Handmaid's Tale. EPISODE 4 (season 3). Channel 4, 30/6/19. UK pace. NO SPOILERS!

[AnotherEmma]

New thread for tonight's episode. 15 minutes to go!

I thought Lydia was crying because it was Janine she had attacked, and she has always had a bit of a soft spot for Janine. That was a shocking scene, but I agree that Janine would never have been allowed anywhere near the christening party group.

Canada refused a trade deal with Gilead, so it will be a huge jump for them to send Nicole to a couple who are not the biological parents?

I thought June was MAGNIFICENT in the drawing room scene, throwing herself on top of Janine and daring Aunt L to beat her. And yes, the Emily actress is amazing. Sob.

The Schindler like figure mentioned on previous thread could be Frank Foley?

Aha! I mentioned a book on the previous thread called The Man Who Played God. Apparently it was a fictional account of this man's story:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rezső_Kasztner

I think we’ll see Gilead demand Nicole back but DNA tests will prove it’a not Waterford’s. Then June will be in deep trouble and so on the run again.

Serena knows Nicole isn't Fred's. it was she who suggested using Nick as a 'sperm donor'.

Frank Foley is a local hero from my home town @MotherOfSoupDragons
He saved thousands by fiddling the paperwork when he worked at the passport office in Berlin as well as taking Jews from the camps and hiding them in his own home.
An extremely brave man.

Oh yes! I'd forgotten that Nicole has no biological link to Fred!

Also, surely the baby gets asylum on the basis that she's female and liely to be persecuted on the basis of her sex in Gilead?

The water fords can want her, and travel to negotiate getting her, but, surely there's no way Canada would return an infant to a regime like that.

Aunt Lydia beating a handmaid showed up the violence everyone in that room was guilty of. The Ceremony might have an explanation, but, it's rape and they all know it. No wonder they looked uncomfortable.

I don’t know how June’s husband will keep Nicole in Canada. She can’t claim asylum or fear of persecution can she? If her ‘parent’ Cmndr Waterford wants to have her back then I imagine they would have to consider it. Now they know where she is I wouldn’t rule out a black ops style recovery of Nicole.

To suggest he is not her parent would put June in terrible danger.

To suggest he is not her parent would put June in terrible danger
But with some clever sleight of hand - and if we can assume that Emily knows that Fred isn't the father and has communicated this info - then the Canadian authorities can use this to "show willing" by agreeing of course they will comply but require a DNA test to show Fred is the father. That will fail so will be taken as evidence that this baby is not "Nichole Waterford" but an entirely unrelated Nichole.

Agree, I can't imagine Canada would return a female to Gilead to a life of servitude and "domestic crafts". Hoping there's no black ops snatching.

Food for thought though, Nichole might actually be Fred’s and he could take her leaving June with a whole load of new problems.

If Fred was actually the biological father that would be a suitably dark twist.

I think it's unlikely, though - with all the fertile handmaids failing to get pregnant, it's clearly the commanders who have the fertility issues.

I keep thinking about the time Serena went to Canada with the delegation and she was offered the opportunity to escape - surely she must regret not taking them up on it? I think they even mentioned fertility treatment IIRC.

Yes they offered her everything she could want, including a baby. The journalist in Canada said something to Serena about male infertility being the problem. That's what the gynaecologist in series 1 (?) also said.

Oh yes I remember now.
I probably wouldn't have worked it out all by myself

So why was Luke holding the baby up to the cameras? If it was to reassure June it will massively backfire if they are able to claim her back! I'm sure he would go into hiding before he would let that happen.

I'm not convinced that Luke is sharp enough to realise the danger he's putting her in by waving her around. I bet if June had insisted on her being called Holly, no-one from Gilead would've batted an eyelid at some bloke with a baby. Although, I suppose they'd know he was June's husband & may have been trying to keep tabs on him after the baby disappeared in case she turned up with him. I suppose it could be claimed that Emily wanted to get the baby away from Gilead & once she was out she found a picture of June from a board of "missing" people & traced her family through that. Keeps it all off June.

I'd really love DNA to prove CW isn't Nichole's father. Sure, it might make things uncomfortable for June but she still got pregnant & has had 2 healthy babies. She has value as a handmaid at a time when they're desperate for fertile women. I'd expect her to at least be confined to a locked room & only let out to be raped once a month, not casually strolling around someone else's house having cosy chats with people she's probably not even supposed to make eye contact with!

I thought Aunt Lydia's immediate reaction after she attacked Janine was interesting. She seemed surprised that everyone was shocked - like she was thinking "well, how do you think we keep them all in line?!"

I reckon that Aunt Lydia's recent behaviour is connected in some way to her past, at least in part. As is her relationship with Janine.

I don't think it's a case of Gilead 'claiming' Nicole back, or Canada sending her back - I think that Gilead will send spies, men-in-black to jsut steal her and take her back over the border.

It was a spectacularly dumb thing to do - hold her up to the camera and shown Gilead where she is, who she's with, exactly where to abduct her!

The journalist in Canada said something to Serena about male infertility being the problem

Serena is infertile though - she was shot in the stomach and had a hysterectomy in the pre-season flashbacks.

Oh yes I'd completely forgotten that!

I'd forgotten that too!
I had wanted to watch series 1 and 2 again but didn't have time. I should have read a synopsis to remind me of all the key points!

The Handmaids are all 'sinners' though, aren't they? So why is June's 'partner' so pious? Wonder what she's done?

ptumbi in one of the previous series, one of the handmaids said her new life was better than before, because at least she had a home, and food, and her commander treated her better than her pimp. So it's possible that some women just want to keep their heads down and not get involved in the resistance. It could also be a reaction to trauma - if she's a handmaid that means she's probably been separated from her child, and she might have turned to religion to deal with that. She's probably been paired with June to watch her, so she knows the Eyes are on her as well.