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.

I wonder if Naomi will be married off again? She couldn't be a handmaid as she's clearly not fertile. And, apart from being married to Putnam, she hasn't done anything worth getting shipped off to Jezebels or the colonies, surely? But she won't be allowed to be a single/widowed mother to Angela. We've already heard that there's no place for that in Gilead from Mrs Wheeler. But even Serena after all her challenging behaviour was offered a get out clause of being married off to the creepy gynecologist. Maybe Naomi will get the same offer. (Although, I'd imagine there's not much chance to say no).

I don't mean an offer to marry the creepy gynaecologist, but another commander in Gilead.

Oh! And what will happen to Esther's baby now. I take it Naomi won't get it. Just gifted to another infertile couple I imagine.

That was brilliant. Just watched it on Prime, with no ads - why have I been watching it on C4 catchup with 5 billion ad breaks?
You could almost see Serena starting to have some empathy with June when Wheeler said she had been captured.
Still puzzled about the Wheelers though and other Gilead types - why aren't they actually in Gilead? I guess Wheeler is there to oversee the No Mans Land patrols from a Gilead perspective, but the doctor? And the candle-waving nutjobs cheering on Serena? You would think GIlead would welcome more people as so many are trying to escape/being executed.
Anyone wanting to re-read The Testaments, as I am, just listening to the audio version from my library, read by Ann Dowd which I highly recommend. Also they have THT read by Elizabeth Moss/Bradley Whitford/Ann Dowd.

Yes, i quite fancy reading it again after the chat about certain parts of it. See where each story and characters could possibly be heading.

I wonder if Naomi will be seen as tainted by her husband's wrongdoings? I'm not sure she'll be given another husband, maybe she'll be shipped off to the widow colony or whatever it was where Serena's mother was. June's had 2 kids, one completely on her own so Serena probably thinks she's worth keeping alive for a likely 'giving birth by the roadside' scenario.

@Breathmiller
I too can't figure out Commander Lawrence.
His wife was a good 'un and he loved her. He does know what's happening is wrong.
I'd love him to throw it (Gilead) all away and embrace liberty for all and in such a way that the Commanders and anyone else involved in atrocities would suffer.
But that is, sadly "Happy Ever After Land"
and unlikely to happen.

I think Lawrence is enjoying his power too much.

I think that Serena took June along with her as a useful bargaining chip.

If they did get back to Canada, Serena’s hardly going to be welcomed as a refugee at this point is she? Either she’d have to do a lot of grovelling or be on the run. But she’s even less likely to want to go back to Gilead.

I wonder how much she thought it through after the escape bit.

I think my favourite part of the episode was Janine’s reaction to Putnam. Revenge for both her and Esther.

And Lawrence’s reaction to Lydia - what’s the difference - would hopefully have shaken Lydia’s worldview just a bit more.

Maybe they will marry Naomi off to Lawrence? Two birds one stone. Though I can’t see Lawrence putting up with a small child in the house.

I think in series 1/2 it was shown that when commanders were executed for wrongdoing, their entire families and staff were also executed - as an example to other commanders. (Or am I mixing that up with the book?)

Consequences seem to have become less severe over the later series, though... perhaps luckily for Naomi.

Just watched it on Prime, with no ads - why have I been watching it on C4 catchup with 5 billion ad breaks?

Are you kidding? Is it on Prime? And here I am watching the ads!

Next week we're watching on Prime.

Just caught up.

I think Serena didn't kill June when she realised that really they want the same thing - peace and safety for their children. June has a knack for surviving so if I was Serena I would want her around no matter how much I hated her.

Was the obstetrician Brian from Hull?

Ezra looks like he’s going to survive. Presumably if June couldn’t be tried for killing Fred in No Man’s Land Serena can’t be tried for this but still, she must have worn out Tuello’s goodwill by now!

That was a brilLiant episode. It's hard to work out Serena's motivations - she must have seen the trip with Ezra as an opportunity to get away. But is she ready to go the full hog and claim asylum? I'm not sure. And she seems to be whitewashing Fred's memory - what about the beating, the belittling, the infidelity and the missing finger? June is the only person left from her life back then.

But is she ready to go the full hog and claim asylum? I'm not sure.

And if she did, how would Canada know she wouldn’t flip again?

I need to know who and why are the Wheelers. Enough already. And I'm convinced Lawrence is a goodie. I predict all will become clear in the 2nd half of the next and final season.

Tuello sort of explained that Gilead owned property in Canada/no man's land is considered as being part of Gilead, so has a sort of diplomatic immunity. There's presumably a complex set of rules and unwritten rules operating here.
I suspect that Commander? Wheeler is overseeing this area.
Allowing Serena to leave to execute June was a stretch though. Although a neat way for Serena to escape having become increasingly aware of the stifling nature of her potential future as a
widow in Gilead.
Killing Putnam was smart. It validates Aunt Lydia, gives some payback to the Handmaid's and cements Lawrence and Nick's roles as being the 'just' leaders and simultaneously instilling fear in the other commanders. I think Lawrence and to some extent Nick, are morally quite ambiguous. They're not evil men but will do terrible things as a means to an end. I don't think they are believers in faith, but do see the benefit in social stability.

Great points @Beamur - agree with your observations.

Given that June is combat fit, ruthless and not heavily pregnant, Serena was lucky she didn’t manage to overpower her and grab the gun herself.

Bit confused that Nick was the one to shoot Putnam - didn’t it used to be the eyes that would have done that not another commander?

Was it to show the viewer just how far Nick had come in the hierarchy of Gilead ?

I find the maternal dynamic between Aunt Lydia and Janine fascinating.

Thanks. That is what I thought too and then let my imagination run away.

I can’t quite decide if Aunt Lydia is totally evil or completely brainwashed . I know we saw some flashbacks to her pre-Gilead life but nothing that really explains her chief “Aunt” status?