The Handmaid's Tale Series 4 - finale coming up, no spoilers please.

[Clawdy]

New thread, looking forward to finale, but wishing it really was the last episode, with all storylines and characters ending satisfactorily.

And that they were reciprocated

@Remmy123

No - Tuello and Serena did not sleep together .. he flirted with her etc all manipulation.

Why is Luke so upset at what June did to Fred? Surely he understands she needed revenge!

I'm sure he understands she wanted revenge but she's killed someone - and pretty brutally he can see by the fact she is covered in blood.

He hasn't been desensitised to the violence in Gilead like we have as the viewer.

@nottoday3000

Serena and the baby in exchange for Hannah ...maybe

Serena s baby can go back any time The putnams want it They would dispose of Serena

@Thatswhathappens

I loved the bit where June said to commander Lawrence, Joseph don’t be a dick, when they were all sitting in the cafe, his acting was great, it made me smile!

I think Joseph is the best character. He steals every scene he is in. Fantastic actor.

Yep can't you just see Mrs Putnam living flaunting Serena' baby in her face?

The icing on the cake would be Serena serving as the Putnam'a Handmaid - to provide a natural half sibling.

@nottoday3000

Serena and the baby in exchange for Hannah ...maybe

Or just the baby. I'd like to see Serena suffer the way made the Handmaids suffer.

@goinggently

There was a white shirt and black tie, and then a short white jacket over the top. Clothes are never a mistake in THT so it must have some significance or other 🤔

OK, fair enough. I don't know where they got jacket from or why they would have dressed him up though.

Ultimately Serena will want her baby to be the supreme ruler, with mummy at his side to guide him.

Cersei

Interesting ending. Lots of unanswered questions and potential plot twists available for Series 5.

The cinematography is both stunning and irritating. The long shots and atmospheric shots are really well done but the endless bloody face shots of June and her micro expressions really get on my tits now. I was also annoyed by the lights all symmetrically arranged as the group of women beat Fred into a pulp in no man's land. I get it was symbolic but come on!!!!

I like that almost everyone in the show is flawed but not without at least one redeeming feature. Clearly the show has some characters that are more on the evil end of the spectrum than others, but I do like that we see that unlike in Disney, there really very few total villains or total heroes. We've all got bits of both inside us.

Has anyone listened to the podcast yet?

@JaninesEyePatch

Has anyone listened to the podcast yet?

Yes. Some interesting ideas. They don’t mention the symbolism of the kiss or Fred‘s clothing, but I haven’t listened to their interviews with Bruce Miller or Liz Garbus, who produced the episode, yet.

@EmpressWitchDoesntBurn
I've listened to the episode one and the Liz Garbus one. I think she did touch on the kiss, or the girls did?

I also watched a snippet of an interview with Joseph Fiennes - he said he was genuinely terrified and running for his life as a group of badass stunt women chased after him!

@SisterJude

I've just listened to a podcast which puts forward the theory that Serena was aware of what was going to happen to fred and the finger and the ring are her proof that it's been carried out. All mafia style.

Oooh that's an interesting thought. I did think she seemed to be acting in a way that meant she knew but then was thrown by the finger. But that would make sense. Maybe she asked for the finger to be taken off - that was her revenge. And if so, did the baying mob (with the perfectly placed torches) take off his finger while he was alive and let him know that Serena had requested it. The ultimate betrayal. In the end he had no one on his side. Not even Serena.

@SisterJude

I've just listened to a podcast which puts forward the theory that Serena was aware of what was going to happen to fred and the finger and the ring are her proof that it's been carried out. All mafia style.

Liz Garbus says that as director this wasn't the way she was going with it but she says Yvonne Strahovski may have played it that way.

@LadyEloise1

Great posts too from TheMoth, Furries and OverByYer

Thank you. I’m aware that I am completely over invested in the show

I also watched a snippet of an interview with Joseph Fiennes - he said he was genuinely terrified and running for his life as a group of badass stunt women chased after him!

someone should tell him it’s not real

But Serena was sitting with Zoom open waiting for Fred to call her though.

The finale was pretty gripping stuff, but the scene where the women were allowed to batter Fred to death in no man's land seemed a bit implausible to me. Surely having got Fred back they would be keen to interrogate him and discover how many secrets he'd shared, before performing a public execution and showing the rest of Gilead what to expect if anyone turns traitor. I liked the touch about his finger being removed though - quite fitting really. Great acting, Sunday nights won't be the same without THT.

@MrsRobbieHart

But Serena was sitting with Zoom open waiting for Fred to call her though.

Ahhh. Yes, i didn't catch what she was on. But now I realise it was Zoom. You'd think I'd recognise it after the last year and a half of hosting zoom meetings 😊

I was a little at how cold Serena was when Fred came to say goodbye before he left to go to “Geneva”.

I did think she seemed to be acting in a way that meant she knew but then was thrown by the finger. But that would make sense. Maybe she asked for the finger to be taken off - that was her revenge. And if so, did the baying mob (with the perfectly placed torches) take off his finger while he was alive and let him know that Serena had requested it

That makes no sense - why the hell would June/the mob do Serena's bidding? Serena would not have been included in the plan with June/Tuello/Nick/Lawrence. As if they would include her!

I did think she seemed to be acting in a way that meant she knew but then was thrown by the finger.

We didn’t see Serena receiving the finger. The mail delivery guy opened it and recoiled in horror. Presumably he wouldn’t then just deliver it on to Serena. He would have to report it and it’s possible the finger would never get to her big rather she would be told about it by tuello or her lawyer.