Handmaid's Tale. EPISODE 12 (season 3). Channel 4, 25/08/19. UK pace. NO SPOILERS!

[OriginofSpecies]

This is the thread for Episode 12 (season 3) of The Handmaid's Tale.

We are watching on Channel 4, UK pace and have only seen episodes 1 - 11 so far.

Please, NO SPOILERS.

I can't believe there are only two more episodes - tonight's and the season finale next week. Very patchy series, which picked up last week.

Did you see that eyebrow?!

Omg it was perfection!

CL facial expressions are really hard to read. He looked almost angry at June.
I'm hoping he wasn't.

I guess it was also to reinforce what Commander Fred said - June is not the same person any more.

So slow tonight, I nearly fell asleep during the Eleanor bedroom scenes. And I'm still not feeling much empathy for June.

won't she be called immediately back to the red centre once there is no more wife in the household?

Shit, I hadn’t thought of that. But even if she was, I’d have thought Beth the Martha could handle things if necessary.

Do the councillors remain single after the wife dies or do they get an arranged marriage like Nick did?

Sorry, I mean commanders

Surely Aunt Lydia is going to be even more suspicious? She’s had suspicions about the Lawrence house and about June for a while.

Interested that the Waterford’s Martha said ‘I want in. Escort a child. Whatever.’ I wonder what her role will be in the final?

What did Serena mean when she said ‘it would mean prison, or extradition... somewhere where they can...’?

I’m assuming she’s alluding to the death penalty, but where would he be extradited to?

I thought she meant extradited to a part of the US that wasn't under Gilead control, where they might have the death penalty.

Joseph said "quite a day...you got away with murder" earlier. I reckon her standing next to him and mimicking his hand position made him consider why June was being kind.

He's a very bright man who has had power for long enough to become used to working with desperate/ambitious people - June is both.

Bet he's sussed there's something amiss.

Also, LOVED Moira's snarl at Serena.

"you're the gender traitor"

Fantastic writing.

Thanks for clearing that up Madge. That makes sense. I’m all for extraditing him! Serena is a fruit loop. I had high hopes for her at the start of this season to be part of the revolution, but actually this is much more believable.

I’m watching it again on plus 1 now. It seemed to pass by in a flash this week.

Every single commander in whose household or proximity June lives comes to a bad end:

Waterford—arrested
Winslow—disappears
Nick—wife commits adultery and is executed
Lawrence—wife commits suicide

Surely someone has noticed?!

While I don’t agree with June leaving Eleanor to die I can understand why she did it. And I hope that she can keep her mouth shut and never tells anyone the full story.

Where does Rita work/live now? Whose household was she shopping for? She wouldn’t be allowed to just stay in the Waterford house.

Agree, surely June would go straight back to red centre to be reassigned.

I think CLs look at the end was him knowing (somehow) that June was involved in Eleanor’s death. When she said earlier “I could’ve checked on her” they passed a look between them and I wondered if he was thinking “yeah, you could, you usually do, why didn’t you this time?”

I can understand the state agreeing to let Serena see Nichole in exchange for handing over Fred but I don’t see why Luke or Moira would agree to it? Unless they have no say in it because they are just her carers and the state is actually her legal guardian.

Serena told Fred that she just wanted to be with her daughter. She’s clearly deluded (as proven by her expectation that Moira would be polite to her) if she thinks she will even have ongoing contact with her. The social worker said she can’t call herself “momma” as it will confuse Nichole, so there is no way they are going to allow her to keep seeing her. How confusing would that be? “Let’s go and see the stranger woman who is no relation at all to you for no reason.” I would say that one hour visit was a one off.

Oh when I said Mrs Lawrence was a liability I had no clue as to what would happen next 😔 I really liked her character, quirky and imperfect but so full of conviction. I'm wondering if June can stay in post for a week or if it'll be straight back to the red centre for her.

Why did aunt Lydia allow her to approach CL at the end? Surely this would be forbidden.

AL seems to bend the rules for June quite bit.

AL let June go back to accompany Natalie as she passed away after the birth, so that is consistent. She saw it as being more thoughtful to others.

Only CL and the Martha at Jezebels could link June and C Wilmslow. He wouldn't officially have been there, and the marthas cleaned up all evidence. Convenient as it occured at the same time as the Waterfords' capture as that's a distraction of a political motivation.

I thought CL looked at June with suspicion after she said that she could have checked. Awkward when he knows that she's just got away with murder! I also thought for a moment that she was going to grab a pillow. I'm glad she didn't.

Nice close up of Serena's finger shortly before being given the newspaper to read.

Interesting that C Wilmslow's wife thought that she wouldn't be allowed to keep the children without him.

According to my quick Google, CL's real life wife plays Mrs Mackenzie, Hannah's "new mother," so not in any scenes with CL.

Poor Eleanor. I so wanted her to get out but she would've been forever haunted by Gilead, wherever they went.

Perhaps they have to keep June there until they're sure she's not pregnant. They know for a fact that they did the ceremony this month. I wonder what would happen if a wife died while a handmaid was pregnant... There couldn't be a birthing ceremony. Unless the commander was "blessed" with a new wife pretty quickly! I wouldn't put it passed Gilead.

I felt a little sad for Mrs Winslow - she obviously adored her stolen children & now faces having them all taken away & no security for her either. We don't know whether she's a Serena-type who helped set up Gilead or simply a wife who had no idea what her husband was up to until it was too late. For all we know, she could've just been doing whatever she had to to survive Gilead & the children were her only happiness. She could be every bit as much a victim as June... Y'know, aside from the being raped by strange men every month...

CL really is hard to read. I like that about the character but it also terrifies me. He's got nothing left but his position in Gilead. Either he'll go through with the plan to honour Eleanor's wishes or he could sabotage the whole thing because he blames June for letting her die. I can totally see him being vindictive if he has any shred of evidence that June could've saved Eleanor.

What was the significance of June crossing her hands at the graveside?

I dont think June would be taken back straight away, I'm sure there would be some formal mourning thing - and definitely could not send her to a new household until they can prove she isnt pregnant.

I liked how they foreshadowed Mrs Lawrence's death at the beginning of the episode with June pointing the gun at her.

I would have liked to have seen her get out and get the help she needed but agree with others she was just too dangerous.

I am excited for the finale. I would like this to be the start of the demise of Gilead but I'm sure in the book the regime carries on for some time yet.

I liked how they foreshadowed Mrs Lawrence's death at the beginning of the episode with June pointing the gun at her.

Oh wow! I didn’t even realise this. It’s funny- it started with June almost killing her by accident, but didn’t, and finished with June almost saving her, but then didn’t, on purpose. She could’ve killed her but didn’t, then could’ve saved her, but didn’t, and then in a line to C Lawrence says “I could’ve checked on her” the rest (“I did”) is unspoken.