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

Sudden Valley

He's basically untouchable, right, since he was one of the prime architects of Gilead or of the economic system they follow. He seems to enjoy playing games with other peoples lives so he seems to be a bit psychotic.

Agent Coulson

So they have moved on from stoning then.

mojesius

Well that was just depressing. You know you're in dire straits when Aunt Lydia is your source of comfort.

I honestly don't think I can watch this anymore if they send Nicole back to Gilead.

E mac

Yep last ep of the season will prob be Nicole being repatriated back....and the viewers repatriated back to end of season 2..

The Late Late Show

Enjoyed the episode. The Gilead capital looks scary. I heard next week is a very big episode but do not want to see the spoilers. Anyway, tonight's episode (won't share spoilers of the story either) dropped 2 names of sinister real life Gilead like organisations: the familiar Tea Party and the less familiar Quiverful (A real life Christian cult). Those 2 terms were I'm sure deliberate!

Slydice

I don't think they'll send Nicole back. I think Gilead will attack Canada though.

I'm guessing it was no accident that Emily let slip about June giving her the Baby to take to Canada. It makes clear the mothers wishes... although if it comes out and is used to keep Nicole in Canada.. that puts June into a spot.

Gimme A Pound

extra gravy wrote: »

Much better episode this week. I wonder was Aunt Lydia crying for herself or crying out of remorse...

For herself the auld ****. Again with the silly sympathetic portrayal. Aunt Lydia is not complex etc - she's a sadist who had to be dragged from beating a woman unconscious.

Stark wrote: »

Worst comes to worst he can get his bum out.

Dude's got a butt that won't quit.

Purple Mountain

I don't understand how videoing a rally with all the Handmaids bowed and dressed like freaks would gain any support from foreign nations?
Surely they'd try and use propaganda that all is great in Gilead and Nicole would be going to a great country.

The Late Late Show

Purple Mountain wrote: »

I don't understand how videoing a rally with all the Handmaids bowed and dressed like freaks would gain any support from foreign nations?
Surely they'd try and use propaganda that all is great in Gilead and Nicole would be going to a great country.

That's the way these types think. They think oppressing their women is something to be proud of and show off. Just like Saudi Arabia in the real world, Gilead is probably too important for many to ignore. If Saudi Arabia and the like were really promoting Islam, they'd allow women to dress as they please and allow alcohol for its citizens. They'd interpret the Koran/Quran in an enlightened way give us a positive Islam not the negativity we get from them. But Saudi Arabia do not care about that: they want to oppress their citizens and the world turns a blind eye because they have oil! Same with Gilead: a power to be feared and all those who did well out of the USA now want to do the same with Gilead.

The Late Late Show

Gimme A Pound wrote: »

For herself the auld ****. Again with the silly sympathetic portrayal. Aunt Lydia is not complex etc - she's a sadist who had to be dragged from beating a woman unconscious.

Dude's got a butt that won't quit.

Aunt Lydia is not to be trusted. I think that while she has some kindness in her, she is mostly a sadist and a control freak. Her attitude to handmaids seems to be: I can beat them, control them and torture them but I protect them from other forces. But I'd trust Serena, Fred, etc. before her: she is more sadistic than any of them. June I am sure will regret any trust she places in Aunt Lydia who usually ends up either torturing handmaids or forcing handmaids to commit some act of violence for Gilead.

Purple Mountain

I don't agree. I think Aunt Lydia is in the same predicament as someone who has to kill or be killed.

Gimme A Pound

Purple Mountain wrote: »

I don't agree. I think Aunt Lydia is in the same predicament as someone who has to kill or be killed.

There is that, but she absolutely delights in torturing them. E.g. when beating Janine like a crazed maniac. If she didn't show such zeal when administering punishments I'd view her as more ambiguous.

Gimme A Pound

The Late Late Show wrote: »

Aunt Lydia is not to be trusted. I think that while she has some kindness in her, she is mostly a sadist and a control freak. Her attitude to handmaids seems to be: I can beat them, control them and torture them but I protect them from other forces. But I'd trust Serena, Fred, etc. before her: she is more sadistic than any of them. June I am sure will regret any trust she places in Aunt Lydia who usually ends up either torturing handmaids or forcing handmaids to commit some act of violence for Gilead.

Oh in fairness I'd trust her far more than Serena and Fred! One thing I'll say about her is, you get what you see. But she's monstrous.

Speaking of not to be trusted - wonder what the story is with Nick? Or should the Swiss folk have been so put off? He did seem to love - or at least really like and respect - June, and put his ass on the line for her a number of times. He was one of the architects of Gilead (suckered in when at a crisis in life) but clearly came to regret it.

The Late Late Show

Purple Mountain wrote: »

I don't agree. I think Aunt Lydia is in the same predicament as someone who has to kill or be killed.

Not condoning her, but Aunt Lydia is probably as much a victim of Gilead as everyone else. When she gave the 'duty is a hard taskmaster' speech in one of the earlier episodes, she is being sincere. Lydia is expected to be what she is on one hand but on the other hand, her actions like her violence towards handmaids has been slapped down by others too.

Gilead seems to be a place where everyone is afraid of everyone else. Handmaids are supposed to be spied on by each other. Even at higher levels, Eyes spy on Commanders and Commanders undermine other Commanders.

It is a mystery who is the top guy of Gilead. Is it even known? Is it supposed to be a situation that the top leader is one of the commanders and only a select few know him. This Winslow is the closest to a top leader so far and it is interesting where things will go with him. Fred hitting it off with him will mean he will be promoted to near the top again.

Credit Checker Moose

There is probably no one leader. It is likely a committee of commanders that act as the head of state. Like Switzerland.

The Late Late Show

Gimme A Pound wrote: »

Oh in fairness I'd trust her far more than Serena and Fred! One thing I'll say about her is, you get what you see. But she's monstrous.

Speaking of not to be trusted - wonder what the story is with Nick? Or should the Swiss folk have been so put off? He did seem to love - or at least really like and respect - June, and put his ass on the line for her a number of times. He was one of the architects of Gilead (suckered in when at a crisis in life) but clearly came to regret it.

Now, Nick is an enigma throughout the history of The Handmaid's Tale. In the book, Margaret Atwood leaves it open. In the film, he is a good guy. In the series, he was a good but misguided guy so far but now there is something more. Lydia, Serena and Fred may be more easy to pin down into a certain role but Nick could be the ultimate unpredictable character.

It is probably clear he is a soldier and hero to Gilead but a war criminal in the eyes of the world. He was sucked in by Andrew Pryce and perhaps was mislead by the cult to uprise against the USA and believes it because of his own problems.

Nick seems to like June but he also is now a Commander leading an army against the Chicago rebels. We know he also is this pariah internationally. Perhaps, 'Nick Blaine' was not his soldier name? It is implied the Swiss did not know that name first but when they did research, they discovered another side to him. Perhaps, he had a name like 'Arkan' (Yugoslavian gangland figure turned paramilitary war criminal) that was not his real name?

Gimme A Pound

The Late Late Show wrote: »

Not condoning her, but Aunt Lydia is probably as much a victim of Gilead as everyone else.

No way. She's doing its bidding. It's a world she wanted. Sure, she (like nearly everyone) has her reservations about aspects of it now, but only women who embraced the new order got to be in positions of (relative) power - Aunts and commanders' wives. Aunts have the most privilege of the women, it seems. They can even write. In the book, guardians are afraid of them!

No way is she as much a victim as a handmaid or unwoman.

iamwhoiam

I will stick with it for now but it has strayed so far from the Gilead we knew that it is getting a tad unbelievable .No one saw Nick and June touching hands ? Aunt Lydia prods her with a cattle prod one day and June cries on her shoulder a week later ?
June is allowed wander about throwing daggers looks all and sundry and no one cuts out her tongue or eye ?

And honestly the close up of Junes face with the same evil expression is just too much now .

daheadonu

You would have to wonder where the show is going at this stage,like are they still just focusing on June trying to get to safety with her children or are they going to show us the end of giliad and have June as the viewpoint for it, running after her kids and getting away with stuff she shouldn't be.

Show honestly needs a win for the good guys,seems like it's being bleak for the sake of elongating the shows length

Sleepy

June should have been killed or maimed a dozen times over at this stage. Watching at US pace and this weeks episode should have seen her on the end of a noose (or maimed and strapped to a bed to be bred) based on what we've been shown of Gilead.

She's a moron (though, to be fair, they've always shown her as such) but her plot armour is ridiculously strong. There don't seem to be any consequences for her actions or, where there are, others suffer them and yet the audience is still clearly being pushed to sympathise with her rather than those whose suffering she shares culpability for.

iguana

I'm not sure I've ever seen such a very good show turn into such a very bad show. The showrunners and writers seem to have no real grasp of the world they are working within. Plots contradict one another all over the place. Almost everything they have created that expands on the book has been badly done. And it's a pity. The book showed a very, very limited viewpoint. We only understood Gilead and the rest of the world insofar as what Offred knew, which was completely contained by her own experience and snatches of rumours that got to the handmaids. So there was great scope for the tv show to fill in that world. How Gilead came about, it's borders within the US, areas it held, areas it was still fighting for. How the rest of the world was reacting to both Gilead and it's own fertility and environmental crises. But all of this needed to have been worked out early and a universe 'bible' created and episodes needed to be plotted within the rules of that universe.

June assaulted a pregnant handmaid, the worst crime in Gilead, in broad daylight on a crowded street with numerous guardians on watch directly above them. And then she stomped off with a big sour puss on her instead of her required bonnet. It was just ludicrous. Also ludicrous was the whole Fred and Serena tangoing to great applause scene. As was June clawing at the walls of the girls school in a scene that was clearly written just to showcase some artistic shots of June's red garb against a white wall in the snow. I'm not sure I'll make it to the end of the season. This show is just really, really bad now and it's only it's early excellence that has me still watching.

Exclamation Marc

It has utterly jumped the shark at this stage.

Such a wonderful show is now a farce with inordinate plot holes and nonsense logic.

The drop off in quality, logic and a workable narrative post the original material is as noticeable as a hole in the head.

Sittingpretty

Yep, agreed, it’s time to wind it up at this stage.

I’m done with June’s four alternating facial expressions and fist clenching.

Gimme A Pound

So true iguana. Many unanswered questions in the book could have been addressed. Like the War - always an ambiguous one.

I still like bits of it - and will stick with it - but those nonsense plot holes and inconsistencies... it's my favourite book of all time and I cannot express how excited I was when news of the series was revealed, but now I'm truly saddened by the waste of such an opportunity.

Season one was beautiful - seamlessly slotted into the real future 30 plus years after the book was published. Season two was criticised but I still liked it. But season three - it has lost its way.

The Late Late Show

While I a enjoying this show very much, I agree with others that we do need to see the expanded world of Gilead. In my opinion, The Handmaid's Tale is still a very good show but the potential it could reach has not been realised. My only main criticism with season 3 compared to the last 2 is the lack of flashbacks to Gilead's birth and the like: this was a very important part imo.

Perhaps, the future is to change the name from The Handmaid's Tale to Gilead and then the broader picture could be looked at. This would be both a prequel and a broadening of the world with the coup, the wars and so on to the forefront. The broader world of Gilead does need to be told and there are a couple of seasons worth of this I feel.

Exclamation Marc

The Late Late Show wrote: »

While I a enjoying this show very much, I agree with others that we do need to see the expanded world of Gilead. In my opinion, The Handmaid's Tale is still a very good show but the potential it could reach has not been realised. My only main criticism with season 3 compared to the last 2 is the lack of flashbacks to Gilead's birth and the like: this was a very important part imo.

Perhaps, the future is to change the name from The Handmaid's Tale to Gilead and then the broader picture could be looked at. This would be both a prequel and a broadening of the world with the coup, the wars and so on to the forefront. The broader world of Gilead does need to be told and there are a couple of seasons worth of this I feel.

If the writers can't handle and are botching storylines in a very limited part of Gilead with a small circle of characters, I have absolutely no confidence in them being able to tell the story of the wider society.

It has gotten brutal.

Purple Mountain

Sleepy wrote: »

June should have been killed or maimed a dozen times over at this stage. Watching at US pace and this weeks episode should have seen her on the end of a noose (or maimed and strapped to a bed to be bred) based on what we've been shown of Gilead.

She's a moron (though, to be fair, they've always shown her as such) but her plot armour is ridiculously strong. There don't seem to be any consequences for her actions or, where there are, others suffer them and yet the audience is still clearly being pushed to sympathise with her rather than those whose suffering she shares culpability for.

If it was Love Hate, June would have been bumped off in season 1.

The Late Late Show

Exclamation Marc wrote: »

If the writers can't handle and are botching storylines in a very limited part of Gilead with a small circle of characters, I have absolutely no confidence in them being able to tell the story of the wider society.

It has gotten brutal.

Margaret Atwood's own sequel The Testaments hopefully can be the basis for expansion of the world of Gilead.

The Late Late Show

Purple Mountain wrote: »

If it was Love Hate, June would have been bumped off in season 1.

Blessed be the fruit, Nidgie! Coola boola.

wakka12

Does Mrs Lawrence have alzheimers or something?