The Handmaid’s Tale (UK pace, so no spoilers from the US/Israel/Aus please)

[Ivy40]

This is a new thread where we can refer to the original book, published in 1985 (including the epilogue). Everyone is welcome to speculate on how the writers will get us from the book (end of series 1) to the epilogue (we’re assuming this will be series 10). Plus any other interesting plot developments that you have noticed.

No spoilers from the US/Israel/Aus etc please, as we in the UK are 2-3 episodes behind. We don’t want to KNOW what happens next, we just enjoy speculating and enjoy the plot development.

The basics:
Margaret Atwood wrote the Handmaid’s Tale in the 1980s, it was first published in 1985.

She said that she didn’t use anything that hadn’t happened in real life.

Series 1 finished at the end of the book.

There is an epilogue though.

Hulu have said that there will be 10 series.

We are assuming that series 10 will be the epilogue.

That means that Hulu have a lot of creative licence in series 2-9, as long as what they create leads to what we know is the epilogue.

Margaret Atwood is a consultant writer on the tv series.

The Testaments are being released in September 2019, written by Margaret Atwood. Set 15 years ahead of the ending in the original book and will be the stories of 4 different narrators, not June’s story. MA said that she based the Handmaid’s Tale on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, so we’re expecting “A Wife”s Tale”, “A Martha’s Tale” etc.

I also heard the interview with Bruce Miller (I think show runner might mean producer, but I’m not sure). He did seem to stress that the story is being told from June’s memories, from the tapes that were found (in the book as well) so we are seeing what she sees, as well as what she hears about (the colonies, for example).

@CurbsideProphet

I’d wondered if Luke’s wife might make another appearance, perhaps as an Aunt. I think she was religious and against the divorce - she bumped into June in one of the flashbacks and said as much.

Meant Luke’s first wife. Can’t remember if she had a name, or if I’ve just forgotten it.

If it is just from June's perspective then hiw come we saw Emily killing the wife in the colony and what about what we are seeing in canada. June couldn't know.

Bruce Miller (the Showrunner)

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Miller_(producer)

Did anyone notice how we had a long close up of the star on the doctor’s shoulder? The star means he is a Commander but he seemed to be encouraging June to take some kind of action. Maybe they’re trying to show that people are doing what they need to survive but are committing small acts of revolution wherever they can.

Incidentally, a long close up is usually a hint that something will be significant later on.

@Nousernameforme

I can’t quite remember the book but wasn’t the Handmaids Tale put together based on some cassette tapes that were found after the fall of Gilead? So it is supposed to be The Handmaid’s Tale, in that it’s what June experiences. I can only guess that we know about Emily killing the wife in the colonies because June hears about it, at some point in the future and includes it on her tape.

Serena didn’t report June for attacking her at the hospital. I think Serena is up to something and is trying not to draw attention to herself.

Anyone else noticed the shots of Serena’s hand, with the missing finger, followed by looks of disgust at Fred? He thinks they are repairing their relationship but she hates him for what he’s become and is just playing along to keep out of trouble until whatever she is planning comes to fruition.

Personally I think she’s planning an escape to the rump of the USA or Canada, as we think she’s still got the satellite phone Mark Tuello gave her. Firstly she wants to be near Nichole/Holly and secondly she disagrees with what Gilead has become. She was a conservative who wrote a book arguing for a return to traditional values but she never wanted a world where women (including her) are property, not allowed to read and have to partake in monthly rape.

Serena is such an interesting character. I don’t like her but I am intrigued by her.

Did anyone notice how the camera focused on Serena's hand with the missing finger when she left the hospital room?

@CurbsideProphet @Ivy40

Luke’s first wife was called Annie. She accused June of breaking a vow made in the eyes of god. Even though it was technically Luke that did this.

I don’t know if these flashbacks were put in for context or if it’s a storyline that maybe explored later - it would be interesting if Annie came back as Aunt. She might have had a similar radicalisation process as Aunt Lydia - a religious conservative who gradually became more strict in response to various things that happened to her.

I thought the shot of Serenas hand was to juxtapose the wedding ring and the missing finger.

Maybe 7Days.
Definitely deliberate.

@endofthelinefinally

I did. I am watching Serena closely though. I think they are reminding us about the finger. She was a writer and she is no longer allowed to read and write, when she asked if women could be allowed to read (only the bible, nothing remotely controversial) Fred had her finger chopped off. I think that was the final straw for her.

I didn't notice the star on the doctor's shoulder and if I had I wouldn't have been aware of the significance, that's what makes these threads so useful.

Interestingly (I think) Margaret Atwood said people have only assumed the Handmaid's name is June as she never wrote that. In the beginning of the book the handmaids at the Red Centre dormitory are calling out to each other and June is the last name called but wasn't deliberately intended to be OfFred's real name.

Regarding Serena in the book she knew about the outing to Jezebels and she knew about fred having a thing with the previous handmaid who killed herself.
So maybe she thinks she has been through all this can't read can't write treated like property had her finger removed and on top of all that fred can't keep his hands off the women she is forced to hold onto whilst he rapes them every month.
Oh and he strapped her to the chair and whipped her remember before the finger. He really is an odious little prick I do hope she is planning something

@CaptainMyCaptain

I don’t know what the significance of the close up of the star is but feel it’s worth watching out for. I feel like I need a spreadsheet to list everyone’s observations and track what comes of them!

@Skaife

Agree with most of what you’re saying but I think you might be letting her off lightly. I see her as ruthless and selfish. She argued for fertile women to be a national resource, obliged to have baby after baby. She was ok with families being torn apart and held a 9 months pregnant June down to be raped because she wanted “her” baby now. My take on it is that she agreed with other women being treated like property but thought that she would be exempt as a member of the upper class.

The actress that plays Serena is beautiful and captivating, which makes us more inclined to let her off lightly. All very clever. She’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Captainmycaptain

I remember this too re the name. I wonder if not giving her a name was to reinforce that the Handmaids have been stripped of all their humanity and are just breeding machines.

The doctor in the hospital knew June’s mother Holly. He worked with her so maybe he performed abortions too - we know that Holly destroyed all the medical records so Gilead wouldn’t know this. I was thinking about why they put that in - to remind us of Holly because she’s coming back later on, or to remind us that one of the cruelties if Gilead is that people often don’t know the fate of their loved ones, or to remind a spiralling June if her mother and to make her think what would Holly have done in this situation?

Yes, Serena is also younger in the tv series than the book, not sure why. In the book I always thought of Serena as being in her 50s. Brilliant casting though, to have someone who looks so soft on the outside be such a monster on the inside.

Is anyone a medic? One thing that struck me (and I’m not a medic) is when the doctor was putting the scalpel in the box he gave June a look and seemed to be drawing her attention to the fact that he was leaving the scalpel somewhere she could get it. I thought that protocol in hospitals was to drop scalpels and sharp objects into locked boxes?

I maybe over analysing but he seemed to want her to know the scalpel was there. Maybe he was giving her the option to kill Natalie or herself. I appreciate that’s dark.

The single star on the doctor's shoulder could just be that in rank, he's like a low-level commander in terms of lifestyle privilages. He would surely be higher than an econo-household.

We know people have to ally themselves with the faith with other denominations being purged and in the absence of all the female professionals, they may have held amnesties on professionals willing to repent and convert if their background was sinful and they may have to "join the party" like a communist system. It may not mean being actively engaged but does provide a form of monitoring. He acted in a medical professional's way for June's wellbeing (and wouldn't want the suicide of a proven fertile handmaid on his concience or record, nor connections to any crimes she may commit) but he toed the "party line" about treating Natalie as little more than an incubator such as delegating the suturing to another doctor in need of the practise in an offhand manner. By acting publicly in the manner expected, it buys a little more freedom for discretion in private as with June.

Sudo

I’m pondering the power structure again and was thinking along the same lines - they might have offered Commander roles to people they need such as doctors and certain military specialists, if they converted to the Gilead religion. He may have converted to survive, even if he doesn’t really believe in it. Probably many others like him.

They seem to have some pretty hi tech medical equipment and knowledge to be able to keep Natalie alive long enough to have the baby. How come they insist on home births and let the baby last week die as he had a cord wrapped around his neck. This is really flummoxed me.