The first two episodes of The Testaments confirmed that Daisy wasn’t just a Pearl Girl; she was on a mission. But the question was, how did she get introduced to Mayday, and what was driving her to take the risk? And most importantly, what was her relationship with June? Well, episode 3 answers most of the questions. We finally get Daisy’s backstory, and we find out why, for her, living in Gilead was the only option. She had to act pious to fit in with the crowd, but clearly, she detested the state and everything it stood for. Daisy lived a colorful life; she went to school, had a boyfriend, and loved to skateboard. Her life’s problem at the time revolved around whether or not she should come clean to her mother about her boyfriend. But everything drastically changed one ominous night.
Spoiler Alert
What happened to Daisy’s parents?
Daisy’s parents, Neil and Melanie, were kind and loving people. They owned a second-hand clothes shop, and they were happy with their little life in Toronto, or so Daisy thought. Her mother was curious about her friend, Justin, and Daisy tried to avoid directly answering her question. She later confided in Justin that she wanted to be honest with her parents, but by the time she returned to the store that evening, her parents were dead. Daisy couldn’t believe her eyes; she struggled to comprehend the reason behind her parents’ deaths. They were shot, but why? Daisy identified their bodies at the morgue; she was way too stoned to process it all. Tim from Social Services offered her a cup of tea and told her that she could leave after signing a couple of documents. He asked her to wait for him, and just then, June walked in. When she discovered that Daisy was approached by ‘Social Services,’ she figured Gilead agents were already trying to get to her. She snatched the cup from her hand and tossed it, and asked Daisy to come along with her. Daisy couldn’t figure out what was going on. Here was a woman telling her she was in danger, and that the man who claimed to be from Social Services had been lying. June explained that she was a friend of her parents, and she had been to their store several times. She offered to take her somewhere safe, and Daisy trusted her. June refused to let her contact her boyfriend or leave the apartment they were temporarily staying in, and that left Daisy frustrated. June eventually disclosed to Daisy that her parents were working with Mayday, and obviously, she was completely shocked. She refused to believe that her parents had been leading a secret life that only June knew about. Moreover, she didn’t think her parents were tech-savvy enough to be secret spies. June tried to explain that Neil and Melanie had planned on telling Daisy about Mayday, but it wasn’t easy, since they knew they would be putting her at risk as well. Daisy didn’t know what to believe, and when June mentioned that she had made arrangements to take her out of the city, she demanded to speak to her boyfriend. June obviously couldn’t let her communicate with anyone on the outside, so at night, when June fell asleep, Daisy sneaked out. She walked to Justin’s house and hugged him tight, afraid of letting him go. She didn’t know what the future had in store for her, so she figured that, in the brief time that she had with him, she wanted to hold him close. Daisy had proposed that they run away, and Justin simply scoffed at the remark. He didn’t think running away was a solution for the emotional turmoil she was experiencing, and she suggested that she talk to the cops who’d been looking for her. She had told him that her parents were apparently spies, and that was what got them killed, but Justin didn’t believe it. He suggested that they talk to his parents first, and decide what to do next. Daisy sensed it wasn’t a good idea, so she took some money from his pants pockets, climbed out of the window, and left. She found June waiting for her. She hugged her tight, and told her that she wanted to help because she, too, was familiar with aching agony.
Who was responsible for the attack?
The students at Aunt Lydia’s school boarded a bus to go to Mrs. Judd’s house. She was married to Commander Judd, and the aunts believed that the girls would learn a lesson or two from seeing how well she’d adjusted to her new life. The Plums were excited by the prospect; they would get to meet their friend, and also find out how life was on the other side. Daisy was asked to accompany Agnes during the trip. Soon after the students boarded the bus and crossed a short distance, they heard gunshots. Daisy focused on keeping Agnes safe, and it helped her win her trust. The students were evacuated from the bus and asked to hide in a nearby store. They saw dead bodies lying on the ground, and the entire episode was traumatizing for the young girls. They gathered together and discussed the shocking event, and when Daisy asked them who they thought could’ve done it, they firmly stated it was Mayday, their number one enemy, whom they described as ‘Godless animals’. The topic immediately changed when one of the girls, Hulda, stated that she’d seen a wounded Guardian who was being bandaged, and she’d noticed the hair on his stomach. The girls were quite surprised and even repulsed by the information. Daisy figured if she added some spice they girls might finally trust her. She added that most grown men she’d seen had body hair. The girls wondered why it was so, and Daisy instinctively responded that it was genetic, though she quickly added that it was one of God’s mysteries. They questioned how she had gathered this information. Daisy responded that she went to the beach like everyone else, where men would go shirtless, and seeing bodies was quite commonplace. She further added that the hair went lower down, and the girls blushed.
A week after the incident, the Plums went on the field trip as was planned before. Commander Judd’s wife, Penny, was ecstatic to see her friends. She showed them around her carefully decorated house and flaunted her husband’s rare wine collection. She tried to establish that her marital life was blissful, that the commander allowed her to decorate the house as she pleased, and lately she’d been feeling ill in the mornings, so she was hoping it was a sign from God. For the Plums, Penny’s life was picture perfect, but what was it really like behind closed doors? We’ll hopefully find out soon. Commander Michael Judd stopped by and appreciated the bravery the girls had shown the previous week. He explained that Mayday attacked them simply because they were jealous of their fortune, which was “fresh air, clean water and fruitful young women.” The outside world, according to him, had nothing but filth and hate, and soon his eyes turned to Daisy, and he mentioned that Gilead believed in taking God’s children wherever they came from. Daisy was asked why she’d come to Gilead, and she responded that she wanted to serve God’s will, and she had nothing left where she’d come from. The commander welcomed her to her ‘new home’, and well, Daisy couldn’t have hated him any less.
We soon discover that Agnes’ Guardian (the one she had a crush on) was working with Mayday, and Daisy spoke to him in secrecy and asked him if they were truly the ones who were responsible for the attacks. Apparently, it was supposed to be a retrieval mission, but it doesn’t look like things went according to plan. Daisy slyly handed him the layout of the school she’d drawn, and she hoped that whatever their plan was, it shouldn’t let any harm befall the girls. Daisy didn’t mince her words, and she called Mayday a ‘sloppy shitshow’ for putting the young girls as well as her at risk for their mission. She reminded the young man that she was risking her life by infiltrating the school, and they couldn’t afford any mistakes. Daisy told him that she wanted to talk to June, but the young man didn’t seem to know who that was. That wasn’t surprising, since Mayday was a massive organisation, and the people working there weren’t supposed to know every member. The realisation that she was completely by herself had set in, and it wasn’t comforting. Meanwhile, Agnes noticed that Daisy had taken a seat on the bus before everyone else, and it is likely that she might be suspecting that Daisy had a thing for her Guardian, and she obviously wasn’t okay with it.
Why was Gilead after Daisy?
The last time, and perhaps the only time Daisy and June met, she’d asked June why Gilead was after her. They had already killed her parents, so couldn’t figure out what more they wanted? June revealed to Daisy that Gilead didn’t want to harm her but they wanted to take her back, because they believed Daisy belonged to them. Daisy couldn’t comprehend the point June was trying to arrive at, since her parents had never been to Gilead, so there wasn’t really any connection between the authoritarian state and her. That was when June made the big revelation at the end of The Testaments episode 3, stating that Neil and Melanie were her adoptive parents. She was born in Gilead, and her parents had brought her out of there. Daisy struggled to grasp the truth; she couldn’t believe that Neil and Melanie weren’t her birth parents. June remembered that when Daisy first got out of Gilead, she wouldn’t stop crying, but Melanie didn’t give up. She sang her show tunes and finally, at one point, Daisy calmed down. So, June wanted Daisy to know that Neil and Melanie would always be her parents, they’d raised her, and they did whatever was necessary to protect her. When Daisy asked June how she knew about the story, she explained that Melanie had told the story to her several times. For a brief moment, Daisy blamed herself for her parents’ death, but June wanted her to know that wasn’t the case, and she told her to never think that way again. Before June left, she told Daisy that Mayday would always have her back, and they’d been watching over her all this time. If you’ve read the book, you already know the story, but from the episode, it can be derived that there is a connection between June and Daisy that will obviously become crucial to what is about to unfold. Also, June’s priority had been to bring Hannah from Gilead, so Daisy might be crucial to the plan. Was that why she’d been asked to constantly be with Agnes? Is Agnes actually Hannah? Well, we’ll soon get our answers.
Courtesy of DMTalkies
