HANDMAID'S TALE Season 2 (new thread)

I would hope whatever happens next season they can open things up a bit and get the show out of Cambridge & Ottawa. I would like to see more of what's happening in other parts of Gilead since the Sons of Jacob Revolution.

Thanks OP for starting the new thread.

There should be a war next season and Serena Joy gets captured by Canada and then cut to a scene with the US government guy played by Sam Jaeger laying shirtless on Hawaiian beach reading a news article about SJ's capture.

Do they call her Serena Joy in the series? I know she was Serena Joy in the novel and in the movie, but in the series she seems to be called only either "Serena" (by her husband and privately by June) or "Mrs. Waterford" (by June publicly and by everyone else).

This show would benefit from a larger budget, like "The Man in the High Castle" has. Like that latter show, it's re-imagining an entire world. But I'm sure the audience is not big enough for a budget like that.

My bet: Fred gets executed. Serena gets sent to the Colonies. Emily is plotting something big that gets her thrown in a gulag right before she would have been rescued by Canadians. I have no guess about what happens to Nick. The baby is stillborn. June is placed with the old man who thought she was pretty. I don't think June ever gets out of Gilead alive. Maybe the baby is born in Canada and the Canadian government refuses to sent it to Gilead, saying it is a Canadian citizen, but June is somehow forced to return. I think Hannah is reunited with her father. And, as always, the chick playing Moira will fail to even smile believably much less portray any other facet of being a human being with any shred of authenticity.

I hope Emily survives this dystopia. I like her world-weary gumption in the face of horrible brutality.

I don;t think Fred or Serena will be executed or sent to the colonies (or if so, for very long): they're the major supporting cast.

I’ve never read the book. What happens to Fred and SJ in it?

Nothing happens to Fred and SJ. Their story ends in the book exactly as the first season ended: with them watching Offred being led away in a car, either to freedom or to trouble with the Eyes.

The epilogue in the book suggests Fred was executed in a purge shortly after.

I think June will survive and escape Gilead. It's a question of when. I suspect this show will drag it out longer.

A war or Mayday revolt should at least happen at the end of this season to move the story forward. In season 1, it was mentioned that Canadian and British troops were training near the border and the Waterfords' visit to Canada became a disaster due to the release of the letters. The Canadian, US government in exile, and their allies might feel it's time to invade Gilead.

I have a feeling Gilead in the series does not have access to nuclear weapons or technologies which makes them a much weaker Gilead than the books. And invasion is possible.

BTW Fred was killed by June in the book not killed in a purge..

I think Fred will be killed off and Serena Joy gets some kind of punishment if the US reclaims the areas taken over by Gilead. The Commanders wives' helped their husbands commit sex crimes and I could see the federal or reclaimed state governments arresting them, convicting them, and sending them to prisons.

I loved how Emily killed that Commander's wife at the colonies and the other Commander wives need to pay too.

R13 "Fred was killed by June in the book not killed in a purge"

No.

It was a purge R13. Not June.

Apparently r13 read a different book.

NM I was thinking about the movie not the novel.

I like your ideas, R14. I hope that the last part of the final season will deal with that -- Nuremberg-like trials for the Commanders and their wives, with lots of discussion about culpability, complicity, and criminal guilt.

R19, interesting idea but I think anything that moves beyond the world Atwood created is chancy, though the narrative has now gone beyond her novel it's still recognizable as the world she created.

R19. That said I think there are interesting ideas about how a society rebuilds after a society rebuilds post war or post revolution. Indeed the commanders would be tried but all the low ranking armed, how many would be vetted and cleared?

Would some of the aunt's be cleared?

A society where the guilty are absolved to allow a transition, like Spain post Franco and much of south America is always dramatically intriguing.

In the novel I think Gilead persists for many decades. So it would be weird to have it fall after a couple years. Maybe the allies will just slowly take back American territory.

Yes, they speak at the academic conference about “early”, “middle” and “late” period Gilead- I presume at shortest the regime lasted thirty years

I'm not sure how exactly they're holding to the book--they're already changed a number of things from it.

Only a man would want the women punished more than the males - just as DL always blames female enablers more than male murderers or rapists - without understanding that all females, including wives and aunts, are subjugated in Gilead, and that this is one of the main strengths of Atwood’s masterpiece. A bird in a gilded cage is still a bird in a cage.

[quote]Would some of the aunt's be cleared?

If Gilead is thrown over and the American government once again takes control, I can see some of the Aunts working out plea deals to avoid the maximum punishment. The Aunts are guilty of various crimes in addition to the commanders and wives. Aunt Lydia is the type that would probably beg for some kind of deal. She along with other vicious Aunts, Commanders, and wives needs to be killed or punished for the awful shit they have inflicted on others.

I agree, R25. Women are infallible and any bad things they do are always a man's fault.

I hear Michael Avanettit will represent June in the next season

Fred is killed by June in the film version with Robert Duval, Natasha Richardson and DL face Faye Dunaway.

In the book, he's executed in a purge.

I meant DL fave, not face.

The Israeli trailer is on the Hot Vod Facebook page.

If anyone wants more spoilers check out The Handmaid's Tale-Official Fan Group on Facebook. Some photos from a production member's website have been put on that group and some of the spoilers are big.

Enormous bitches

I want Nick to kill Fred on the show.

I want Luke to hate fuck fred, then strangle him

The family separation issues are timely, to say the least. Wonder if that was Atwood’s doing as she’s proved to be very prescient. (Anyone know the extent of Atwood’s involvinment on the scripting?)

She’s not directly involved.

The only low point of this episode was Cherry Jones.

The voice cameo in the episode was kind of fun.

Beautiful episode. Only marginally ruined by Samira Wiley

Anyone else think Brewer is a terrific acctress? She tenures me of Brittney Murphy a bit

I love the look

R41 I think she's better than Samira Wiley.

The garage door sequence bordered on slapstick

The voiceovers were great, and direct from the book

Too good to reveal with even a spoiler alert but come on, however you feel about her, hearing THAT PERSON'S voice on the car radio was fucking awesome.

Who was it?

Oh, got it, didn’t even recognize it.

Oprah

I'm not a huge Oprah fan. But, I enjoyed that small part especially when she said "Gilead traitor".

I'm hoping that some kind of war against Gilead starts at the end of this season or maybe early next season. Hell, I would love it if in the season finale an invasion of Gilead starts and then we hear Oprah announcing it on the radio and then we see the Americans in Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada cheering.

In the book was Gilead meant to be the USA?

I read it a long time ago. For some reason I thought it was just a fictional country somewhere.

Making it the US makes the story awkward. How did they get control over everybody? How did people not fight back or get help from other countries?

R51 it was always USA.

Population crisis (infertility, one of the few more overt fantastical elements but not outside realm of belief), extreme right activism, growth of terrorism, infiltration of basically all agencies, and a massive attack on the branches of government, replacing them with the infiltrated figures.

Its part cautionary tale, but also part alternate universe. Its efforts wouldn't actually work by itself in the USA today exactly, but added factors like years (or more) of infertility and rise of alternate politics, as well as deterioration of international relations (oh...) led to an opening for fanatics to grow and exploit.

People did fight back. In the book, they're still fighting back for years on. But Gilead had the majority of mainland USA, at least to enough degree to claim it.

The novel never specified whether Gilead had all the former USA territory and there's no mention of whether some version of the US still exists. The events of the story take place in what used to be New England and we can assume based on the attacks in the capital that Gilead has control at least as far south as DC. Blacks are relocated somewhere vaguely identified as in the midwest, so it extends at least as far west as Ohio. The location of the colonies is never revealed.

I cannot understand why June is so hard on Emily, e.g., “bitch, at least your wife and child are alive”. June ALSO knows her husband and child are alive, and furthermore June has not had her clit cut off. Emily gets to be as furious as she wants to be. The clitoris has more nerve endings than the penis and I hardly think people would be telling a man to just get over a penisectomy.

The real difference is in our world people are electing the architect of Gilead rather than sitting around and waiting for them to machine gun all the branches of government.

R51 there were two, maybe three US maps on the wall in the home office of the mansion in the Holly episode. Certain parts of the US were blacked out. Wonder if that was a clue?

[quote]Blacks are relocated somewhere vaguely identified as in the midwest, so it extends at least as far west as Ohio.

They mention the dakotas

R56, I saw that

I'm really getting frustrated with the darkness on screen. Yeah, I know why they do it (it's dramatic, sinister , it's a dark time in history etc...) but if I can't see what the fuck is going on, who the fuck is doing what and can't see the emotions on their faces, the darkness is just a distraction. I got so pissed off, I turned the channel. Therefore, I didn't see all of the scenes. I did see Nick take June to a big house to meet her daughter. I could see that scene. I think Nick was shot and June was left in the house by herself.

Can someone please tell what the else happened (you know, when it was too dark to see anything). Thanks.

[quote]Can someone please tell what the else happened

No.

r59, you're a dumb dumb

R41 Brewer has surprised me. I did not think much of her on Orange Is The New Black, and Hemlock Grove was just so bad overall I couldn't judge her performance. But she is really good in this.

Samira Wiley, on the other hand, is horrible. I already thought she was wooden on OITNB, but at least that was a dramedy, and her acting still kind of fit. She is not a dramatic actress; nothing she emotes rings true.

Samira Wiley didn't deserve that Emmy nomination last year.

When will she be slapped?

The Israeli promo is up on the Hot Vod Facebook. Major spoilers are in it for the next ep.

Can u post a link r65. I can’t find it via searching.

R66 If you have instagram look for an account called @hot_il it has the promo.

Hulu seems to be fighting with that Hot Vod network because of the recent promos giving away major spoilers. I know last week the Israeli promo was briefly up for viewing in the US.

The spoilers in the Israeli promo for next week were also spoiled onto several Facebook groups because a member of the production team put a bunch of set pics on her personal website.

I think this is it?

Well, that preview gave a lot away.

all you have to do is google 'the handmaid's tale season 2 episode 12 preview' and you get a lot of hits.

Here's a shot of the map. it looks like it shows Gilead in three stages, with probably the first being what Gilead was when it started, the second being what Gilead is when the maps were created, and the third being an aspirational map that covers the whole united States.

It makes sense. we've heard on the show that there is guerrila fighting in Florida, and that there is still fighting going on "in what remains of Chicago"

Interesting. But why do they say that the US is only a rump of two states? Hawaii and Alaska?

It's been a long time since I've read the book, but I recall it mentions the American government being set up in Alaska and the show is following that. Distance was probably reason why in Hawaii's case Sons of Jacob were unable to take over.

I hope the show will at least give a couple of scenes of Alaska or Hawaii in a future episode. It would be interesting to see how life is in and how many made into those states. The US government rep that Serena met in Canada will probably pop up again.

Because he's adorable!!!!

So it was really Serena's idea to create the handmaids?

[quote]t I recall it mentions the American government being set up in Alaska and the show is following that.

Nope, it doesn’t. No american government at all

[quote]Samira Wiley didn't deserve that Emmy nomination last year.

No, she didn't. It should have gone to Yvonne Strahovski, andl Hulu had better push Strahovski hard for this season, which she owned. Wiley was barely in this season, so hopefully one won't cancel out the other.

R71 thanks

For this season, I think Strahovski is more deserving of an Emmy nomination than Ann Dowd. I like Ann, but this should be Yvonne's year.

Theories about Rita are increasing. I think she'll be involved in some kind of attack.

Reddit theory about a possible fire being caused by Serena's smoking.

Rita is spying for the eyes

The actress who plays Rita gets pretty high billing in the credits considering her role so far. I kept seeing the name come up and eventually googled it to see who she was. So far the role doesn't seem to merit that kind of billing so I'm guessing they have stuff planned for her in the future.

Wiley didn't have enough episodes this year to qualify for supporting actress so she will be in guest actress.

she is a guest

If my Nick eye candy is taken away I will riot.

Yvonne defintely deserves the Emmy.

NIck will mary Moira

Emmy nomination round voting ended on June 25th. Hopefully voters had been watching the show and noticed Yvonne's performances. It would be good to see her get nomination over than awful Chrissy Metz from This Is Us.

So the previews show Nicks little wife and the young guard being executed?

The actress who plays Rita was given servant duties at last year's Emmy to escort Margaret Atwood on stage. Poor thing.

I kinda believe Rita is an Eye. And probably rats on Nick's slutty wife and Isaac.

If Rita's an Eye, then Offred wouldn't have been able to pull half the shit she's pulled.

Eyes don't care about lowly Handmaid's they care about the power structure and those in it.

Pardon the apostrophe.

Power is based on fertility in Gilead, so eyes seriously do contend with the handmaids

If Rita turns out to be an eye, maybe the story about her son dying in the war is a lie.

Or he just fought for the shit side.

[quote]I kinda believe Rita is an Eye. And probably rats on Nick's slutty wife and Isaac.

There might be a chance that she's not an Eye. She seemed fed up in that episode where Isaac was assigned to guard the house. She made the comment to Offred that she hated that Isaac could physically abuse her and not face any punishment. Rita doesn't seem to like child bride Eden. She probably would love to rat them out and be rid of Eden in the household.

I also wonder if the theory that Rita is a spy for the US government in exile could pan out and has been working somehow to get dirt on Fred and Serena Joy.

If you read the book the basic feeling from all characters is of suspicious and hidden alliances. A double-agent for the resistance and the eyes is just possible in Atwood’s world

The new baby is an eye.

Rita being an eye would be almost heartbreaking for many viewers because she seems warm and she elicits sympathy among many, I'd love that touch but they'd need to make it believable which is turning into a bigger and bigger problem as the series goes on imo, not regarding this particular (potential) plot twist but in general.

Heart-breaking? read the book. It’s bone-chilling

Samara Wiley bothers me. That could be a great role. In the movie Elizabeth McGovern made that into a scene stealing role.

When the actress said a complete left turn for the character, that's why I suspect she might be sympathetic to Gilead. Although she would have ratted out June regarding the letters and probably destroyed them.

I agree

How many times will OfFred stare into the camera and declare her independence or resistance, only to be foiled yet again? It's getting old.

Both of them hate you as well r106.

I loved Peggy and I love Offred, but I was thinking the same thing. I don't know many times I can take her escaping and being captured. It's becoming very repititious.

She hasn’t been captured this time yet.

Who the fuck is Peggy?

Elizabeth Moss played Peggy Olson on Mad Men R110

Got it

And she was a Norwegian Catholic.

When will she slap?

[quote]I loved Peggy and I love Offred, but I was thinking the same thing. I don't know many times I can take her escaping and being captured. It's becoming very repititious.

I think there might be a chance that she escapes in the finale because a war breaks out. Season 3 could be her in Canada reuniting with Moira and Luke and trying to figure out ways to get Hannah and the baby back. Nick could be stuck in Gilead, but could be plotting against Fred and Serena.

I would really like if this show goes against type and Offred realizes she loves Nick, so she goes back to Gilead to rescue him and their baby. She comes to terms with the fact that she was an adulterer and that she shouldn't have been with Luke.

I'd like it if the show doesn't get wrapped up in a nice little bow.

Nichole is a trashy name.

Nicoles dance on poles.

"She looks just like her father."

The latest episode really doesn't feel like the penultimate episode of the season. I have no clue what they're going to do in the last episode to set up season 3.

It was Oprah's voice in the car?! Oh damn, I completely missed that.

Based on the promo for the finale, I hope Serena is being punished in a extreme way.

I love the show but the last few episodes have really strained credulity. Eden wouldn't confess her sins? Bullshit. The Waterfords have a handmaid disappear TWICE and then a guardian and wife run off together and everyone just kind of ho-hums it. And the show apparently exists in a universe where adoptions never happened and baby formula never existed (because no women seem to know what to do with a baby who isn't biologically theirs). All these false steps just to maneuver June back into the Waterford's house.

If anyone else forgot today is Wednesday, and a new episode has been released.

how exciting! just in time for fireworks!

I can see a storyline in which it becomes revealed that the Eyes and other commanders are secretly plotting against the Watefords and Fred is eventually executed once they gather enough dirt. There is speculation that Rita might be an Eye and I could see her dishing dirt on them. In the latest episode, you could tell that Rita was wishing she could bitch out Serena for the constant changing of baby clothes and the way she was handling the baby.

The formula thing is is easily explained. The whole concept of Gilead is living biblically and naturally. The breastfeeding Nazis are bad enough now. Imagine a bunch of religious zealots joining La Leche League.

Breastfeeding with face slapping

R127, women have had to supplement or replace breastmilk for millennia. The notion that June running out of breastmilk would be a crisis is ridiculous. If one of the tenets of Gilead is that babies are breastfed whenever possible, or that formula, wet-nursing, and animal milk are not options for whatever reason, then June would be nursing her baby and Serena would grit her teeth and suck it up. Otherwise Serena would have already planned to supplement or replace June's breastmilk. This contrived storyline of "oh, June is pumping per Serena's wishes but the milk is running out, CRISIS!, oh I guess she needs to move back in with the Waterfords" is frankly insulting to the audience.

I watched half the episode last night. wtf is up with Emily’s new post? That artwork! And the Martha cussing and arguing back.

That Martha who is missing an eye was cussing and arguing back. And then the Commander was grilling Emily about her past and offering her alcohol. So does this guy purposely take in misfits and let them be or does he accept misfits so he can be cruel to them under cover of "they deserved it"?

^ Forgot to add, similarly, does he keep his wife locked up for her own protection or to punish her for speaking out?

Suckass punks

Maybe Emily’s new commander is testing her for recruitment for the resistance?

Aunt Lydia did not want to leave Emily there.

[quote]Serena would grit her teeth and suck it up.

Pics please.

I liked how June rolled her eyes at Eden's refusal to ask for Mercy.

aint watchin no show where the star is sci tology member....NO

I actually liked this episode a lot. Except for the end.

Atwood’s writing always furthers the mood of discomfort and suspicion. This episode, with the new commander for Emily, the tension between nick and offred, and unrequited need to mother for June felt true to the writer. The eden Isaac thing felt a tad soap-opera like, though Gilead would have had no issue with culling the weak and impious, the way the other characters handled it weakened the whole.

The new Commander is either looking for some sort of redemptive arc with Emily or she's just going to slash his throat. Is the Israeli preview up somewhere yet?

R139 So far I haven't found the Israeli promo on Facebook or Instagram.

Episode 13 promo embedded here:

Looks like a horror flic

Love the new commander! He is the crazy daddy from Get Out the movie!

He’s a better actor than the other male leads

Agreed, r144.

Would Bradley Whitford be eligible for a guest Emmy nomination next year since his episodes were released after this year's Emmy voting ended?

Yes, we know tard R137. You've stated it over and over in deplorable English yet you repeatedly show up on a thread you claim disinterest in.

[quote]Is the Israeli preview up somewhere yet?

It was posted earlier today:

r51 Look around you. Americans are willingly giving up their freedoms for what they see, or are fooled into seeing, as a higher cause. Gilead is already happening in America. Register and vote.

r123 At the risk of giving the writers far too much credit, I think Eden illustrates the kind of religious fanatic who will read into scripture whatever suits them. Someone who does so knowingly is a hypocrite; someone who doesn't, perhaps like Eden, is just blind.

I know it's been many episodes since, but two things don't sit well with me about Rory. Why would the authorities take her (and others) back from the colonies to be handmaids again? They've been exposed to radiation, so their children will probably be born with abnormalities. Also, why would Rory kill Marisa Tomei? She would have suffered more by dying a slow death in the colonies.

I fucking love that new household. It's so batshit crazy but somehow makes so much sense. Gilead has to have a seedy underbelly, not just in secret places like Jezebel's, but within the establishment itself.

Looks like a cliffhanger

[quote]I fucking love that new household. It's so batshit crazy but somehow makes so much sense. Gilead has to have a seedy underbelly, not just in secret places like Jezebel's, but within the establishment itself.

Indeed. All the commanders and wives all seem cool as ice so far. Not everyone, as we all well know, can be so mentally stabile

So Emily stabs Aunt Lydia. Hope it's fatal!

Lydia won’t hang until Waterford does

I'm afraid that Emily will be executed.

Emily will hang but Lydia will too

I could maybe some twist where Emily's commander frames his wife for stabbing or killing Lydia.

I'm glad they killed Isaac.

The commander will hang

According to a reddit thread, the finale will be an hour and a half long.

What are you guys talking about? Aunt Lydia dies in the next episode? How do you know?

Lydia is the glue that holds Gilead together! If she is gone, surely Gilead will fall!

[quote]Aunt Lydia dies in the next episode? How do you know?

I think it's just speculation, but in the Israeli trailer Emily stabs her in the back

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Harlot

She may well be a harlot, but at least she isn't a gender traitor!

You know at Serena joy wants the Lezlez

Just finished binging Season 2 so far, glad to have a breather before the season finale on Wednesday (it’s released in the morning, right? England vs. ??? might have to wait).

The only bit which sort of annoyed me was when the news of the explosion reached “Little America” in Canada and the gal making the announcement didn’t specify which district the explosion occurred. Why did the husband yell out “What about my wife?” if it wasn’t clear exactly where it happened? That was sloppy.

This last episode was a big nothing. Maybe Serena Joy will try to escape with Offred. The show has jumped the shark

I agree about the last episode, it was a total waste of time. Who gives a fuck about Nick’s “wife”? It just seemed like vamping to get to the season finale when the real shit hits the fan.

I hope Aunt Lydia gets a backstory. I just spend the weekend binge watching Season 2 up to Postpartum.

I don’t think she’ll get it on the season finale. Probably in Season 3, though.

They've used some great music. No one seems to know what piece this is though.

Maybe Lydia will get a backstory as she sits in purgatory awaiting judgment after Emily slits her throat.

R172, it’s called knock-off Philip Glass film score. You’re paid per minute. It’s not that exceptional, sorry

R173, aunt Lydia will become queen of Gilead.

[quote][R172], it’s called knock-off Philip Glass film score. You’re paid per minute. It’s not that exceptional, sorry

Ahem, SORRY, R174, I think it's exceptional.

And don't pull a I'm Better Than You act here, you're the one who invoked Philip Glass.

You are allowed to think anything, but check out, “the hours” or “thin Blue Line” or the dozen other film scores glas. composed and won oscars for and compare. This scene simply uses a cheap version of that. Musical scores are added after all edited of the film is completely finished, it’s composed and recorded after everything visual has been long done. This is the process. You can like what you like, but this isn’t any example of good film scoring

[quote]You are allowed to think anything, but check out, “the hours” or “thin Blue Line” or the dozen other film scores glas. composed and won oscars for and compare. This scene simply uses a cheap version of that. Musical scores are added after all edited of the film is completely finished, it’s composed and recorded after everything visual has been long done. This is the process. You can like what you like, but this isn’t any example of good film scoring

And? So what, I like the piece. You don't have to.

i don't. but it's also not important music. I'm sorry that you're so insecure.

Philip Glass has never won an Oscar.

R179 is . . . limited.

Did some of you miss the point that if Eden who is a believer (but love is more important) will be killed no girl is safe? It’s a big deal in this story.

I thought the Eden episode was terrific. It shows again how ALL women (including, yes, Serena) are victims in Gilead, just as Atwood intended in the book. But the black-and-white thinking males of Daralounf need a clear-cut female villain, hence Serena and Eden and Lydia needing punishing rather than more nuanced reactions. Punish the woman, burn the witch. Males are never equally culpable, just lured in by female wiles.

r183 I get your point. But they killed Isaac too, so there's that. The Eden arc spoke to me more in terms of how one could completely buy into the Gilead doctrine and still not be safe. Or maybe how one could be so immersed in the doctrine that one loses sense of right and wrong, because what's right and what's wrong can be so easily rationalized.

She was also technically a hormonal child.

I love how Eden was given time with Nick in the locker room for a pep talk before her big moment in the "game."

R183 People here do want the men to be punished and several here are hoping there is some kind of Mayday revolt or Canada invades Gilead.

I just don’t get why they ended up executing a young girl (valuable to their society) who was potentially capable of procreating (hugely valuable to their society).

They killed Handmaids and their value was clear, so why would Eden be safe?

Because it's less about babies and more about the hatred and subjugation of women.

Kind like those rabid anti- choice zealots R190.

uh huh.

I suppose it makes a little more sense in the Atwood novel since Gilead is about as much evangelical as it is completely racist, anti-minority and genocidal.

Exactly, the conversion to the TV version of Gilead is sometimes a bit awkward

Marry me, r174! You are the cunt of my heart!!

Sure thing. And sorry about the Oscar Gaff, and I thought he won those Grammys. He was nominated though

[quote]I'm glad they killed Isaac.

I am too. I think the theory about Rita ratting out Isaac and Eden might be true.

Rita is a rat

[quote] I think the theory about Rita ratting out Isaac and Eden might be true.

Did someone rat them out though? I thought Isaac deserted to run away with Eden and they were caught which exposed their relationship

I’m so exicied!

Will Emily escape?

Will June moon around and be a nuisance?

Will Serena joy be joyful at last?

Poor Moira, will someone give her a handjob?

According to IMDB, Luke and Moria are in the episode. There are times IMDB's listings are wrong.

I have the bad feeling Nick will be killed in the finale.

Moira will kill nick

Emily will kill Lydia

June will kill the baby

The commander will kill Serena

Ugh that ending.

lol at Serena Joy. Cunt got what she deserved.

r200 Or maybe they'll just replace the actor. It's been a long time coming.

Oh, Tequila. I miss you most of all.

GREAT season finale. Was not expecting Lydia's end already (was she killed?), but was really glad to see what finally enabled June to get the baby away. The actress who plays Serena is phenomenal. She's been so ambivalent all season, but this was the first time Fred had really crushed her spirit and showed her what an awful world they had wrought.

We had known Rita was up to something, but we had just misjudged what it was.

I loved that June insisted to Emily that the baby's name was Nicole. She recognized how extraordinary Serena's sacrifice was, and wanted to honor her.

Beautiful visuals in the final episode too, especially with that waterfall coming down the side of the overpass.

That was a pretty great ending. Didn't see it coming.

Meanwhile, in Texas . . .

[quote]I just experienced a Handmaidens Tale moment at the DFW airport by Customs and Border Protection. I was traveling back from Rome and stopped by US customs. I was asked if Sybonae was my daughter and I said yes. Then they asked why if she was my daughter I didn’t have the same last name. I told them I had already established my career and earned my doctorate with my last name Acosta so I had decided not to change it. That is why we had different names. Then the customs office said, well maybe you should have taken your husbands last names so you could prove you were her mom. I told him I had a lot of proof she was my daughter without having had his last name.

more at link

Yvonne Strahovski deserves an Emmy nomination. But, voting ended a couple of weeks back and Strahovski probably had some competition of already Emmy favorites from other shows. I wouldn't be surprised if she is 'snubbed.

Eden's parents were assholes to turn her in.

R208 That woman is a cunt. It's not the Handmaiden's Tale! Fuck her.

My predictions for next season

-The fire that was in the finale will be revealed as part of a Mayday revolt and Canada and allies later invade Gilead

-Nick was killed by the Commander and Serena Joy is secretly plotting against him with the Marthas and others in Mayday

-June goes into hiding again, but somehow makes to another district.

-In Canada, Emily is reunited with her family, but her wife is now with someone else and her son doesn't remember her. She ends up diagnosed with cancer due to the exposure at the colonies and she begins treatment while caring for Nicole. She tracks down Luke and tells him that June didn't escape and he figures that she is trying to rescue Hannah.

-The Marthas and Mayday plan another escape, but this time its for Janine and her baby Angela/Charlotte. Warren and his wife are killed as part of the escape.

-Lydia survived the attack, but she has a spinal cord injury due to the fall down the stairs and is paralyzed. She is sent off to some kind of nursing home where she is given awful care and ends up with bed sores and UTIs.

That’s not cunty

No way Lydia survived that.

She is immortal.

We need Aunt Lydia's backstory before she dies.

She will choke it out as she lies at the bottom of the stairs

The ending is getting mixed reviews on line-Alan Sepenwall HATES it-but I liked it.

It made me crazy that Rita tells her to hurry and June just seems to wander around, picking up things, and stretching out the scene with Serena as if she knew she had all the time in the world. And the poor Martha is just standing there in the shadows, thinking, what's with this bitch. We give her this opportunity and she's going to blow it. And then when the van shows up, she again just stands there as Emily is screaming at her to hurry up. I half expected the van to take off without her.

YES, R219. That was AWFUL. I was like “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING????”

You would think June had learned her lesson after getting that family in trouble earlier in season 2.

Haven’t seen this episode yet but Serena does a lot of stupid shit. When she went to see her daughter, she delayed them leaving and got Nick picked up. I was thinking “get out now, bitch”. She displays craftiness, but makes lots of stupid decisions. She knows there are eyes and ears everywhere.

Shit, not Serena. June, duh.

Good article on what to expect in season 3

I really had enough of the inconsistency of Serena’s malevolence. They gave her way too many moments of decency and even some tenderness. Same with the Commander. He wouldn’t ask June to make some fucking tea so soon after they smacked each other.

Not happy with the last few episodes or the finale. Way too much contrivance and character inconsistency to make certain storylines happen, as opposed to making them seem real and organic.

R225, you are clearly not familiar with the nuances and intermittent tendernesses of physical abuse.

Go fuck yourself, R227. I am, actually. And this is a work of fiction, in case it hasn’t dawned on you.

R228, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have put it that way. Of course I do not know what you are or are not familiar with. For me and from my perspective, it rang all too true.

The Commander's alternations of tenderness and violence towards his wife and June were believable, but I had real trouble swallowing that Serena would be so stupid as to read out loud before the Council or trust Nicole forever to June.

In an earlier episode Fred beat Selena in front of June for their transgressions despite the fact that their actions saved all their asses from that new psycho Commander. Just weeks later, Selena brings a group of wives before the council and, apparently without consulting with or even warning Fred first, violates one of Gilead's cornerstone laws. Afterward she approaches him with some confidence that he won't punish her or be unforgiving about it.

Ridiculous.

^ I just realized I mixed up the transgressions. Fred beat Selena for bringing in the female doctor to save baby Angela's life. Which makes the contrivance of her later actions even more ridiculous.

Yvonne Strahovski has been the standout this season. It will be a crime if she doesn’t receive an Emmy Nomination. She definitely earned it.

I agree with posters above, June seems to take her sweet time more often than not. This show often lets certain scenes and activities play out too long. When she was walking with Nicole to the truck I was thinking she has no sense of urgency whatsoever!

June has a pattern of being careless with other people's safety -- especially those who risk their own lives for her.

R234 It’s June’s world, the rest of them are just living in it. Praise be.

Well. I say that went pretty well. Some fleshing out of the Gilead universe, with that Council business. Some deepening of character, with pinky-booboo Serena and badass Rita. Some closure, with Rory and Nichole. Some cliffhangers, with the stabbing and that crazy look in June's eyes. And a lot of good old-fashioned suspense.

The creatives have given us a lot to look forward to, now that June has given herself a purpose (even) higher than looking after just her own daughters.

BTW, the baby's name is Nichole, with an H. Because Nicole is not strippery enough.

Commander Waterford sure is a chump. How many times before he realizes that nick is a turncoat?

Like Nichole on Big Brother?

One of the problems with the show, I think, is that since they don;t allow for much voiceover you see June act out her feelings rather than express them verbally (since of course she doesn't, since women don;t much in her world). So she's always registering disgust on her face at both the Commander and Serena when she would get whipped if she really did so in front of them, and when she has to convey indecision, they have her take forever to do something that in reality she would do very quickly.

We just have to take it as dramatic license, I guess. I used to think it was Elisabeth Moss's fault and she was being too obvious, but now I see she's being directed this way.

I prefered the voiceover

Just watched the finale. June's looking up after she put the hood back on was a little too end of Catching Fire but I get what she's doing.

I love this show, but those long ass shots (e.g. Serena saying good bye to Nichole) I fast forward through. It’s too much of the same shit. Plus the whole premise of the “get-a-away” is to be faaaasssst!!!!

June is slow walking through these scenes. Like r239 said, this is the directors fault.

The book wasn’t an action screenplay, the pervasive feel to be reflective seems appropriate. Even with a fire, likely arson, it’s mainly viewed through a window in the background.

That said, June often reacts as if others didn’t matter that much

Aunt Lydia surived the attack according to Bruce Miller

Aunt Lydia needs a backstory. I think she's a gender traitor who went deep into the back of the closet to survive.

Aunt Lydia needs a backstab

SPOILER

EPISODE 13

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So, if we’ve learned anything this season, it’s that June has no concept of what the word “hurry” means.

r238 Big Brother Nicole spells her name with no H. But an H suits her better.

The Truck, The Choice And The 'Handmaid's Tale' Finale

Agree with article at r249. Terrible finale with too many character inconsistencies. This season was simply not good.

R248, heh heh, of course you’re right. I just remembered I actually corrected somebody on another message board for spelling it Nichole and she got all huffy with me.

Jesus Christ, does Ever Carradine have an eating disorder. In that scene where the two wives were walking down a staircase her legs were like toothpicks. Gross.

R252 I wondered the same thing. Her waist was frighteningly small.

Ever Carradine is another bad case of nepotism.

So what tortured machinations will occur in season 3 to reunite June with the Waterfords but not have her executed (or mutilated or shipped off to the colonies) for kidnapping a baby?

I'm guessing she will hide out with Bradley Whitford's family and will try to plot the downfall of Gilead with the Martha's and whoever set the fire across the street.

After June gave birth in that house how did she end up back at the Waterfords? Who caught her?

I saw this episode the same day as Sorry to Bother You...now that film knows how to build and satisfy while urgently having you wanting more! This season should have ended at episode 10

which episode r257?

If I have to watch June flip her red hood up over her head while looking sullenly angry just one more time I'm gonna throw her in a swimming pool with a kettle bell tied to her ankles.

That ending was just way too far fetched. June has more of a chance of getting Hannah out if she herself escapes to Canada first, than if she stays in Gilead as a Handmaid. So. Stupid.

And exactly r254, are we to believe she's going back to the frigging Waterfords where she will then become Serena Joy's heroine disguised as a handmaid? Now that Serena has no baby or pinky finger to speak of?

I’m willing to bet that Emily and Moira will find true love up in Canada.

R255, and I'm sure she'll miraculously end up at that Commander's doorstep without first running into anyone who would turn her in in a second while Gilead is in full lockdown due to a missing baby. Because, um, June pulled her hood up like she meant it!

It does seem a bit far-fetched that June will somehow get away with giving away a baby.

R249, well put, avclub review basically says the same thing that the series had two versions of the show, hardbitten and grim, and “powerful” and badass, and clearly and ultimately made the choice of being the later

Why didn't Offred (I refuse to use her whore-name) just ask Serena Joy to accompany she and Nicole (I refuse to use her bastard-name) to Canada?

Surely there must be some place in the Great White North for a nine-fingered woman.

Accompany she?

I'm intrigued as to where they're going to go with this. Where can June go?

I doubt the Waterfords will be welcoming her back with open arms.

I think she will be leading a resistance with the Commander who let Emily go. Bradley Whitford will have a bigger role in season 3

I think she will dance the hootchie-coo at jezebels. It will cause a riot that will lead to Canadian storm troopers covering the whole territory in maple syrup and whithering condescension

Well, I think Serena is completely over hubby now. He’s really a true true believer.

Lots of emmy nominations for Handmaid's tale.

wow Yvonne Strahovski, Alexis Bledel & Ann Dowd all nominated for supporting actress

Good-they all deserve those nominations.

They need a break

Harlots just started again to fill the void.

Lol at r265

R275, thank goodness

R264, they could have gone with powerful and badass and still be realistic and true to the characters.

R265, technically she's 9.5-fingered.

So happy for Strahovski, Bledel & Dowd's nominations. I'd love a 3-way tie!

The finale was pretty weak and added more WTF moments to a list of existing ones:

- Why do they use the Handmaid's real names so much? I don't even know their Gilead names anymore (except Offred). Even Aunt Lydia uses them. - Why does June constantly get to talk shit to Serena and Fred and never suffer the consequences? - Rory and Left Eye back from the Colonies is still legit terrible plotting (even if I love them)

The show writers making Serena sympathetic is so annoying. And we only feel that way because she's hot. If she were a giant Aunt Lydia-style ogress no one would be in her corner!!! They wouldn't even bother writing it. Hot people always get the perks. >:-(

Whatever I know I'll still watch next season, so

In the book, Serena joy (don’t forget the joy) is an aging tammie Faye baker type with debilitating arthritis.

Here’s the trailer for the third season

I bet in season 3, the writers will try to make the viewers feel sorry for Aunt Lydia. I agree, with someone upthread she'll probably turn out to be a closet case lez and I'll aso bet she was responsible for her nephew's death.

I saw a FB post that Serena's pregnant? I don't remember that.

It was never confirmed that Serena couldn’t have kids because she got shot in the stomach, right?

The actress that plays Serena, Yvonne Strahovski, is pregnant in real life. During the scene where she was reading in front of the council you could clearly see her pregnant stomach.

Is this the new GOT?

R286 It's the new OINTB.

A point to ponder. Since the handmaids were transferred to new posts after they gave birth all of these kids are half siblings. Different dads from the same mom. Think about it.

Am I the only one who hasn't seen this Handmaids thing? Is it worth it? Seriously?

I have thought about that r288. You would think they would transfer them to different districts at the very least OR keep them with the family.

Joseph Fiennes looks like a Chelsea queen that stayed until all the meth was gone, then somebody rode him hard and put him away wet. His beard looks like a roll of black Velcro.

Lmao r291

[quote] It's the new OINTB.

Talk about damning with faint praise.

I'm officially over this show. I kinda hoped this would be the final episode/season. Why is it that Americans need to see a story beat to fucking death to the point of ruining it? Don't they make enough money if they do it right?

And how many more times must we seen June escape, get caught, escape, get caught, escape, decide to stay, get in trouble, get out of trouble......then look into the camera defiantly and declare her strength and boldness? Elizabeth Moss sucked as Peggy Olson and she sucks as June.

The writers may not like it but they need to ramp up the revolution and set an end date for the series --NOT in 8 years either. (the rumor is they wanted 10 years)

They have a major terrorist explosion and then they use it as nothing more than a device to get some of the handmaids back from the colonies - wtf?

The one thing proven by this episode is now we see why Cherry Jones, despite being a great theater actress never became a film or tv star.

Eight years?!? Maybe season 3 should start 18 months later when the revolution has started. I need to see some fighting against Gilead.

I thought Handmaid's Tale was one of the best shows on TV and I was able to forgive some strange plot twists this season, such as bringing back handmaids from the colonies who could probably end up having all sorts of deformed children, June getting away stuff she never would have been allowed in any realistic scenario, but the final episode was so ridiculous and I totally agree with everything in the article at r249. It was so unsatisfying and made no sense whatsoever. I'll probably start to watch season 3 but it's such a letdown considering the potential.

I second you

It's a good show and practically the only one on air that anyone talks about. No threads like this about many other shows.

r262 does anyone know the baby is missing besides the commander? And has Nick taken care of the commander?

I was thinking the same thing, R296, they need to bounce a few years forward, this real time plot device is going to work against the series.

June needs to bounce

I can see a time jump where Moira and Emily are up in Canada raising Holly-Nichole.

I hope they don't pair Moira and Emily.

But doesn’t it seem obvious that they will?

Emily already has a wife and family.

There are LESBIANS on this show???

Emily's going to search for her wife and son when she hits Canada.

Emily pairing with Moira would be too contrived (not that I would put it pat the show at the point). Emily is going to be laser-focused on finding her wife and son.

BUT Emily and Moira having a brief affair, fueled by their shared PTSD after life in Gilead and dedication to June’s baby could be interesting.

Where The Bears Are looks a shitload cheaper than this.

[quote]Emily already has a wife and family.

I forget the timeline but hasn't it been like 5 years they've been separated? Her wife might have moved on, she doesn't even know that Emily is alive.

[quote]That ending was just way too far fetched. June has more of a chance of getting Hannah out if she herself escapes to Canada first, than if she stays in Gilead as a Handmaid. So. Stupid.

How? She isn't going to rescue Hannah from an apartment in Toronto, there is nothing she can do from there. The only way to do that is staying present in Gilead.

That’s what I was thinking today. Even if there was a coup against Gilead, there is no guarantee Hannah makes it out alive.

r306 Emily's wife has run off with Selina Meyer's daughter.

Because apparently there aren't enough actors to play all the lesbian roles on TV.

[quote]I forget the timeline but hasn't it been like 5 years they've been separated? Her wife might have moved on, she doesn't even know that Emily is alive.

I think it's been that long. In the season finale, Emily said that her son would be turning 7 the following week. In the flashbacks from earlier in the season, the son looked like a toddler. I agree, the wife might have moved on if she thought Emily was executed for being gay.

Based on how Emily was interrogated when she and her wife tried to leave, Emily's wife could figure out after the fact that she was likely used as a handmaid. That doesn't mean she hasn't found someone else of course.

It will be tough to keep up the storytelling on this show. Personally, I think they should end it after Season 3. Let this be the season that Offred/June finally gets free because a revolution from within Gillead is taking place. It would allow Offred/June to interact with Serena, who I could see turning on Gillead since she knows deep down the way things are in Gillead are just plain wrong. Serena's sacrifice of giving up Nicole showed she knows Gillead is a house of horrors, so much so she gave up the one thing she wanted--the only thing that made her agree to be a part of it all. It's all fallen down in her eyes. She and June/Offred would make a formidable pair.

But I'm not going to watch season after season of Offred/June getting her almost-freedom. That will grow tedious.

Yeah after having Serena voluntarily give up the one thing the character has always wanted, the writers can't backtrack there. Serena is now established as anti-Gilead, part of the resistance.

Clea Duvall is in season 3. She is Emily’s wife and made a brief appearance in season 2. There will be no Emily/Moira hook-up. Frankly I think Moira needs to be sent to the colonies since Samira Wiley cannot week to have one honest moment onscreen.

Cannot *SEEM

Is everybody a lesbian on the show?

No revolution for Gilead! Invasion!!!!

R319, how the fuck do you know Emily and Moira won’t be put together? Are you one of the writers? If you’re not then STFU. The last we saw Emily she was on her way to Canada. Moira is in Little America in Canada. At the very least they will cross paths. Use your common sense with narrative logic before presenting an opinion as a fact.

[QUOTE] Joseph Fiennes looks like a Hells Kitchen queen that stayed until all the meth was gone, then somebody rode him hard and put him away wet. His beard looks like a roll of black Velcro.

Fixed that

[quote]Where The Bears Are looks a shitload cheaper than this.

LOL!!!!!! I spit out my coffee. Yes, Dorothy, the gay men silly romcom is a lot cheaper than this Hulu series.

I think there will be the usual storyline of Emily trying to live with her son and wife and problems arise because the wife has a girlfriend or someone and also Emily is caring for a baby.

Maybe, Emily will track down Luke and then will meet Moira who is living with him. Luke will not see the baby as he thinks the baby is product of rape. Moira will offer to help Emily take care of the baby.

r326 That will turn A Handmaid's Tale into full-on soap. And it just might happen too.

[quote]I really had enough of the inconsistency of Serena’s malevolence.

This. The actress is amazing, but the writing is all over the place. And I get that she is disillusioned, but she would never give up that baby. She is far too selfish.

The other thing that bugs me is that the actor who plays Nick is too young/boysish. He's a good actor, but I don't find him believable in that part.

She has me feeling sorry for Serena. She’s very good, the way the director makes her emphasise her eyes, I suppose.

[quote]The other thing that bugs me is that the actor who plays Nick is too young/boysish.

But the character should be young, he was just a lost youth who got caught up in this movement he didn't really understand.

Nick needs to be hot. That guy is not hot.

R331 Max is fine. Too off the charts, and it would be an unusual pairing with the average-looking Moss.

Why do all the homes in Gilead have black ceilings?? Also why is sex forbidden between husbands and wives? The Bible says the marriage bed is sacred, plus you'd think they would encourage as much trying to conceive as possible.

R334 There is a debate on if sex between husbands and wives who get handmaids is forbidden in Gilead. Some say yes because the wives are deemed infertile, so no chance for procreation. They also look to Fred and how he has no interest in Serena Joy except that one night they have sex after the Mexican delegation dinner went well, and he blamed Serena for being a temptress after the fact more than once.

I believe sex isn’t banned for even the barren couples because it would fly in the face of the biblical story the Sons of Jacob religion clings to. The wife that had a handmaid, Rachel eventually had a son, and they thought it was a miracle from God. Gilead would think the same. Handmaids to give commanders children, but keep up the sex with wives just in case.

There is also no way these men would ban sex with barren wives also because other parts of the bible make it clear sex beyond procreation is encouraged. Zero chance these men would ignore that to have official government policy force them to only bed a handmaid when she’s fertile.

Just caught up. Slow AF in so many places that I was glad I was able to fast forward through large chunks of it.

Clearly the writers didn't have enough plot for 13 episodes.

And Max M is fine as Nick who is supposed to be a bit younger than June (Nick is likely mid-20s, June mid-30s.)

So Serena hands baby to June-- she is going to be furious that June gave the baby to Emily a murdering lesbian and isn't taking care of her herself.

Also-- how the fuck is Nicole/Holly going to survive without breast milk? It's not like June gave Emily a few bottles or like Emily has formula in her bag. And it seems like they're not going to wind up in Canada in a few hours. So that made zero sense.

Next season I may just read the recaps.

I have a question. When Offred was bleeding and Nick found her in the bushes, I assumed she jumped from the 3rd Floor of the house? The scene before she was in her bedroom. Anyone have an opinion about this scene?

I think Offred was sort of blindly seeking help while semi-delirious with pain and fear, R337, and maybe she was trying to make her way over to Nick's room, maybe she was just looking for anyone. I didn't think she jumped. It is a weirdly staged scene, for sure.

I love Jeanine

R337 and R338, I think the scene is open to interpretation. R338 could well be right. On the other hand, I think she was full of despair, didn't want her baby to have to grow up in that world, and so she jumped.

Season 3 predictions:

Aunt Lydia is in a wheelchair, but still ruling the roost at The Center. She is angrier than ever.

June becomes an underground resistance fighter, working with that wacky economist with the crazy wife. She will save Hannah but die, herself, in the finale.

Serena craftily works for change from the inside, assisted by that journalist she had a drink with. Love will bloom.

The Commander will perv out on Eden’s younger sister, sent to live with them for some reason.

I don’t know about Nick.

I just binged the 2 seasons, and i agree with the criticisms you all have posted, but i still will watch S3. The actress playing Serena Joy is wonderful, i'm sure Elizabeth Moss must hate her for stealing her show. Oh, and i just read the Emmy noms list: the actress who played Luke's first wife (who had like 4 minutes of screen time and was totally forgettable in it) got a nom!! WTF.

Isn't Elizabeth Moss too old for that part? The other Handmaid's all look a lot younger than her

There is no way Serena would give up that baby to Offred, that to me was not believable.

To me Moss looks a bit older than her age. But the handmaids are supposed to be all ages from teens to forties as long as they're fertile. In the book, her character was 30-something also, so it's about right. Serena is a joy to watch, what a spiteful bitch, but also complex. Credit goes to the actress. Same for Aunt Lydia.

I feel like I did about Elizabeth Moss on Mad Men, that a different actress who is likable would be better in the part.

The new season starts June 5.

Yeah. I think the first 3 new episodes drop tonight, midnight EDT.

season 3 so far is same old same old... a snoozefest

Season 3 thread.