The Handmaid's Tale - Hulu Original (**Spoilers**)

Sardonicat

The Late Late Show wrote: »

Yes, I heard that too. Probably another Handmaid, a wife and a Martha.

It would be good to get the perspective of an 'ordinary ' man. Anyone who isn't part of the ruling elite is a victim of Gilead. It would be interesting to see their struggle. Or simply an ordinary family, like the family that ended up being destroyed last year for helping June.

extra gravy

Much better episode this week I thought.

Interesting to see Washington and the imagery and symbolism of June standing before the damaged Lincoln memorial was powerful. And what is Nick planning...if anything.

angel eyes 2012

Sunrise_Sunset wrote: »

Series I've watched in the past that I bored of, I still watched to end, as I felt invested in them. But I just can't anymore. Same goes for The Affair, as someone else mentioned.

The first series of the Affair was excellent and then it diminished in quality from the second series on. I fear this show is going the same direction and dare I say it, Big Little Lies too. What is it with such promising programmes that decline in quality so quickly.

is_that_so

angel eyes 2012 wrote: »

The first series of the Affair was excellent and then it diminished in quality from the second series on. I fear this show is going the same direction and dare I say it, Big Little Lies too. What is it with such promising programmes that decline in quality so quickly.

The challenge for this one is that it left the book behind in Season 1 so it's a test for the writers own skill from then on rather than their adaptation skills of good source material.

Agent Coulson

Christopher Meloni is a great addition to the cast.

I'll stick around to see where it goes with him.

Stark

Worst comes to worst he can get his bum out.

Shelga

How does June know definitively that Nichole isn’t Fred’s daughter?- have we been told he’s sterile, and how do they know for sure?

Credit Checker Moose

Fred is sterile. That was stated in S1.

Always Tired

He most likely is, but pretty sure it is not diagnosed properly, just that Serena thinks it pretty strongly (it was her said it)

It's not officially confirmed or else having a handmaid would be pointless but basically Gilead is so misogynist that they always blame failure to conceive on the woman, it could *never* be the man's fault so they get handmaids to abuse rather than have the blame on them, and if the handmaid doesn't get preganant it's her fault, God hates her, etc.

Always Tired

gozunda wrote: »

This series does not follow directly from Margaret Atwood's original.

There appears to be a lot more script writing input and less of a defined story line imo

.

Well it would be hard to be following MA's original writing now in S3 considering it went past the book after the end of Season 1, it was actually pretty close for the first season.

Stark

Follows pretty closely plot wise for the first season. To the TV show writers' credit, the characters are a lot more fleshed out in the TV series version. The likes of Aunt Lydia and Emily/Ofglen only had a couple of lines in the book.

gozunda

Always Tired wrote: »

Well it would be hard to be following MA's original writing now in S3 considering it went past the book after the end of Season 1, it was actually pretty close for the first season.

Yes that what I referred to btw. Thanks.

Redriddick

Unless something starts to happen, I'm out. Since the hansmaid set off the bomb **** all has happened. Where is the resistance?

iguana

The show is mostly just terrible right now. Little of what is happening makes sense. The world wouldn't be in any way swayed by Fred's creepy videos. They would have the exact opposite effect. No-one would want to send a baby girl back to a world of 100s of muzzled women, known to be sex slaves, bowed in prayer on Fred's command. The Swiss aren't the kind of neutral who negotiate contentious issues between countries. Luke would have buggered off the the remaining US with the baby the instant there was any question of Canada sending her back and Canada would have been happy to wash their hands of it. Nick's past as a part of the Sons of Jacob would make him more valuable as a potential source of information, not less. Especially as there is no way the heads of intelligence agencies dealing with Gilead don't know that it was him who gave Luke the letters from the handmaids. And to top it off, if June had just gotten in the damn car with Emily the baby would be completely safe but she never, ever has any sort of crises of conscience about that.

I'll probably watch the next few episodes but as it is, I've started browsing on my phone when watching as I'm just getting through most of the episode for the few interesting scenes that occur occasionally in each episode. I'd like to see more of Emily in Canada and we really should be seeing more of Luke, Moira and Erin and their response to the supposed international custody furore. (Though we probably can't as what we should be seeing is Agent Truello putting them on a plane to Alaska/Hawaii and seeing that not happen will just highlight the utter stupidity of the nonsense they are trying to pass off as plot.)

Purple Mountain

Who is Erin?

iguana

Purple Mountain wrote: »

Who is Erin?

The blonde woman who escaped from a red centre and fled Gilead with Luke. She lives with him and Moira.

iamwhoiam

Two series ago Junes “ What have you done Serena ? “ would have earned her a cattle prod and loss of an eye . This series she is allowed say as the pleases

Sudden Valley

I guess Gilead has the economic and military might of america so it makes sense that canada might kowtow to them regarding the baby. The producers seem to be in love with these big set pieces looking like fascist parades - i wish they would spend more time on the story.

The Late Late Show

Sudden Valley wrote: »

I guess Gilead has the economic and military might of america so it makes sense that canada might kowtow to them regarding the baby. The producers seem to be in love with these big set pieces looking like fascist parades - i wish they would spend more time on the story.

Yes, indeed. In the real world, America's current evil regime get away with things and influence others. Gilead probably inherited that and were a reaction to a chaotic America like the current one.

extra gravy

The part where Serena went all gooey eyed over Fred when he was goofing around with a soft toy got on my nerves. She must have forgotten about her severed finger already.

daheadonu

This season just gets bleaker and bleaker I can see June's husband getting bopped in this baby exchange.

The handmaidens need a win I'm sick of
Watching june escape and then go back to being degraded.

iguana

Sudden Valley wrote: »

I guess Gilead has the economic and military might of america so it makes sense that canada might kowtow to them regarding the baby. The producers seem to be in love with these big set pieces looking like fascist parades - i wish they would spend more time on the story.

They might. And in the book Canada was no long term safe haven for Gileadean refugees as Canada turned a blind eye to refugees being killed or recaptured because they didn't want to anger their neighbour. So with that in mind, there is no way on earth Luke would stay in Canada. Agent Truello, who is an agent of the existing United States, would be having the Luke and the baby (and Moira and Erin if they wanted) moved to Hawaii or Alaska as soon as Canada was put under pressure. Babies are in short supply and there is no way that the US, in an official state of war with a terrorist state in their own lands, would risk the baby being brought back to Gilead. Any thing else happening is just total and utter shíte writing.

Jamsiek

Sudden Valley wrote: »

I guess Gilead has the economic and military might of america so it makes sense that canada might kowtow to them regarding the baby. The producers seem to be in love with these big set pieces looking like fascist parades - i wish they would spend more time on the story.

I would think Gilead would be less powerful than the US was previously. They are fighting a resistance within their own country and on the verge of losing Chicago.

There is also the US in exile in Alaska and Hawaii and other allies assembling in Canada to stage an invasion of Gilead.

If Gilead is struggling to control the territory they have, they’re unlikely to invade other territories and make more trouble for themselves.

PhiloCypher

Jamsiek wrote: »

I would think Gilead would be less powerful than the US was previously. They are fighting a resistance within their own country and on the verge of losing Chicago.

There is also the US in exile in Alaska and Hawaii and other allies assembling in Canada to stage an invasion of Gilead.

If Gilead is struggling to control the territory they have, they’re unlikely to invade other territories and make more trouble for themselves.

Doesn't matter how much of their conventional forces are tied up fighting the resistance , they have nukes. The only reason they aren't using them on these proplem areas is they don't want to irradiate any more of their own country and at the moment the rebels aren't an existential threat. If that changes or if a coalition attacks/invades and their backs are against the wall they will definitely use them.

Slydice

Just caught up. That latest one was grim. I assume the plot of the season to now was to lead into showing the core of the system.

Staples to the mouth

:eek:

How do they eat? Straws?

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Christopher Meloni is a great addition to the cast.

I'll stick around to see where it goes with him.

I don't know.. but it looked in one scene, using sunlight behind him, they made his hair pattern look like horns... just after the contrasting scene of June with wings.

Jamsiek

PhiloCypher wrote: »

Doesn't matter how much of their conventional forces are tied up fighting the resistance , they have nukes. The only reason they aren't using them on these proplem areas is they don't want to irradiate any more of their own country and at the moment the rebels aren't an existential threat. If that changes or if a coalition attacks/invades and their backs are against the wall they will definitely use them.

Yes I agree they would use nukes if they had them and were desperate enough and knew how to use them.
But do we know if they still have many of these nukes? The colonies are contaminated with nuclear waste and possibly nuked.

PhiloCypher

Jamsiek wrote: »

Yes I agree they would use nukes if they had them and were desperate enough and knew how to use them.
But do we know if they still have many of these nukes? The colonies are contaminated with nuclear waste and possibly nuked.

Why wouldn't they know how to use them? America wasn't brought down from without by a foreign power, but from within by fundamentalist Christians who had infiltrated every level of government. They have the codes and know how to use them as evidenced by the irradiated colonies. As to how many they have, in the real world they have 4000, so even accounting for the colonies I doubt they would be running short.

The Late Late Show

PhiloCypher wrote: »

Why wouldn't they know how to use them? America wasn't brought down from without by a foreign power, but from within by fundamentalist Christians who had infiltrated every level of government. They have the codes and know how to use them as evidenced by the irradiated colonies. As to how many they have, in the real world they have 4000, so even accounting for the colonies I doubt they would be running short.

Of course they do know how to use them. Gilead would be if real the hardline Republican Tea Party types deciding Trump is not 'Christian' enough and then staging a coup. It would be people like Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton.

Jamsiek

PhiloCypher wrote: »

Why wouldn't they know how to use them? America wasn't brought down from without by a foreign power, but from within by fundamentalist Christians who had infiltrated every level of government. They have the codes and know how to use them as evidenced by the irradiated colonies. As to how many they have, in the real world they have 4000, so even accounting for the colonies I doubt they would be running short.

I didn’t imply they don’t know how to use them, not sure where you read that.
If they already had a war and had sanctions against them they might not have the resources to develop more nukes.
Also the rebels and their allies could have nukes too and could be teaming up to develop more.
My point is they don’t really tell us anything about the political side of the story, just June’s version

wakka12

Whats up with this commander lawrence character? Why was he helping handmaids escape at the end of last season and a week later now he just spends his time psychologically abusing and humiliating june and the marthas? Only on episode 3 now. But seems like they just turned him into an evil character to make the scenes in the house with june interesting