:smack: Of course you’re right. I hadn’t even thought about that.
When you force somebody to change their actions, you don’t change their mind. When you can change somebody’s mind, they choose to change their actions. The sword might have short-term, immediate results but the pen can have long-lasting change.
There’s a very important detail in Offred’s conversation with Cmdr. Cushing; the cover story about Offred being kidnapped against her will isn’t just a lie the Waterfords are telling their neighbors to save face, it’s an actual cover up. It appears the Waterfords would outside official channels and conspired with Aunt Lydia (& possibly the late Cmdr. Pryce) to get Offred released to their custody instead of spending the rest of her pregnancy locked up at the Red Center. Cushing may be out of the picture now, but that could come back to haunt them. Especially if “Cmdr. Waterford’s” recent orders start to attract heighted scrutiny from his superiors.
Well, that was another hell of an episode. It’s fascinating to see Serena Joy flexing her muscles (and possibly being decent to June in the bargain). I was speculating if people weren’t going to be wondering how Commander Fred is putting out all these directives while he’s barely this side of comatose.
Nick and Eden (?) - Eden is going to be trouble, isn’t she? I loved the sedition that June was fomenting in the grocery store, but Eden was there, and she saw it all. And Nick - is he trying to get June killed?!?
Oh, yeah. Eden is definitely a huge threat to the rest the household. She has no real connections to anyone else, her only memories of life pre-Gilead are those of a small child, her head’s been filled with propaganda, and she’s naive about pretty much everything. Witness stuff like how she immediately jumped to Nick being a gender traitor because he didn’t jump to consummate their marriage while at the same time viewing sex solely as a means of procreation. Worst of all she’s probably fairly representative of the first generation of girls to grow up in Gilead.
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All true. I was thinking about Hannah in this context, too - she is also being completely indoctrinated by being raised from a young age in Gilead. Maybe they’re going to use that as a plot point in the future - June manages to get her hands on Hannah at some point, and Hannah turns her in because June is a complete heretic.
Well, Angela didn’t turn out to be a shredder after all. 
Gilead is so fucked up that in spite of all they baby worship and the reverence they hold children in the best use they could come up for one of the best neonatologists on the planet is as a domestic servant! She’s not even working at a Red Center as an Aunt. Ignore medicine for a moment and think of all the health professions that are dominated by women like nursing or assistive personnel like nurse’s aids. Now think of what the healthcare system in Gilead must be like. Now of think of what the healthcare system in Gilead must be like for anyone who isn’t a Commander or their family (or a Handmaid).
Well I felt sympathy for Serena Joy watching this episode. And that look on June’s face as she went to Waterford’s study at the end. I hope he get’s separated from a body part (not his hand) before he dies. Maybe shove it down his throat so he can choke on it.
I started to but then I figured now she gets a small, tiny taste of what she’s been doing to other women for years. Maybe now that she’s the one suffering, she’ll change and stop being such a horrible bitch.
I will say, though, I think she is my very favourite character on the show. I can’t think of any other show where I’ve loved and hated the same character the way I do Serena Joy.
In the end the neonatologist did save baby Charlotte. She said “the best thing you can do for her is unhook her from all that equipment”. I’m guessing she was dying from Failure to Thrive Syndrome.
I’m looking forward to seeing what end the Commander comes to.
This was the shittiest episode of the show so far IMO.
Just like Westworld, the show is starting to lose me. The next episode will be the test, for me, of whether the show has fully gone out to lunch or whether it’s stopped just short of doing so.
I fear that just like Game of Thrones, this show has gotten worse ever since it deviated from the book. In both cases, I didn’t even read the book/s that it was based on, but I could tell as a viewer of the show that there was solid literary material behind it. Now that it’s no longer the case, I feel like Handmaid’s Tale is losing the tense, gripping, perpetual-cliffhanger feel that distinguished the first season. What was once a superlative show is becoming merely decent, with this latest episode failing even to clear that meagre bar.
Also, “having everything be pitch black except for a few slivers of light” is not a valid aesthetic style, it’s just shitty cinematography. If “Chiaroscuro” is what they’re going for, they should re-watch The Godfather and then try again, because they’re not achieving it with this shit.
I agree. This episode was the first one that didn’t give me a “:eek:” moment. It was definitely lacking something. I’m confident that it will pick back up next week!
Is it just me or does Offred’s character seem to be written as almost too ballsy at this stage of the game? I think Jacquernagy has a point about the story losing some of it’s quality now that it’s being made up out of whole cloth, so to speak. As much as I love Elisabeth Moss, it’s almost as if she’s being directed to be “extra Mossy”. She hesitates before speaking a little too long; she openly looks at people with contempt. Maybe it’s the editing or any one of a number of things but somehow I feel like the tone of the show has changed. Not bad, just more. . . formulaic(?) now.
Yup.
They’re losing it. But like I said, the next episode could pull me back in, if it’s effective enough.
I never read Game of Thrones books, yet it was clear that the show had excellent narrative structure. That is, until it started getting into the Dorne plot. It was at that point that I realized the writers were writing themselves into knots. Unsurprisingly, I then read that it was basically at that point that the show started to seriously stray from Martin’s source material. It was very clear from the looseness of the show; it had lost what FloatyGimpy describes, what I refer to as the “OH SHIT!” factor.
Black Mirror was able to maintain the “OH SHIT!” factor really well because it’s an anthology show. With that format, you have self-contained narratives in each episode and it’s far easier to do because all you really need is one good twist.
A serial show like Handmaid’s Tale needs to keep that going in a continuous way. But to do so, requires very talented writers.
I mentioned Westworld earlier because to me it exemplifies the same issue. The first season of Westworld is basically built around a single idea: the idea of stepping into a simulated reality where you can do whatever you want, like a real-life version of Grand Theft Auto, with no consequences, and the idea that this form of power brings out the worst and most sadistic tendencies in humans. When Westworld was exploring that concept, it was killing it. Once it started to stray into complicated subplots, it completely lost my interest. It doesn’t matter how much gore, how much sexiness, or how much fireworks they throw at me now: I’ve just checked out.
I’ve noticed it too, but I don’t think it feels inorganic to her character. It feels like she’s constantly testing the waters to see what she can get away with before being chained back up at the Red Center.
Well based on the preview…
…she’s going to be handed a chance to defect to Canada on a silver platter. If she does take advantage of it will be the end of everyone on her household; Gilead would make a *spectacular *example of Waterford (assuming he’s stupid enough to return home w/o her) as a warning to every other Commander.
Loved the Canadian mind games with Serena in this week’s episode, who they know damn well is a highly educated woman and published author. The walk in the arboretum with not-so-throwaway lines from her escort about how much time she spent working, and then asking Serena how she enjoyed knitting was good, but presenting her itineray in PICTURES, as Gilead women are forbidden to read and write, was exquisitely cruel.
Major props to Yvonne Strahovski for her silent conveying of emotion and conflict in this episode, especially in the itinery scene, and the box of matches scene.
Ann Dowd continues to be just brilliant. Well deserved Emmy win last year and Golden Globe nomination this year as best supporting actress.
Yes, that was delightfully passive aggressive. Betcha they helpfully removed all the written material hotel rooms had (including the Bible) from the Waterfords’ room out of respect for her beliefs. 
And let’s not forget members of the general public staring at her like she was wearing a burqa. As much I think she deserves to suffer I was still disappointed that she went back to Gilead instead of defecting. I kept waiting for it to happen; I even thought that was going to be the alert on Moira’s phone.
Also remember the law of unintended consequences; what’s going to happen to the women who wrote those (now publicly available letters) if/when the Eyes trace them back to them back to the source. Hell they might even figure out they passed through Nick’s hands (after all Eden’s seen them), and Cmdr. Waterford’s going to be on thin ice as it is with his mission failing. Imagine the shit he’ll be in if it comes to light it failed because of his own driver & Handmaid.
I’m afraid I’m going to have to stand by my initial evaluation of the show, that the second season has exhibited a very noticeable drop in quality from the first.
This goes beyond the lacklustre plotlines and extends to the cinematography of the show itself. It is unconscionably dark. The darkness isn’t used strategically as a visual device, either; it’s not used with any kind of consistency or nuance. There are simply vast black voids in virtually every scene, obscuring the characters, obscuring the set, obscuring all taste.
I wish I could grab these directors and writers by their lapels (if they’ve any idea how to get a decent suit) and shout, “YOU ARE NOT CARAVAGGIO! YOU AREN’T CARAVAGGIO! JUST STOP!”
As I have said, if their objective is “Chiaroscuro”, they need to watch The Godfather and use that as a benchmark, rather than (apparently) the interior of a black vinyl bag in the trunk of a black car inside a windowless garage on the dark side of the moon.
Don’t think I’m letting the plot and dialog off the hook, either. There were far too many examples in this episode of stilted, awkward, unnecessarily-slow-moving exchanges of dialog between characters. Plot developments that should be resolved within one episode are being stretched out over three. I am sticking with my observation that shows based on prior written material decline in quality once they begin deviating from that material. I believe it’s true of Game of Thrones and I believe it’s true of Handmaid’s Tale.
It sucks, because the last season was awesome, and Elizabeth Moss is awesome…but if there’s one thing that bothers me more than a poorly made show, it’s an awesome show that is allowed to become poor because the writers and directors have checked out.
Luckily, there is an off button on most TVs.
BTW did anyone get a good look at Serena Joy’s agenda? One of the pictograms looked like it was for a mosque vist.
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Well Offred being raped while trying to fight back was intense, but her reunion with Hannah was actually harder to watch (WTF June, you didn’t bother mentioning that Daddy is alive in Canada). Hopefully Nick had some kind of plan. It sure seemed like it was spur of the moment, but I really don’t want to see June almost escape only to be caught at the last moment. Also I really want to see the Waterfords end up in deep, deep, shit after losing their Handmaid a 2nd time.
I don’t think Nick had any kind of plan and that the two thugs just happened to show up when they did so he hid June. I can’t wait till next week’s episode! I mean who knows - maybe it’s the Waterfords in the pool after being accused/convicted of treason.
Am I the only one who really likes June with Nick rather than her husband? I love Nick’s character even though it’s so different from the book.
If I had to wager a guess, I’d say the June will escape to Canada this time, be reunited with her husband and a plan will be hatched to rescue Hannah. At some point she will be forced to choose Nick or Luke. Unless one of them dies and the choice is made for her (RIP Nick 
)