The School for Good Mothers

Meryl and Roxane escaped with the help of the guard whom Meryl was sleeping with. The guard was fired, and Frida gets in trouble because the staff assumes she knew about the escape plans and failed to report them, since she was close with both women. In reality, Roxane talked about escaping, but Frida never took her seriously because she had many farfetched ideas.

Unit 8 is about danger. The mothers practice rescuing dolls from fake burning buildings. As of September, it’s been a year since Harriet was taken, and Frida can’t remember what file she needed from her office or what her article was even about, why she ever thought it was “possible” to leave Harriet alone. The mothers watch videos of children being hit by cars, and rescue dolls from the same fate. Frida shares with Emmanuelle that cars are dangerous, and that her grandfather died in a car crash. She is given a warning for emotionally burdening the doll. Frida builds upon her daydream about the house she’ll live in with Tucker. She imagines Margaret, Roxane, and Lucretia there too, along with their children.

The basement floods, and the cleaning crew finds Meryl down there. Apparently, she was caught and is being held here. The mothers talk about calling their lawyers and the ACLU. However, the next day, Meryl reappears with the rest of the class: The school is allowing her to finish the program rather than kicking her out after she escaped. She got separated from Roxane after the escape, and doesn’t know where she went. Meryl got caught and sent back to the school because she tried to see her child.

In October, the fathers come back, and together, the parents practice physical combat to fight off fake kidnappers. They watch videos where children talk about being sexually abused; many blame their parents, especially their mothers. The instructors say parents can prevent their children from being sexually abused by giving them attention. During these lessons, several parents vomit or cry because they have also been sexually abused. The parents then have to take turns pretending to be pedophiles and rescuing their dolls from pedophiles. Frida gets knocked out, and Tucker brings her to the infirmary, despite her protests that he’s making her look bad on camera. They confess their love for each other. For the evaluation, there’s an obstacle course that nobody finishes; Frida gets a zero. Tucker promises to protect her when they get out, in three weeks.

In November, the mothers and fathers start the final Unit 9, about morality. The dolls have to demonstrate “altruism” by successfully picking up injured birds and bringing them to their mothers. Emmanuelle is distracted because she had to say goodbye to Tucker’s doll Jeremy, and wants to see him. However, the next time she sees him, they’ll have erased memories and likely be reprogrammed to match different parents’ children.

Ms. Gibson, the assistant director, pushes for a reason why Frida would pursue Tucker, a bad father, until Frida finally shares her mother’s miscarriage and resulting depression and occasional coldness. Ms. Gibson proposes various “American solutions” Frida’s mother should have pursued, such as a therapist. Frida’s mother felt that dwelling on the past was a luxury, and she had to work instead. Frida’s parents never taught her about “altruism,” so she frames the bird exercise in terms of “duty”—the duty to be kind and help those in need (rather than doing so out of the goodness of one’s heart, a more abstract reason). This approach seems to be effective because Emmanuelle is the first to successfully complete the lesson.

With one week left, even the mothers who failed every test believe they’ll regain custody, but they won’t find out until their court dates, which will occur after they leave the program. In the past year, some family situations changed, and not all mothers know where they’ll be staying when they get out. Meanwhile, the mothers teach the dolls to care about human rights, poverty, and homelessness.

Susanna and Gust’s baby, Henry, is born prematurely at 35 weeks via emergency C-section. He has health issues and has to live in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for the time being. Frida recalls her own C-section, which resulted in her milk coming in too slowly, necessitating she give Harriet formula to survive. At first, Frida didn’t want to use formula, but the nurse said this was to avoid “going home without her” (286). Frida does not want Susanna to have to go home without Henry. Will has agreed to let Frida stay with him when she gets out.

In class, the mothers are supposed to get the dolls to give a fake homeless person a coin and also say something supportive to them, such as “be well.” At first, Emmanuelle delivers the coin but fails to use a supportive phrase. However, at the evaluation, she successfully completes this drill as well as the bird drill. Meanwhile, Frida herself grieves over how Emmanuelle will soon be erased and later repurposed. At the program’s end, the mothers watch compiled videos of themselves, with Frida’s video making it look like once she met Tucker, she paid less attention to Emmanuelle. Frida’s prognosis is still fair to poor despite her efforts and unlikely success.

Meryl jumps off the bell tower and dies after learning that her own prognosis is poor, and her daughter Ocean will probably go to foster care. The women say goodbye to their dolls, with Emmanuelle saying “Love you, Mommy! Take care! Take care!” (293).

The judge terminated Frida’s parental rights, and now it’s December. She’s waiting in Ms. Torres’s office for her final, 30-minute supervised visit with Harriet, after which she won’t be allowed to contact her again. Once Harriet is 18, she’ll be allowed to seek out Frida, but Frida can’t take the first step. Gust and Susanna both testified in favor of reunification, arguing that Frida is a good person and that permanently severing ties between Harriet and her mother would further traumatize Harriet. However, Emmanuelle’s data and recommendations from the school’s instructors, counselors, and social workers doomed Frida’s case. Frida has been staying with Will, who keeps a close watch, concerned she might attempt suicide. Gust expresses concern as well when he arrives with Harriet. After this day, Frida won’t be allowed to contact him either.

Harriet hugs her mother and asks why they have to say goodbye. Harriet says she loves her, shows Frida her doll, and wants her mother to come to her birthday party. She promises to look for Frida when she’s 18. When time is up, she screams that she wants to stay with Frida and has to be pried away, wetting herself. Security escorts Frida from the building, and she passes out in the street, where strangers find her and put her in a taxi.

Frida goes to Will’s apartment, where she drinks all his liquor within a couple days. Everyone is concerned she’ll attempt suicide, but she’s already decided she won’t: If she did, she might do severe damage to her body, which would only put more financial and emotional strain on her parents. Tucker calls Frida four times, but she ignores him. He regained custody of his own child and assumed Frida has, too. She delays calling her parents but finally tells them the news, and they ask her to move home to the Chicago suburbs. Frida books a one-way ticket for a couple weeks away, giving her time to pack and settle her affairs.

Baby Henry experiences medical difficulties, and Gust needs to go to the NICU with Susanna. He asks Will to babysit. Frida convinces Will to let her see Harriet while she’s sleeping, since they only got 30 minutes to say goodbye; Will previously offered to do “anything” for Frida, so he obliges. She then convinces him to leave her alone with Harriet for an hour, to go wait at a nearby bar.

Frida withdraws $8,000 in cash, and packs her and Harriet’s things. She brings Harriet to her car and straps her in the car seat. Harriet asks why her mother is here and where they’re going. Frida responds that they’re going to have fun for as long as they can. She knows there will be an Amber Alert, and that she will eventually be caught and taken to prison. However, with little to lose, she rides off with her daughter for the time being.