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.

@EmpressaurusOfWitchesBackFromTheDead
"I'm a better Chrthan you...."
It really was a sucker punch, wasn't it ?

It was beautiful.

He kept saying ‘when Hannah is head of her household’, seeming to completely ignore that Hannah would be completely subject to her husband, who would be hugely unlikely to want her anywhere near the notorious June Osborn. It didn’t make sense.

How could June contemplate bringing Nicole into Gilead-lite?

Nicole is still very small so any ‘Gilead wife duties’ would be many years away yet, even if she was recruited at 12 she’s probably thinking she can get Hannah out in the that time, if only she could see/speak to her. Imagine the agony, playing ‘family’ with your new daughter in Canada while your first one is sold as a wife at 12 in a theocratic dictatorship. The guilt must eat her alive even though it isn’t her fault.

I also query the lack of complexity around Luke’s feelings towards Nicole. He’s been very gracious in raising her with what seems like full acceptance (despite knowing she was conceived through a love affair rather than rape per se), but surely he must have niggly human feelings that she isn’t biologically his and that she’s the daughter of a man his wife clearly still has feelings for, etc? I think most men in his position would prioritise Hannah over Nicole.

His wife wasn't mentally ill, she was distraught at the hell hole her husbands committment to Gilead meant she had to endure - and he knew it.

In earlier episodes Lawrence spoke about not liking the religious fundamentalism that had gripped Gilead as his contribution was more about political process.

And in his conversation with June in last night's episode he spoke about trying to get the religious fundamentalists eased out of the decision making structure. So last week's political execution wasn't for him about morality but a political opportunity.

So now the power base has shifted, and you could tell by the way one of the commanders siddled up to him and said he of course thought what Lawrence had said was correct and he had mis spoken!

I dont know if he really cares or if it is just ego but he wants to make Gilead work and be accepted by other states but in the mold he thinks is right.

I dont normally think much of the Independent's journalism but every week they have a column discussing the Handmaid's Tale which no one ever comments on, which must be sad for the woman who writes it. The link is to yahoo as I think the independent hides articles unless you sign up.

The Handmaid’s Tale tests the limits of a mother’s love in season 5, episode 8 uk.style.yahoo.com/handmaid-tale-tests-limits-mother-071024847.html

Just checking in with my highbrow comment for the week.

Anyone else annoyed by June's hair? I think maybe it's meant to look effortlessly wavy but it's clearly been GHD curled and then set with a ton of hairspray. Can't understand why the hair team have decided on this look? In some of the scenes when she was being kidnapped etc it didn't move at all!

Anyway, as you were.

I like the Den of Geek reviews.

I agree @walnutmarzipan - maybe it's to contrast with her Gilead days? Who knows but I agree it's jarring.

Yes, I noticed it too. I often think this about GHD waves in tv/film where the situation would absolutely not lend itself to getting out the straightening irons. June’s hair also miraculously highlighted itself in Gilead. Praise be.

I'm always annoyed my June's perfect hair. I mean it's so unrealistic that her hair remains that perfect, non frizzy and curly after everything she does!!

I'm pretty sure that Serena's apology to the Wheelers and saying she takes full responsibility for her actions at running away were word-for-word what June said after she returned to the Waterford’s house after escaping and hanging out at the newspaper offices (Boston Globe?).

Do we know who sent the package with the disc showing Hannah at the school?

I thought it was on the memory stick that they managed to get out of Gilead @Lemevoir?

It wasn’t the memory stick, it was a disk June received in the post. I’m wondering whether this isn’t some elaborate scheme of Tuello’s… perhaps he found this footage on the memory stick and has sent it to June knowing she’d take it to him and he could concoct some sort of credible story about doing a raid to stall her going to New Bethlehem.

I loved seeing him unravel and finally confirming (what I hoped and suspected!) that he does actually really care and is horrified by what Gilead has become and feels responsible for it to the to the extent that he almost single handedly is trying to orchestrate reform. I think his reaction to June accusing him of being a “sick f*ck” was so telling…he could have raged in return, dismissed her, laughed at her….but he felt compelled to open up and explain and make himself vulnerable for the first time. I found it touching that he referenced his poor wife so regretfully and said he would kill himself if he wasn’t working to change things.

I mean…I’m pretty sure new Bethlehem isn’t going to work and he will be killed off pretty soon 😁 It’s a dangerous game being a commander near the top of the tree as we have seen! And June listing off all the ways in which he has put himself on the line for her…I feel like it was a precursor to make us feel positive towards him before they bump him off and leave us desolate and without hope!

I agree! To be fair, I think the actors that play Aunt Lydia, Serena and Lawrence are all phenomenal. The others are excellent in role too…it’s such a well assembled cast…but those three for me are exceptional.

@TheBelmont Totally agree with all you've said. In the first season I was really wowed by Elisabeth Moss' acting but now it's become very..... predictable? Yvonne Strahovski is a-ma-zing though - her acting has been phenomenal this season.

Has anyone seen the film Compliance? Based on a true story.
Ann Dowd is amazing in that.

@walnutmarzipan yes agreed re EM in season 1…she was exceptional but she doesn’t surprise me any more and she lacks a bit of subtlety in her expressions…it’s like…ok…this is angry June, this is happy June…this is June struggling with her inner conflict…I feel the other characters keep you guessing whereas June is an open book. To be fair though I also think it is probably a bit easier to play an overtly bad person, but the trick those three have pulled off for me is making me feel some sympathy towards them when they are really dreadful people. The writers have done a great job but it takes an exception actor to really pull it off.

@TheBelmont that was a great scene between June and Lawrence, I actually rewound it so I could watch it again. He looked so hurt by the suggestion that he didn’t care and I just knew he would say the only other option was suicide. I hope they don’t kill him off as he’s probably my favourite character. His contempt for the other commanders is palpable and he always manages to bring a little humour into something so bleak.

Nick was a bit half-hearted about the chance to go to New Bethlehem - I'm not sure if he's fully on board with Lawrence. Or maybe he just trusts no one.

Yes!! This has been annoying me in every single episode. That hairstyle would take ages to achieve, it's so unrealistic!

I love Lawrence too, he’s by far my favourite character, but I’m amazed anyone would even consider trusting him!

He’s far too likely to just stare at you as you’re being carted off, incredulous that you were so naïve, and shrug as he walks away, saying: “Gilead’s gonna Gilead” 😅

So many plot holes in this series, but immensely watchable!
New Bethlehem has popped up out of nowhere. Lawrence is a master tactician but so so slippery.. clever that he recognises that the extremism in Gilead whilst 'successful' is also driving away their most important resource - fertile women. I wouldn't trust him.
I thought this was a good episode though - June and Serena's conversation was ace.