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

509 replies

OriginofSpecies · 01/09/2019 20:18

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.

OP posts:
endofthelinefinally · 02/09/2019 02:27

One thing I don't understand.
The handmaids all have (had?) electronic ear tags for tracking purposes. The first time June escaped she cut her tag off. How come the handmaids in the forest weren't discovered due to these devices?

As pp mentioned earlier, I immediately thought of Gladys Aylward when June was leading the children through the forest. Whether that was in the minds of the writers I don't know, but the biblical reference to the slaves was clear.

Kitsandkids · 02/09/2019 05:48

The ones in blue were boys, weren’t they?

EmpressLesbianInChair · 02/09/2019 06:08

The handmaids all have (had?) electronic ear tags for tracking purposes. The first time June escaped she cut her tag off. How come the handmaids in the forest weren't discovered due to these devices?

That’s a really good question. I remember Aunt Lydia replacing June’s tag when they caught her.

CodenameVillanelle · 02/09/2019 06:57

The children in blue were boys. Are the ear tags for tracking or just labelling?

Horatioroses · 02/09/2019 07:06

The boys needed saving too. Can't believe a pp thought it was fine for them as they'll be in charge! They are still in a prison and could be killed for almost anything. Would you want your sons growing up in Gilead?
I was so worried that when Moira turned round the plane would be empty.

DrinkReprehensibly · 02/09/2019 07:07

I thought the tags were just labeling. They seem to reject a lot of modern technology, even medical stuff.

thatone · 02/09/2019 07:11

June will need hospital treatment now. I don't understand why she didn't shoot the guard earlier on - perhaps it would have somehow alerted the authorities.

I'm wondering if the children's 'parents' were drugged and that's why they couldn't raise the alarm about the missing handmaids and Marthas, and children. The children are clearly trained to be obedient.

Aunt Lydia knew that June and the handmaids were up to something. She will be the prime suspect when the escape is discovered.

Not long now until the Testaments is released. I think Bruce Miller mentioned in the podcast (Eyes on Gilead) that he already has a copy .

Shutupseaguls · 02/09/2019 07:12

I found this episode ok but it was so dark I couldn't work out what was going on half the time. Plus so many questions. I just can't see how no one noticed all those children were missing or that so many houses were drugged up and out of it. Also I thought they had dogs who would have picked up the scent. Idk it all seemed a bit to far fetched for my liking.

Plus how did no one notice them putting the soap in her bag? In the first and second season they could barely talk to each other.

thatone · 02/09/2019 07:20

This episode did raise a lot of questions. I wondered how Billy will get the paintings now, I suppose Cmdr Lawrence might hand them over.

Also, if this plane was flying in and out every week, why did the Marthas not escape sooner?

JoxerGoesToStuttgart · 02/09/2019 07:24

Yes I am struggling to buy that there was only woodland between the house and the airport and that no-one at all noticed them moving 100ish people, including babies en mass through the part of the woodland nearest the house, especially when the guards were literally searching houses across the road from where they were.

But I forgave all that when I saw the scenes at the Canadian airport. Grin

Itallt0omuch · 02/09/2019 07:34

June needed the guard to give the all clear to the rest of them before she could kill him.

I thought I was done with handmaid's after this series but now I need the next one!

hopeishere · 02/09/2019 07:51

I think some Martha's have escaped in the plane as they were the ones who knew about it.

June has to be pregnant to avoid going on the wall.

hopeishere · 02/09/2019 07:52

Ie Martha's have escaped previously not last night.

CruCru · 02/09/2019 07:56

The Marthas will have someone among them (a doctor / vet / nurse) who can treat June for the gunshot wound.

Problem is, Aunt Lydia is going to move her to a less easygoing Commander. She isn’t going to be able to get any more children out.

If June is pregnant, she’s going to be examined by doctors. In series 2, Aunt Lydia was there while she was in the bath. She’ll notice gunshot scars.

Tombero · 02/09/2019 07:57

I was worried that too many children had turned up to all fit on the plane. I hated the thought that they’d have to pick which ones to fit on. Glad they didn’t do that.

CurbsideProphet · 02/09/2019 08:01

@thatone
The way I understood it was the Marthas had bomb making materials arriving on the plane hidden inside other goods. They had infiltrated the system and would be there when the shipment arrived. This took a lot of planning, hence why the plane escape couldn't be used prior to this.

I really hope June isn't pregnant and just off to another commander. I can't take another 7 seasons of her being enslaved.

CurbsideProphet · 02/09/2019 08:04

I also thought some of the Marthas helping the children were already living underground and part of the resistance. They wear the outfits to allow them to walk about in public. There aren't any facial recognition cameras and they don't track citizens in that respect. It's all based on clothing and the visible red tag in handmaid's ears.

EvilTwins · 02/09/2019 08:09

I thought it was a brilliant episode - so tense. The bit in the Canadian airport had me in pieces

tabulahrasa · 02/09/2019 09:01

“I just can't see how no one noticed all those children were missing”

I’d assume most of them were supposed to be in bed, so they’d not be missed till morning - that’s why it was such an issue that the first one was early.

Lucafritz · 02/09/2019 09:10

What did Gilead do to the elderly and disabled ? It was never revealed apart from the opening scene of them been hearded away and a reference to shredders ?
Was that baby the Martha was holding Natalie's baby ? June said before Natalie died she would get him out but the commander at Lawrence's house said he was still in hospital Confused
The children won't have missed their "parents" because the commanders and their wives don't give two shits about them they are just a commodity and status symbol to them and are raised by the Martha's and school's the only commander that vaguely interacted with his kids was Winslow and his wife but if you recall the episode just after Nichole was brought home Rita was holding her and the Putnams Martha was holding Charlotte while Serena and Mrs Putnam just looked on at them.

EmpressLesbianInChair · 02/09/2019 09:20

The children won't have missed their "parents" because the commanders and their wives don't give two shits about them

In some cases. But Hannah seemed to have a pretty close relationship with her new ‘parents’ so others might too.

Clawdy · 02/09/2019 09:51

I imagine lots of the commanders and wives would very much love the children in their homes. Some may have been distant - a bit like the upper classes and nannies setup years ago - but there will be many who loved them.

ElspethFlashman · 02/09/2019 10:20

My theory:

The Handmaid's will dump June at the Lawrence House and will scatter back to their houses, where they can appear looking innocent at breakfast. There are no kids in their houses, so their Commanders won't even realise what's gone down till the phone starts hopping. They definitely have a chance if they get back before their Commanders and Wives get up. Maybe even after, as it seems to me Handmaid's are largely ignored most of the time, spending most of their lives in the attic. And their Martha's won't say anything. As Alma said "she's a bitch but I trust her".

So since no Handmaid's are missing, they might not be the object of suspicion.

However there will be Martha's missing. So automatically condequences sweep down on them. Im a bit worried about the two Martha's in the Lawrence House, how will they escape the ensuing scrutiny?

June will have to say she was shot by Rita. That Rita came by the house to beg for her help or something, and when June refused, she was shot and spent all night in the garden before being discovered at dawn.

If June is pregnant (and I'd bet money on it as it gives her plot armour) then she'll be a Loyal Pregnant True Servant of Gilead.

Lawrence could really take advantage of it all. Blame it all on the Waterfords (coincidence that their Martha was the supposed Ringleader? Maybe not) and even pin it on the absent Winslow.

We know at least one Commander was killed overnight. And Waterford is gone. Given that Fred said there were only 12 in each district, they are down to 10 at the most. Ample opportunity for a well respected recently widowed man who needs to hide in plain sight. He could actually become more powerful as a result of this.

Lucafritz · 02/09/2019 10:37

Do you think the Canadian and American government in Canada will launch a war against Gilead ? Bit like a world war 2 scenario where they can't invade from land but could bomb them from above ?

Lucafritz · 02/09/2019 10:40

Also i don't think Hannah or any of the other children actually love their new families rather they are suffering PTSD from been kidnapped and some form of Stockholm syndrome as each time Hannah has been seen she still wants June to take her back and is devastated that she can't. I do believe as other posters have said that the children of Gilead are probably taught quite fast to step in line or be punished in some way so they are going along with it all