Summary
The ending of The Testaments proves that there’s never really a bright side for girls in Gilead, but it also offers a ray of hope — and a setup for Season 2 — to take the edge off.
It isn’t easy being a teenage girl at the best of times — or so I’m reliably told — but in Gilead it’s virtually impossible. This has been the underpinning thesis of The Testaments throughout, and nothing has changed in the finale. True to form, the ending is brutal for several characters, and really brutal for a few. But Episode 10 does provide a small ray of hope, lighting that little fire of rebellion and sisterly solidarity that should, in time, bring Gilead to its knees. But that’s what Season 2 is for, I guess.
In the meantime, nothing is going especially well for anyone. “Secateurs” has a truly grim quality to it a lot of the time, especially as it builds on the shocking developments of the penultimate episode, when Becka killed her own father and was taken away by the Eyes. There are fates worse than death, and Becka might be living one, even if she still manages to end up better off romantically than Agnes does. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
The Girls Rally to Save Becka
A key recurring theme in the finale is that the Plums aren’t giving up on Becka. Even though they have been conditioned to believe that anyone taken by the Eyes deserves it, and that it is impossible to escape or be rescued from whatever hellhole recalcitrant women are stored in, everyone, including the girls and, surprisingly, the Aunts, sets about freeing Becka from her fate.
Aunt Lydia petitions Judd, for instance, but he’s predictably keen on allowing justice to be done in the traditional way. The crime is at least covered up, with Vidala telling the other girls that Becka will no longer be attending school on account of her father’s death, not that she was responsible for it. Agnes has a minor breakdown at the cover story and is consoled by Garth. Aunt Estee tries to reprimand him, but he snaps back and tells her to have some grace, which is a bit rich coming from him, given that he personally handed his wife-to-be over to the Eyes.
But he has a point, and the point resonates. Daisy is adamant that something needs to be done, and Agnes agrees, storming to see Aunt Vidala to make the point that Becka was simply doing what she was taught to do, according to the very doctrine that the Aunts themselves so rigorously espouse. Vidala might have had her issues this season, but she sees the light here.
Agnes Sacrifices Her Future
Since Agnes is due to be married to Commander Weston, who’s in charge of the Eyes, she pushes for him to do something on Becka’s behalf, building sympathy by confessing that she was one of Doctor Grove’s many victims. Weston agrees to do what he can, and to his credit, he does. He gets Becka returned home under 24-hour surveillance until she’s remanded to the state, and then gives Aunt Lydia and Aunt Vidala special dispensation to visit her there, where they coach Becka and her mother through a new version of what happened.
Becka’s mother decides to take the fall in her stead. The Eyes will accept the cover story, even if Becka herself is reluctant to go along with the plan. Ultimately, she has no choice. The downside for Agnes is that Weston has to break off their engagement to distance himself from the scandal. Paula takes this news especially badly. Agnes finds her very drunk, scrubbing the bathroom floor, ranting about how Gilead wanted to send pieces of her to her disgraced Handmaid mother, but her father wouldn’t allow it.
Agnes’s final action is to petition Garth to marry Becka despite the controversy. She has already given up her sham marriage, so she might as well give up the love of her life as well. If Becka is married, she won’t be tarnished too heavily by the scandal. It’s the best she can do.
Nobody Is Happily Married
Becka’s wedding to a newly promoted Garth is juxtaposed with her mother’s execution. The whole thing is awful, and a standout sequence of The Testaments‘ ending, since it gets right to the heart of how harsh this world really is. It isn’t even like the wedding is presented as an upbeat counterpoint. Becka is basically a zombie, barely conscious, her self-harm wounds visible through her wedding dress, and her eyes damp with tears.
Garth marries Becka, which is better than him not marrying her, but their wedding night consists of him carrying her over the threshold and putting her to bed, before locking her in the bedroom for her own safety. It’s not the kind of thing teenagers dream of. But at least she’s alive and free(ish), which is better than nothing.
Family Matters
In her efforts to save Becka, Daisy basically goes rogue from Mayday, prompting Garth to take the drastic action of raising the alarm to get her extracted before she causes any undue damage. This once again brings Daisy face-to-face with June, who wants to pull her out so she doesn’t endanger Mayday at large.
June is swayed, though, when Daisy mentions Agnes, since she puts the pieces together and realises that she’s her daughter. On the back of a well-written pitch from Daisy — slightly undercut by weirdly, uncharacteristically stilted acting from Lucy Halliday — June agrees to let Daisy go back undercover and work to take down Gilead from within. Garth smuggles her back inside and pretends to have caught her smoking. To Aunt Lydia, Daisy strongly implies that she knows June.
After Becka’s wedding, Daisy tells Agnes who her mother is, and this, too, Agnes takes to Aunt Lydia. Lydia says she knew Agnes’s mother well and can say with certainty that she never gave up — and neither will the Aunts in figuring out what to do with Agnes, who has become the first Green to ever return to being a Plum. It’s a little unclear to what extent Daisy and Agnes know that Aunt Lydia is their ally, but either way, they know that they have each other and Shunammite, who has also remained at school. The Testaments Episode 10 ends with them stalking the corridors, their pinkies entwined in solidarity.
Outside Gilead, June receives a message from Daisy, hidden in one of the Pearl Girls’ honey jars, explaining that she’s staying in the fight and building an army to take down Gilead from within.
