The Handmaid's Tale S4 at C4 pace (no spoilers from Hulu subscribers) Thread 2

[OverByYer]

Under his eye

I’m just catching up now so I hope you’ll all forgive me posting as I watch.

Jumping into a tanker of milk without knowing it was milk! it could have been anything! How was she planning to get back out? And why were there lights inside the tanker?

Rita must have the kindest heart to be so happy for serena. How manipulative of serena!! Urgh. Vile woman.

Commander Lawrence admitted to June that Gilead didn't care about babies and only cared about power. The fertility crisis was just a convenient excuse.

I have given in and have watched each episode of this series with subtitles - at least I know what’s going on!

I found that a strange episode. Very glad to have the relief of no one being killed though. Rapey man was very realistic. There are always men who will spot an opportunity to exploit someone vulnerable and those men are often the ones that seek power over others so it made sense that the apparent leader of this huge group of people is abusive. When he said “I’ll bet you’re used to this” I half expected June to say “no, they’re usually bigger” wouldn’t have gone well for her though so I forgive her.

The episode felt a bit disjointed to me. We saw none of the fallout of June & janine escaping for Lydia or the guard or the commanders that are left discussing it. It would be big fucking news that June had done it again and that 4 handmaids had died.

They’ve made serena a totally 2 dimensional character. She isn’t a deluded fool. She never was.

Just listened to the Eyes on Gilead podcast as well whilst walking the dog. I think I’m a bit obsessed

What I found odd about rapey guy was he seemed shocked at first when he made the comment about sex slaves in America and then went on to do that to June and Janine. However he did then turn it round to say he wasn't going to force her. He couldn't see how what he was doing was the same sort of thing.

They’ve made serena a totally 2 dimensional character. She isn’t a deluded fool. She never was.

In a way I can sort of understand why Serena is the the way she is now. All she ever cared about was having a baby. Now she's got that nothing else matters.

@Crinkle77

What I found odd about rapey guy was he seemed shocked at first when he made the comment about sex slaves in America and then went on to do that to June and Janine. However he did then turn it round to say he wasn't going to force her. He couldn't see how what he was doing was the same sort of thing.

Yes I think that guy/scene was poorly done. Like you say he seemed shocked, or at least pretended to be, (it wasn’t clear which is why I think it was poorly done) that there were sex slaves but then immediately became the slave master himself.

That was a great episode. Rita was brilliant. The way she ate her sushi, really slowly and smiled was just perfect.

The milk train was like 'being in a womb' only spoilt by the unrealistic way J&J got out of it!

I knew they were in trouble when June said 'I'm June' to rapey guy and he had no idea who she was. I think she was expecting some recognition, that didn't come.

I'm not sure whether Serena was playing Rita by giving her the scan photo. Did she expect/want Rita to give it to Fred? I'm also still not convinced Fred can have children. I don't think he's convinced he can either. I wonder if he suspects Serena of being unfaithful?

I want to know if any of the handmaids that were shot survived. They could have had non life threatening injuries. Aunt Lydia will be beaten black and blue again. That slack bladdered guard will probably end up in the wall for either letting the hand maids get away or for shooting those that didn't.

It was a much more poignant episode this week and I found myself crying several times. Roll on next Sunday!

The thing about rapey guy as well is that there didn't seem to be any shortage of women and he was a good looking guy, so are we expected to believe that he couldn't get a free shag/blow job anywhere? Maybe once people got to know his personality they might not be as keen, but surely he hadn't worked his way completely round Chicago? I'm also sure there are plenty of women who would also welcome some kind of no strings physical contact with men though maybe there was little availability of contraceptives - plenty of other activity available though.

Anyway, a few holes/unlikely things in the stories which when you notice kinda detracts from the main thing. I'll certainly keep watching and try to park those things.

What I love about these stories, though, is that they do keep us guessing! And in many ways, it's reflective of real life. Not everything is black and white/easily explainable.

Re the rapey guy, I wonder if he was testing June - after all, they have no idea who she and Janine are. From the way they reacted to them when they got out of that tanker, they didn't even recognise that their clothes made them handmaidens. At least not initially any way. They could have been anybody. So if June went along with his request, that could signal that they were just trying to infiltrate the rebels.

@Crinkle77

What I found odd about rapey guy was he seemed shocked at first when he made the comment about sex slaves in America and then went on to do that to June and Janine. However he did then turn it round to say he wasn't going to force her. He couldn't see how what he was doing was the same sort of thing.

I didn’t think it was odd. I think he was excited by the idea of sex slaves and fancied having a bit of the action while still wanting to see himself as the good guy. Horribly plausible imo.

I think he was meant to be one of those men who gets a kick out of knowing he can make a woman do that. It was probably nothing to do with him being desperate for a blow job and everything to do with him seeing the abuser’s equivalent of £££ signs when he saw two vulnerable women and took the chance to see how far he could push them. I think this is backed up by the fact that when he realised June was going to do it he backed down and let her know she didn’t have to. I think he just wanted to know if he had the sort of power over her to get her to- and he did.

Yes I agree.

I also think that Janine took some power by going and obliging him - showing June that she could also be 'in charge' and thinking about how they might survive/escape.

Just catching up and place marking, dont mind me...

The podcast spoke of lots of symbolism in the episode
Milk, bread, fish ( sushi) which I didn’t pick up on.
Also slavery ( Rita) and the fact that the rebels are mainly persons of colour that haven’t really featured much through the series

Is it underrepresented by black characters?
Rita
Moira
Luke
Hannah
Several other handmaids
Some commanders and wives (not big players tbf)
Some eyes
Some marthas
Some children

Boston is about 25% black, I think it looked reasonably representative?

There was one comment in an episode about a commander and wife not wanting a black handmaid but otherwise it seems that they were treated equally poorly regardless of race. The issue is more about men and women rather than colour/ethnicity I felt. But maybe I'm just not seeing it.

I can’t recall any non white Handmaids. I hadn’t considered it until I listened to the podcast.

@OverByYer

I can’t recall any non white Handmaids. I hadn’t considered it until I listened to the podcast.

June's most recent walking partner was black - the one who got shot in the supermarket

non white handmaids - Moira? The one that kept reporting June? I've seen loads as background characters as well. Not that I was counting, I probably noticed more after the comment made about the couple wanting a white handmaid.

There was also the econofamily who helped when Rita escaped (last series?)

I just think it's a bit disingenuous to say that black characters or actors haven't been represented, it's almost like just stirring things for no reason. I don't see that they have all been portrayed as negative characters either.

I'm also watching The Wire at the minute, it's based in Baltimore and most of the characters/actors in it are black, both police and officials and the drug dealers, I think Baltimore is over 60 % black. Series 2 was a bit more white but it was featuring the docks which are/were run by mainly Polish unions.

I think both situations are representative of the area/time.

Moira was briefly a handmaid.

Ah ok, I’m joy saying that’s the case just that’s what was mentioned on the podcast and I hadn’t noticed/ thought about it before

*not

Sorry @OverByYer, I didn't mean that you were stirring it, the podcast sounds like it was stirring it and reading into it something that I don't think I see. Yes, a lot of the main characters are white but there are good characters that are black too and lots of background ones and this seems to fit with the general diversity of the area.

@ElephantOfRisk thanks. And you’re right.
I need to stop thinking about it all!