Spoilers for The Testaments season finale ahead.
Well, wasn’t that a lot of information to take in? Luckily, we already have the knowledge that The Testaments season 2 has been greenlit, but don’t think the season 1 finale has gone easy on us in the meantime.
In episode 9 of the hit Hulu and Disney+ show, we learned that Daisy (Lucy Halliday) has falsely accused Dr Grove (Randal Edwards) of sexual assault to draw attention to his legitimate abuse of a number of girls, including Agnes (Chase Infiniti). Dr Grove’s daughter, Becka (Mattea Conforti), is also Agnes’ best friend, breaking down in tears when Agnes tearfully tells her the truth about the assault.
The episode ends with Becka killing Dr Grove before he was about to go on trial for his crimes, with guardian Garth (Brad Alexander) reporting her to The Eyes, who take her away in a police-style van. Agnes is distraught over Garth’s actions, having claimed to be helping Becka by getting her to a doctor.
The biggest question hanging over The Testaments season finale is whether Becka will live or die — but as I’ll explain, the ending gave us a lot more than we bargained for.
Becka’s future looks bleak — but Aunt Lydia’s prison visit reveals a remarkable Handmaid’s Tale cameo
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The episode opens with Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) heading into the women’s holding facility (which is basically prison) to see if she can save Becka somehow from her situation.
You need eagle eyes here, as the woman leading her into Becka’s cell is none other than The Handmaid’s Tale author, Margaret Atwood. Annoyingly, she only gets to say three words before she’s gone: “Don’t agitate her.”
Aunt Lydia is shocked by what she sees, demanding that Becka’s restraints be taken off. Commander Judd (Charlie Carrick) asks to speak to her, claiming that the “fallout” now needs to be managed, suggesting that Becka will be sent to the red center to become a handmaid.
As is rightly pointed out multiple times in the episode, Aunt Lydia says that while Becka “broke God’s law,” her father did so first. Judd is the first man in Gilead to say that this is now “irrelevant,” but he won’t be the last.
The news of Dr Grove’s death spreads at Aunt Lydia’s School for Girls, with Agnes telling Daisy, Shu (Rowan Blanchard), and Huldah (Isolde Ardies) the truth about what’s happened to Becka.
The plan to save Becka is now in motion, but will it work?
Agnes starts her rescue plan by appealing to Aunt Vidala (Mabel Li), revealing that she knows the truth about Becka being taken by The Eyes.
While Vidala claims all that can be done is to “send God’s will,” Agnes turns the school’s teachings back on her. She reminds Vidala that the Aunts are supposed to be “God’s instruments,” and following justice is in their teachings. “If anyone led Becka astray, it’s you,” Agnes ends with.
Elsewhere, Daisy starts her own mission to save Becka and the rest of Gilead’s teen girls. In frustration, she asks Garth to do something proactive to save Becka, and when he declines, she quits Mayday on the spot.
Later that day, Garth listens to the Mayday radio station, with June (Elisabeth Moss) sending a message to him that Daisy will be taken care of that evening.
Commander Weston (Reed Diamond) visits Agnes ahead of their wedding to offer his time and sympathy to her after Dr. Grove’s death. He claims that their problems are now shared, prompting Agnes to reveal the truth about being assaulted.
She asks Weston to somehow help Becka, and while initially skeptical, he covertly reunites her with Mrs Grove (Kate Hewlett).
Daisy prepares to die for the cause and Mrs. Grove takes the rap for Dr. Grove’s death
While Becka and Mrs Grove reunite, Daisy left a message asking to wait at a meeting point. From there, she’s smuggled out of Gilead in a barrel in the back of a lorry, only to emerge to find June and other Mayday members preparing a boat to leave the area.
Daisy refuses to go with them, claiming to be able to save the girls and their futures. June sees Becka as “collateral damage,” claiming that they won’t win the war by trying to save everyone.
Daisy doubles down on her conviction, claiming to be ready to die for the cause if it means saving her new friends. She tells June about them and mentions Agnes — and suddenly, it clicks for them both that Agnes is actually June’s daughter, Hannah.
Reluctantly, June lets Daisy return to Gilead to continue her plan, unaware that Agnes’ speech on Vidala has worked: she wants to work collaboratively with Lydia to save Becka and the school’s reputation.
Daisy returns to Gilead late, prompting Garth to pretend to catch her smoking so she’d have a legitimate excuse for being out early. Lydia scolds Daisy in her office, with Daisy claiming it was because of the responsibility she felt after calling out Dr Grove’s abuse.
Carefully, Daisy goads Lydia into doing more to actively save Becka, claiming “some mothers would kill, or die, for their children” when Lydia expresses her desire to be a mother to Gilead’s “lost children.”
We then cut to a secret meeting between Lydia, Vidala, Becka, and Mrs Grove. Lydia suggests that the “truth” going forward will be that Becka found Mrs Grove standing over the bathtub after killing Dr Grove, which Mrs Grove agrees to without hesitation.
Agnes’ engagement is called off as Garth marries Becka to save her future — but not before Agnes and Becka kiss
Later that day, Weston calls off his engagement to Agnes, claiming that her “close ties” to the Grove scandal are something that he can’t be associated with. Really, we know it’s because Agnes revealed her assault, and is now seen by Weston as “sullied.”
Paula (Amy Seimetz) clearly sees through Weston’s vague reason, waking Agnes up that night and claiming that she “scared him off.” In drunken anger, Paula reveals that Gilead originally wanted to kill Agnes as a child and send her to the resistance “piece by piece” as a warning, adding that Agnes has never been grateful for Paula’s guidance and her ruined her life.
Agnes flees the house and tracks down Garth, tearfully asking him to make good on his earlier proposal and marry Becka to save her from being fallen. After some persuasion, he relents and is made a Commander beforehand.
Becka tearfully gets ready for her wedding day, with Agnes on hand to help. When the two are left alone, Agnes tells Becka that everything is going to be okay. “I know it will, because you’re here,” Becka responds. The two share a romantic kiss before Becka leaves.
At the same time as Becka and Garth are married with Agnes and friends watching on, Mrs Grove is sentenced to her death, and is immediately hanged.
Daisy tells Agnes that she’s June Osborne’s daughter and begins the next phase of her revenge
After Becka’s marriage, Agnes confides in Daisy that she feels like she’s ruined her life, despite the sacrifice being “worth it.” Daisy tells Agnes that she’s exactly like her mother, dropping the bombshell that she believes Agnes to be June’s daughter, Hannah.
While Agnes immediately fails to believe this and brands June as “a terrorist,” Daisy reveals that she met her mother “once,” without giving away the fact that she’s actively involved with Mayday. However, later that night, she finds a childhood drawing in her bedroom with the name “Hannah” written in pencil at the bottom.
The next day, Agnes is called into Lydia’s office, who says that the school is dealing with an “unknown” by having a Green return to being a Plum. Lydia says that this will be a mark against her, with Agnes responding that it actually must be her second — she’s June Osborne’s daughter. There’s an unspoken understanding between the two, with Lydia adding that June “never gave up.”
Daisy smuggles a letter out to June through the school’s honey supply, confirming that Becka is successfully safe. She hints at hitting Gilead “where it will hurt them the most” by building an “army” of teenage girls to take the establishment down. “Because nothing is more powerful than a teenage girl,” Daisy says as the episode ends.
Season 2 predictions
If you’ve read the original novel, you’ll know that Aunt Lydia’s eventual betrayal of Gilead will likely be explored further in The Testaments season 2. We’ve already seen the chips starting to fall into place while she helps to save Becka, and aligning herself with Daisy and Agnes.
June’s youngest daughter is originally Daisy in the novel, but in the TV show, Daisy is a completely separate character. It remains to be seen if this will be addressed or if June’s other daughter will be revealed as someone else.
While the plot is likely to differ from what’s in the book, we can expect the Aunts to leak incriminating information about Gilead’s elite into Canada, with more Mayday operatives to be revealed as the season continues.
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