Handmaid's Tale. EPISODE 13 SEASON FINALE!!! (season 3). Channel 4, 01/09/19. UK pace. NO SPOILERS!

[OriginofSpecies]

This is the thread for the season finale Episode 13 (season 3) of The Handmaid's Tale.

We are watching on Channel 4, UK pace and have only seen episodes 1 - 12 so far.

Please, NO SPOILERS.

Serena had said something to Fred about baby not being his to score points, he probably suspected anyway as most men are infertile,

Rita was the only Martha on the plane - all the rest of the handmaids & Martha's went back to help June distract the guard so that the children could make a run for the plane.

@yogima I think Commander Lawrence will play a big role in Season 4. He commented that Eleanor would want him to stay in Gilead to clean up his mess didn't he?

Ah yes. That makes sense. I was worried about him going back to the fold as he didn't have Eleanor there to soften him. But maybe a dead wife has even more influence on his morality than a living one

Hang on. For Fred to have been able to tell Tuello that Serena forced Nick to impregnate June, that means Serena told him the details. I don’t buy that for a second. Serena very much enjoyed the fact that Fred thought Nichole was conceived though June and Nick being in a relationship. He hated that. Serena knew that and rubbed it in his face.

hope she stays underground in series 4 and is properly running May Day.

Ooh yes! 7 underground handmaids believed to have escaped but secretly hiding out somewhere and plotting the next mass exodus from Gilead.

So much for all my theories!

I think my heart rate was up about 20 beats a minute all through that.

There were a couple of things I didn’t understand though. Why did some of the Martha’s drop the kids with June and leave? They couldn’t go back home so why didn’t they go along? Like the one who brought the baby. And what was the deal with the plane? Was it an officially sanctioned (by Gilead) landing? The Eyes didn’t try to interfere with it, and it was a fairly big aircraft to sneak in. But if it was official, why were there no checks or security measures?

I don't think June will be pregnant. I think she was shot in her side and will now be infertile

Nah, she was clutching under her right boob at first. Its a rib shot.

She's definitely pregnant. I'd put money on it. The hand on the tummy at the end was totally a clue.

I might watch it again now I know what happens!

i've checked on imdb and Rebecca's dad and the guard are not the same man.
i've also now watched it through again cos i am knitting and want to get the sleeve finished before i go to bed and i didn't notice first time round that the woman getting in the back of the van at the start who was shouting was Janine nor did i notice that when June was watching women being put on van's right at the start one of the women that turned back and looked at her was Brianna. i need to pay more attention on season 4 cos i'm missing too much.

at the end when she's being carried away she has her hand over where she was shot, her dress is stained there. Her hand is covering the top of the stain/injury and the blood stain is running further down her dress away from her hand

I presumed that the baby's birth mum was the handmaid who died a few weeks ago?

last one before i got to bed...Luke left his folder in the room with Fred after he punched him and i think it had files/letters/info on Fred and Serena. i bet Fred read it and found out the things he told Tuello that then got Serena arrested.

Oh. My. God!! That was so exciting! I cried at the airport scene. How lovely for the dad to see his daughter, but how heartbreaking for Luke.

I’m not sure what I think about the children being so compliant. Surely some of them would have been crying for their ‘parents?’ But aside from the little baby most of them seemed to be 8+ so I suppose they might have had a bit of understanding about why they had to leave (though in real life I’m sure they were just slightly older because it was easier to film with older children than toddlers!).

I wonder how many children are left in Gilead? It can’t be many surely, considering there is a massive problem with infertility. Or not many Commanders’ children anyway. Obviously all the ones from the Econofamilies will still be there.

One thing has occurred to me - now that the children have got to Canada, they are going to tell the Canadians that they went into the basement of a big house and the Commander there read to them. If Gilead only knows what Canada officially announces then that won’t be a problem but if they have spies then they’ll know it was Commander Lawrence.

Yeah but that just means the US might try to get Lawrence to be an asset on the inside.

If they have any sense that is. But Tuello wasn't the brightest, bless him.

June deliberately targeted the older children who had been stolen who had a better chance of remembering their life pre-Gilead, even if they had surpressed their memories to adapt and conform to their new families. Rebecca hearing her original name from her dad's voice would have a strong trigger.

It was so tense all the way through! I love the way you can't predict what will happen and rely on convention to a happy ending. No idea what will happen in series 4 and where it will go... I suppose there would have to be some aftermath between the marthas and handmaids but that's a major section of society of over 52 households. Putting that many on the wall/ salvagings would be a major dent in the social structure.

It looked like way more than 52 children.

So that’s big shot wilmslow gone, the waterfords gone, probably a majority of children gone, some of the handmaids “gone” (currently in forest) some of the Martha’s gone, and then whoever ends up on the wall. The population of Boston has just plummeted!!

Add that to the commanders and handmaids who died last season in the bombing, and handmaids who have died since, along with some guardians, plus Nick and whoever went with him to the frontline. Boston really is being wiped out!

I've totally forgotten how Serena forced Nick to impregnate June, and how that therefore was a war crime. Can anyone remind me?

Was Serena flirting with Tuello? Is she just a minx? When she was saying shed be outside unaccompanied it felt like she was angling for him to offer to show her around town...

How did she have such nice clothes? Didnt we previously see in the refugee pricessing centre, people sorting out boxes of clothes that were obviously donated? So even in Canada she's marked out as special.

The 5 mile thing btw - it was 5 miles by road, cutting through the woods was quicker.

“It looked like way more than 52 children.”

They said it was - when they got back from the not 10 mile run to put the markers on the trees

And what was the deal with the plane? Was it an officially sanctioned (by Gilead) landing?

It came every week to make deliveries, I think.

I've totally forgotten how Serena forced Nick to impregnate June, and how that therefore was a war crime. Can anyone remind me?

Series 1. Since Fred seemed to be infertile, Serena took June to Nick’s quarters & ordered her to have sex with him.

Why were some of the rescued girls wearing blue?