The Handmaid's Tale Page #5

Season #1 - Episode #1

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Offred tries to absorb this unreality. Janine whimpers.

(CONTINUED)

"Pilot" 11/29/15 23.

CONTINUED:

OFFRED:

We are down the rabbit hole or

something.

MOIRA:

Yup, no joke.

(and then)

God, I’d kill for a f***ing

cigarette.

Offred musters a smile. Off these friends, we --

END FLASHBACK:

EXT. GILEAD - THE WALL - DAY

FOUR BODIES hang by their necks from hooks set into the

brickwork. Hands tied in front, white bags over their heads.

Each body has a placard hung around its neck: A human fetus,

a black triangle, a red inverted cross...

Pull back to reveal OFFRED and OFGLEN looking at the wall.

OFFRED:

A priest, a doctor, a lesbian.

(and then)

I think I heard that joke once.

This wasn’t the punchline.

(and then)

Moira isn’t up there. She could

still be dead, I know. There are a

hundred other walls in a hundred

towns, a thousand mass graves in

the woods.

(and then)

But she isn’t here, and that gives

me hope. It may be false hope, but

that’s a sort of hope nonetheless.

CHURCH BELLS ring out. Time to go home.

OFGLEN:

Should we take the long way, by the

river?

Offred nods, then remembers. Painfully. It’s Ceremony day

for Offred.

OFFRED:

I can’t.

(and then)

I have to get ready for the

Ceremony.

(CONTINUED)

"Pilot" 11/29/15 24.

CONTINUED:

Offred looks gray. But Ofglen reacts with restrained joy.

OFGLEN:

Praised be. We’ll go straight home

then.

(and then)

May God bless your endeavor and

bring forth His miracle.

OFFRED:

(hiding dread)

Praised be.

CUT TO:

INT. - WATERFORD HOUSE - BATHROOM - TWILIGHT

The bathroom is decorated with blue wallpaper, curtains, a

blue fake-fur cover on the toilet seat. Perfectly neat.

It’s a bathroom that might belong to your great-aunt.

Steam rises from the full bathtub.

Offred undresses, removing her white wings and shaking loose

her long hair.

OFFRED (V.O.)

They took out the mirror. And

there are no razors, of course.

There were incidents in the

bathrooms at the beginning.

Cuttings, drownings. Before they

got all the bugs ironed out.

She removes her heavy red cloak, the petticoats, the red

stockings, the loose white cotton pantaloons.

Offred slides into the tub. Hot water. It feels lovely.

OFFRED (V.O.)

The bath is required before the

ceremony. I am to make myself

clean. But it’s also a luxury.

Just to take off the veil, to feel

my own hair again with my own

hands, is a luxury.

Offred washes her hair. For the first time, we notice a

small RED METAL CUFF on the top curve of one ear -- there’s a

six digit number etched in the surface.

The cuff could be jewelry, in another time, edgy and urban.

But this isn’t jewelry.

(CONTINUED)

"Pilot" 11/29/15 25.

CONTINUED:

It is an ear tag, akin to the identity tags used on cattle.

Offred lays back and closes her eyes.

On OFFRED, WE FLASHBACK TO:

INT. APARTMENT BATHROOM - DAY -FLASHBACK

Offred takes a bath with baby MAYA -- she’s six months, fat

and slippery. Maya squeals. Offred buries her face in

Maya’s wet and perfect neck. Inhales deeply.

OFFRED (V.O.)

She comes to me so clearly in the

bath.

A perfect memory. But dark questions intrude...

OFFRED (V.O.)

(rising fear)

When do I come to her?

(and then)

Does she even remember me? Please,

God, let her remember me.

The memory bursts abruptly --

END FLASHBACK:

INT. WATERFORD HOUSE - BATHROOM - TWILIGHT

...as Offred jerks back into reality. Her eyes open.

OFFRED (V.O.)

They probably told her I was dead.

That’s what they would do. Best

thing for everyone, they’d say.

(and then)

When people say that, they always

mean that it’s the best thing for

them. It never means the best

thing for you.

Off her face...

INT. WATERFORD HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT

Offred sits on the bed, dressed and still. Hands folded in

her lap. A tableaux. Her mind races.

OFFRED (V.O.)

I am washed and brushed like a

prize pig.

(and then)

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

"Pilot" 11/29/15 26.

CONTINUED:

OFFRED (V.O.) (CONT'D)

I want to know what I did. To

deserve this.

Offred FLASHES BACK TO:

INT. RED CENTER - GYMNASIUM - DAY

Chairs are arranged in a circle, with a single chair at the

center. Offred, Moira, and the other Handmaids-in-training

sit on the perimeter.

Janine sits in the central chair. She wears a SMALLER BANDAGE

over her missing eye. Aunt Lydia stands beside her.

Other Aunts stalk the outside of the circle, watching all the

women, cattle prods ready.

JANINE:

The boys kept coming down into the

basement for hours, it felt like.

At first they took turns, but later

I think there were two or three at

a time. I knew most of them from

school. I just couldn’t believe

they were doing it, that it was

happening.

AUNT LYDIA:

But it did happen.

JANINE:

Yeah.

AUNT LYDIA:

And whose led them on? Whose fault

was it?

Janine shrugs, weakly. She hangs her head.

AUNT LYDIA (CONT’D)

Whose fault was it, girls?

Offred looks at Janine. She’s crying now. Moira and the

other women in the circle respond, pointing and chanting in

unison. Offred joins, weakly.

WOMEN:

Her fault! Her fault! Her fault!

Aunt Lydia gives Offred a stern look -- she is not showing

enough enthusiasm. Moira leans to her.

MOIRA:

(urgent whisper)

Come on, do it.

(CONTINUED)

"Pilot" 11/29/15 27.

CONTINUED:

AUNT LYDIA:

And why did God allow such a

terrible thing to happen?

Aunt Lydia looks at Offred. Offred steels herself and joins

in with terrible energy. The women point at Janine,

accusing.

WOMEN:

Teach her a lesson! Teach her a

lesson! Teach her a lesson!

It’s a scene of horror from another century.

END FLASHBACK:

INT. WATERFORD HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT

A CLOCK CHIMES, bringing Offred out of her memory. She

stands up, walks out of the bedroom.

CUT TO:

INT. WATERFORD HOUSE - SITTING ROOM - NIGHT

Offred enters. The room is quiet, empty.

OFFRED (V.O.)

I am here before the others. That,

too, is part of the ritual.

Offred steps to her spot, marked by a small RED CUSHION. She

kneels. Head down, hands in her lap.

OFFRED (V.O.)

I am to wait. I am to be a woman

in waiting.

(and then)

Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what

you’re used to. This may not seem

ordinary to you now, but after a

time it will. It will become

ordinary.

(and then)

I want to throw up.

Rita enters, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She takes her

place, standing behind Offred.

Nick enters next. Stands beside Rita. A long beat.

RITA:

Wish they’d hurry up. Some of us

got things to do, you know.

(CONTINUED)

"Pilot" 11/29/15 28.

CONTINUED:

NICK:

Hurry up and wait.

Footsteps in the hall, then Serena Joy enters. She sits

down. Lights a cigarette. A beat, and then...

SERENA JOY:

Late again, as usual.

(then, to no one)

What is it about men?

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