The Handmaid's Tale Season 2 (UK Pace) - thread 4

[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

Someone on the last thread asked for a link to the previous threads:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/telly_addicts/3216737-The-Handmaid-s-Tale-Season-2

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/telly_addicts/3269725-The-Handmaids-Tale-Season-2-UK-Pace-thread-2

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/telly_addicts/3290403-The-Handmaids-Tale-Season-2-UK-Pace-thread-3?pg=38

I didn’t hear the conversation between Fred and serena at all as I was far too worried that June would shoot (and miss)

I missed lots of that conversation too!

Also, this has been mentioned before but the Eyes on Gilead podcast is well worth a listen. Just avoid spoilers so don’t listen ahead as it’s week by week!

Once again it took me a good 20 mins to recover from watching that! It's just so engaging and exciting all the way through! I love all the 'give her a break writers' comments. So true! How many near misses can one person cope with.

I watched it twice last night in the end. As I had also missed the conversation/argument between serena and Fred as I was concentrating on whether June was going to shoot.

So we know it wasn't a set up by Fred and he actually is a dummass who thinks June likes him and Nick is loyal! But still there is something unexplained about the nick shooting and the guards arriving last week. So it could, maybe be Nick in the car that's just arrived...

I read somewhere that the creators have signed for up to TEN seasons

Is it just me as I feel my heart seems to be beating faster as we are nearing the end of this series. I don't think end of series 1 was so dramatic. Remember the cliffhanger where June is bundled into the van in last episode of series 1.
Loving this thread as at least I won't get weird looks like I do at work when I say I am still recovering from watching last night's episode.😲

"I thought it was interesting that Fred said to Serena that he thought Nick was loyal. Don't know why that surprised me."

I've been saying the opposite and thought all along that Fred believes Nick is loyal. When people were saying Fred had set Nick and June up for an ambush by the guards it just didn't feel right to me.

I don't think Fred would have sent June with Nick if he had any doubts about trusting him at that point, or any knowledge that Nick had fathered the baby.

I think that Fred is so arrogant, and it just won't have occurred to him before that Nick would be disloyal to him. A lowly chauffeur isn't smart enough to fool Fred by being disloyal.

And Fred showed his way of thinking when he blamed Serena for June running away. He genuinely thinks that he has been good to June and that Serena is the sole problem. I think he sees Nick the same way, grateful to Fred for being good to him.

Now he knows Nick is the father of June's baby his opinion might have changed somewhat, but I still don't think Fred realises he might have an enemy in Nick.

More that Fred will be thinking Nick got above his station, and will need to be put back in his place. But Fred got Eden to keep Nick occupied (after June was pregnant) so I think Fred will think Nick is mostly dealt with all the same. Back in his place, occupied with a nice little wife now, not a threat but still needing a firmer hand for a while.

It looked to me like Fred thought the commander/owner of the house would be there. He walked in shouting his name. How would he not know?

I thought June would shoot the both of them (actually I thought the lid of the box would slam shut, or Serena would see her out of the corner of her eye, and she'd be caught again) but June couldn't do it when Serena broke down - 'I've got nothing, nothing'.

I was willing that garage door to open!

And I thought the baby had stopped moving too. I hope the baby crying wasn't just her imagination. I hope Holly lives. I hope the car coming is Nick.

What am I going to do with myself in 2 weeks when the series is finished for a year?

That was so stressful. My heart rate was up pretty much all the way through. I'm going to have to go back on catch-up to listen more clearly to the conversation between Fred & Serena, as I'm sure I missed nuggets of info.

Its not going to be Nick in the car coming, I'm fairly certain about that. I think June & the baby will go into hospital and on waking up June will find that Holly has gone. It will all be very distressing that's for sure.

Any thoughts on the significance of the Springsteen song?

'Got a wife and kids in Baltimore jack
I went out for a ride and I Never went back...'

There must be a reason for that song to have been played, which escapes me.

And it's stuck in my head now too.

I thought it was interesting that Fred said to Serena that he thought Nick was loyal. Don't know why that surprised me.

I think Fred really is that blind & stupid. He sees June, Nick & Rita as his possessions & can't imagine that they might have wills of their own.

Unless it's Nick and June went out for a ride and never went back?

Nah, she's getting out now. They can't possibly keep the series going without some new storyline - the "oh, is she going to escape?" has been milked now!

The house is very rural - I reckon they are within reach of the border.

I reckon the gunshots will have alerted some everyday country folk who are sympathetic. Hopefully, actually part of what was Mayday.

They'll take her and the baby in and sneak them over the border.

That means the Commander falls, letters are one thing, but, a Handmaid is another. He has to run. Serena either dobs him in, or gets in touch with that journalist and gets to Hawaii.

Nick's a goner. He's going on the wall, not sure why yet, but, he will, though June tries to save him.

In series 3 June and Serena work together to find the Commander and bring down Gilead.

And they all live happily ever after

Elisabeth Moss carried most of that episode solo

She's an amazing actress.

I thought the song was literal - "born in the USA".

The birth stuff was bloody brilliantly done. Wonderful.

I thought the wolf was threatening - like vulture circling waiting for a meal.

Can't. Stop. Thinking. About. It.

The song wasn’t born in the USA, it was hungry heart.

Knowning June she’ll have fashioned a load of cloth nappies and a sling from. Pair of curtains and be on her way in no time

Babies that age usually don’t move much so a piece of cloth between their legs and then wrapped up in lots of blankets and they would be fine I reckon. That’s what I was hoping for if she gave birth and could get the car out. Excited for the next episode but so tempted to just watch them online instead. The birth seen was beautifully done and reminded me of my own births (it’s the position I gave birth in) and made me feel all broody in a way. Great actress and she carried the episode on her own pretty much and very well.

I have watched again from the bit she notices the blood... I am crying.
She knows the shots in the air will bring help but also recapture for her and she will lose the baby.
I don't know what I would do? Rather the baby died in childbirth.. Or whether maternal instincts kick in and you'd do whatever you have to for your child...
I think the car are guards /eyes etc and June and baby Holly have lost the chance at escape and I do wonder how the writers will stop this becoming 'silly'.
While I think at the moment they are playing with the character's maternal instincts and humanity to stop her shooting Fred and Serena and stopping her risking the baby but how long can you use that to carry a story arc... Especially as they have done it once already when June accepted leaving hannah behind when she had chance to escape before

I think Serena is beyond redemption, she was almost deranged screaming for Offred whilst the commander bumbled around looking like a confused idiot. He is so arrogant he really thought June would be grateful for his "gift" and Nick is totally loyal.

I thought it was interesting that he didn't just hit Serena when she screamed at him. He's happy to beat her when she's compliant and knows it's "God's will" but he is maybe a little scared of angry Serena?
Ugh they are such a horrible pair, I did feel a little like it was a (really fucked up) Disney film with them as the bumbling yet rather scary villains and June as the hero.

Interesting about the wolf, I admit I just thought of the practical side that although wolves very very rarely attack people I don't think I would want to be that close to birth in the woods with one...

And ree the point about the birth coming on quick - she has been having discomfort for a while, was being very physical and my DS shot out in under two hours so I think it's reasonable

In series 3 June and Serena work together to find the Commander and bring down Gilead.

I think Serena hates June too much to work with her now. In her mind June's stolen her baby.

Yes, I see what PP mean about Fred being a bit oblivious to Nick as he does always quietly and unquestioningly follow all of Fred's orders.

I agree with PP and hope that the writers don't make the story too repetitious. But then again it is a fairly hopeless situation. Makes me think of all the real oppressive regimes and how so many lives were lived and are being lived in this state of terror and cruelty.

@thatone that is sadly a very good point. Life doesn't always have happy endings and sometimes people are trapped in a ongoing merry go round of pain and misery

I loved the wolf. Imagery of being a lone wolf, howling for its pack... Like June is alone and howling for nick /luke /moira...

In my first world problem I have just seen a major spoiler on fricking Google. Fuck. It came up underneath the search bar in one of their suggested stories links. Arrrggghh!

I think she is getting out now, although I have no idea how. I think season 2 will bring a resolution of June's story, but season 3 will maybe focus in a wider way on the rise and fall of Gilead.

he song wasn’t born in the USA, it was hungry heart.

Oh, aye, so it was.