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

999 replies

Faircastle · 20/06/2021 14:55

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.

OP posts:
GoingGently · 04/07/2021 23:19

Yes, Nick goes I go (though don't hold me to that)

WitchSharkadder · 04/07/2021 23:19

I didn't hear that @MotionActivatedDog but you're probably right, it's hard to hear sometimes.

There was a missing Handmaid somewhere. They caught 6 in the barn and plus June would've been 7 but then only 6 (inc June) we're on the minibus.

Mrs. Keyes is in prison @vivariumvivariumsvivaria, they said so in the episode. I don't know why she didn't go to the safe house with the others but we don't know much about what went down at the farm. I expect she might crop up again.

WitchSharkadder · 04/07/2021 23:25

I don't buy the Nick being a double agent theory. I don't think he knows where he stands and who he sides with tbh. Pre-Gilead he was obviously a very messed up young man from a tough upbringing. Andrew Pryce recruited him with promises of a better life and he took it because (I imagine) the sense of belonging and a secure job, not worrying about where he was heading etc was very appealing. They slowly brainwashed him into fighting for them. After the take over, he was just going along with things for an easy life because it dawned on him he'd be on the wall if he didn't. Then he met June and fell in love so became involved with the resistance but only for her sake and to try and keep her/his baby safe. Since then he's just blinded by his feelings for her but maybe has some sort of loyalty to Gilead still. He's just trying to muddle his way through keeping himself & June alive. I actually don't think he's bright enough to be a double agent, he's just making it up as he goes along.

vivariumvivariumsvivaria · 04/07/2021 23:25

Thanks, Witch. I missed that. Agree, she'll pop up, and has shown that she can be strategic, she had a good poker face when they were looking for the guy she killed.

If Nick dies we'd have heard. No spoiler filter is strong enough to keep that quiet.

vivariumvivariumsvivaria · 04/07/2021 23:28

Sorry, crinkle I've got Esther as a different person to Mrs Keyes.

She could be in trouble, I expect that Commander Keyes will suddenly perk up what with not being given regular doses of poison. Will that link her to the deaths at Jezebels?

vivariumvivariumsvivaria · 04/07/2021 23:30

I agree with you about Nick, Witch.

He's pretty, but not a deep thinker.

Iggi999 · 04/07/2021 23:30

Given the road they are running along is the same one the van was travelling along, won't that mean they have just escaped closer to the colony? Really hoping there is somewhere else for them to go to!

MotionActivatedDog · 04/07/2021 23:30

@WitchSharkadder

I don't buy the Nick being a double agent theory. I don't think he knows where he stands and who he sides with tbh. Pre-Gilead he was obviously a very messed up young man from a tough upbringing. Andrew Pryce recruited him with promises of a better life and he took it because (I imagine) the sense of belonging and a secure job, not worrying about where he was heading etc was very appealing. They slowly brainwashed him into fighting for them. After the take over, he was just going along with things for an easy life because it dawned on him he'd be on the wall if he didn't. Then he met June and fell in love so became involved with the resistance but only for her sake and to try and keep her/his baby safe. Since then he's just blinded by his feelings for her but maybe has some sort of loyalty to Gilead still. He's just trying to muddle his way through keeping himself & June alive. I actually don't think he's bright enough to be a double agent, he's just making it up as he goes along.
I agree totally with this.
MotionActivatedDog · 04/07/2021 23:31

@Iggi999

Given the road they are running along is the same one the van was travelling along, won't that mean they have just escaped closer to the colony? Really hoping there is somewhere else for them to go to!
Good point!
GinPink · 04/07/2021 23:35

I actually wonder if the kissing scene really happened or if it was just in June and Nicks imaginations. It would shatter Nicks cover - that he's been doing bits to help the resistance.

I love the HMT but tonight's episode was just too unrealistic for me. They were so sure they had to save the life of each and every handmaid. But then the commander fatally shoots two for running. Surely he would just wait and see rather than shoot dead?

whatsthestory123 · 04/07/2021 23:39

yes esther has been caught,poor child x

CruCru · 04/07/2021 23:40

[quote paniniswapx3]@BroccoliRob don't forget that Janine also has Angela (I can't remember the name Janine gave her). [/quote]
Charlotte

GinPink · 04/07/2021 23:40

Without Hannah, June has lost all her motivation behind any of her actions. I wonder what she will live for now...

Iggi999 · 04/07/2021 23:42

I'm hoping the colony is a bit closer to Canada.

Iggi999 · 04/07/2021 23:42

I also want to see what's up with Serena next time.

paniniswapx3 · 04/07/2021 23:43

Thanks @CruCru

bonbonours · 04/07/2021 23:44

@MotionActivatedDog

Plus, we don't even know if it was a Commander and wife, could've been econopeople loving there.

I’m almost sure we heard a guardian say something like “where are they commander burrows?” Although I could be making it up in my own head Grin

I had the subtitles on and it was commander Murrows. The farm was earlier referred to as"the Murrows place"
memberofthewedding · 04/07/2021 23:45

Magdalene colony - interesting name for a baby breeding farm. Back in the 1950s and 1960s (mostly in Ireland) they had these homes for "unmarried mothers" run by scary and cruel Catholic nuns. The girls sent there were more or less degraded and psycholically tortured by the nuns and their babies sold to rich childless couples. There have been numerous exposes about them.

BroccoliRob · 04/07/2021 23:45

@WitchSharkadder

I don't buy the Nick being a double agent theory. I don't think he knows where he stands and who he sides with tbh. Pre-Gilead he was obviously a very messed up young man from a tough upbringing. Andrew Pryce recruited him with promises of a better life and he took it because (I imagine) the sense of belonging and a secure job, not worrying about where he was heading etc was very appealing. They slowly brainwashed him into fighting for them. After the take over, he was just going along with things for an easy life because it dawned on him he'd be on the wall if he didn't. Then he met June and fell in love so became involved with the resistance but only for her sake and to try and keep her/his baby safe. Since then he's just blinded by his feelings for her but maybe has some sort of loyalty to Gilead still. He's just trying to muddle his way through keeping himself & June alive. I actually don't think he's bright enough to be a double agent, he's just making it up as he goes along.
Yeah I agree with this. I think he's protective of June but has to go along with "the rules" otherwise he'll end up dismembered/on the wall.
MotionActivatedDog · 04/07/2021 23:50

@memberofthewedding

Magdalene colony - interesting name for a baby breeding farm. Back in the 1950s and 1960s (mostly in Ireland) they had these homes for "unmarried mothers" run by scary and cruel Catholic nuns. The girls sent there were more or less degraded and psycholically tortured by the nuns and their babies sold to rich childless couples. There have been numerous exposes about them.
Yes there were two good films about it too. Sinners- I think a BBC production, and The Magdalene sisters. They were called Magdalene laundries and it wasn’t just the 50’s and 60’s- the last one closed in the 90’s!
Iggi999 · 05/07/2021 00:17

As horrendous as it would be in that "colony" I think being with other women and not having to be forced to be around a commander and his wife daily would be an improvement. They will need to feed and not massively overwork them as well due to their reproductive status. So better than the colony others (Emily?) ended up in.

JoJoandGreg · 05/07/2021 01:17

@Horehound

Can someone explain the double agent theory to me please? Who are the two places he's working for? Gilead and ???
The Gilead Eyes and May Day / Resistance.

I've also posted below about my friend's theory. Nick was a CIA agent who infiltrated SOJ prior to the revolution and is now deep undercover for the CIA. Her argument is that SOJ didn't appear overnight, the US security services would have flagged them as a threat and would have tried to stop them.

Does anyone have any other theories on why the Swiss negotiators refused to deal with Nick? Other than double agent / war criminal (genocide or storming the capital ie killing the president, during the crusades).

viques · 05/07/2021 01:24

@BroccoliRob

I have a horrible feeling the beautiful nick won’t live too see the end of this season.

noooooo 🙉

I think this, if June ever gets to Canada and is reunited with Luke then Nick is, how to put it nicely , surplus to requirements. Unless he suddenly and inexplicably falls deeply in love with Janine, in which case he will have his walk into the sunset.
whatsthestory123 · 05/07/2021 01:36

nick and janine Confused

BlankTimes · 05/07/2021 02:25

memberofthewedding
Google Tuam Babies.

I found tonight's episode awful re the torture, and wonder where Janine and June can run to, to avoid Lydia and that guard physically seeing them, there seemed to be only a couple of hundred yards between them, if that.