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Telly addicts

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

999 replies

CruCru · 17/07/2018 23:19

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

OP posts:
DickTERFin · 30/07/2018 11:00

Agree with Elizabeth Moss being a great actress but the actress who plays Serena is amazing too. When she screamed “Offred”, I genuinely felt scared. The rage was so palpable.

Serena would never side with June. Despite realizing she has been instrumental in her own imprisonment, she really believes that she is owed a baby and that taking it from a “lesser” women is justified. She might leave to save her own skin though.

EmpressOfSpartacus · 30/07/2018 11:02

Oh yes, Yvonne Stravitski is amazing too. As is Ann Dowd.

Not certain I've spelled Stravitski right but I daren't Google!

AWomanIsAnAdultHumanFemale · 30/07/2018 11:04

I really don’t want this to drag on for more series. I don’t see how they can do it justice. They’ve already stretched the limits of believability in this series.

The wolf, I’m conflicted. On one hand I think she is standing there very weak and bleeding, the wolf is bound to be deciding whether to have her with or without a side salad. On the other hand it hasn’t attacked her, so is it in her imagination? Is it symbolic of the battle she is facing? (Surviving birth alone and escaping Gilead with her baby) at one point she seemed to front up to the wolf as if she was saying “do what you like, I’m gonna carry on trying to save myself while you decide” almost like an “I’m bored waiting for you to do your thing mr wolf, get on with it or fuck off”.

Btw I really loved two parts of her flashback to labour with Hannah. 1) Moira’s face when June was bearing down and 2) when June told Luke “seriously, go fuck yourself” Grin

Fred really is unbelievably thick. It’s so clear serena carried him to his current position.

Serena is absolutely beyond redemption (why are we still looking to redeem her? Because she is a woman?) June could never ever trust her in order to work with her to bring down Fred. No way. If June escapes she needs to never be near serena again. Serena is dangerous.

eyycarumba · 30/07/2018 11:05

Even in a beautifully written and well shot series like THT they still have no idea that women gradually go into labour instead of dropping to their knees and screaming after absolutely no sign of labour previouslyhmm
I had no warnings whatsoever, my waters burst and the contractions hit me like a sack of bricks, my OH at the time had to carry me around, I couldn't stand or walk because the pain was so bad! June was feeling contractions since her false labour, and she was running around like a blue arsed fly, she wasn't going to be bouncing on a gym ball timing herself.

I was exhausted after last night, that was so, so tense, especially the gun scene. I was willing her not to shoot Waterford just in case she missed and there was a chase. Serena booming through the house was terrifying, Yvonne Strahovski is a wonderful actress. I shouldn't feel sorry for Serena, but when she and Fred were arguing I couldn't help it, she had given up everything for that bastard and he still wanted another woman, it brought back feelings of when I've been cheated on and betrayed, how soul destroying that feels. she's still a selfish cunt, though

It was definitely a car at the end when you see the lights go past the window. I desperately hope June tells them she's there because of Fred - and they believe her - she is kept with Holly for now, and the Waterfords are investigated at least and kept away. It's so frustrating that she managed to give birth OK (after I suppose a hemorrhage or rupture?) after sending off those shots to get help. I just wanted her to give birth at the house, settle for a couple of weeks then escape once she got her strength back.

I think the lone wolf was representative of her mother - just keeping watch.

The birthing scene was excellent - it actually made me weirdly broody??

theredjellybean · 30/07/2018 11:08

Oh love idea of lone wolf being symbolic of her mother

AWomanIsAnAdultHumanFemale · 30/07/2018 11:15

she had given up everything for that bastard

I don’t think she did do it for Fred. I think she did it because she actually believed in what she was pedalling (women back in the home) and then later that this was how she would get her baby. Fred was just her necessary vehicle because she couldn’t do it as a single woman. Unfortunately for her, her own ideology was taken to such extremes that removed all her control over her own life and put that thick fuck in charge of her and she still didn’t get her baby.

eyycarumba · 30/07/2018 11:17

Oh yes and Fred - I was wrong thinking he had set up Nick and June - he really was that arrogant and stupid to think June would be filled with gratitude for his 'kindness'!

QuackPorridgeBacon · 30/07/2018 11:20

Even in a beautifully written and well shot series like THT they still have no idea that women gradually go into labour instead of dropping to their knees and screaming after absolutely no sign of labour previouslyhmm

Sometimes I wonder if others are watching the same show as me lol. June had a false labour and has been having pains ever since, she was running around and putting stress on her body with the garage door etc and had a fall hours before she actually gave birth. Where was the quick labour?

QuackPorridgeBacon · 30/07/2018 11:21

The birthing scene was excellent - it actually made me weirdly broody??

It made me broody too.

eyycarumba · 30/07/2018 11:24

She still gave up her power for him though, she gave up something as harmless as her right to read and write so her husband could take the reigns - he thanks her for her sacrifice by becoming infatuated with a woman - particularly one who can do something she cannot.

I still believe part of her drive is the bitterness she feels about her (presumed) unjust infertility after being shot - she's has no qualms making other's lives shit because she feels so hard done by herself.

MarshaBradyo · 30/07/2018 11:25

Moira’s face was hilarious and spot on

It definitely made me want another baby but I felt really sad that it might not be ok

I could understand Serena’s devastation and anger at Fred

thatone · 30/07/2018 11:26

Oh no psicat, that is annoying about the spoiler. I must admit that after each episode I cannot resist looking forward to Channel 4's info about the next episode - doesn't actually give much away but just gives a very general idea.

Would be lovely to think that the wolf represented her mother. Thinking back, IIRC, seeing the wolf seemed to make June a bit more decisive.

MarshaBradyo · 30/07/2018 11:26

I love Aunt Lydia and mother, they are played very well

AWomanIsAnAdultHumanFemale · 30/07/2018 11:33

Ive just realised we probably aren't going to see anymore insight into aunt Lydia’s background in this series. There are only two episodes left and they won’t be centred around AL and her sister.

EglantineP · 30/07/2018 11:40

Questions. If Alaska is still independent, then why don't all the refugees in Canada head there?

Was it Born in the USA at the end? In the car it was Hungry Heart.

Hygge · 30/07/2018 11:45

I don't think I can feel sorry for Serena any more.

We saw her suggest to her husband that he rape a baby out of another woman because Serena is too spoilt and selfish to wait a week or two more before she steals it from it's mother.

I think we do expect women to be somehow 'better' especially as Serena is a victim of Gilead's treatment of women.

But I don't think she gave anything up. She threw everything away and she stole it from other women, knowing that the outcome of that would be that she participated in a monthly rape to steal a resulting baby.

Fred and Serena aren't normal people. We've talked about them not being entirely evil but they're not normal people with empathy either. They both seem to have a lot of NPD traits. Their odd moments of 'kindness' seem to usually be for their own gain rather than because of real genuine feeling for others.

Even if we do see better from Serena (and I do think we expect it more from her because she is a woman even in the face of all the horrific things she has done) I'm not sure she will be doing it because she cares or has seen the error of her ways.

At base she is a violent, bitter woman, who has physically attacked June and Rita, who enjoys humiliating June, who has raped June and the other Handmaid, who has asked her husband to rape and murder for her, and I don't think that even if she realises that was all wrong, I can pity her for her own misery in it.

MymbleClement · 30/07/2018 11:46

Loved the imagery of June in the snow with the wolf. Very Angela Carter!

Warning to all: Do not Google - I just spoiled the end of the season for myself Angry

AWomanIsAnAdultHumanFemale · 30/07/2018 11:49

Is it because the US states are still at war so the refugees are still at risk if they went to Alaska?

AWomanIsAnAdultHumanFemale · 30/07/2018 11:51

Totally agree hygge. Especially that any kindness from serena was entirely self serving. She was just manipulating June.

CurbsideProphet · 30/07/2018 11:59

I've been surprised by those who want Serena and June to escape together. I think subconsciously we don't expect women to be so intentionally cruel to each other. That's what is so interesting about this thread though, as many scenes and characters can be interpreted in different ways.

LittleWingSoul · 30/07/2018 12:03

@mymbleclement Yes, I thought this too. With the contrast of the red cloak against the stark white snow and blood and snow.

I had a racing heart and sweaty palms all the way through last night's episode.

Nothing else to add as I think it's all been said... The birth scene was stunning, so emotional. I loved how feral it was and the moaning sounds took me back to my labours. Animalistic and maternal... Like the wolf. Superb.

LittleWingSoul · 30/07/2018 12:07

Ooh also just thought... Hungry heart... Hungry like the wolf...

And I echo pps who were expecting baby to go straight to breast... But maybe that's because I was feeding my real baby throughout the episode!

eyycarumba · 30/07/2018 12:10

@Hygge I agree, she's contemptible. For me personally it just brought back feelings of discovering you're being cheated on and all the hurt after, it's a gut wrencher - but I don't want her getting her happy ending in any way. You're right that everything they do is for their own personal gain, there is not an ounce of compassion between them.

I hope Fred's comment 'maybe they'll hang us side by side, just my fucking luck' was foreboding

Roussette · 30/07/2018 12:13

I'm hoping that the car is a nosy neighbour. After all the house is shut down for the winter but June had a fire going, it would be very easy to spot the smoke coming from the chimney. So nosy neighbour will help June... that is what I'm hoping

MarshaBradyo · 30/07/2018 12:16

I don’t want Serena to take the baby but don’t want her dead

I wouldn’t mind if they escaped together

I didn’t even want them shot, plus thought it likely she’d miss and they’d know she was there

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