The Handmaid's Tale Page #4

Season #1 - Episode #1

---

(and then)

I need someone to talk to.

(and then)

I wish Moira was here.

FLASHBACK TO:

INT. RED CENTER - GYMNASIUM - DAY -FLASHBACK

ANGLE ON a young woman -- MOIRA (28, quick and profane) seems

to be listening intently. She wears a red handmaid’s dress,

sits at a SCHOOL DESK.

WE PULL BACK TO REVEAL --

A former high school has been turned into a indoctrination

center for Handmaids.

AUNT LYDIA (O.S.)

They made such a mess of

everything. They filled the air

with chemicals and radiation and

poison.

In the gym, Moira and other WOMEN in red dresses sit at rows

of desk -- hands folded, silent, obedient, eyes front.

Stern women in brown uniforms watch the class. Cattle prods

hang from their belts. These are AUNTS -- brutal overseers

of the Handmaids.

AUNT LYDIA (50, pleasant and sadistic) lectures to the women.

A computer projects power-point slides on a screen.

(CONTINUED)

"Pilot" 11/29/15 18.

CONTINUED:

It shows a graph of FALLING BIRTH RATES.

AUNT LYDIA (CONT’D)

So God whipped up a special plague,

just for them. A plague of

infertility. Do you blame Him? I

most certainly do not.

A door opens. Moira turns her head slightly, just enough to

see.

Across the room, GUARDIANS lead in a group of NEW ARRIVALS,

including JANINE (22, ballsy) and OFFRED.

Offred shuffles, looking a little sleepy. Drugged.

AUNT LYDIA (CONT’D)

And as birthrates fell, what did

they do? They made things worse.

Can you imagine? Birth control

pills, morning after pills,

murdering babies in the womb?

Cutting then into pieces.

Aunt Lydia takes a beat, as if the pain is too much for her.

She steadies herself, goes on.

AUNT LYDIA (CONT’D)

How could they have done such

things? Just so they could have

their orgies. Their Tinder. So

they could rut about like beasts.

Such wickedness.

(and then)

They were dirty women. They were

sluts.

The Guardians leads the women to the desks. Offred looks over

the room of women. She spots MOIRA. Eyes connect.

Recognition. WE FLASHBACK TO:

INT. CAMBRIDGE APARTMENT - MORNING -FLASHBACK

Offred, in normal clothes, sits at the kitchen table, working

on a laptop. Notes and books are scattered across the table.

She sips coffee.

It all seems so normal. And so decadent, compared to life in

Gilead.

Moira enters, T-shirt and pajama bottoms. Bed head.

MOIRA:

Got any cigarettes?

(CONTINUED)

"Pilot" 11/29/15 19.

CONTINUED:

OFFRED:

In my jacket maybe.

MOIRA:

Where’s your jacket?

OFFRED:

(exasperated)

Dude, I need to finish this. It’s

due by ten.

MOIRA:

For Dietrich’s class?

(off her nod)

What’s it about?

OFFRED:

Campus sexual assault.

MOIRA:

For or against?

This gets a little grin from Offred. A PRETTY WOMAN comes

out of Moira’s bedroom, leans into the kitchen.

WOMAN:

Moira honey? I’ve got to get to

work.

(and then)

We should do this again.

MOIRA:

Babe, I would love that.

The woman smiles, waves politely to Offred, then heads out.

Offred looks to Moira.

OFFRED:

You don’t even remember her name,

do you?

MOIRA:

(busted)

Just give me a f***ing cigarette.

Two friends.

END FLASHBACK:

INT. RED CENTER - GYMNASIUM - CONTINUING

Moira and Offred meet eyes. Moira shakes her head just

slightly.

No.

(CONTINUED)

"Pilot" 11/29/15 20.

CONTINUED:

Then Moira looks away.

Offred understands the message --don’t let anyone see that

we know each other. She walks past Moira, not offering any

recognition. She sits down.

Aunt Lydia continues her lecture, full of devotion.

AUNT LYDIA:

...but you are special girls.

Fertility is a gift directly from

God. He left you intact for a

Biblical purpose.

(and then)

Like Bilhah served Rachel, you

girls will serve the Leaders of the

Faithful and their barren wives.

You’ll bear children for them. You

are so lucky. So privileged.

JANINE (23, ballsy) another new arrival, sits down behind

Offred. Leans to her --

JANINE:

(whisper)

Welcome to the friggin’ looney bin,

right?

Janine grins. Immediately, an AUNT strides over. Without a

word, she HITS JANINE IN THE HEAD.

JANINE (CONT’D)

Jesus, what the f***!?

Aunt Lydia comes over. A murmur runs through the woman.

AUNT LYDIA:

All right, girls. We’ll have

quiet. Like little mice.

(to Janine)

Welcome to the Rachel and Leah

Center.

(and then)

Up.

JANINE:

(defiant)

F*** you.

AUNT LYDIA:

Blessed are the meek, Dear.

Aunt Lydia quickly pulls out her prod and jams it into

Janine’s neck. She SHOCKS HER, HOLDING THE PROD AGAINST HER

SKIN.

(CONTINUED)

"Pilot" 11/29/15 21.

CONTINUED:

Janine screams, cowering. Three Aunts descend, pulling

Janine to her feet and dragging her away.

Aunt Lydia heads back to the front of the makeshift

classroom.

OFFRED (V.O.)

Blessed are the meek.

(and then)

They always leave out the part

about inheriting the earth.

AUNT LYDIA:

Back to work, shall we, girls?

On Offred, as Aunt Lydia returns to her lecture.

INT. RED CENTER - CAFETERIA - NIGHT

The cafeteria has been converted into a dorm for the

Handmaids in training.

Blue moonlight glows through the windows, illuminating neat

rows of narrow cots.

Moira and Offred lie in their beds, talking quietly,

carefully.

OFFRED:

I tried to run with her, but she

was so heavy. I tried.

MOIRA:

(so much sympathy)

Hey, I know.

(and then)

Those motherfuckers were chasing

you with machine guns. None of this

is your fault.

OFFRED:

(doesn’t know)

I know.

(and then)

Then I heard shots. He must have

tried to slow them down somehow,

give us a better chance to get to

the border.

(and then)

They just shot him.

Moira reaches out, touches her face.

(CONTINUED)

"Pilot" 11/29/15 22.

CONTINUED:

MOIRA:

Don’t lose hope, darlin’. He’s

always been a survivor.

OFFRED:

No. He’s dead, Moira.

(and then)

What about Odette?

MOIRA:

Reclassified as an Unwoman and sent

to the colonies. She was gone in

the first dyke purge. She was on

top of their list.

(and then)

We were stupid. They told us

exactly what they believed in.

What they wanted to do. We called

them wing-nuts.

OFFRED:

They are.

MOIRA:

We should’ve taken them seriously.

We didn’t look up from our f***ing

phones until it was too late.

Across the cafeteria, the door opens loudly. Offred and Moira

immediately close their eyes and feign sleep.

Two Aunts drag JANINE into the room. She’s limp, moaning.

A BANDAGE COVERS HER RIGHT EYE. There is a small stain of

BLOOD on the gauze.

They drop Janine onto her cot and leave. After the door

shuts, the room is silent.

Janine curls up and whimpers, softly.

Offred listens. It is a terrible sound.

OFFRED:

What did they do to her?

MOIRA:

If my right eye offends thee, pluck

it out.

(and then)

We’re breeding stock, kid. You

don’t need eyes for that.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote