C4 / UK pace: No Spoilers Please - Handmaids Tale returns anyone else excited?

[Ladybird69]

YEY. just seen the new season is starting 23 October. I binge watched the others earlier in the month so can’t wait for it to start again. The ending was a shocker that I didn’t see coming. I can’t wait to see where they’re taking it. Will serena joy get let go because she was under his orders AND she’s having a baby. Or will she get put into jail and baby taken away when he’s born.

*shoot Ezra

Loved this episode, I feel like this new series has taken on a whole new life of its own whereas last series felt a little bit less "engaging" for me anyway....

Couple of questions/observations:

Who looks after baby Nicole when June, Luke and Moira are all out for hours at a time?

The scene with Commander Putnam and his wife enjoying breakfast was just brilliant... but has Gilead always had this kind of thing? Ie the Commanders and Wives going out for nice breakfasts in lovely settings? In the previous series' it's always seemed like life was pretty dull and the couples socialised mainly separately with the men having all the fun?!

Is this to demonstrate that Gilead is slowly starting to evolve and modernise from within?

I think Nicole was with Rita. Yes the breakfast place seemed new. I would have thought those kind of places would be frowned upon. Like in season 1 where June and Emily are talking about a store selling Gilead outfits that used to be an ice cream shop. I got the impression those kind of places had been destroyed. Perhaps not for the elite?

Rita always seems to be around for Nicole-sitting duties. I also found the 'out for breakfast' scene a bit unlikely.

Ah yes Rita of course!!

Glad it wasn't just me who wondered about the breakfast venue.

The breakfast place reminded me a bit of a country club. Perhaps they went away for a couple of days (Warren hadn’t told her about Esther at that point).

I rather wonder what’s going to happen to Naomi now. She can’t be single in Gilead.

I wondered exactly the same @CruCru and what will happen to Angela too?

At least Serena got out of that house. However, if Gilead get hold of her again, she’ll definitely be a Handmaid. She was a bit borderline before she shot Ezra.

I’d imagine Serena would be heading for the colonies. She’s getting a bit long in the tooth for a Handmaid.

As is Naomi.

Surely beggars can't be choosers. If she's fertile they'll ride her like a packhorse

This was the best episode in a while. I can’t work out if the doctor raped Serena during the “examination “ as he handed her some cloth or a wipe at the end and then she seemed to be having contractions in the car?

I'm really missing all the good music at the end of the episodes.

When he talked about the importance of perineum massage, I assumed he was doing it at the time - felt ill watching it!

That was to @Blueuxbridge

@lawofselfish

Me too. The music was an integral part to previous series.

I thought that Serena only kept June alive as she needed her to drive. Her desire to escape was greater than her need for revenge.

They're still in the no man's land, right? So should just be able to drive back to Canada as long as they don't get caught?

The last two episodes have been absolutely cracking.

I didn't buy the execution scene though. They wouldn't just shoot someone in the head outside a country club.

Also why did Commander Lawrence tell Aunt Lydia that she was forgetting herself etc if he intended to punish Commander Putnam all along? Why didn't he just agree with her?

Commander Lawrence enjoys putting Lydia in her place. Last series he told her that she enjoyed hurting others.

I think Serena kept June alive because their stories are inextricably linked and she knows she’s probably safer with June than without her.

The commanders needed to get rid of Putnam, he was getting too big for his boots. And he gave them an excuse - no one else would be accused of raping a handmaid, (as Lawrence said) but they decided that was enough for them to take him out.

I was amazed that Wheeler let Serena go. After all the worry about her staying indoors, away from windows, not allowed out at all - to suddenly allow her to go on a long car drive to watch the killing of her enemy? Heavily pregnant? No way. There must be a reason he allowed that. Especially after the argument with his wife, where she basically locked her in the house.

And as soon as she had the gun off Ezra I know how that would go.

And now off course they will get back over the border into Canada where serena will have her baby and become Enemy no 1 to Gilead.

I am amazed that Wheeler is able to operate with impunity in Canada. He has armed teams of thugs rounding up people who have sought rescue in Canada and is repatriating them , he has acquired the services of an eminent obstetrician ( who has his own Martha) , he is sending out hit squads against individuals. Who is this guy? Is he a diplomat or a renegade Canadian? If he is a Commander then he should be charged with the same offences that Fred was charged with.

Oooooo that was a good one! I think a part of Serena wanted to shoot June but a bigger part knew June was her best chance of escaping from the Wheelers...

Oh and that gynaecologist 🤮🤮🤮

When's the next one?!

I wondered the same actually - hope the questions are answered rather than a gaping plot hole!

Thanks, dh suggested that too late though and I couldn't figure out how to get back on here without seeing what was going on.

Just caught up.

I dont think Cmr Lawrence could give a rat's arse that Putnam had raped Esther. Or that Aunt Lydia wanted him punished as he had sinned against God.
I think he didn't like how putnam spoke to him and ridiculed him. Putnam also told him then, that Lawrence's idea of New Bethlehem was dead in the water. Kind of wrote his own death sentence in that one conversation.

I still can't quite fathom Cmr Lawrence out. I don't think he has many deep morals and ethics on either side though. He just plays a game and enjoys playing God. Although i don't like him per se, I like him as a character. You just never know what he's going to do next.

I think Serena was so conflicted. She would have loved to have killed June, i believe she hates her with a passion but there's a weird link that connects them and she has seen how she could so easily be in June's place. She also has a knack for survival. Another complex character.