Handmaids Tale season 4 for discussion (SPOILERS)

[BG2015]

What did we all think? I was a bit ??? when she was captured again!!

I was expecting Nick to take a bullet to the head mid-meeting. June defo loves him more.

@Shinypie

The way they set up that meeting with Nick, I thought something awful was going to happen!

The troll part of me would have had Luke arrange with Nick for Nicole to be swapped out for Hannah. Roll credits. Season finale. 😈

Me too! The way she looked at the building...and then when she left, I thought she'd left Nicole behind! I think they do it deliberately though...to increase tension.

Like others, I thought something bad would happen at the meeting.
I thought that Nick would have military with him and the US agents would be shot and June and Nichole captured and brought back to Gilead but perhaps the meeting was in Canada near the border, so June couldn't be in danger?

June feels comfortable with Nick, he's lives in Gilead, he gets it, he's helped save her several times now but I think it's a "Stockholm Syndrome" type relationship. Nick is a Commander- he led the bombing of Chicago, he's not a "good man" but he does seem to love June (he reminds me a bit of Strelnikov in Dr. Zhivago). Of course, he may turn out to be a deep cover U.S. agent all along, he worked with Mayday.

I also thought the doll might have a tracker or something in it but I think if Gilead wanted to lift June or Nichole in Canada they would be easy enough to find.

I like angry June, I'd be angry. I don't think women are allowed to show their anger enough in our society.
It certainly seems like Luke has complicated feeling towards Nichole. Blood wins out.

Late to the party!

I wondered why June didn't tell Nick to come with her back to Canada after he said "should have gone to Hawaii", if for no other reason than for him to be free of Gilead. I also wondered if he didn't ask to be taken back so he could be in the resistance, until I saw him putting on a wedding ring.

I was surprised at the plot twist at the end, but after thinking about it, it's not unusual for a govt or police agency to cut a deal with a perp to get the (as was said) bigger and more fish. Has Fred turned his back of Gilead in anger at being left twisting in the wind by TPTB? What's going to happen to Serena now that her carefully crafted plan has been blown to bits?

And is Esther really subdued or is she June 2.0?

Ooh someone on another forum said that he thought maybe Janine was poisoning the Aunts. Remember how Lydia coughed and said "This chicken is dry" out of nowhere?

They never put things like that in for nothing. And they did poison people before...the herbs and all that.

I am hoping Lydia and Esther kill all those Aunts with poison!

@AcrossthePond55

Late to the party!

I wondered why June didn't tell Nick to come with her back to Canada after he said "should have gone to Hawaii", if for no other reason than for him to be free of Gilead. I also wondered if he didn't ask to be taken back so he could be in the resistance, until I saw him putting on a wedding ring.

I was surprised at the plot twist at the end, but after thinking about it, it's not unusual for a govt or police agency to cut a deal with a perp to get the (as was said) bigger and more fish. Has Fred turned his back of Gilead in anger at being left twisting in the wind by TPTB? What's going to happen to Serena now that her carefully crafted plan has been blown to bits?

And is Esther really subdued or is she June 2.0?

I suppose Nick feels he's more useful in Gilead. It's a bit weird though...his child is in Canada!

Re Fred and Serena...I imagine their best shot now is to get out of a sentence and live in Canada, raise their child and write books, gather a new following.

@FortunesFave

I thought along those lines but, and I'm going on the assumption that he had permission for the 'trip', him putting on the wedding ring made me think that Gilead had threatened that 'something will happen' to his wife/family if he didn't return. Of course, if the meeting was clandestine, he could have had the same fear, that his family would suffer if he didn't return. And who knows...he may have children from this marriage. We don't know when it took place. Unless I've forgotten, I don't remember any mention of Nick's current marriage.

Re F&S, Tuello only said that FRED had cut a deal. It may be that Serena's freedom isn't part of that deal and she probably doesn't have the intel to cut a deal for herself. Fred would be only too happy to be able to keep 'his' son to himself, just as she showed she was ready to throw Fred under the bus to do the same to him. They're each as bad as the other.

Aunt Lydia - food critic! The Last Supper shot made me think that Janine and Esther would poison the Aunts but then I thought maybe Aunt Lydia was upset about being pressured to send Janine back "into service." I really hope Janine is playing Aunt Lydia with "iron fist in a velvet glove" moves. Janine is my favourite.

I think Luke and June should lay off their relationship, June needs space to heal. It looks like the info Nick gave them might make them go commando together into Gilead to get Hannah.

That was quite an emotional episode!

I wonder if Janine will become an aunt now.

Pointless question, why is June still wearing her red ear tag?

She shouldn't be - that was ripped out a while ago and I remember a scene where she winced when Luke touched that part of her ear.

I enjoyed this episode - love the theory of Janine poisoning the aunts, but I just don't imagine she has it in her. She feels safe at the Red Centre (sadly) so I don't think she'll do anything to jeopardise that.

I believe they put one in when they recaptured her. It's definitely still there.

I am no closer to knowing

www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-handmaids-tale-why-june-still-wearing-ear-cuff.html/

Oooh poisoning Aunts - I hadn't thought of that, but did think that it was odd the way Lydia said the chicken was dry.

I can't recall now but did that happen before or after Janine went and spoke to Easter? (I think it was before wasn't it?)

Easter did after all masterminded the poisoning in Jezebels - but I think the Last Supper theme was before Janine spoke to Easter, so it would be all Janine's doing (unless they had somehow spoken prior tot that)

I think Janine is unstable enough to fall back under AL's 'spell', if spell it is. For whatever reason Janine's 'helplessness' seems to have touch whatever maternal instinct lies deep in AL's psyche. I do think she actually cares about Janine in some twisted ay and wants to protect her. That's as opposed to wanting to induce Stockholm Syndrome in Janine for her own as yet unknown purposes.

But I also think that Janine is just as likely to fall under Esther's spell if Esther is faking her compliance. I can't decide if she's really been beaten into compliance or if she's faking it. Esther has a damned tough mental 'shell' just to get through what her husband put her through, and I'd assume a deep hatred for Gilead for condoning it. I'm hoping she's hatching a plot in her head and will bring Janine in (unknowingly) and they end up making a run for Canada.

I think Wednesday is the season finale. Wasn't this season just going to be 10 episodes? If so, I don't think a lot of my questions are going to be answered!

Anybody watched it yet? I'm home today so have just watched it!

I've just watched. from me too.

I'm shocked at the ending! I do love how they will kill off just about anybody.

I don't know if it was great or totally "jumped the shark". How could that even be arranged?? Seemed like a fantasy. Maybe next series June will wake up and Luke will be in the shower. (80's Dallas TV show reference).

I'm trying not to spoiler or discuss things I'd like to unpack until more people have watched.

@SapatSea
I too thought....mmm, really?

Bit too far fetched? Plus when she kissed Nick in front of Fred, it was a bit weird.

I really really want to know what will happen to Serena in Season 5!!!

I think it sets them up nicely to jump forward a few years and adapt the testaments as a final series

They could do except it is quite far in the future (15 years?) I'm pretty sure I read that Hulu wanted to develop The Testaments as a sequel show (to run alongside or straight after HT). I also think I read Elizabeth Moss said that the HT had no plans to film Testaments. I suppose if Hulu develop it they could crossover, feed into one another? I think Elizabeth Moss has a new film coming out and perhaps she'll not want to be June for much longer.

I've just realised that June sent Serena Fred's finger to make up for the one Serena lost - now she'll have 10 fingers again!

Is June leaving Luke? did she say "give me 5 minutes and then I'll leave" ? did she mean leave the house?

I thought it was neat that they circled back to season 1 when the handmaids had to beat a rapist to death and they did the same to Fred - just doing what Gilead taught them.

Do you think Serena will be imprisoned and her baby fostered out or be a shredder that she will reject?

"Is June leaving Luke? did she say "give me 5 minutes and then I'll leave" ? did she mean leave the house?"

She's going to be prosecuted for murdering Fred, so she's either going to run away or give herself up.

That's why Luke collapsed, he realised what she'd done and what it meant.

She was saying goodbye to Hannah.

Stupid, stupid ending.