Spoiler alert: This story contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale, “Secatur,” of “The Handmaid’s Tale” sequel series “Testament,” currently streaming on Hulu.
Hulu’s “The Testes” ended its first season with many upsetting and shocking moments. This is exactly what fans expect from a sequel to “The Handmaid’s Tale.” But amidst the darkness, there was a special scene filled with light and love. It’s a kiss between Agnes (Chase Infinity) and her best friend Becca (Mattea Conforti).
However, the kiss took place just before Becca’s wedding to Agnes’s crush, Garth (Brad Alexander), when Agnes was comforting Becca, so what this kiss meant between them is open to interpretation. And while Becca is currently expressing her romantic feelings for her best friend in multiple overt ways, Agnes refuses to acknowledge it and remains focused on supporting Becca through what is a very difficult situation for both of them.
“I wouldn’t say Agnes necessarily ignores[Becca’s feelings],” Testament star Infinity told Variety. “I don’t think Agnes really understands what that feels like. She knows Gilead’s ‘gender traitors’ are bad, but she doesn’t really know what it means, just like no one at Gilead teaches them anything.” I think Agnes just sees that Becca loves her as much as Agnes loves her. And whether it’s the same thing or not, I think she only sees that as Becca loving her.” All I know is that that’s the person in her life. ”
Becca (Mattea Conforti) and Agnes (Chase Infinity) appear on Hulu’s ‘Testament’ season
Courtesy of Disney/Russ Martin
Agnes is deeply hurt when her aunts decide that Becca will marry Guardian-turned-Commander Garth and Agnes will marry the much older Commander Weston (Reed Diamond). But when Becca’s fate becomes questionable after killing her father, a sex offender, Dr. Grove (Randall Edwards), Agnes takes action to save Garth from destruction by arranging a wedding with Becca.
“We can all see how Becca’s entire world has changed dramatically and rapidly in such a short period of time. Everything she’s known and loved has really been flipped and is now completely different,” Conforti says. “At the end of Season 1, we see her in a very lonely physical state, so you really wonder if she’s going to develop a relationship with Garth. I hope she can have more honest conversations about who she is and her identity, like she did with Daisy previously in episode 5.”
Becca (Mattea Conforti) appears in Hulu’s ‘Testament’ season 1 finale
Courtesy of Disney/Steve Wilkie
Becca chooses Garth, deciding that he is the safest option among the suitors her aunts suggested to her parents. But Becca confessed to friends that she had no intention of getting married or having children and that she liked to fantasize about escaping from Gilead. Now, she is married to Garth, but she does not realize that she is in the best situation at the moment, as Garth is a rebel operative in Canada’s Mayday Resistance.
“Her relationship with him is very complicated, especially because she doesn’t know that Garth is part of Mayday,” Conforti says. “She doesn’t know if she’s really going to find support within Garth in her hesitance about Gilead. But I think the reason she’s so drawn to the option of choosing Garth over another commander is because Garth is willing to relocate so she can be closer to her friends, and in that way he’s going to support her and give her the future that she really wants, which is not about being a wife or being a mother.”
Ms. Conforti added, “She’s willing to marry Garth. Yeah, there’s this partnership here, where we can have trust and understanding with each other. She also knows that Agnes loves him, so in a way I think being involved in their relationship allows her to be closer to Agnes as well. But she’s willing to marry Garth because she’s not expected to be romantic or to be a wife or a mother at all.”
Agnes (Chase Infinity) and Garth (Brad Alexander) in Hulu’s ‘Testament’ Season 1
Courtesy of Disney/Russ Martin
To save Becca, Agnes sacrificed herself by pulling strings with her fiancé. She tells Commander Weston how Becca’s father sexually abused her, and reveals that Becca killed her father to protect Agnes. It worked, in that Weston saved Becca from his eyes and facilitated her marriage to Garth. However, Agnes’ confession of being tainted by Dr. Grove causes Commander Weston to break off the engagement.
“I think she’s coming to terms with the fact that her life isn’t going to turn out the way she originally planned,” Infinity says. “In the scene where all the girls find out that Dr. Grove is dead, even though Agnes knows the truth, it’s a moment like that, as they said, a moment with Weston, where she taps into the last bit of her power. Or she realizes that the system will never work for her that way. That’s when she starts doing things like begging Garth to marry Becca because she knows it will save Becca, and she knows that with Garth, Becca is safe and she’s a protector in a way because she’s close to them and she knows they’re both safe. ”
Agnes (Chase Infinity) and Commander Weston (Reed Diamond) in Hulu’s “Testament”
Courtesy of Disney/Steve Wilkie
Now Agnes is back at school, Aunt Lydia’s (Ann Dowd) wife, and it’s only when she gets engaged that the “green” plums are back so close to the altar.
“This is the first time something like this has happened, so I don’t think she has any idea what’s going to happen,” Infinity said. “Agnes is the first plum to go back to school, so she knows that her life isn’t going to turn out the way she planned, or quite the same as her other friends. That’s something she has to adapt to. But she has friends. She has Daisy (Lucy Halliday), she has Shu (Rowan Blanchard), and they’re going to be with her on that journey, too.”
