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.

The final episode of the last series was amazing I was on the edge of my seat so I'm hoping they pull it out of the bag for this one ☝️

The loss of Waterford and Winslow has restored CL's position. I don't know which way that will go (which is the beauty of the series). He's seen the toll of the regime which ultimately destroyed his wife, positions are always on a knife edge, and working with younger ambitious zealots whereas he's and old, comfortable intellectual. He's not a Fred or Winslow who will sell out their nearest and dearest to further their ambition. Selling out June, maybe, but I don't think he's in love with the system or confident of his long term positioning within it.

He'd want open borders for trade as the economist behind the system working on a practical level. Morally, he's not fully engaged.

Will Gilead force Commander Lawrence to take a new wife after a suitable period of mourning? I'm very unsure how this will play out. Mrs Putnam was there again which was interesting. She keeps popping up in the background and I wonder if that's for a specific reason.

I thought Luke was allowed to see Fred because he brought Nicole to see Serena, as requested by the flirty contact . Luke could have refused and gone public.

Is June pregnant again ? Was that the signal to CL ?

Is her Canadian liason person meant to have a bit of a crush on her???

I wondered that too, but then thought he might just be trying to get her onside.

Gilead killed Mrs Lawrence, hopefully the commander will realise that and still help.

I liked that Serena had an unsatisfying reunion with Nicole. She was a stranger to her.

Did anyone else think it was weird that when June went to serve the coffee, no one said perhaps to keep out the way because you’ve got a massive bruise on your face? If the household was jittery about June getting found out, they’d have been afraid of someone asking questions.

I wondered what wouldve happened if theyd called an ambulance? Is sucide and MH in general seen as a sin in their eyes?

I wondered this, and thought perhaps she’d end up on the wall if she had survived

CruCru I felt the same about Serena and Nicole. I was especially pleased that Moira pointed out Serena held June down to be raped. Serena deserves to have a mirror held up to her actions.

Yes I also wondered if June had saved Mrs L from the wall.

I too thought it was a bit silly that she served the drinks with that bruise. CL made a comment too when she appeared with the drinks and so I assumed that he wanted her to leave also.

I predict that Nick will be back in the next episode.

I think that Serena will somehow get involved with the children that go to Canada. But I guess that that will be in the next series.

Just caught up with this. Slightly strange episode, I thought.

I wondered whether Serena may have been double-crossed by Tuello (is that his name, the Canadian guy), and that she wouldn't be given access to Nichole after all, but it seems he kept his word.

Has Emily been completely written out now? I wonder how she's getting on with her wife and son?

I agree with others that Commander Lawrence's main motivation for going along with the plan is now dead, so i wonder now it's all going to play out.

This episode just felt rather flat to me. I also wondered about Aunt Lydia allowing June to talk to Commander Lawrence alone (although as others have said, she also allowed her to go back to see Natalie when she was dying).

I also thought it was ridiculous having Luke visit Fred, I just can't see that happening, unless it was some "exchange" thing with Nichole being taken to see Serena, but Luke and Moira are, at best, foster carers and it looks as though she is being taken care of by the State, so they wouldn't have any say as to what happens to her.

Just caught up too. I imagine that Moira really didn't want to leave Nichole with Serena but part of the bargain would perhaps be Luke being able to see CW and ask questions. It was all going to end up with Luke punching him though..

I am also intrigued to see how Commander Lawrence reacts - the look he gave June at the graveside was quite sinister. He knows she did something...

WRT Fred and Luke. The Tuello guy said that Luke had requested a meeting and it was up to him (Fred) whether he wanted to do it. I can sort of see why Luke would want to 'have words' with Fred and the authorities are probably aware of the link between them.

Disappointed with the Luke and C Fred meeting. It was so predictable. They could have had a really intense discussion.

I think enough Marthas are involved that the children will get out, but it will not include June because Aunt Lydia will be taking her to a new placement.

Why do people think that Nichole is being looked after by “the state”? She lives with Luke and Moira.

Why do people think that Nichole is being looked after by “the state”? She lives with Luke and Moira.

Yes, she lives with Luke and Moira, but as neither of them are related to her, then I imagine she is officially in the care of "the state" - hence the presence of the social worker at the access meeting. Luke and Moira haven't legally adopted her; they are caring for her whilst the authorities sort out the nightmare of her real parentage, whilst Canada/Gilead are slogging it out, and who actually has rights to her.

Oh, I assumed the social worker was there as a supervisor - like we have “supervised contact” with children in this country.

Yes, I can see that too, but I think that Luke and Moira are "just" helping out with Nichole, seeing as they are the husband and best friend of the natural mother. But, of course, according to Gilead, June has no rights at all to Nichole and the child is Serena's, but it is ultra complicated.

It isn't exactly the same situation, but here is the Wiki article for foster care in Canada.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foster_care_in_Canada

Foster children in Canada are known as permanent wards, (crown wards in Ontario).[1] A ward is someone, in this case a child, placed under protection of a legal guardian and are the legal responsibility of the government.

There are several different types of out-of-home placements or care arrangements:

Informal kinship: informal arrangement within extended family (ie.grandparent)

Kinship foster care: formal arrangement within extended family (ie.grandparent)

Family foster care(non-kinship): family-based care (family structure)

Group home placement: group living, 24h staff on duty

Residential/secure treatment: commonly referred to as "lock up", these homes are for children that need extra therapeutic treatment.

It appears as though the arrangement is along the lines of "informal kinship".

Thank you Origin

But, of course, according to Gilead, June has no rights at all to Nichole and the child is Serena's, but it is ultra complicated.

The social worker telling Serena not to call herself Momma was encouraging though.

I wondered about the hands thing too - June crossed her hands in a deliberate move, to copy CL. I wondered if it was a gesture of solidarity? 'We're both in this together' kind of thing?

Yet the way CL looked at her was not exactly a warm look!

Like everything else about their relationship, it's not black & white, which I think is great. Clearly shows that life - especially in Gilead - is pretty complicated.

I caught up yesterday - and was a bit disappointed.

NO WAY would Luke have been allowed to visit Fred. There is only one way that visit would have ended (and it did) and no one would have thought in the best interests of anyone to hold that meeting.

I happened to know that MrsL would die - I saw a spoiler a couple of weeks ago but didn't know how. She was a liability tho - the other wives were beginning to wonder about her... and June stopped halfway out to get help - to think about it. She's obv thought she was better off dead.

CLawrence has stuff on June now, so she'd better look out. Now that he's got more power, she had better watch herself. Although, if he is now in Top Spot, surely if they bumped him off, Gilead would be pretty much headless?

This episode lacked the tension of others, but still interesting.

When Serena first went to see Fred, I thought I'd got it wrong and she hadn't arranged the trade off, but then it turned around and we were all right last week, she'd planned it all. I liked seeing Serena trying to plot her way to Nichole but without any power now, other than betraying Fred. It was like she was in June's shoes a bit.

Loved that Luke punched Fred. What an arsehole Fred is.

Sad that Eleanor committed suicide as she was aware she was a liability.

Lawrence and June don't trust each other at all, which I think was what that look was all about by the graveside, but they need each other. I did wonder if June was up the duff if Lawrence might try and marry her, with some kind of absurd Gilead purification / repentance ceremony and we might see how she does as a 'wife', with all the moral complications that would bring.

I wondered about the Fred/Luke meeting, if it was some kind of restorative justice? After all, Luke is a free man and Fred is now in custody as a war criminal.

Luke turned up with a folder of stuff - notes? - and I thought he was aiming to have a conversation with him originally, until Fred goaded him, and he reacted by punching him.