Oraetta Mayflower

Oraetta Mayflower
Portrayed by	Jessie Buckley
Featured in	Season 4
Vital information
Occupation	Nurse
Affiliation	St. Bartholomew Public Hospital (formerly) St. Thecla’s Hospital
Family	Josto Fadda - Lover (deceased)
Residence	Minnesota (formerly) Kansas City, Missouri
Statistics
Age	36
Born	1914
Died	1951
Status	Deceased
Fate	Shot in the head by Joe Bulo
Appearances
First seen	"Welcome to the Alternate Economy"
Last seen	“”Storia Americana”
Appears in	1 season, 10 episodes

Oraetta Mayflower is one of the two secondary antagonists (alongside Gaetano Fadda) of Fargo Season 4.

Overview

Nurse Oraetta Mayflower is a Minnesota native with a folksy accent and sunny disposition. A self-described “Angel of Mercy,” Oraetta believes that her purpose on this “earthly realm” is to bring peace and comfort to the patients in her care.

History

Early life

Oraetta Mayflower was born in 1914 and raised in Minnesota. As a child, she was a victim of her mother’s Munchausen Syndrome by proxy, which involved being regularly hospitalized by her mother’s poisoning in an attempt to gain attention; she alluded to this in conversation with Josto Fadda. It’s very likely that this element of her childhood played a major role in shaping her future career as a nurse and her compulsions as a serial killer, as well as her method of killing, her interest in human biology, and her obsession with having power over others.

Funeral and Meeting Ethelrida

Oraetta was attending a funeral (likely that of one of her patients) at Ethelrida's home when Ethelrida arrived home and she introduced herself and snorted cocaine. She made remarks on Ethelrida, showing her interests in human biology and genetics, some of which being racist. She seemed to have an unnatural draw toward Ethelrida from the start.

Donatello Fadda

After Donatello Fadda was shot in the neck, Oraetta cared for him at the hospital. Josto, while waiting for his father, asked her if she had any drugs, but she wouldn't give him any until he agreed to share. The two of them did drugs together and then Josto asked Oraetta to take care of his father, saying he knew his dad was in pain and hated to see him suffer. Oraetta took this as a request for euthanization and injected Donatello that evening with a drug that killed him. Then she went home and watched Ethelrida's house from her own home.

Getting Caught and Recruiting Ethelrida

While attempting to euthanize another patient, Oraetta is caught by a doctor. She was reported to her superior, who called her into his office and fired her, saying this wasn't the first time they had concerns about her. When she threatened to go to the newspapers with claims of incompetent doctors and a cover-up, he gave her two months' severance and a recommendation for her next job.

Oraetta went to Ethelrida and offered her a housekeeping job, which Ethelrida turned down. Oraetta then went home and made an apple pie. She soaked the apples in ipecac syrup before baking them into the pie. Once the pie was finished, she took it to Ethelrida's house and left it on the porch. She likely did so due to her obsession of power over others being threatened by Ethelrida’s pretentiousness. The ipecac used not being enough to kill but to hospitalise, this way could she exert power over Ethelrida as a patient, in the scenario the pie was eaten which it was not.

Oraetta then interviewed for and got a job at David Harvard's hospital. After leaving the interview, she climbed into Josto's car as he sat in the parking lot and flirted with him before giving him a hand job and quickly leaving.

Oraetta continued her affair with Josto. One morning, as he was leaving, Ethelrida came to her door, inquiring about her past job offer. Oraetta was frustrated, but agreed and left Ethelrida some tasks to do while she went to work.

Oraetta continued to work as a nurse. When watching a patient who was moaning in pain, she repeatedly bashed her head on the wall.

Oraetta was called into Dr. Harvard's office one day after he received a letter from Ethelrida, signed only "A Concerned Citizen," informing him of the unusual deaths surrounding Oraetta. He expressed his disbelief that the claims were true, but said he had to report it to HR anyway. However, Oraetta was able to convince him not to, saying it would ruin her reputation. Later, she was in the room with the moaning patient. The moaning suddenly stopped and she left the room with a smile only moments later.

Oraetta then went home and baked macaroons for Harvard. She took them to his office and insisted that he try one. He tried one and loved it. However, soon after, he started struggling to breathe and fell to the floor as Oraetta watched. She then got into his desk and took the letter. Then she called out for help and fled while his secretary came in to help him.

Oraetta continued her sexual relationship with Josto, though she brushed it off when Josto claimed to love her. When she learned that Harvard survived the poisoning and had been transferred out of state as they suspected foul play, she quickly started to pack. While she was packing, she found Ethelrida's journal and matched her handwriting to the letter. She then spied on Ethelrida as she left her house.

After a couple of months, Oraetta came to the Smutny house to confront Ethelrida, but Ethelrida made it clear that she had enough of Oraetta that she wasn't scared. Oraetta later broke into the Smutny house and went into Ethelrida's bedroom in the middle of the night. She prepared a syringe, but before she could inject it, Snowman appeared behind her and scared her off. Oraetta returned home, where she was confronted by police and promptly arrested by cops who told her that Dr. Harvard had woken up.

Oraetta was surprised to be bailed out of jail, though she was unaware who had done it. She was then taken to meet with the Fadda family, where she revealed that she'd killed Donatello at Josto's request, though Josto vehemently denied this accusation, saying Oraetta had misunderstood him. Ultimately, she gave Josto away, despite their history with each other, by mentioning their time together in her apartment. Her betrayal likely being part of her obsession with power which she exerted over Josto. This backfired as Josto and Oraetta were both ruled guilty and Joe Bulo drove them out to the middle of nowhere. On the way she shows strong aggression against Josto for referring to her as a ‘hag’. Arriving, Joe shoots them both to death. Oraetta's last request was that they shoot Josto first so she could watch it, which they did. She watches Josto’s body fall in the pit and sees him bleed out from his head wound. Then she turns back to the shooters and looks past them to see her own face reflected in the car behind. She stares at her own face and effectively also witnesses her own death and she is shot in the head. She sees in the reflection, Mr Snowman who has now left the Smutny family. She falls dead into the pit beside Josto.

Episode appearances

Season 4

• 401 - "Welcome to the Alternate Economy"
• 402 - "The Land of Taking and Killing"
• 403 - "Raddoppiarlo"
• 404 - "The Pretend War"
• 405 - "The Birthplace of Civilization"
• 406 - "Camp Elegance"
• 407 - "Lay Away"
• 408 - "The Nadir"
• 410 - "Happy"
• 411 - "Storia Americana"

Trivia

• Mayflower has similarities to the song 'Fake Palindromes' (2005) by Andrew Bird who portrays Thurman Smutny. The song describes an innocent-seeming young woman who fits Mayflower's description and has a secret blood lust. The line 'what has tried Swapping your blood with formaldehyde? Monsters?' has similarities to both Mayflower's method of killing and her Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy being the cause for her madness. The line 'Whisky-plied voices cried, "Fratricide!" describes Ebal's kangaroo court that Mayflower is involved in. The line 'She's got an old death kit she's been meaning to use' has similarities with Oraetta's syringe kit prepared for Ethelrida. Also the line 'And I'm gonna tie your wrists with leather And drill a tiny hole into your head' references actions on a partner, similar to Oraetta's treatment of Josto, their relationship ending with a hole in Josto's head. Considering writer and show runner Noah Hawley was a large fan of Andrew Bird (encouraging him to cast him as Thurman) it is likely the song was used as part of the inspiration of Mayflower.

Murders committed

Committed by Mayflower

• Donatello Fadda - Poisoned. (Welcome to the Alternate Economy)