Handmaids Tale, Season 2: SPOILERS / VIEWING AHEAD OF UK SREENING

[Aridane]

I'm starting a thread for those of us watching Season 2 and who want to discuss ahead of its screening in the UK.

So far I've watched the first 3 episodes.

God the 1st episode was grim.

Can't wait for the next episode-I wonder how the cmdr is
Going to react to Serena joys orders?

New episode tomorrow for those of us using Hulu.

My cousin told me she's sure she watched the last episode on Tuesday night. We're on the West Coast so maybe they drop at midnight Eastern time (9pm here). You better believe I'll be checking.

I'm with you cupcake. I don't know how she thinks she'll get away with it once Fred realizes what she's done. And who will suffer? Serena Joy, June, and Nick have all had a hand in it. I figure 1-she doesn't expect him to recover, 2-he has amnesia (that we don't know about yet), 3-she expects that he loves her enough not to give her up to the authorities, or 4-she's going to double cross Nick and blame it all on him.

I'm kinda thinking 4. Nick is a threat to her because he's the father of June's baby. I also think she may suspect that he had something to do with June's escape and eliminating him will eliminate the threat of it happening again and thus the loss of 'her' baby. At this point that baby is ALL to her and I don't think she cares who gets hurt (or dies) in her pursuit or guarding of it.

Heads up, UK viewers, latest episode is on KODI already.

Watched on Hulu, will wait till everyone's caught up...

Me, too Mavis. Can't wait for the discussion to begin!

Just finished episode 8!

What a fucked up place they've created! Can't believe Serena believes she's created a better place!

Just watched episode 8 are we able to discuss yet?

I don't think Serena does believe that. She is stuck.

Which Kodi link is actually working ?
Ive tried Covenant that's down and Genesis Reborn and Placenta and non of them work

Reality has literally hit Serena right where it hurts.

Praise be Incursion.

My DP says are you using a VPN?

He also recommends REAL DEBRID account? Whatever that is. It's £15 for 6 months.

We've just watched it on Placenta.

I'm using a VPN and a month's free trial of Hulu at the moment, but usually I download them I get it from other places.

The new episode is on Showbox if anyone uses that

Can we talk about it now?

So was the baby not thriving through lack of love and physical contact?

I think love can be a poweful thing it just showed how much Janine loved that baby, she cradled her all night whilst her “parents” use that term loosely slept. Serena seemed to like the partnership with June and was sad she had to give it up the moment Fred returned. I loved the scene with the woman doctor it showed in the moment that they required a woman to help and she seemed to sadden with her reality the small moments of the other doctor thanking her for her work.

I think nicks wife is a concern, serena seemed broken at the end especially after being wiped as did June because they are both trapped in the house with a monster. The preview for next week is very interesting I wonder if both of them will sell out Fred.

Aridane I was thinking that! But how terrible these people are bringing up these babies and not loving them.

When Fred took off his belt I was totally appalled! All of the men in Gilead must be rubbing their hands together with these compliant, non-reading, non-writing submissive women.

What is the timescale? When was Gilead established?

Can Nick’s wife read? I though June destroyed the women’s letters / testimonies - ie burnt them.

Nick is reckless with his wife and the disinterest he shows. It’s like he’s willing her to inform on him.

Why does Aunt Lydia call Janine by her real name?

I’m actually starting to feel sorry for Serena, she seems so conflicted, like the magnitude of the hell shes helped create is finally dawning on her.

Here is a short trailer,for next week

m.youtube.com/watch?v=jl849b-Rtw0

I bawled all through this episode. From the moment the Martha was brought to the hospital and the other doctor handed her the stethoscope...through the part where Janine cradled her sick baby and prepared to say goodbye...right through the punishment of Serena, and June's attempts to reach out to her...and ended up a snottery, sobbing mess as Angela cooed and gurgled in her mother's arms.

I am absolute emotional wreckage, here.

The male Dr said to the Martha Doctor 'we met in 2012 when you were speaking at.....', so if we are in 'current time' then Gilead can't be more than 6-8 years old, assuming the most draconian measures didn't come to pass until a takeover was complete and Gilead had existed for a period of time. This puts in more in perspective for me, I guess, and can explain why so many questions about 'how things work' seem to be unanswered. It's probably because the problem hasn't arisen yet.

I was so appalled at Fred 'chastising' Serena. It was so demeaning that it actually made me feel ill. And it made me wonder, too, given that Fred seemed decent and appeared supportive of Serena's writing and campaigning in the 'early days' of the 'revolution' (based on flashback scenes) just how many men in our lives, men that we think of as decent, would end up supporting a patriarchy once they realized that it gave them 'free rein' to do as they pleased without having to consult the women in their lives. But Fred had better be careful. Serena and June are in a good place to do him a great deal of harm if they ever decide to join forces.

As far as the episode before last and the 'orders', am I correct in understanding now that Serena Joy was actually acting on Fred's behalf, not writing orders behind his back?

Angela/Charlotte's 'mother' had made comments in the past that the baby was 'difficult' and that she hadn't really bonded with her, and childcare is so left to the wife that it's easy to believe that the baby was suffering from 'failure to thrive'.

I think Serena is a perfect example of that old saying "Be careful what you wish for, you just may get it". I think she was envisioning a world where women still had choices, even if she felt that housewifery and motherhood should be the primary choice. I don't think she envisioned a world in which she would be so powerless. And I think her powerlessness snuck up on her and she didn't really see it until now, when she's finally felt (literally) how under Fred's heel she really is. A velvet prison is still a prison.