydia is relieved. When she sends the other two Aunts away and asks Daisy to remain behind, she lets her know that she knows she’s lying, but reassures her that she isn’t going to pay much attention to the details. Doctor Grove had to be taken down one way or another. She implied as much to Agnes last week.

In one of the more interesting details of The Testaments Episode 9, Aunt Estee breaks down in tears and begs for Daisy’s forgiveness for failing to protect her from sin. The Aunts, as Daisy’s narration reminds us, are people after all.

Divine Justice

Even though something has to be done about Grove, Aunt Lydia petitions Commander Judd to delay any retribution until after Becka has been married off to Garth, since why should she be made to pay for her father’s crimes? And things between her and Garth do seem to be going fairly well. He seems to be the only person who can draw a smile out of Becka at the moment, and he’s at the house when Grove staggers in and shares the accusation — baseless, he assures everyone — that has been made against him.

Becka is — all together now — furious. She confronts Daisy at school and has to be dragged away by Agnes (shout out to Shunammite, who once again holds the line to protect the girls when the Aunts get involved). But Agnes confirms that Daisy isn’t lying, and makes it very obvious how she knows that. This is a quietly remarkable scene with very little dialogue, but Mattea Conforti’s dawning horror is quite the thing to behold.

As if Becka wasn’t angry before, she’s furious after this revelation. So furious is she, in fact, that when her father takes a bath that night, she creeps in and stabs him to death. She leaves disguised as a Martha and takes a bus to Agnes’s house, where she babbles about doing divine justice as Agnes tenderly cleans her up. She wants them to run away together. In some corner of her addled mind, this is probably quite romantic. Agnes, out of options, agrees, but instead leads her to Garth so that he can take her to a doctor.

But Garth has a sense of duty, or a devotion to maintaining his cover, maybe. Whatever the reason, he gives Becka over to the Eyes. As she’s taken away, she screams for Agnes, whom she thinks has betrayed her, while Agnes is held back from the window by Commander Mackenzie and Paula, who prevent her from intervening. Becka is taken away, presumably never to be seen again. “Marat Sade” ends with both girls screaming.