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The Handmaid's Tale Season 2 (UK Pace) - thread 2

959 replies

CruCru · 05/06/2018 20:29

Hi all

Here is the next thread for those who are watching The Handmaid's Tale Season 2 on Channel 4. Please don't put any spoilers on this - the other thread (for those in other countries who are watching ahead of the UK) is www.mumsnet.com/Talk/telly_addicts/3239228-Handmaids-Tale-Season-2-SPOILERS-VIEWING-AHEAD-OF-UK-SREENING.

OP posts:
JustKeepStumbling · 11/06/2018 00:55

I’ve found the last few episodes have really dragged and been quite hard work to keep interest in. Hope it picks up speed.

ZibbidooZibbidooZibbidoo · 11/06/2018 01:10

Yes this episode was very slow. And I find it odd how some episodes show June + the colonies + Luke and Moira in Canada but others like tonight’s just focussed on June entirely. It feels a bit disjointed at times. Pick a style and stick with it.

MrStarkIDontFeelSoGood · 11/06/2018 02:06

It's so weird how that guy who was Janine's Commander has to stand round drinking whisky with the people that cut off his hand.

POPholditdown · 11/06/2018 03:12

Slightly off topic, but very curious.. what was the Amazon ad during one of the previous episodes? I’ve seen comments that it was inappropriate, but I watch it on record so miss the ads.

LadyRochfordsHoickedGusset · 11/06/2018 04:52

.

kalapattar · 11/06/2018 06:52

I do wonder about the timeline. June had tried to flee but got captured. How long after the establishment of Gilead and the new system did it take for them to flee?

Soubriquet · 11/06/2018 07:19

I wondered that too.

I wonder if they will show the events that caused them to actually run in the first place.

Cacofonix · 11/06/2018 07:41

My feeling is that yes, June is biding her time but not broken.

However I wonder if some sort of uneasy alliance springs up between June and Serena? After all Serena's life in the Gilead regime is so stifled. What does she actually do all day? She has people who shop, cook, clean for her and there were lots of shots of her staring into the mid distance/wistfully staring out of the window so the feeling is she is (obviously) trapped in this new regime as much as June. It's not like she can go out and 'lunch' with all the other wives. And I think she was a force to be reckoned with pre Gilead, and Aunt Lydia made the comment about June also being strong. Just pouring out my thoughts.

I still wish we saw more of how the outside world view the situation.

Moogletea · 11/06/2018 07:48

I have a feeling Serena will assist June to escape at some point (or at least that's what I hope). Serena wants the child but I also think this episode was subtly trying to show that Serena has turmoil about the situation. Wanting June out of the house would have made it easier for her to take the baby. I hope that the longer June is there the harder it will be Serena to continue to see her as less of a person

EvilTwins · 11/06/2018 08:16

The dynamic between them has definitely changed. June called Serena by her first name rather than Mrs Waterford or Ma’am.

MargoLovebutter · 11/06/2018 08:36

Serena hates June. She loathes her with all her might and she is a little bit crazy. She was a religious fundamentalist who advocated the kind of life she now has!!!! Yes, she resents her powerlessness now, but she also hates June more because June has what she has always wanted - a baby. I can't see her helping June escape.

As for June making cow eyes at Nick over the breakfast table - that was preposterous and really annoyed me. June is not & never was that stupid. It made me angry with the producers or writers, because it was so ludicrous.

I thought Aunt Lydia was phenomenal in this show. Cunning as a weasel and surely skilled in psychotherapy skills. It was masterful how she showed June what an awful person she was, but also gave her a way out by being Offred. So clever. Be interesting to see how deeply buried June is - I have a feeling she'll resurface!

ZibbidooZibbidooZibbidoo · 11/06/2018 09:33

As for June making cow eyes at Nick over the breakfast table - that was preposterous and really annoyed me. June is not & never was that stupid. It made me angry with the producers or writers, because it was so ludicrous.

Totally agree! Why did they do that. The audience does not need to be spoonfed. We are capable of noticing and interpreting a brief glance. As is serena! That was a pantomime.

Hygge · 11/06/2018 09:40

I don't think that Serena will ever help June.

They hate each other, and Serena has two reasons to fuel that hate.

June can have a baby, but worse, June is having Serena's baby.

Serena would be jealous of anyone able to get pregnant, but it's killing her now that she has to rely on June to have 'her' baby.

I don't want to call Serena strong because ultimately I believe that the people who created Gilead are selfish, weak, spoilt bullies, basically they are pampered children who want their own way and somehow they've managed to get it using terrorist tactics and religious doctrines.

Look at the Commanders having their clay pigeon shoot, they were like bickering children. And the wives at the baby shower, running around with a little push along toy and laughing and clapping. They were like children themselves.

So Serena in one way can do all of this, she can plot and plan to destroy a powerful country and put her husband into a position of power (hopefully more precarious than they know), and she can accept the idea of raping women on a monthly basis to get the baby she wants, she's selfish and crazy enough to believe that having power makes that baby hers and not June's, but she can't deal with the reality of having that woman in her home and she doesn't have the power to get her out. Fred basically refused to send June away when Serena asked.

So she's poisoned by the thought that even though she's getting the baby she's always wanted, she needs June and she resents that and hates it and hates June.

Some people just do hate the person who is giving them what they want. Serena has form for that, she wanted Gilead but now she's powerless when she's used to being powerful. So she has to take power where she can find it, in violence to women trapped in her home and her fucked up Utopia that's taken everything from her. Even Fred, because I think before Gilead, when it was still being planned, Fred loved her and was faithful to her, and they were equal. Now she's below him in status, he's got a 'god-given right' to be unfaithful and to rape a women in front of her every month, and I don't think he loves her any more.

She has everything she ever wanted right now and she's hating it. That hate needs a focus and that focus is June.

I worry about that baby as well. Especially if it's a girl. Sooner or later if Serena and the Commander get to raise the baby, she will see June in it somewhere as it grows up and that will anger her.

She's an angry, violent women and she won't want a single reminder of June in that baby. If it grows up to look or act like June Serena won't be able to stand it.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 11/06/2018 09:53

I think June is broken. She is at rock bottom. But she will rise again, that's how narrative arcs work.
The only thing is, it's quite early in the series for her to be at that point. Maybe the focus will move away from her in the next few episodes.

Greenkit · 11/06/2018 10:06

Loving it
and loving all the comments

TammySwansonTwo · 11/06/2018 10:11

The first few episodes are a slog for sure - but I saw episode six last night and I am counting the hours until I can watch the next one. Hang in there.

Aridane · 11/06/2018 10:17

Hygge - I think you may be oversimplifying Serena

MrsFring · 11/06/2018 10:33

Ann Dowd was incredible. The sight of Offred sitting passively with her growing bump reminded me of some of the pro-lifers rhetoric in Ireland.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 11/06/2018 10:40

I haven't found it a slog. Except when I can't see or hear what's going on.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 11/06/2018 10:42

Ann Dowd deserves to win prizes. She is as mesmerising as June in her role.

theredjellybean · 11/06/2018 10:51

did anyone else start to find them 'liking' aunt lydia ? Ann Dowd was just amazing, what and actress.
Last night seeing the intuition Aunt Lydia showed towards June's feelings was gripping.
I wonder if we will see more of how Aunt Lydia really feels ?

RightOnTheEdge · 11/06/2018 11:10

Wow, I always feel like I can't wait to get outside in the sunshine and fresh air after I've watched this to get rid of the depressed feeling.

I don't normally watch this type of programme. But I've been hooked since the first episode. I don't even enjoy watching it! I don't like it but I can't stop watching.

I'm not having trouble with the sound but the darkness is really annoying. Half the time my TV screen just looks black! Lots of drama seems to be like this now. It drives me mad.

WitchSharkadder · 11/06/2018 11:38

I think June wants to be broken. She said something along the lines of ‘please let Hannah forget me, let me forget myself’ because life would be easier for both of them if they are compliant, accepting of their place in Gilead and just do as they’re told.

Re Serena, I think she is deeply conflicted. Yes, she is cruel but ruling her household is the only bit of power she has left. I think, if Gilead/The Commander pushes her for enough there’s a possibility of an alliance with June. It would be tenuous and probably not sustainable long term. But if there was a shared goal...

Serena has already stood up to Fred after she found out about him & June. She told him he wasn’t the father of the baby because he was weak. So she’s not completely submissive to him yet.

WitchSharkadder · 11/06/2018 11:39

A thought has just occurred to me.

Why isn’t Fred questioning the paternity of the baby? Surely he would be angry and at the very least quesioning Serena about what/how she knows?

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 11/06/2018 11:47

I assumed that Fred knew at some level that it wasn't his. But it suits him to ignore the fact because 1. It will keep Serena Joy happy and 2. It would be good for his career to be seen as the father of a baby. Makes him look successful with a perfect family. And maybe also 3. He wants a baby even if it isn't his just like Serena does.

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