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

[OverByYer]

Under his eye

I did laugh at the Eyes of Gilead podcast when they talked about June changing out if her Handmaid’s outfit, that she had remarkably cleanly shaved armpits for a woman that had been on the run for a few days and imprisoned before that

And given that they're covered all the rest of the time, even in the Ceremony, I doubt any of them have shaved or waxed for years.

@EBearhug

I did laugh at the Eyes of Gilead podcast when they talked about June changing out if her Handmaid’s outfit, that she had remarkably cleanly shaved armpits for a woman that had been on the run for a few days and imprisoned before that

And given that they're covered all the rest of the time, even in the Ceremony, I doubt any of them have shaved or waxed for years.

They'd never be allowed razors. Although Fred shaved June's legs before the went to Jezebels didn't he?

Yes, but officially, Jezebels didn't exist, and they had makeup, too, and the sex wasn't about procreation or being respectably married, so for the women to show a little man-pleasing vanity (that they had no choice about) when they don't really officially exist any more is all fine.

@JayAlfredPrufrock it's also available on All 4.

What I also found odd is that rapey guy seemed surprised as sex slaves in America and hadn't heard of Mayday. Surely there would be some sort of intelligence that would get out of Gilead to Chicago?

I was surprised he hadn’t heard of mayday too. Does that mean the Canadians aren’t aware either? I suppose they will be as they have someone feeding them info from inside Gilead. Rapey guy- if he has been living like he is ever since the war started with no contact with officials or anyone else who has been in Gilead then I suppose maybe he’s never had reason to hear of mayday.

@MotionActivatedDog

I was surprised he hadn’t heard of mayday too. Does that mean the Canadians aren’t aware either? I suppose they will be as they have someone feeding them info from inside Gilead. Rapey guy- if he has been living like he is ever since the war started with no contact with officials or anyone else who has been in Gilead then I suppose maybe he’s never had reason to hear of mayday.

Given the current quality of investigative journalism and that this is in the future, we can surmise that that doesn't improve.

Can you imagine if June was captured and on the wall, BBC would talk about how she once battered a black person and was therefore a bad sort. Mail would comment on the fact that she's had a child out of wedlock and was actively trying to have more children despite the 2 child limit for benefits. Femail would do a whole feature on how the trademark boots are next seasons must buy, and meanwhile no-one would give a shit that she was being hung for basically being a sex slave.

They were allowed a supervised bath before the ceremony where there are given a razor to shave their legs. I'm sure they showed that in the show

Maybe they were all freshly shaved before heading off to the camps

One random thing that always stayed with me from the book, is the butter. It's such a luxury item that she hides it away and uses it to moisturize her hands.

This thread is making me want to rewatch s1.

I’m always a few days behind as don’t get a chance to watch it until an evening when my OH is working (otherwise he talks through it and drives me mad)

A few random thoughts:

• the whole time they were in the milk tanker I was thinking “why aren’t they panicking about how they are going to get out of there when the train stops?!” And then June turns into superwoman and just springs up and then pulls Janine out too haha.
• the creepy leader expecting a blow job felt so realistic to me, he thought sex slaves was a secretly appealing idea, and couldn’t separate the idea in his mind that the women weren’t secretly up for it. He was just saying she had a choice because he wanted to feel like a good guy, but we all know the power play at there meant she didn’t really have much choice (although I’m so glad she didn’t)
• I thought Janines flashback was partly to show that she was at peace with her abortion decision once she felt like it was her choice and this paralleled with her decision to give creepy guy a blow job. Plus we know she’s been used by guys before in lots of ways, and has a skewed perception of ‘relationships’.
• Serena is still so deluded she really thought Rita would want to be there for her with the baby and help her raise it, she still doesn’t realise that Rita was a slave and not just her Martha by choice and loving being there. I loved Rita’s role in this episode.
• I also thought Serena’s comment about the clean air and clean water in Gilead very revealing, she obviously still believes the Gilead way is the right way (even though she wasn’t willing to let Nichole grow up there)

• if Serenas baby is Fred’s (and I honestly don’t see any implication that it isn’t) then the next logical step is for them to think Nichole might actually be his baby now he’s proven to be fertile? Will they do a DNA test?!

One thing that always puzzles me - and this probably comes from not being able to remember the book! - is the lack of technology. I get that Gilead probably espouses traditional values, but surely there must be technology involved somewhere? But you don't see a telephone never mind a TV or a computer.

Am I just being dense?

- if Serenas baby is Fred’s (and I honestly don’t see any implication that it isn’t) then the next logical step is for them to think Nichole might actually be his baby now he’s proven to be fertile? Will they do a DNA test?!

I was wondering this too about Nichole. Please let Nick be the dad.

I keep thinking about the technology too. The men in charge of Gilead may espouse traditional values for everyone else but there’s no way they wouldn’t be secretly using technology for their own ends to spy on people etc. Like I would fully expect them to have drones out looking for June. However- Gilead is skint isn’t it? Maybe they just can’t afford any tech.

@BIWI

One thing that always puzzles me - and this probably comes from not being able to remember the book! - is the lack of technology. I get that Gilead probably espouses traditional values, but surely there must be technology involved somewhere? But you don't see a telephone never mind a TV or a computer.

Am I just being dense?

I think partly this is from the book and the technology available in the 80s. I have a feeling TV was mentioned in the book with Serena watching the news. They also has Soul Scrolls in the book and wives phoning through prayers.

I also think it's partly to do with woman not being allowed to read or write. So much of our tech relies on reading and writing. I suppose they have to remove the tech to remove the temptation.

Ah yes, I'd totally forgotten about the not being able to read/write bit.

@MotionActivatedDog

I keep thinking about the technology too. The men in charge of Gilead may espouse traditional values for everyone else but there’s no way they wouldn’t be secretly using technology for their own ends to spy on people etc. Like I would fully expect them to have drones out looking for June. However- Gilead is skint isn’t it? Maybe they just can’t afford any tech.

They watched Luke at the protest on a tablet.

@BIWI

One thing that always puzzles me - and this probably comes from not being able to remember the book! - is the lack of technology. I get that Gilead probably espouses traditional values, but surely there must be technology involved somewhere? But you don't see a telephone never mind a TV or a computer.

Am I just being dense?

I think there was a telephone in Commander lawrence's house? and June found a walkman or something didn't she?

I've never got round to reading it either! Maybe we should start a separate book thread!

Didn't someone mention a drone when they were all hiding out at Mrs Keyes' farm?

Re technology I'm sure Waterford had a laptop in his study when June went in there to play Scrabble with him.

I should think the Commanders and Eyes are allowed tech, but they're hardly going to let everyone else have free use of devices with which they might contact the world outside Gilead, or each other, or resistance movements. Being shown things under supervised use is just an extension of the daily propaganda machine.

There's been a fair bit of tech in the show, Fred has a laptop and phone, there was a tablet featured when they watched Luke and calls between June & Luke in S3 when she arranged the meeting between him & Serena. They've used drones to find people too.

I agree that it's usage is more limited as they try to espouse those traditional values and wouldn't want women getting their hands on such things. So I imagine it's only used in by the commanders in private in normal circumstances.

Good point about who Nicole's sire is...

When June and Janine were rummaging through the boxes of clothes….slight nod to the Testaments? I thought there might be some connection there to the adopted parents?