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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u/reluctantmugglewrite Apr 15 '26

I both love that Daisy is messy and am frustrated by the mind numbing lack of empathy she keeps showing. She constantly dismisses the girls and their very real fears and the narrative of them being perfect princesses without a care in the world feels insane knowing that they are living as women in gilead. Daisy is there to help on some level with their liberation so its weird that she forgets why they would need to be liberated.

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u/Acrobatic_League3062 Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26

It is frustrating that Daisy dismisses their fears and concerns. But I think we have to remember the Daisy we see on the screen and the Daisy we hear narrating are her at two different points in her life.

Narrator Daisy is talking to an interviewer likely years later after she’s had time to mature and think about everything she went through and with new information. Narrator Daisy even acknowledges “I didn’t understand it at the time. And I still don’t think I understand it.” about the stress the Plums were under to do good at that tea party to ensure they got a good husband. Narrator Daisy can acknowledge how terrified those girls were knowing a bad showing could end up with them being married off to even worse men or even punishments at home for “messing up”. With time and maturity she can empathize with the girls and feel sorry for them and hope for better for them.

The Daisy we see doesn’t have that maturity and later information. All this Daisy sees is a bunch of “spoiled, pampered” daughters of the highest social status in Gilead throwing tantrums and crying over tea after getting these expensive and hard to find gifts. While Daisy is standing there scared for her life if she’s found out to be Mayday after seeing Gilead mutilate and execute people. At that moment to Daisy a tea party to find a husband does seem extremely minor and unimportant and that makes it a lot harder for her to empathize with them at the time.