Season 3 has been green-lighted, so no escape to Canada just yet.
Well, that episode was a bit of an improvement over the last one, I’ll give it that. The storyline is still crawling along at a snail’s pace compared to Season 1, which was gripping to the max. I am looking forward to the next episode (the finale?)
I continue to maintain that the lighting design on this show sucks ass - compared to the first season, and compared to every other show ever. I don’t know why they feel the need to shroud virtually every scene in darkness. 1. It takes me out of the show and breaks my immersion, because it’s so noticeable and the way the “ambient” light appears is not realistic, and 2. It’s done without the slightest bit of nuance or tastefulness. Rather than highlighting important visual details, the application of shadow vs. light seems to be at random, with no relationship to the set design or camera angle. It’s very annoying. Black Mirror, Top Of The Lake, these are examples of shows with outstanding lighting design. Handmaid’s Tale could learn some valuable lessons from them.
Wow, last night’s ep was intense and really good but also hard to watch. Is manic,jackrabbit sex really a valid method of inducing labor? I’ve seen this mentioned on other shows but it’s usually played for laughs. That was just gross.
I can’t tell where Eden’s story is going. One could see that something might develop between her and the guard but that felt a bit out of the blue. What a slap in the face that Nick didn’t even care enough to chastise her. I didn’t initially like the actress (I don’t think we’re meant to at first) but her hysterics were getting me a little misty eyed.
Loved Emily kicking the dying, scumbag [del]commander[/del] rapist.
Jacquernagy, what industry do you work in? I tried to see the lighting issues you’ve mentioned but I am not as astute. I mean, I have watched movies that are too dark or not appropriately lighted but this show doesn’t give me issue.
If June gets Hannah back then I hope she ends up with Luke but if not, I don’t think either Nick or Luke are well suited to her.
After several weeks of seeing you bitch about this, I think we all get it. You could just quit watching the show and give us all a break.
I was a professional still photographer for 6 years. I currently work in another field, but still sometimes have to do photography and videography for that job as well. I put a lot of work into studying lighting and how to use it to make a shot look good, and it bothers me to see a top-tier dramatic series treat the lighting design like it’s an afterthought.
I think she will make it this time and that next season will be about getting Hannah back and the downfall of Gilead.
Because I can’t deal with her getting caught - again! :eek:
I tend to go with this also; it would be redundant to show her being hauled back to the house again and the ramifications thereof. I think Chefguy has the right idea about a "torn between two lovers’ scenario with Luke and Nick, which I frankly could live without.
I cannot wait to see the Waterfords get theirs 
One of the things I like about Season 2 is that it is giving the characters a lot more depth and complexity. An example is that Serena Joy is now starting to show some wishful thinking about the freedoms she used to have (freedom of speech, ability to read openly, ability to make decisions about her own life). Another example is when they show more of June’s past (Before Gilead, she left her husband to marry the guy she was having an affair with and ended up marrying him).
Overall, the tone is darker for Season 2 and while I’m not normally a fan of TV series going beyond the narrative of the book, I think this series is doing a pretty good job of staying within the spirit of the author’s story line.
It had a national identity the same way Italy and Spain did. Not being a single nation-state in the modern sense before the modern concept of nation-state was invented doesn’t mean that the place didn’t have a concept of “this is all us” or a common culture.
June wasn’t married, only Luke was, when they started their affair.
You are, of course, correct. My mistake. Still, it gives June’s character a more colorful backstory.
Well Nick has doesn’t have a reason to care and doesn’t really owe Eden anything. As to where her story is going; it seems like she’s going to be widowed soon, is starting to act promiscuous (by Gileadean standards), and is just starting her childbearing years. I think a red dress is in her future.
Something I just saw in a youtube breakdown of the episode that I hadn’t thought of before, but just adds an extra bit of depressing to it: June’s daughter Hannah/Charlotte wears a pink dress. That’s meant to foreshadow her future: she is the daughter of a handmaid, so the “sin” of the mother is passed down to her. Charlotte will one day be expected to serve as a handmaid herself (should Gilead exist as a nation that long.)
I think the pink is meant to symbolize a hope that she’ll be fertile when she grows up. I imagine fertile girls who aren’t “criminals” in their own right would be in high enough demand that they’re married off to men from Commander-rank families. If Hannah was expected to serve as a Handmaid like her mother then she wouldn’t be being raised by a Commander and his Wife in their home; she’d be in an orphanage run by Aunts.
Well at least June didn’t have to give birth lying between Serena Joy’s legs. It’s a shame she hesitated when she could’ve taken them both out with one shot.
It was funny to see Fred and Serena drop the ostentatious stiff-necked Gilead affectation and get angry and swear at each other like normal human beings.
That was basically the only thing I remember about the episode. Uh…there was an old stately home that was shrouded in sort of bluish-gray light…there was some darkness…there was that woman who drove the truck in the Black Mirror episode Nosedive…there was some more dark rooms…something involving a baby.
I know season 3 has already been green-lighted but did they know that before or after they completed this season? June’s voice over sounded like it was meant to be the last episode, not to mention the dramatic climax of her finally giving birth. She’s still in Gilead (right?) but as alphaboi867 mentioned, as least she didn’t have to give birth with her own head up in Serena Joy, so kind of a triumphant ending if that indeed was meant to be the end.
Let me preface my comments with the admission that this ep requires more suspension of disbelief than usual(but I’m okay with that). It was another stellar performance by Ms. Moss, however we’ve seen a lot of that already. My favorite part was watching the Waterford’s finally take off the gloves, at least somewhat. I think the shit is really gonna hit the fan when the true paternity is revealed.
Getting back to EM’s performance; it’s to the point where I can almost picture somebody rubbing their hands together and muttering “That Emmy is MINE!”. If watching an imperiled June crawling around in the snow for a minute is good then watching her do it for ten minutes is BETTER! Dude (or chick), more isn’t always better. Every torturous scene doesn’t have to go on and on . . .and on.
Which brings me to the birthing scene. Admittedly, the outcome for the baby itself is the least interesting part of the story for me so I wasn’t going to be invested in that scene no matter how it was filmed, but ffs, that was just excessive. I was almost pissed off that they wasted time that could have been spent on something - anything-else.
All in all, this series is one of the best things I’ve seen and I’m looking forward to its return (and to seeing all the Emmy acceptance speeches 
)
It’s like they read my thoughts. “Oh, so you’re getting tired of endless close-up shots of June/Offred grimacing and grunting and panting? Here, have some of this!”
^ this.
This reminds me of this Onion article about Leonardo DiCaprio and The Revenant. Well played.