'The Testaments' Episodes 1-2 Recap: Why Did Daisy Confess?

The Testaments unfolds after the Boston attack; Mayday was still active, and this time the story unfolds from the perspective of a young Gilead loyalist, Agnes. She was a commander’s daughter, and she didn’t know of a world beyond the strict rules of Gilead. There were days when she secretly questioned certain cruel rules, but she always made herself believe that it was for the best. Agnes was taught not to question authority, to be an obedient wife, and to perform her duties as the lady of the house to perfection. As someone who grew up seeing violence, brutal punishments, and deaths all around her, Agnes wasn’t affected anymore. The sight of dead bodies hanging from nooses didn’t make her feel sick, and although she felt bad for Zilla, the new Martha at their house, who had her tongue removed as a punishment for blasphemy, she didn’t think it was truly awful. She had learned that one always had to pay a price for defying the rules that were in place, and there wasn’t much they could do about it. Agnes’ perspective helps us understand what the world of someone who grew up in an authoritarian, misogynistic state can look like. 

Spoiler Alert

How did Agnes’ life drastically change?

We already know that in Gilead everything is color-coded, so little girls in school wore pink, teenagers who hadn’t started menstruating wore plum, and as soon as they got their first period, they switched to green clothes to signal that they were ready for the marriage market. Fertility was the single most important thing for a woman in Gilead society, so naturally, Agnes looked forward to becoming a woman so that she too could experience matrimonial bliss and give birth to children, as she was supposed to. She’d always hoped that she and Becka would get to wear their greens together, but Becka had already gotten her period, and while Agnes was happy for her, she hoped someday she too would get to experience the same joy. 

Agnes’ life changed drastically the morning she woke up and realized that her wish had come true. She didn’t know how to react. It was what she’d been waiting for, yet she felt like keeping it a secret. She wanted to discuss the situation with Rosa, her trusted Martha, but her stepmother, Paula, caught her before she could confide in Rosa, and she ultimately confessed the truth. Paula was overjoyed; she didn’t like having Agnes around, and she had been waiting for this day as well. She shared her knowledge of menstrual hygiene and handed her an embroidered cover for pads and stated that Agnes’ adoptive mother, Tabitha, had made it for her before she passed. When Agnes was little, Tabitha had told her a story about little girls trapped in a castle with wicked witches, and since she could only save one girl, she chose Agnes. Tabitha reassured Agnes that she would not become a mother through the same process; she would have a baby grow inside her. Agnes was happy to have something to remember Tabitha by, especially on such an important day. 

When Agnes stepped out of her house, she wondered if she looked different, and if everyone around her would treat her differently. As soon as she arrived at her school (headed by Aunt Lydia from The Handmaid’s Tale), she went upstairs and tugged a rope to ring a bell that was meant to signal that one of the school girls had entered womanhood. The headmistress, Aunt Vidala, congratulated Agnes and awarded her a green pin. The schoolgirls cheered and looked at Agnes in awe; they’d been raised to believe that their ability to bear children was the greatest achievement of their lives, and the pin, the special treatment, and the importance further helped sell this dream. Moreover, if one is completely unaware of a life beyond being a dutiful wife and a doting mother, then they learn to find joy in such limitations. 

Why did Daisy confess?

Daisy was one of the Pearl Girls; these were young girls who weren’t born in Gilead; they came from the outside and searched for a new beginning in this lead. Aunt Lydia and her missionaries brought such young girls from all over the world; they were mostly runaways. It was somewhat an unspoken rule among Plums to not trust the Pearl Girls. In an attempt to prove their devotion to God and their loyalty to the state, they often ratted out the Plums to the Aunts. So, when Aunt Lydia asked Agnes to show Daisy around the school and keep her company, she wondered if it was because she’d faltered somehow. Daisy tried to be her perfect self by saying the right things and following every order. Agnes and her friends didn’t feel comfortable talking around Daisy, so they convinced her to try soft-serve ice cream so that they could discuss for a brief moment. Shunammite advised Agnes to tell on Daisy, even for anything minor, before the Pearl Girl got an opportunity to rat her out. The next day, during assembly, a guardian was brought in front of the girls; his hands were tied, and he was gagged. He was accused of masturbation, and the girls were asked if he deserved to be punished; the young girls demanded violence. Daisy was shocked to see the expressions on the faces of the ‘pious’ girls. They wanted blood, they craved to watch extreme violence, and it was clearly not their first time watching someone lose their arms while being completely conscious. They were used to such violence, to the extent that they didn’t feel bad or disgusted anymore. But for Daisy, it wasn’t the same. She couldn’t watch this inhumane show anymore, she got sick, and when Agnes asked her if she was alright, she expressed her disgust and shock in terms that she wasn’t allowed to speak in Gilead. Daisy immediately regretted cursing, and she begged Agnes not to tell on her. Agnes chose to let it slide, and helped her get cleaned up. Daisy realized she had made a terrible mistake and tried to convince herself to make a confession. Agnes told her she didn’t have to do so, and she could simply pray and ask God for forgiveness. Daisy was grateful to her, but she couldn’t let the fact slide that now Agnes had something to use against her. We got a glimpse of Daisy’s life when she pulled out a radio she’d been hiding in a secret chamber in the dorm bed, and she used it to listen to music. She had a smile on her face when she remembered skateboarding carefree. 

The following morning (Agnes’ first menstruation day), when Daisy tried speaking to Agnes, she ignored her and went upstairs. Daisy assumed Agnes planned on ratting her out, so she decided to confess her sin before things got any worse. Daisy was gagged, and her peers gathered around her, and they called her a ‘dirty girl’ for taking God’s name in vain. Daisy felt overwhelmed, and she blurted out that Agnes knew about her sin all along and chose to hide it. Daisy and Agnes were made to clean their mouths with a foul-smelling paste repeatedly so that they wouldn’t commit the same mistake again. When they were alone, Daisy told her that she would’ve had to confess one day or another, establishing that her devotion to God shouldn’t be questioned. She emphasized that she didn’t mean to rat out Agnes; she just did it because she couldn’t take all the screaming anymore. Agnes thought Daisy wasn’t cut out to live in Gilead, and asked her to go home; Daisy retorted that not everyone had a home to return to, and she begged Agnes to give her a chance. Daisy clearly had a secret; she enjoyed listening to music that wasn’t allowed in Gilead. She remembered her past fondly, and in episode 2 we also witnessed her drawing a layout of the school with matches and hiding it in the bedpost of the girl who slept next to her in the dorm. To her surprise, the girl saw Daisy come to bed late, but she didn’t complain to the aunts, suggesting that maybe she was either part of Mayday or sympathized with the cause. Daisy was presumably working with Mayday, and she was sent to stay close to Agnes. Aunt Lydia might be on it as well, since she was the one who made sure that Daisy and Agnes were forced to stay together even if Agnes didn’t want to. 

Why did Agnes have mixed feelings about the prospect of marriage?

Although Agnes knew she was supposed to be ecstatic now that she’d entered womanhood, she couldn’t help but wonder if she was even ready for marriage. She always thought of marriage as a duty that she had to perform; there was no question of ‘want,’ but lately, she was petrified thinking about the possibility that her husband could be a vile man. During her appointment at the dentist’s, she went through something she couldn’t quite fathom. Becka’s father, the dentist, touched her inappropriately, and she didn’t know how to react. From that day on, she wondered what if she felt the same way when her future husband would touch her. These weren’t the kind of conversations that one had in Gilead. Agnes had taken a liking to her guardian; he was a young man, and they had exchanged glances and spoken a few times. She felt giddy when she spoke, but she knew there was no future for their relationship, and she tried to get her hopes down. Agnes walked up to her father towards the end of episode 2 of The Testaments, and informed him that she had become a woman. He was in his parlor with his colleagues and friends, and she had to walk down the room full of men; their piercing, lustful gaze judged her every movement. It was almost as if she was a prized cut of meat in a room full of hungry men, and every one of them was desperate to make their bid. Agnes possibly realized that womanhood wasn’t all about the pin, the green dress, being the lady of the house, and delegating tasks; it was about pleasing men and accepting the possibility that she might be in a loveless marriage with a man she would forever despise, yet he would have immense power over her to make her stay, forcefully. 

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