The Testaments introduces a dark spin on Bridgerton in disturbing episode 5

Gorgeous gowns. Stolen glances. The swell of orchestral music as your heart sings at the sight of him.

For the women in Bridgerton, the balls are a source of joy. Well, joy when it all goes according to plan. There's also the anxiety that comes with the flutter of young love and the fear of rejection that goes with it. And that's all assuming you even want to get married and agree to what society demands of you.

As season 5 of Bridgerton will soon remind us, not every woman is interested in marriage — or men for that matter either.

Yet even with all that added pressure, the balls in Bridgerton are still a dream compared to what the main characters in Gilead endure when they attend a Prom of their own.

The latest episode of The Testaments introduces a darker spin on those signature dances from Bridgerton, even if the end goal remains the same. In both cases, the young women must make themselves as presentable as possible, hoping to win a man over and secure their future with him.

Except, the young women in Gilead aren't women at all. They're still young girls, even if those in power try to suggest otherwise.

As Agnes MacKenzie (Chase Infiniti) points out early on this episode, "Gilead limits adolescence." Before the Prom, you're a child. After the Prom, you're an adult. And this Prom dictates your entire future.

Some of the girls seem excited, and why wouldn't they be? That's how they've been told to behave, conditioned all their lives to see marriage as the ultimate fulfilment. But darkness is already creeping in, forcing these girls to grow up far too soon. And it only gets worse when the Prom begins.

Still reeling from Dr Grove's assault, Agnes tries to keep it together as middle-aged Commanders take her and others by the hand to dance.

"I was dancing with a boy," she said to herself, trying to be excited. But that is no boy.

Daisy (Lucy Halliday) recoils when an older Commander tries it on with her because she has a better sense of what's really going on thanks to her time in Canada.

"If you're a good girl, this white might become green," the Commander tells her. "And you'll become ripe."

Yep, the Prom in Gilead is nothing more than an excuse for perverted old men to round up little girls and abuse them before forcing them into marriage. It's disguised as a Disney fairytale akin to Bridgerton, but the truth is so much more sinister.

Don't forget that some of these girls haven't even had their periods yet.

But it's precisely because of their youth that so many of the girls go along with this, and even see each other as competition. To them, the Prom is everything, a chance to vie for the attention of the highest ranking Commanders to ensure their future in Gilead is a prosperous one.

Agnes briefly realises that things don't have to be this way when she ends up dancing with Garth (Brad Alexander), the younger man she's had her eye on for some time now.

"So this… this is what it’s supposed to feel like?"

It's in this moment that The Testaments evokes the romanticism of Bridgerton without subverting it. A slow-motion caress as hands join… This is what it's supposed to feel like, but the show is only doing this to emphasise the reality of what's really happening here and remind us of what the girls are missing.

The Testaments quickly pulls us back down to earth, however, when Becka Grove (Mattea Conforti) — who was never excited for Prom in the first place — is pressured into drinking alcohol she's too young for. And the reason why is all too horrifying.

Daisy helps Becka get away from the Commander in question when it becomes obvious that she's drunk. It turns out she didn't eat beforehand because she was too anxious, and now she doesn't want to go back out there to face the men either.

"I don’t want them touching me," says Becka. "I don’t want them looking at me. I know it’s a sin, but sometimes I pray to god to burn away the earth and extinguish the stars."

Daisy tries to comfort Becka, saying that her bestie Agnes is there for her and loves her. "Not the way I love her," replies Becka, seeming to admit the sapphic feelings we've long suspected she holds for Agnes.

Agnes isn't having the best time of it either, forced to explain how she'll exemplify her "wifely duties" to a room of Commanders after via web cam.

When the two girls reunite later, they talk of running away, eager to escape what's coming next now that the Prom is over.

But all Agnes can think of is her crush on Garth. Were he to become a Commander, he'd be eligible to marry one of the girls. "And if he were eligible, he could become mine."

"All I could think about was his eyes," adds Agnes. "His touch, his heat. I thought the world was full of possibility and hope," she tells us.

But as we already know, this is no possibility for Agnes and the others. There is no hope.

Manipulating them out of the childhood they deserve has already robbed these girls of their innocence. And no lavish Bridgerton-style ball or the promise of happiness in Gilead can ever hope to fix that.

The Testaments is available to stream on Disney+ from Wednesday 8 April 2026. Sign-up to Disney+ from £5.99 a month.

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