Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Telly addicts

Related: Film discussion forum.

Original poster

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:
TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 02/09/2019 10:50

Elspeth, that is sounding quite plausible.
They can blame a lot of it on Rita the way Nicole's abduction was blamed on Emily.
Not enough to avoid all comebacks, but it will help.

Is it the case that Janine's baby wasn't on the plane and that's why she didn't go? I really wanted them to get her out.

ElspethFlashman · 02/09/2019 10:54

No, Matthew himself said the baby was only 3lbs and still in the hospital.

MargoLovebutter · 02/09/2019 10:54

Great episode but it did feel a bit like striking camera shots came at the expense of some of the logic of the story, if that makes sense.

Bits I liked -

bloody Serena getting her comeuppance!!! Yes, she was flirting with Tuello as well. She has no shame at all & is a cold, manipulative narcissist and whilst I loathe Fred, I was glad he did her over, although I'm not entirely sure how he knew that she had coerced Nick into having sex with June either.

Lawrence reading to the kids. Definitely a feel good moment.

Rita meeting Luke. That was epic.

Bits I didn't understand -

How were all the parents drugged? I didn't get that bit. Did that have something to do with all the soap being cut up?

How the fuck were six handmaids wandering around in the woods the next day? I presume the shit must have hit the fan massively with 52 children missing, not to mention a few Martha's, so how the hell were they out and about in the bloody woods?

I also think June is pregnant!

ElspethFlashman · 02/09/2019 10:55

Oh wait, sorry. Read that wrong.

Janines baby.... No, no mention of it at all.

ElspethFlashman · 02/09/2019 10:56

They weren't, it was dawn when they picked her up and brought her back.

Lucafritz · 02/09/2019 11:32

Sad she didn't manage to get Charlotte out or Natalie's baby Sad would have so loved Janine to have been on that plane with Charlotte. I was shocked at how feisty and in control Janine was when they first captured her in the opening scene no wonder they plucked out an eye

Shakennotshook · 02/09/2019 11:58

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

They dont know anyone is missing so they wont actively be looking for them so wont notice maybe? Although Emily got out too and they didnt seem to use it to track her so maybe not.

InvisibleWomenMustBeRead · 02/09/2019 12:04

Janine was always a feisty & strong character & the flash backs to the early days in the red centre showed this clearly. That was why they put her eye out. That totally broke her, so it's nice to see her fight coming back.

Sassenach85 · 02/09/2019 12:04

Wow that was intense!! Caught up today. Think of the questions Luke will have for Rita and the answers she will have to give!

Shakennotshook · 02/09/2019 12:08

Do you think widow Winslow might marry CL if there is proof hee husband is dead?

Surely given canada was in talks to give nicole back they might give some of these kids back? A lot of their families will be dead, where are they going to stay?

I dont think it's impossible for the kids to have settled and be "happy" in Gilead. Kids adapt - they dont know theyve been forcefully taken necessarily. Kids are fostered and adopted, this doesn't automatically mean they'll never be happy again. As kids they'll be sheltered from a lot of the brutality I'd think.

TildaKauskumholm · 02/09/2019 12:08

Just watched, had chills run down my spine, and tears at the airport scene! That was a splendid finale. Re the ear tags, I understood them just to be like cattle tags, denoting ownership and identification. I don't remember anything about tracking.

ElspethFlashman · 02/09/2019 12:30

In the book there was something else they had. A tattoo I think? But it was just an ID.

I think Mrs Winslow is in limbo for a long time to come tbh. The man was cremated!

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 02/09/2019 12:30

Given that Lawrence says he doesn't like kids I would think marrying Mrs Winslow would be his idea of hell, unless her kids are among the ones taken!

Shakennotshook · 02/09/2019 12:32

The tattoo was on their ankle.

But if it was just a cattle tag why did nick make June remove it so quickly?

To be fair, Gilead is most peoples idea of hell, it hasnt stopped them yet!

DarlingNikita · 02/09/2019 12:41

I don't get why Serena forcing Nick and June to have sex was so bad either (I mean in HT terms, not real-life terms!). Fred said to Tuello that it was 'so far beyond Gilead', but surely mass state-sanctioned regular rape is worse than what she did?

And surely a lawyer would argue that she did it under duress/state pressure?

I think Fred got the info from Luke's files. He was very stupid indeed to take them in in the first place; he must have known there was a possibility that Fred would see them?

I thought the rescue stuff in this episode was a bit silly, particularly the handmaids and Marthas running about quite openly and sometimes in broad daylight. And in Canada when Luke, Moira and Emily all of a sudden pitched up all brisk and businesslike as refugee workers, when previously Luke had appeared to be largely moping about and Emily was shown having such difficulty readjusting to normal life.

Soubriquet · 02/09/2019 12:50

I’ve just watched it and what an episode to end on!!!

The officials of gilead will be furious now though. All those children (more than 52), most of them girls who were potentially fertile AND some Martha’s all escaping?

Shows their flawed system.

I wonder if the parents (the commanders and their wives) will be punished for allowing the children to leave even if they were drugged.

June is stuck now though surely. They take her to a hospital and the first question will be, how did you get shot?

EmpressLesbianInChair · 02/09/2019 12:50

And in Canada when Luke, Moira and Emily all of a sudden pitched up all brisk and businesslike as refugee workers, when previously Luke had appeared to be largely moping about and Emily was shown having such difficulty readjusting to normal life.

I think maybe that was a special case. They knew they were expecting a huge number of refugee children, maybe they'd asked for volunteers. Especially volunteers who had escaped from Gilead and would get it.

DarkHumour · 02/09/2019 12:54

I thought it was really odd that Moira was the first to enter the plane, surely it should have been someone more official than a volunteer?

Fabulous episode though!

EmpressLesbianInChair · 02/09/2019 12:56

Moira works in refugee intake though doesn't she? So maybe it was just Luke & Emily who were volunteering.

I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Rita in Canada.

ElspethFlashman · 02/09/2019 12:56

Because Serena was getting a pass for having no choice. In Gilead if you don't partake in the ceremony, you die - as we heard during the horror of the Lawrence ceremony. Even having knowledge of someone not doing and not reporting it, is a capital offence. So she aid she was coerced under pain of execution.

But forcing two people to have sex on the quiet is not a custom or law of Gilead. And that was what he meant. So she can't hide behind "Oh I was afraid I was going to be killed".

UrsulaPandress · 02/09/2019 13:00

I’m so glad Serena got arrested.

She just looked so bloody comfortable with her swishy hair and cashmere jumpers.

BuzzShitbagBobbly · 02/09/2019 13:04

How the fuck were six handmaids wandering around in the woods the next day?

If it was peak midsummer, the nights will be very short and daybreak will be from 4.30am onwards (I am over invested, I looked that up!)

JoxerGoesToStuttgart · 02/09/2019 13:07

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.

The guardians had already started doing house to house searches by the time they all left the Lawrence house for the plane. So everyone would have been woken in every house. It would be immediately apparent that handmaids were missing.

DarlingNikita · 02/09/2019 13:08

Empress, I take your point about Moira (and she's always been the one who seems to have bounced back the most from Gilead). But useless Luke and Emily, who had seemed so fragile since getting to Canada; I can't really buy that they would suddenly turn into super-efficient volunteers.

Elspeth, what I'm trying to remember is why Serena did it. Was her and Fred not having a child threatening their marriage/their position/her personal safety? If so then she could surely argue that she was in some way coerced or compelled to do it by Gilead state and that she was in danger if she didn't.

ElspethFlashman · 02/09/2019 13:13

No I don't think there was any external pressure.

She just always wanted a baby.

In fact, she was always more bullish about it than Fred, who didn't seem to really give a shit about kids. He just got off on the Ceremony (puke).

But knowing Serena she'll fight the arrest with every fibre of her being and probably make up all sorts of shit. So she could get off yet!