Handmaid's Tale. EPISODE 10 (season 3). Channel 4, 11/08/19. UK pace. NO SPOILERS!

[OriginofSpecies]

This is the thread for Episode 10 (season 3) of The Handmaid's Tale.

We are watching on Channel 4, UK pace and have only seen episodes 1 - 9 so far.

Please, NO SPOILERS.

My ribs hurt at the end of that episode from not breathing properly - I found it so tense!!!!!

So many interesting things going on too.

That horrible commander from Washington - urgh.

OMG, the ceremony. So, so, so awful. Lawrence properly owes June now - as she saved all their arses.

Janine, OMG poor, poor Janine and her dead son. I never liked June more than when she lied about where he was.

Fucking awesome Marthas and their cake signalling. Amazing.

I think there will be a sticky end for Fred and Serena, now she's revealed the phone to him. He's too dense to do it properly and will fuck up somehow.

Janice learns that she has no living children

What happened to Angela?

What happened to Angela?

Yes, Angela/Charlotte's still alive isn't she?

I thought the reason June told Janine that Caleb was in California was to make her think they'd have no chance of reaching him.

@EmpressLesbianInChair

I thought the reason June told Janine that Caleb was in California was to make her think they'd have no chance of reaching him.

No, I think that June lied because Janine is somewhat of a loose cannon, not sure she'd be able to process the truth without getting herself put on the wall, or maybe screw up June's escape plans.

Great episode, back on form.

I also wondered what the heck is Serena up to, showing Fred the phone. As others have said, he will not give up his status in Gilead. I hope she's got a plan up her sleeve.

Poor Janine . But good on June for telling her that lie about where Caleb is now. I know it was last week's song, but Heaven is a Place on Earth would kind of fit the lie that June told Janine about her son - he really is in Heaven (if you choose to believe that Heaven exists), but Janine thinks he is living in a heavenly place on earth, on the beach.

When we had all the trouble a few weeks ago with "spoiler" speculation based on the book, in particular what happened to Fred as described in the novel's Historical Notes, I did wonder whether the TV plot was leading to Commander Lawrence's fate being the same as Fred's in the book. (Sorry if that was confusing/oblique, but don't want to get into trouble for "spoilers", even though this is only speculation).

The other thing that caught my eye, and I had to run it back a couple of times to check, but when June was looking at her own dossier it said "reported by" and then a doctor's name. I wondered whether the doctor from last week might have reported her, but I think it was simply the name of the doctor who reported her as being fertile.

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about Angela! Well, that's good for Janine.
But I still think that the 'I'm brave' comment is flagging up something significant - that she'll be called upon somehow.

i think the ceremony is designed to humiliate the handmaidens though. Aunt Lydia calls them worthless sluts in series 1 so this is what they deserve

Aunt Lydia calls them worthless sluts in series 1 so this is what they deserve

I'd forgotten that. Aunt Lydia stands up to the Washington Commander over Janine's eyepatch though, she cares about them according to her own twisted lights. She's already told June she disapproves of the 'voluntary' rings. I wonder if she'll dare say anything when they're introduced?

The Washington commander is bound to have noticed Serena’s finger glove. Which the Martha (Rita?) made for her so isn’t regulation either. I wonder if he will voice an objection to that too, especially considering her finger is missing as a result of her trying to go against the rules he is such a fan of. I would imagine he would want her missing finger visible for all to see as a punishment for her.

I thought June lying to Janine was like when people tell their young children the family dog has gone to live on a lovely farm. It's the kindest thing to do & avoids dealing with anything bad. Pretty sure if she'd told Janine in the store she'd have completely lost it so it protects her in that way but also stops her asking any awkward questions when they get out some of the local children because he's not "local" anymore, like Hannah.

That's the way I saw it AGnu.

Yes it was the only thing June could’ve done. If she’d told her the truth, Janine would very likely have fallen apart there and then and ended up being shot or on the wall.

I'm intrigued now by Commander Lawrence, as I thought he was a Gilead believer. I hope we find out why he got involved.

I am glad they are now making some attempt to show how the networks in action. (Had totally missed the point that the Martha's supplied the anti depressants which also implies that outside of the Commander neighbourhood all sorts of things must be happening.)

As others have said, Lawrence was an econmist and probably just didn't pay attention to the pecular woman hating rituals the true believers were dreaming up for women. And was able to live his live until now in his own bubble. But why does his wife feel she is part of setting up Gilead and will be punished. I dont think there has been any mention of her helping to bring Gilead into being.

And I did think somehow the Lawrence household would be under suspicion as when the Aunts were discugging postings of Handmaids Aunt Lydia made a comment about sometimes it isn't the Handmaids that are the problem.

And (which shows I'm a bit slow) it never occured to me that an enforced ritual would be the test of the Lawrences.

But I am sure that not just me, but many others thought that after Serena's trip to Canada it was clear she did not want Nicole to grow up in Gilead. Which I still thinkg, but then cant work out if that is so, why she has told Fred about the phone.

Is she having reservations about Washington and seen how things are there, or in fact thinks Fred is out of his depth and needs to be rescued before he makes an idiot of himself?

I wonder if Lawrence and others enjoyed the fantasy of Gilead. Then Gilead started to become a reality and they could not back out.

They remind me of people I see getting lost in Momentum, they now realise the reality of the ideology and you can see the fear in them if some they know got to run the country.

I think Mrs Lawrence said that it was Mr Lawrence who is guilty of war crimes not her.

Lawrence said to June a few episodes ago that he'd done all this to save the planet for children like Hannah. Maybe at first he was just caught up in the environmental side & either didn't think or didn't care what was going to happen.

I see Lawrence as a systemising intellectual type who wouldn't necessarily have thought about the human consequence of his work. Like scientists that made the atomic bomb etc. More concerned with big ideas than the humdrum every day stuff.

"why does his wife feel she is part of setting up Gilead and will be punished. I dont think there has been any mention of her helping to bring Gilead into being."

She was talking about her husband, not herself.

I wonder if Serena is setting up Fred somehow? It's just occurred to me that if he starts contacting someone in Canada with an illicit phone, and gets found out, he could be in deep shit - which Serena would probably enjoy. If she is plotting revenge, that is. I can't tell.

Serena just wants a baby. I don't understand why she doesn't get Nick back and a new handmaid.

Serena just wants a baby. I don't understand why she doesn't get Nick back and a new handmaid.

That's a very good point. How come the Waterford's haven't been assigned another handmaid?

Is it because they do have a child (ha!) already, even though she has been "kidnapped"? Do we know what normally happens after a successful handmaid placement and birth? Does the same handmaid stay on with the family? No, that isn't the case as the handmaid is moved away from their child.

I guess my question is - how soon after a commander and his wife have a baby are they assigned a different handmaid to start the process again?

I don't think she does "just" want a baby. She realised what a terrible world it is for Nichole to grow up in. If she somehow managed to have (acquire) another baby it would be the same all over again.

A commander who has a baby would only get another handmaid if VERY powerful like that commander from Washington who had 6. Handmaids get moved on when the baby is weaned. I don't think the waterfords would get another handmaid because they fucked up with the one they had. Plus nick got promoted didn't he? And even if he hadn't, having sex with a handmaid could lead to being put on the wall. They could only ask nick because he had worked for them for years (in the book he did their black Market dealings) and they trusted each other.

I’ve seen things on different shows and heard about it IRL too where big companies advertise “tasks” or “dilemmas” and put it out on websites where people bid for the tasks. People think they’re just working on that task for a set fee but what is actually happening is the company is talent/idea phishing and they’re using the work/information/expertise for a much bigger purpose but something they can’t go public with yet.

C Lawrence has got me wondering if that’s how he became involved in creating this world. Maybe he had no idea what he was working on when his company or whoever approached him with a project or dilemma and he just went about it, did it really well and then was asked to do more and all his work was being used to create Gilead without him realising and then when it got to the point where Gilead was being established and he realised there was all this abuse of women and children involved they told him he couldn’t walk away from it because it was all his work and people would know he was the architect of how it functioned.

Or maybe I just don’t want to see him as a baddie maybe he knew what he was doing all along.

This was a really good episode. I’m glad that Janine’s son was mentioned - and Alma’s.

I also liked the bits where the other Handmaids were avoiding June. She’s probably known to be toxic by now.