Handmaid's Tale. EPISODE 9 (season 3). Channel 4, 04/08/19. UK pace. NO SPOILERS!

[OriginofSpecies]

This is the thread for Episode 9 (season 3) of The Handmaid's Tale.

We are watching on Channel 4, UK pace and have only seen episodes 1 - 8 so far.

Please, NO SPOILERS.

I can't believe we're up to Episode 9 already! I hope it all starts coming together in the next five episodes.

Do we think the teachers at the girls schools are men or women? T

That's why I love this thread, questions like this one.

Teachers will def be women. Don't the girls go to homecraft school or something like that? The only male staff will be the security guards.

I think the girls' teachers will be women, they don't teach the girls to read but maybe they can read and write themselves, like the aunts, for administrative purposes.

Watching an old episode of Law & Order and look who popped up!

Why would you say what you saw in the clip?! Unnecessary. Spoiler warning helpful but detail is in itself a mini spoiler!

I would love to know about the day to day lives of the Econopeople? Who were they before? How do they live now? Their children?

Andylion interesting thought about the teachers. I assume boys go to school and are taught how to read and write so surely it would have to be male teachers doing this.

The detail was not a spoiler - as it was something that had been seen before & on more than one occasion. Almost like saying it showed June without her wings on! Total over reaction getting my post deleted!!

@AGnu @sweetkitty

There was an episode in series 2 where June is hidden by an econo-family.

Econo-families live in apartments. They are expected to go to church. The family we saw were not Christian pre-Gilead, and had a prayer mat hidden. I can't remember whether they were Jewish or Muslim, but it was clear that practicing another religion is expressly forbidden.

I'm fairly sure that the econo-people had jobs (baker, laundry workers etc) and they can travel by train. It seemed as long as they toe the line, go to church etc they are left to get on with their lives.

I remember that episode, they got their child taken away did they not for hiding June?

Yes, the husband was on the Wall and the wife was to become a Handmaid.

I think all these questions point out how weak the storyline has become. We used to get lots of glimpse of how Gilead worked. And even if Handmaids weren't able to move around freely (unlike June!) they would over hear things. Even for instance how the troops (and Nick) and doing in Chicago(?).

Really want to see more about how they keep in touch, and the overall politics. There obviously is some networking.

The plotlines we are getting are very superficial. Poor writing. Poor plotting.

I wondered if we would see the econowife who was made a handmaid, but I presume not anymore as time has passed so much. I still wonder if we will see Luke's ex wife in Gilead or Canada.

It would be interesting to see her Curbside. Especially as she would have a very strong views/reactions to June’s actions (although I think Janine was the best person to highlight that, the counterpoint of role reversal was really illuminating).

Didn’t the econowife Handmaid and her husband already have a child/children who were taken away? It’s conceivable that child/those children might be amongst the rescued children. So their rescue could function as a form of atonement/amends for the past consequences of trying to escape.

I've only just watched this ep. Can someone remind me what is Serena's hidden phone that people are mentioning?
The song has many significances, don't forget that Gilead are trying to make earth as 'heavenly' as possible!

I had subtitles on - was wondering whether Serena would rat June out to the doctor, but she just said "she's cut herself" yet the doctor seemed to know she'd attacked her.

Serena was left a phone by some kind of agent when she went to Canada to see baby Nichole. She brought it back in her bag, but we've yet to see her use it.

I wouldnt be surprised if we don't see the phone again until Season 4.

I hope it holds its charge then.

As an aside, is anyone else much preferring Commander Lawrence Bradley Whitford to Josh Lyman Bradley Whitford?
He's really grown into his face, and the beard works very nicely!

(Still got the same old Josh movements and expressions though!)

I hope it holds its charge then.
😂😂😂😂😂

The song has many significances, don't forget that Gilead are trying to make earth as 'heavenly' as possible! - actually that's reminded me of a phrase in Jung Chan's 'Wild Swans', talking about the 'Paradise' of the Cultural Revolution in China. How the Mao era, full of killings, tortures, repression, hate and suspicion was forever being sold to the 'workers' as Paradise on Earth.

And how it was actually Hell, but no one could say that, or even intimate it, for fear of reprisals and death.

I was just thinking that other than Serena's phone, what other "loose ends" are there to be tied up?

There's the bomb-making Martha who escaped at the beginning of the series.

The five women June saved from going to the colonies who might prove to have useful skills for the resistance.

The baby Nicole storyline.

Nick! What’s he up to?

Oh yes, what's happening with Nick?!