The handmaids tale-thread 6

[SisterNotCisTerf]

Let’s get June out of there!

This has probably been discussed before (only just found this thread) but do people see June as better suited to Luke or Nick? (If Luke is her husband’s name, I think it is!!) I can’t really get behind the June-Nick relationship because I feel too invested in June-Luke via the flashbacks.

Re the Chaucer link, do you think we will get episodes of 'The Martha's Tale' ... the commander's, the wife's, the aunt's or the driver's tale?

As for the baby crying, just think how many babies have been smuggled out of Syria or over other borders. It makes my heart break thinking how many babies IRL have gone through this.

Does it count as a spoiler if we discuss the notes at the end of the book, or are we assuming people have read it? Sure the book's ending was discussed on the series 1 threads.

I think Nick serves a purpose for June and, as one of the few people who was actually nice to get and treated her as a person, is easy to fall for. Don't think he'd have been her type in the pre Gilead world, as she was a professional and he a disaffected youth. Didn't get what she saw in Luke, but I don't think that's the point-the point is that she's been forcibly separated from her.partner because the marriage is wrong. By middle Gilead, people who married in the wrong church were made hand maids.

And yes, I'm getting far too invested in this.

@Lumpy76 - me too!!! 😜😍

Do we think there's much of an age gap with June and Nick? Not that it really matters. Also how come Nick wasn't punished for not controlling his household when Eden ran off? In other instances the whole household was punished (I think -wasn't there a commander who had something happen and then they were all punished?)

Not sure I buy it.

One child is living in a prison but she's cherished? Loved by those around her. Her Martha anyway.

The other is a teeny baby! What's she going to eat? How will Emily soothe her? Where will fragile broken Emily go?.
What if they do get caught? The baby may not be given to the Waterford.
June should have protected the baby in need, actually got her out, safe Nd then rallied support for hannah and gone back.

Aren't they meant to be similar age?

June has escaped harsh punishments.. She will loose something if she is caught

I think Nick and June would struggle to be together in the real world. It's very much a forbidden love under dire circumstances, two people brought together in a terrible world. Much like how you throw two cats in the back seat of a car to force them to get along - a shared experience like that would strengthen anyone's bonds. Like it did with June and Serena near the end. I do believe their love is real now, especially now they share a child. But it's still underpinned by all the drama. Could their relationship survive the more mundane reality of life 'outside', when it's all "we need milk, put the bloody top back on the toothpaste" rather than the "kiss me now, we might never see each other again" urgent and passionate circumstances their whole relationship has been built on? Probably not. But equally I don't see how June could go back to Luke. She's not the same person as before and he could never understand what she's gone through like Nick can. I foresee Nick dying a hero, sacrificing himself for June and/or Hannah further down the line. Not looking forward to that....I could eat him on a jam butty

June clearly fancies n when she first sees him. She talks about him looking French, with arms stippled with black hairs. She also notices his lack of proper sterility and hat at a jaunty angle. She wonders why he's just a servant and infers some defect or wrong connections.

I'm amazed people thought Emily would kill herself and not cl with the knife!
She has shown violence to others before and then stabbed Al. No way would she have hurt her self. I wish they had expanded that more though, her being in an actual good house at last....

I think nick is very ordinary looking, what’s with all the nick love, MN?

I think June and Luke suit each other better. They’ve also proven the relationship works in the ordinary world. I don’t think June would’ve given the ruffian Nick a second glance pre-gilead.

I also wonder whether Nick would even WANT to leave Gillead. He's gone from being an unemployed ex steel worker in a dying town with no prospects, to an important man (an Eye) with a gun and a purpose. If it wasn't for Holly/Nicole he would probably have stayed until the bitter end, driving miss daisy and been happy to have any wife he was given, 15 or not. It's only having to 'save' June and then becoming a dad that have made him take a stand.

I think it's the whole quiet, brooding, dark, mysterious, sensitive man thing Whatthefox . You know, "let me stare at you with my liquid eyes and promise to look after you, whilst holding my big gun"!!!

I made the mistake of looking at some videos of Max Minghella in real life and he's English (didn't realise) and quite shy, a bit boyish and geeky, and seems to be constantly smacking on chewing gum. Not really my type I must say. But as Nick....yummy.

It's like Jamie Fraser in Outlander - yes please. But Sam Heughan himself? Meh.

I obviously have hero issues....

I didn't realise cl didn't know nick was an eye?

I thought it was common knowledge that all drivers were eyes?

@Flaskfan I have read the book - but years ago, so if the notes are to all intents like spoilers, I'd prefer them not to be discussed. But up to others to say what they think!

MrsAidenTurner I think there are two types of Eyes - the ones who watch people in general (handmaids, guardians, shop employees etc) to make sure people tow the line - because you never know who's watching. The guardians being the armed guards who keep order in the streets, the eyes being more covert (eyes watching everywhere but not necessarily a visible presence). Then there are the 'eyes' who have been placed covertly, to spy on their commanders . People refer to Nick as Guardian Blaine and the Waterfords consider him a loyal "employee", nothing more than that. They don't realise he's spying on them.

Ooh interesting!! I really didn't realise they didn't think he was an eye.

Can anyone remember how it comes out that he is one? How June finds out?

I didn't think June could rescue Hannah until the last episode, but the method the Marthas used to spring June and the baby could work just as well. She couldn't do it alone, but with a whole network of Marthas behind her...

Doesn’t one of the handmaids mention people thinking there is an eye in her house? And from there I think they thought it was the driver. My memory of the early ones is hazy but I think it’s something like that.

Emily hears from Mayday there's an eye in the Waterford's household and warns June. She asks Nick if it's him (I'm not sure there's anyone else it could have been) and he confirms.

June asks him whether he's an Eye, because Ofglen had warned her there was one in her house. Nobody knows who the Eyes are, by their very nature they're supposed to be hidden so there's always the element of "who's watching me, who can I trust?". Nick tells her that yes he is an Eye, and tells her to go to bed otherwise he'll report her. But he's not actually an Eye in that way. He's only telling her that so he'll do as he says. His only spying "mission" seems to be reporting on the Waterfords. If they suspected he was an Eye they wouldn't take so many risks in front of him, as the Eyes watch everyone - from commanders down to econowives. Nobody is above the law. They consider Nick to be loyal to them - their guardian, bodyguard, driver, and general dogsbody.

I did wonder why Nick seems to boss all the other guardians around, like cleaning the street during the fire. There must be ranks of guardian and he's obviously higher up than the Machine Gun Minions you see on the street, but still just known as Guardian Blaine.

My impression is that the Drivers perform the role of bodyguard to the commanders they serve - ead of security types, rather than just being 'drivers' in the chauffeur sense. So this must put them above the other guardians but not give them any special title.

Nick also seems to be a mechanic and gardener as well though - he's a serious grafter, that boy!

Bloody phone.

*clearing the street, not cleaning
*head of security