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Original poster

Handmaid's Tale wtf moment

33 replies

Hilleni · 02/10/2020 16:05

I'm autistic so I'm not sure if it's just this which is the barrier or if anyone else dosn't understand.

Ive been binge watching and am on S3E6. First of all that June is so shocked Nick isn't trustworthy.. Ofglen literally says not to trust him from the first episode.

But the real bit I'm struggling with, aunt Lydia has just given June the muffler thing. And June says do you want to silence us, and Aunt Lydia is crying and June is crying and I just don't understand. Aunt Lydia hates June. She whacked her when June tried to help her up the stairs the other episode.

She says 'ah the dedication' and seems really impressed when we first see them at the train station with others muffled. I just don't understand what is happening. What are these emotions?

Can anyone explain at all?

OP posts:
RiaOverTheRainbow · 02/10/2020 16:09

I think you missed the bit where we see the handmaid June is staying with take off her muffler, revealing that she (and all the other local handmaids) has had her mouth essentially stapled shut. It goes way beyond being good/meek/silent, and even Aunt Lydia thinks it's barbaric.

BluebellsGreenbells · 02/10/2020 16:12

Aunt Lydia has a job to do, to not do her job would mean her certain death. She doesn’t have to like doing her job.

The whole point is none of the characters can trust each other because the stakes are too high. They have are each one frightened to trust.

It’s a world built on fear.

This scene is a turning point. Control gone too far.

HasaDigaEebowai · 02/10/2020 16:15

Aunt Lydia doesn't hate June

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ihatelockdown · 02/10/2020 16:19

I literally feel like our real life is turning into handmaids tale

Original poster
Hilleni · 02/10/2020 16:33

Oh, I thought Aunt Lydia would be all for it.

OP posts:
ktp100 · 02/10/2020 16:48

It was one of those situations in which we see Aunt Lydia's devotion to the cause wavering. Even she feels it's too much.

BogRollBOGOF · 02/10/2020 16:52

Aunt Lydia does care about her girls and saving them in her own (abusive) ways, but they are the ways of the system not purely out of her own sadism. She seems to have a peculiar fondness for the likes of June and Janine, maybe it's that they had babies, maybe they have more spirit to be worth saving. Can you save someone who is denied free will or speech?

The Testements is an interesting read.

TeenPlusTwenties · 02/10/2020 16:52

I think AL is devoted to the cause because to not be devoted to it would mean death. She is trying to make the best of a very bad situation. She is utterly shocked by what is behind the mufflers.

SATSmadness · 02/10/2020 16:57

I think AL doesn't trust June.

mrsmuddlepies · 02/10/2020 17:01

If you read the Testaments, there is a section on Aunt Lydia as a young woman before the purge. She was forced into going along with the role (knowing that the alternative was death). It gives her character a more human aspect.

Gwenhwyfar · 02/10/2020 17:04

June loves Nick so it's difficult for her to see him as evil. Also, it's clear you haven't watched very far in so maybe you shouldn't judge just yet!

As for Aunt Lydia, nobody is 100% evil. If you did Shakespeare at school you will have seen that even the 'evil' characters have a side to them that attracts sympathy.

"Aunt Lydia has a job to do, to not do her job would mean her certain death. She doesn’t have to like doing her job."

No, it's a bit more than that. She's not (or not only) there under duress. She has some kind of jealousy towards the sexusally liberated women and some desire to slap them down. This is shown in the flashbacks. On the other hand, she also has a genuine 'aunt' side where she does have a sense of morality and the idea of a duty of care towards 'her girls'. You can see this in her sympathy for Janine/OfWarren when she misses out on the dinner because she's lost an eye. However, this was a woman she herself had tortured in the red centre. Lydia is not nice. She believes in torturing 'fallen women' but it's never mindless violence, for her there is a reason for their 'punishments'.

Gwenhwyfar · 02/10/2020 17:06

"I think AL doesn't trust June."

AL knows that June is intelligent and brave. She both admires and fears her, I think.

Gwenhwyfar · 02/10/2020 17:07

@mrsmuddlepies

If you read the Testaments, there is a section on Aunt Lydia as a young woman before the purge. She was forced into going along with the role (knowing that the alternative was death). It gives her character a more human aspect.
Oh, that contradicts the flashbacks seen in the series. In the before time, she was a divorced nursery teacher, not particularly pious and had her offer of first date sex rejected by a colleague.
Gancanny · 02/10/2020 17:09

I'd recommend reading the two books to get a broader picture of Aunt Lydia and her motivations.

AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii · 02/10/2020 17:10

@ihatelockdown🙈

Handmaid's Tale wtf moment
MotherWol · 02/10/2020 17:14

I think AL wants to try to redeem the girls, she doesn’t hate them, she cares for them in a very warped way. And like Bluebells said, none of the characters truly trust each other. We saw some of how Nick became involved with Gilead in S2, but we don’t know what his motivation is, or how much we can believe that he’s trustworthy.

rhowton · 02/10/2020 17:22

I feel like a lot of women who have read The Testament have a lot more respect and understanding of Aunt Lydia, but without reading that book, I would have assumed she hated June.

Wheytaminute · 02/10/2020 17:29

@mrsmuddlepies

If you read the Testaments, there is a section on Aunt Lydia as a young woman before the purge. She was forced into going along with the role (knowing that the alternative was death). It gives her character a more human aspect.
I was going to suggest reading this too - once OP has finished watching the series on tv.

It explains a lot.

Amummyatlast · 02/10/2020 17:30

Oh, that contradicts the flashbacks seen in the series. In the before time, she was a divorced nursery teacher, not particularly pious and had her offer of first date sex rejected by a colleague.

I wouldn’t say there is a contradiction between the books and the flashbacks in the series. She’s younger (rather than a young woman) when the regime forces her to become an aunt and her morally vacillates, which makes her unpredictable.

HasaDigaEebowai · 02/10/2020 17:32

I think its important to read the second book but even without it, there is a strange admiration and protectiveness of June. She definitely doesn't hate her.

Drinkingallthewine · 02/10/2020 17:36

Aunt Lydia sees herself as a mother figure to the handmaids. What we see as abusive, brutal behaviour she would see as being strict and what she does is for the girl's own good and because she wants what is best for them - and in her mind the doctrine of the land is what is best for them.

Original poster
Hilleni · 02/10/2020 17:44

I've read both the books. Maybe she hates June but likes Offered/ofjoseph

OP posts:
SquirrelFan · 02/10/2020 17:59

Stapled shut! Was this in the book??

Gwenhwyfar · 04/10/2020 10:07

@Gancanny

I'd recommend reading the two books to get a broader picture of Aunt Lydia and her motivations.
Why are the books more important than the series though? The Testaments was written later so I'm not sure you can say it trumps anything shown on the series.
Gwenhwyfar · 04/10/2020 10:08

@rhowton

I feel like a lot of women who have read The Testament have a lot more respect and understanding of Aunt Lydia, but without reading that book, I would have assumed she hated June.
"I would have assumed she hated June."

I don't think that's a fair representation of what we see in the series. We can see that it's much more complex than just hate. There's some grudging admiration there too.