The Handmaid's Tale S4 at C4 pace (no spoilers from Hulu subscribers)

[Faircastle]

A thread for those watching Season 4 of the Handmaid's Tale on Channel 4 starting this evening. There's another thread for those who have already streamed it via Hulu, so it would be good if we could keep this one free of spoilers for episodes beyond those Channel 4 has broadcast.

@Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep I didn't say it was better to leave them there. It's just one example of a long list of things that June has done which have had disastrous consequences for others. I'm just starting to really dislike her.

Maybe the wives were given fertility blockers - Mrs Keyes said the Martha's taught her about poison so maybe they had to feed them to the wives to keep them in place and allow the men to have handmaids

I’m confused about the woman in the brothel. June was brought to speak to her as she had details of a safe house and knew the secret sign (quilt on line). That means there is an existing network, either it has already moved people before or has been set up for mayday and June &co and this woman is part of it. However this woman then claimed to be waiting for mayday to come and June had to explain to her that mayday is “people like us” acting. But the woman was already active in the resistance so why did this need to be explained to her?

@Pieceofpurplesky

Maybe the wives were given fertility blockers - Mrs Keyes said the Martha's taught her about poison so maybe they had to feed them to the wives to keep them in place and allow the men to have handmaids

Thats a really good theory. Potentially something that could happen.

There was a Commander who got his wife pregnant though. Remember Fred saying 'no handmaid for you then' with a creepy look on his face.

Maybe the wives were given fertility blockers - Mrs Keyes said the Martha's taught her about poison so maybe they had to feed them to the wives to keep them in place and allow the men to have handmaids

The wives begrudgingly went along with it. I don't think they'd need to be drugged. I remember in season 1 where the commanders were planning Gilead and invented the concept of the ceremony to get 'buy in' from the wives.

@Pieceofpurplesky

Maybe the wives were given fertility blockers - Mrs Keyes said the Martha's taught her about poison so maybe they had to feed them to the wives to keep them in place and allow the men to have handmaids

That would make no sense. If you got pregnant it showed you were blessed by God and was thus good for your career in the Gilead hierarchy.

Surely they wanted the birth rate to rise so fertility blockers wouldn’t make sense. The handmaids were so they could create more babies.

@UhtredRagnarson

I’m confused about the woman in the brothel. June was brought to speak to her as she had details of a safe house and knew the secret sign (quilt on line). That means there is an existing network, either it has already moved people before or has been set up for mayday and June &co and this woman is part of it. However this woman then claimed to be waiting for mayday to come and June had to explain to her that mayday is “people like us” acting. But the woman was already active in the resistance so why did this need to be explained to her?

Yes this was what I thought too!

Also - what happened to the handmaids’ ear tags!? Remember when June had to cut hers out? Only her ear is complete now, and none of the others seem to have them?

im sure when she was caught again they put another tag in June's ear

I’d forgotten all about the ear tags!

@UhtredRagnarson I thought it meant this woman was also a cog in the May Day machine. She has her regular contacts, but no knowledge of who is further along the chain than her. A bit like June who came across May Day through the network of Marthas.

Aren't their ears are covered by the Martha headscarves? If not, I would presume they took the ear clips out themselves. June has proven it's possible, just rather bloody and painful.

[quote CurbsideProphet]@UhtredRagnarson I thought it meant this woman was also a cog in the May Day machine. She has her regular contacts, but no knowledge of who is further along the chain than her. A bit like June who came across May Day through the network of Marthas.[/quote]
Yes. They've said before THT everyone in mayday only knows their specific role and direct informants. This protects them and the chain as if one person gets caught they don't know info that they could disclose under torture. So Rose (I think that's what she said her name was, I could be completely wrong) was only a cog in the machine. Helping Mayday, probably out of hope they would rescued her one day, but then ultimately realising she wasn't going to be but in too deep by then so had to keep helping.

Mayday aren't inherently good, they have their own reasons for doing what they do and who they help. Rescuing Jezebel's likely wouldn't be useful or valuable to them. Remember they wanted the Martha who was a chemist to make bombs for them.

So what is mayday’s objective?

Mayday aren't inherently good, they have their own reasons for doing what they do and who they help.

Yes! I'm rewatching series 2 and after June is caught after going on the run for 3 months she is told by Alma that Mayday are done with helping handmaid's.

@UhtredRagnarson

So what is mayday’s objective?

To overthrow the Gilead regime?

@Pieceofpurplesky

Maybe the wives were given fertility blockers - Mrs Keyes said the Martha's taught her about poison so maybe they had to feed them to the wives to keep them in place and allow the men to have handmaids

There's a fertility crisis. Giving any woman fertility blockers wouldn't make any sense. As pp have said, some wives do get pregnant. It's also been hinted that it's the men that are often infertile, not the women - due to something that happened pre Gilead. Again it's been hinted that it was nuclear strikes.

To overthrow the Gilead regime?

So surely helping handmaids and Jezebels, some of which will be part of May Day, all goes towards overthrowing the regime?

@UhtredRagnarson

To overthrow the Gilead regime?

So surely helping handmaids and Jezebels, some of which will be part of May Day, all goes towards overthrowing the regime?

They can t just swoop in and rescue every handmaid/Martha/Jezebel. They are a resistance movement, we don't know how much fire power they have, or how many active members. If they did have the power to rescue everyone, there would be no Gilead.

Every time someone learns of people escaping into Canada or killing some commanders etc it will give the others hope and fuel the resistance. I do think it is a good thing.
I felt sorry for that little boy but it is always going to be the right thing to rescue children from their captors and save them from living their lives under an oppressive regime. They might need a tonne of therapy, but it's still right to get them out.

@JoJoandGreg

Do you mean Commander Lawrence?

Either smartening himself up to be back at the top commander table, or smartening himself up for The Wall. I'd go for the former - he is the architect of Gilead's economy, too important to the Gilead regime to be killed off.

Yes Commander Lawrence. He did say that about his beard, but I didn't know if he really believed the line that he was going to be smartened up, or if it was a gallant-in-the-face-of-death/torture remark. Of course I hope it really was the former, and that he's fine.

@Pieceofpurplesky

Maybe the wives were given fertility blockers - Mrs Keyes said the Martha's taught her about poison so maybe they had to feed them to the wives to keep them in place and allow the men to have handmaids

This would totally change the history and origin of gilead though. I don't think they would take such liberties with the material.

@UhtredRagnarson

To overthrow the Gilead regime?

So surely helping handmaids and Jezebels, some of which will be part of May Day, all goes towards overthrowing the regime?

Or it might expose mayday for no purpose other than saving enslaved women which might not be considered a goal in itself?

I thought with the Commander Lawrence scenes in episode 1 that he was going to be killed - when Nick was initially thanking him for his services to Gilead, and told him his trial (carried out with out him) hadn't gone well.

Then he came back and took him to the barber / torturer and told him he'd arranged for him to be a consultant, as a calming influence for those that wanted all out war with Canada. He then got in the chair and joked about his beard, suggesting he knew he was off the hook again for now.