The Handmaid's Tale Season 2 (UK Pace) - thread 3

[CruCru]

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

Oh I've misremembered that then as I'm sure I remember a scene with June kicking in the back of the car whilst Nick was driving must've been another episode

Stark nick asked if she would require him to drive and she declined saying she made 'other arrangements'. She asked the driver not to let June out of the car under any circumstances. I'm sure the driver was an old man?

Nick definitely hasn't taken June to where Hannah is, but he may have some idea of where she is kept (I think they'll have a few of those young handmaid schools, so he will know Hannah is in one of them, just not which one).

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel I tried to record that bit with Serena's schedule for you but I can't link it.

I have taken some pictures of the schedule and Serena's reaction to it though if that helps.

Serena looks at it and says "How lovely" and the woman says "I'll show you to your room." Serena looks back at the schedule and mumbles something I think but I can't make out what it was.

AL hurts women. I took her to say 'it wasn't my fault' as acceptance of her violence but assuring June she wouldn't hurt a baby.

I don't think Lydia thinks that she hurts women - she thinks she saves them, via pain where necessary for their own good. According to her twisted logic she's not violent at all, she's doing what needs to be done in order to bring about a world where women aren't subjected to male violence.

With regard to June asking her to be 'godmother', I wondered whether June was doing something rather different in this conversation. Not so much setting up a protector for her unborn child, but finding a way to let Lydia know about Fred's violence towards Serena. Lydia would never listen to a direct accusation, but done in this 'I want what's best for the child way' then she will. I think June would imagine that Lydia's power (which is considerable for a woman in Gilead) would best be used to help discredit Fred and ultimately bring him down.

I'm inclined to think Lydia was the elder sister with a younger sister who 'strayed from the path of righteousness' the way Lydia sees it. And she imagines that God punished them both by taking away the baby - punishing the sister for her wicked ways and Lydia for not trying hard enough/being strong enough to save her.

I think Serena is beginning to realise what a toxic regime she has helped to create.

If there's another series, I fully expect to see her secretly working with the Government-In-Exile to bring Gilead down from within.

Bring. It. On.

Is it just me that finds Eden so hard to watch? I do agree that she will end up being nicks downfall somehow, but I can’t help but think he could make it a bit easier for her. Be nice to her at least. She’s just a girl who has been taken away from her mother and he can’t even smile at her. I find it really painful!

I agree nick could be nicer to Eden... It's not her fault they are married.

So from reading this thread, am I right in assuming that women of Gilliad are not allowed to read? Is that why Serena was given the diagrams on the Canada trip?

No reading or writing for women.

Yes, Always.

Yep... That's why there are pictorial signs at the shops

I wonder whether the Marthas have pictorial recipe books or just learn everything by heart?

Thank you. I hadn’t realised that. How embarrassing that must have been for serena when given the diagram of activities. And now, I understand why the significance of the lady showing her around saying how much she enjoys reading.

I think Nick isn't showing Eden any kindness because he is acutely aware of how wrong it all is. He doesn't want to be another man using and manipulating a woman, and lets face it one genuine smile and she would be putty in his hands. I think his aloofness (is that a word?) is actually a stunted way of trying to be respectful, mixed with repulsion at the whole situation.

And now, I understand why the significance of the lady showing her around saying how much she enjoys reading.

In the first series, the Mexican ambassador visited Gilead. She brought a copy of a book Serena had written - which now, of course, Serena wasn't allowed to read.

Wait a sec - the aunt Lydia thing could it be it wasn't aunt Lydia's fault but it was Lydia's fault? Like how she blamed June but offred was innocent.

Oh wow Empress
That is a complete mind blown moment for me.
I feel like I’ve missed lots of little (or not so little) nuances that really pull the story together

There is also a copy of Serenas book on the shelf in Fred's study.. One episode she trails her finger across it... Can't recall which one

Aunt Lydia is allowed to write her "medical notes" about handmaids. That's another one of the exceptions to Gilead's rules...

RedorBlack that's how I see Nick's behaviour too.

June smirked when she saw Eden and the young guard, she was almost setting them up by asking for milk and leaving them alone (although she wanted to talk to the Martha about looking after her baby). That is not going to end well.

Waterford definitely recognised Moira/Ruby imho. I love to hate him.

Nick's news from Canada has given June fire in her belly. I'd like to see more of Emily, she seems so broken and is ripe to join the resistance again.

Serena has made a big mistake creating Gilead, huge.

Why are the colonies toxic? I babies are so important why aren't they infertility treatments instead of raping handmaid's? I suppose it's all about the subjection of women but it still doesn't make sense.

Hygge Thank you so much for doing the screenshots, they are exactly what I was hoping to see

I always sew in front of the TV but should make an exception for Handmaid's Tale - I am missing too many great visual moments.

I only got round to watching it last night. I'm pleased that Luke behaved the way he did at the protest - I was starting to think he'd given up hope, but now think he'll be fighting to get her out somehow. I thought that June's reaction to hearing about Luke was great too - certainly cleared up any "would she choose Luke or Nick" questions - Luke every time. Her smile, despite the horrors in her daily life, when she heard news about her husband and best friend was so wide.

I don't think Eden is going to be the problem that others think she is. I think she will be her own undoing, but not anyone else's. Seeing her with Isaac, enjoying the attention she doesn't get from her husband was interesting. It's been interesting seeing the differences between her and June and Serena anyway - Eden has grown up in the regime, she doesn't (necessarily) remember a time before - and even if she does, she was very small. She won't have experienced the normal teenage stuff that June had, and that Serena had, so I thought the scene with her and Isaac was interesting as it's showing Eden as a more "normal" teenage girl. I don't think she's got enough about her to deliberately do anything to hurt Nick, though I might be wrong.

I loved all the stuff in Canada with Serena - my favourite bit was where she said to the the US guy (Mark?) that she wasn't going to betray her country and he replied "I thought you'd already done that". I have such conflicted emotions about Serena - sometimes I think she's just in survival mode, and that explains why she behaves as she does towards June, but then I remember that she was instrumental in the creation of Gilead. I wonder if it will fall and she and Fred, along with so many others, will be held for war crimes. It did make me think of the Nazis last night - those who just went along with it, committed atrocities, but would claim they were just following the rules. Aunt Lydia falls into that too.

@TheCountess - you're welcome. I wish I could have linked the whole clip but at least you get the idea from the photo.

@Alwaystired122 - not only are women not allowed to read or write, the amputate fingers and hands and eventually eyes I think if they are caught doing so.

I'm sure in the first series we saw a handmaid who had had her fingers removed for reading or writing.

I was thinking about Janine last night. Her screaming "suck my dick" at Isaac was like a flash of the old Janine at the Red Centre. I wonder if having some contact with Charlotte has brought her back to her old self a little bit.

When Serena was talking to the journalist I too thought about war crimes. She couldn't simply just go to Hawaii and start over. Either a trial or a plea bargain to bring the regime down. I think she knew it'd never be as simple as just getting on a plane. Didn't she say something like "is that all you offer me"? I forget so many details

Alwaystired122 I recommend that you read the book. There were some deviations from the book in Series 1 but it does explain all about Gilead. It is easy to miss things on the TV because of the whispering and the darkness.