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.

@TeaStory

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

She already ended it with him though didn't she? She only got 'back' with him for appearances and he knew that.

@MrsRobbieHart

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.

Sorry, I meant I was thrown by the finger not Serena. I know we didn't see her receiving it.

Ahh ok!

@BattyOrange

Not sure why people who clearly don't enjoy it come on this thread and slag it off

Me neither. Who does that?

We can love a series and still think an episode was poor... I loved Game of Thrones but thought the final two seasons were dogshit. I'm allowed to feel disappointed.

I don't think Serena knew anything. She needed him to go to Geneva & get immunity for the both of them. I think her coldness was just that they were alone together & saying goodbye & she was wary that he might attempt some form of physical intimacy, even just a hug or a kiss, & she didn't want to have to carry her act that far.

I don't think Serena & Tuello slept together. I think he's manipulated her by flirting but I doubt it's gone beyond that or that he has any romantic feelings towards her. The way I interpreted their conversation about her staying with Fred is that he was confused & a bit concerned about her - she'd gone to all this effort to get to Canada & betray Fred so she could stand a chance at having a baby & freedom & now she's voluntarily wearing the wife uniform again & talking about being a family with the man who abused her & did nothing to stop her finger getting cut off. I think he very deliberately slipped back into his softer approach with her in the hopes that she might tell him what was going on & they might have more fuel against Fred if he were threatening her. I think he sees her as a victim & was trying to offer her a way out again.

I'm amusing myself by trying to work out what Serena would hate the most - being a handmaid for the Puttnams (would still see her baby) or staying in Canada but with her baby taken away ...

It's interesting that it was Emily who was pushing June, she's killed more people than June has.

She’d only get to stay with the putnams for a few years though wouldn’t she?

@MrsRobbieHart

She’d only get to stay with the putnams for a few years though wouldn’t she?

Yes but I think she'd still want to see her child, although she might be kept away from him or her (do we know it's a boy for definite?). Part of me wants her to be forced to change her name and live anonymously in Bumfuck, Ontario doing an awful job with a terrible boss ...

I think if faced with the choice of Gilead or prison in Canada serena would try and engineer it so she could stay in prison but do some sort of outreach work with victims of Gilead to “atone for her sins and be right worth god”. Probably try and get herself set up as a sodding counsellor

I really was laughing when June was visiting Fred. She kept picking up his books/cigars and sort of nodding her head in approval. It seemed like a fuck you, I can use these things too

I wonder what Serena would do if her baby ended up being a girl, not a boy?

Scanning mistakes do happen.

@MrsRobbieHart

I think if faced with the choice of Gilead or prison in Canada serena would try and engineer it so she could stay in prison but do some sort of outreach work with victims of Gilead to “atone for her sins and be right worth god”. Probably try and get herself set up as a sodding counsellor

If she goes to prison, she'll be top dog in 2 weeks - writing books and answering fan-mail while her minions do everything for her, ugh!

If she goes to prison, she'll be top dog in 2 weeks - writing books and answering fan-mail while her minions do everything for her, ugh!

she’ll be swapping tips with the peru drug Mule woman!

@DontDrinkDontSmokeWhatDoIDo

Even though Luke can't imagine what June went through, surely he has hate in his veins because Gilead / Fred / Serena took his daughter from him?

Why is he so forgiving???

Luke is still very much in the mindset that he wants to go back to life as it was before Gilead. He even said that to June... he asked her if she wished she could just go back home to Boston. I don't think he's forgiving at all - he just wants to be able to salvage as much of the things he had and loved as possible. His mind is on finding and getting Hannah back so he can go back to his old life.

June on the other hand has been changed by Gilead. She can't go back to the way things were and doesn't even want to. Too much has happened to her. She's out to free Hannah but rather than go back to as normal life as possible she wants revenge, and to bring Gilead down.

I feel sad but I think ultimately that is what has caused the end of their relationship (or causing? Are we seeing the end?). He does not get what she's been through in the slightest and why she needs to do what she's done to Fred.

@MrsRobbieHart "Speaking of the last supper- we never got to see what the last supper dinner with all the aunts was about. It didn’t go anywhere."

It was all about betrayal. Janine betrayed Esther. June betrayed Luke. Serena betrayed Gilead (she was reading and writing - which Naomi spotted!!). Commander Warren betrayed Fred. Commander Lawrence betrayed June. Nick betrayed June (wedding ring!). It was relentless.

I really recommend listening to the Eyes on Gilead episode with Liz Garbus, who directed the finale. It’s fascinating.

Completely agree! It’s so annoying. They laugh after every sentence, I don’t get it lol.

I did wonder about the mail guy finding the finger. You’d think all the packages going to Serena would be x-rayed or something before they got that far, because surely someone would try to send her a bomb or something harmful. I felt sorry for him, too - he didn’t deserve that!

Janine betrayed Esther.

How did Janine betray Esther?

@TeaStory

I did wonder about the mail guy finding the finger. You’d think all the packages going to Serena would be x-rayed or something before they got that far, because surely someone would try to send her a bomb or something harmful. I felt sorry for him, too - he didn’t deserve that!

I agree, not even packed in ice or wrapped in a tissue!

I was surprised they weren’t monitoring her post too, if only to find out who the Gilead supporting Canadians were.

Like us upset as June has chosen the war over her family. She now has to leave

@smallgoon

Janine betrayed Esther.

How did Janine betray Esther?

She lied to her when she brought her food, implying that it wasn't on AL's behalf.

Emily is now responsible for the death of the woman in the Colonies, the attack on Aunt Lydia and now has involvement in this murder of Fred.

Didn't she also steal the car in the market square and squish a guard?

I think when June got blood on Nicole it was symbolic of how she couldn't keep from 'tainting' her with her past and her war on Gilead. She can't move on and be the mother Nicole needs, and that's why she had to leave.