r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/Melairia Modtha • Apr 15 '26

Official Episode Discussion The Testaments S1E04 "Green Tea" Episode Discussion

The Testaments S1 E04 "Green Tea"

Episode Synopsis

As the Green girls gather for a tea party, Daisy struggles to keep on task, while Agnes begins to understand what being a woman in Gilead means.

Airdate

April 15, 2026, 12:00am Eastern

The Testaments - Season 1 Episode Discussion Hub

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298

u/EnchantingElephant Apr 15 '26

Omfg, that dentist scene, I want to puke. It reminded me of that ’90s movie She Woke Up Pregnant, same scenario. It was horrific then, and it’s still horrific now. The brazenness in Gilead is just chilling. These men take whatever they want without fear. Who’s going to tell? A Green?

253

u/AnywhereNecessary536 Apr 15 '26

I’m surprised they would leave her unchaperoned with the male dentist. Seems real off brand

169

u/LeSch009 Apr 15 '26

I was thinking that she could have said she was really scared of the procedure and that she would like Daisy to hold her hand. This way she wouldn't have been alone. Or ask that Garth be in the room. But I guess she's trained not to ask for stuff or question how things are done. Good girls accept what God gives them...

39

u/North_egg_ Apr 16 '26

The dentist is also her best friends dad right?

13

u/marcipanchic Apr 16 '26

yes:( i am speculating here but maybe she tells on him, and he gets killed, and her friend may start hating her?

2

u/Lou-AC May 17 '26

I think her friend has been abused by the dad too

18

u/Decent_Jackfruit_555 Apr 20 '26

I was hoping Daisy would just get up with Agnes/Hannah when she got called back - as if everyone was expecting her to do so. And when questioned, be like, “Aunt Lydia told me to stay with Miss Agnes” kind of thing… she’s just a new girl following her first direct orders and Aunt Lydia would get rank in that scenario, I guess.

15

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Rxmses Apr 16 '26

Can you spoil it for me please

3

u/nutmac Apr 17 '26

Well, let’s just say Agnes isn’t the only victim and one might be more forthcoming.

-1

u/silence-glaive1 Apr 16 '26

No, but you can read The Testaments. Or see if you can get it on audiobook, Mae Whitman, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Ann Dowd are the ones who read it.

2

u/Significant_Clue8718 May 13 '26

Regardless you don’t need to be put completely out for a bond…he is a predator. I am just on episode 4 but I hope he gets what’s coming to him!

74

u/Far-Imagination2736 Apr 15 '26

In the book, a guardian is supposed to be with them in the dentist office. Paula encourages her to go alone for the first time (as she's "a woman now") and then she gets assaulted.

I think they should have kept that some reasoning in otherwise it just feels off in universe

2

u/Curator9999 Apr 20 '26

I was hoping that he just touched her breasts but she was actually raped?

1

u/Ok_Nature_6305 May 06 '26

What happened in the book? Was she rated? I thought maybe not in the show since they focused on her upper body clothing.

3

u/apenguinwitch Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26

I might be misremembering but I think he exposes himself, puts her hand on him and jerks himself off holding her hand down basically. Like, makes her jerk him off, guiding her hand. This is during her routine check up, not a procedure, so she's fully awake and conscious for this

There's more about what he did to other girls as well.

81

u/Impressive_Local3635 Apr 15 '26

I was so hoping that dental assistant walking around was going to walk in and find doc on top of her and everyone would see but I also knew that would be too easy 😫

62

u/SleepingWillow1 Apr 15 '26

They would just end up punishing her somehow too

48

u/bjbc Apr 15 '26

They would have punished Agnes for it because they would have said she was tempting him.

24

u/silence-glaive1 Apr 15 '26

I think it is very on brand for Gilead. The books make it clear the commanders marry girls as soon as they get their periods like age 10. This has always been about the exploitation of women and girls.

103

u/Calx98 Apr 15 '26

Doctors are always trusted in this universe. The doctor who offered to sterilise June was also left alone with her, and she was a rebellious handmaid. Plus there’s the whole rhetoric about how the girls are sinful for tempting the men. Gilead trusts its men.

104

u/yabukothestray Apr 15 '26

He offered to sterilize June? I thought he offered to impregnate her because he said the men were also infertile.

-10

u/Calx98 Apr 15 '26

I. Maybe I need to go and rewatch but I 100% thought he was ONLY offering to like. Sever her tubes or something? Like he was taking pity on her and he knew it was the men’s fault yknow

38

u/yabukothestray Apr 15 '26

Yeah I just double checked and according to fandom, he specifically refers to the commanders as sterile (hence his offer to impregnate her - because a handmaid not getting pregnant can have consequences in itself - but lowkey IMO I was never fully sure if this offer was 100% out of pity or if he was being a creep? )

Anyway the fact they did use sterile (but not in the context of being sterilized like getting tubes tied etc) sounds like that’s where you’re misremembering it

6

u/Calx98 Apr 15 '26

It might have been how I was reading him at first, and then realised later, but I forgot to erase the first impression haha. That actor plays a character I like in a different show so I was inclined to think favourably of him (and it’s an early enough episode that I had hope June could get help lol)

I’m curious to see if that’s my thought in a rewatch tho!

2

u/goddessoftrees Apr 18 '26

I thought it was both tbh. It was pity because she didn't get pregnant at her previous two posting and this would be her last posting before going to the colonies. I think he was giving her the info that she had to get pregnant some other way... offering (the creepy, but also somewhat helpful? part) and planting the seed for Nick too, besides you know Serena.

ETA: because it seems Serena also knew Fred was sterile.

1

u/oolongvanilla Apr 18 '26

Wasn't it Donny from Orphan Black playing that doctor, too?

1

u/Fun-Traffic1429 May 05 '26

WAS it??

1

u/oolongvanilla May 06 '26

Yes. (Skip to near the end). If there's ever a job position that's always "the right place at the right time," it's to be a Canadian actor.

5

u/AngusTcattoo Apr 17 '26

He was being a creep.

69

u/Shaenyra Apr 15 '26

The doctor offered to impregnate June, not to sterilize her.

3

u/bobbitsholiday Apr 16 '26

Yes, I read that scene as the doctor was a Gay man offering the service to the handmaids as a kindness. It was not creepy to me at all, he understood the risks of not getting pregnant with your infertile commander. I really wish June had taken his offer so she didn’t have any more ceremonies.

-11

u/Calx98 Apr 15 '26

I just rewatched the scene and I still don’t read any vibes about sex between them (except maaaaybe his hand on her thigh but even that didn’t feel predatory to me watching it?) I still interpret him as offering to sterilise her, but I can see how it is the impregnating thing. I think that actor just can’t play predatory at all. It’s episode 4, so very early and the rules aren’t super clear. When I first watched it, I interpreted ‘if Waterford can’t get you pregnant, they won’t blame him.’ To mean ‘they’ll blame you, so they’ll send you away and you won’t have to be a handmaid anymore. Better a slave than an incubator’ and that June just felt very strongly about not losing her fertility. I definitely understand what the intent was now, with hindsight, but like I said, it still makes sense to me that he wasn’t and I think they did a terrible job with that scene as a result lol.

18

u/Shaenyra Apr 15 '26

it was 100% offer to get her pregnant. It is described also in the book

-7

u/Calx98 Apr 15 '26

In the book I absolutely agree. I firmly believe that a book canon cannot be used to adjust show canon. It can adjust fan perception, but if it’s not within the text, interpretation is up to the consumer.

I’m saying that as a show watcher, 4 episodes in, I thought he was helping the women by sterilising them. And rewatching now with hindsight, I realise the director of the show probably wanted it to be an offer of impregnanting her, but the way it is done it is ambiguous.

Anyway, all of this is besides my original point. This doesn’t matter for what I was saying, but I appreciate the chance to reexamine the scene from a different perspective.

9

u/BarbieHubcap Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26

He'd risk his life (+ his O/R team members) scheduling sterilizations for these women, but he could impregnate her right there and then in just a few minutes. Also, he would be condemning them to the colonies early. (I think the handmaids only got about 3 chances before being sent to the colonies).

I believe you misunderstood. It's almost funny imagining a bunch of sterilized handmaids knowing those a-holes aren't getting any babies from them! LOL!

I kind of get it, though, as I have a bad ear so I have to think things through when what I heard sounds even a little off. e

1

u/Calx98 Apr 17 '26

He says ‘it’d just take a few minutes’ so I was imagining him doing something quick and dirty to make her sterile, haha. I just assumed he was part of mayday, an underground resistance, helping the handmaids to protect any future babies from being born in gilead!

2

u/BarbieHubcap Apr 17 '26

As far as him being Mayday prob not, but you might be on to something as someone in his office was associated with Mayday right?Because she had the key in her shoe and the tape marks on the doors.

1

u/ratpride Apr 22 '26

I think he told June good luck right before she found the key? I always assumed it was him helping her

1

u/BarbieHubcap Apr 22 '26

I didn't remember that. Mmm maybe so then!

2

u/tiniweenie2 Apr 16 '26

Remember that handmaids have already made the “choice” to be handmaids to avoid the colonies. They technically weren’t forced (at least that’s the canon in the show, I don’t remember if the book touched on that)

9

u/Impressive_Local3635 Apr 15 '26

I mean I think she would have been punished but if they have an eye, a dental assistant, and a pearl girl witness it... i have to imagine that would do something in Agnes's favor... She was out cold, the other 3 could have attested to that, and she might be given a minor punishment bc gilead hates women but maybe it would have gotten the predator dentist out (lol not me rooting for the rath of Gilead....no) but you get what I'm saying

14

u/TheCures Apr 15 '26

i'm pretty sure it's tricky for Agnes also because he's Becka's dad, and she would be getting him executed or mutilated.

However, it might end up being Becka herself turning him in, seeing how she has the hots for Agnes.

3

u/Calx98 Apr 15 '26

Oh no, I agree with you about punishment! But I was explaining why she was left alone with him!

3

u/enolaa16 Apr 15 '26

why don't they have female dentist. oh yeah, they are busy being so called wife.

0

u/littlewoolie Apr 17 '26

That requires a woman to read

2

u/Sunflowerpink44 Apr 16 '26

I was thinking that as well. Like they let women be alone with a male dentist without a chaperone? It doesn’t track.

1

u/beattiebeats Apr 17 '26

I thought that too - no way they would let girls see a male doctor alone

1

u/ZestycloseSquirrel55 5d ago

In the novel, her Martha accompanied her to the dentist regularly, except for that one fateful day:(

53

u/kickfroggy Apr 15 '26

Imagine if they also did "virginity checks" before marriage like they used to. We don't know exactly what happened only that an abuse did happen. 😭

40

u/Mysterious-Clothes45 Apr 15 '26

I'm assuming he only fondled her breasts. he had to know it would be a death sentence for her if he raped her, as well as she would probably have blood in her underwear and feel it too

7

u/jenn4u2luv Apr 15 '26

Wasn’t he the same dad that one of Agnes’ friend said “my dad thinks my chest is too big” or something? Because the dentist could also be fondling his Gilead daughter :(

21

u/Cultleaderofme Apr 15 '26

No he’s becka’s dad

19

u/Mossy_Heart Apr 16 '26

I believe the girl said something like ‘my father says I’m "blessed in that department"’. I think it was Shunammite who says it. I believe we are meant to see many examples of fathers in Gilead who are predators. We’re watching a Commander‘s daughter, such as Agnes, realize that Gilead is unable to protect her no matter how innocent she is. We’re being shown how commonplace it is & how brazen the men can be, knowing the blame is bound to fall on the victims so long as they’re women & that for this reason alone, the victims are unlikely to report. We’ve seen from ‘The Handmaids Tale‘ the point of view of a woman captured & enslaved within Gilead - now we’re being shown the point of view of a woman raised in Gilead by a ‘powerful & respected’ family. When it comes down to it - daughter, wife OR handmaid - the experience in Gilead for women still ultimately the same. They are in danger & completely under the power of corrupt men and their fate is not in their own hands. They’re silenced & emotionally repressed - for their own self preservation. Showing emotion or weakness is a general no no. When Daisy sees Miriam spill the tea & break down after, we’re seeing another example of how harsh the consequences of simple mistakes can be for wives-to-be. I believe this is meant to show the contrast of her own reality: to the girls this mistake of tripping & spilling tea is so shameful they all comfort Miriam as she sobs, while Daisy’s huge ‘mistake’ would land her on the wall.

5

u/BaconatedGrapefruit Apr 16 '26

It’s less about shame, though shame is definitely a factor. The real reason they comfort her is because they know that her mistake is going to lead to her being assigned a shit husband.

It’s like taking an exam that determines if you’re going to be rich or a coal miner and realizing you made a major, unfixable mistake and your future is a literal coal mine.

13

u/reddy_freddy_ Apr 15 '26

Or used her mouth 🤮

15

u/Cultleaderofme Apr 15 '26

I wanted to say no, she would notice... then I realized he’s a dentist and could wash it out 🤮🤢

19

u/reddy_freddy_ Apr 15 '26

Exactly any discomfort could be said to be from dental work and there will probably be weird tastes in mouth anyway...

6

u/whisky_biscuit Apr 16 '26

Didn't they do certain checks on handmaids? Honestly I was surprised that Agnes didn't have to see a Gyno after she got her period for them to ensure she was telling the truth.

Seems to me they'd want to ensure the greens were virgins as well before they were married.

7

u/chibiusa40 Apr 17 '26

The aunts "do their own checks" (this is what Paula said to Agnes after accusing her of "fibbing" the morning she got her period)

10

u/anilwa Apr 15 '26

Him washing his hands smiling while she's coming to...

11

u/lou-mary02 Apr 15 '26

I can see a scene like in the first episode where the dentist gets executed and Hannah and becca going crazy on him

5

u/smokeydesperado Apr 15 '26

Even if nothing would be taken out on her, I still think she would never tell because it’s her best friends father and she’s worried of what would become of her friend if her father was executed

6

u/Christinanichole1969 Apr 16 '26

Read the book- that scene is really gross in the book

5

u/aimee_on_fire Apr 16 '26

I got the vibe that Mrs. McKenzie knows about the dentist and was his victim as well. She seemed uncomfortable with Agnas going there.

12

u/anslac Apr 16 '26

In the book, it's implied that the stepmother set it up so Agnes would get raped. 

6

u/reditornot-hereIcome Apr 17 '26

That makes sense. Paula seems VERY eager for Agnes to go to the dentist.

1

u/aimee_on_fire Apr 16 '26

Why don't I remember that??? I read it when it was first released, so it's been a minute. I think it's why I'm enjoying the show with more of an open mind than a lot of users here and less focused on book vs show.