HANDMAIDS TALE S6 - thread 2 - time various but sun ch4 - TV PACE NO SPOILERS

[Blondeshavemorefun]

New thread for the last two EVER episodes as either going to be a lot of replies as last 2hrs will be amazing and all loose ends tied up

Including seeing Hannah whether new head or not

Or

Be totally crap and wonder why we have just spent the last 10hrs of our lives watching s6

Sadly does seem like they have run out of ideas even tho based on a book. ?

below is thread 1

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/5323712-handmaids-tale-s6-starts-sat-3rd-may-ch4-9pm-tv-pace-no-spoilers?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

Is the UK air date really far behind Sky? These two episodes aired weeks ago on Sky TV, not streamed

It was such a good episode! I also wondered whether Nick had seen June but I think we were just supposed to think that. I think Lawrence was a brilliant character and I'm glad he had a spectacular ending rather than just being left when the series ends.

The commanders all being on the same plane reminded me of Designated Survivor. Worth a watch if anyone is looking for a boxset.

This was a good episode - a lot happened. In a way, it was a shame that June went with Joseph - it didn’t make sense and he could have driven himself.

The hanging scene was one of the few times that Gilead have treated June consistently. Plus Aunt Lydia being punished (again) for the actions of her girls was realistic.

Bit surprising that Rita knew how to use a gun, perhaps she had had some training.

I loved that Ava / Aunt Phoebe was actually in the CIA.

I am gutted. As I said before, not necessarily Series Nick, but Book Nick (and even Film Nick). I don't even mind that they killed Series Nick, but Book Nick (or My Nick) that I slightly fell in love with when I read the book many eons ago in my teens would never have turned. He became a freedom fighter who was against Gilead as well as saving June from the Waterford household. I had always hoped they would both survive and if he didn't he at least died a heroic death whilst off fighting against Gilead , as teenagers are want to dream of.

But, of course, Series Nick turned. Like nearly everyone has done in the space of 30 seconds 2 episodes in this series. So, although its sad to see Death of Series Nick, especially at the hands of June & co, its not so bad as all my future dreams at the end of the book. But THT was never going to be a happy, cheery Disney ending I suppose.

I was also gutted about Lawrence but glad he turned out good in the end. I think he was an interesting character. (For those that read the book, was he in it at all and plumped out for this or a completely new character? I can't remember)

So, I did enjoy this episode with the usual caveats of the usual plot holes (June driving the 'getaway' car/,wandering about a hanger where top commanders are flying from/being strung up and left with only a 'sore throat'/being allowed to give a speech beforehand etc etc etc) but I think in light of the fact that..

1 After many U-Turns, Lawrence finally turns to the good side proving himself to be brave and true &

2 Nick turning to the dark side and embracing all things Gilead in return for being a Commander

• the fact they were both blown out of the sky shows that the moral of the story is you should never change your minds, kids.

I wonder what will happen to Serena and Noah now?

I'm also interested to see where they take Aunt Lydia now.

Anyway, Under His Eye, folks. Til next week.

I think Joseph's death proves he was ultimately about wanting freedom, he created Gilliead and then New Bethlehem for a better life. I don't ever think he was a bad person,he used being a high commander to help the resistance. I think he also felt terrible guilt over his first wife. Ultimately he died to make the world or Gillead a better place.

He could have left Naomi to whatever fate was to come but he sent her off when he knew something was about to happen.

Nick has only ever been out for himself, that scene in the hospital with his wife just cemented that.

I wonder if Joseph is just realistic. He invented the Colonies so he wasn’t going to have a fun, relaxing time in Canada. Except the last couple of series featured him wandering in and out of Canada willy-nilly so perhaps I am wrong

Nick has always been fairly weak and just gone along with whatever was in front of him at the time, which has sometimes been in Junes favour. He’s a follower, not a leader. He loved June but once that door closed he was hardly fired up about being resistance. Seems like a believable character arc to me. Bit of a wet lost boy.

Well that was a cracking episode, massive plot holes aside, and a return to the earlier Gilead stuff that's been lacking up to now. Yay Rita, and Luke finally got to play the part he'd been longing for. Sad ending for Lawrence, but didn't bother me to see Nick getting on the plane. Also cheering for Aunt Lydia who finally came through at the hanging, and for Serena who gave up the commanders. I look forward to watching it again!

I think June volunteering to go was to give Lawrence strength - he wasn't brave and still hadn't agreed to do it at the point she mentioned driving them.

I watched the episode where the commanders got blown up in the plane (good old Lawrence).
Is that the final episode of the series?

After six series, some of which I’ve watched three times, I am completely over invested in these characters. I love the good and bad in characters like Aunt Lydia, Serena and even June.

Yes Aunt Lydia seems to have seen the light but remember the cattle prodding, taking out Janine’s eye, beating June’s feet until they bled, and FGM on Emily (Ofglen), just to mention of few of her wicked actions.

Where to start with Serena? Such a complex character, clearly very intelligent but emotionally immature. She was almost as power hungry as Fred, as they were setting up Gilead and that desire for power was her undoing. She was lured to New Bethlehem with the promise of higher status and power and she married the high commander Wharton for the same reasons. She just couldn’t see beyond her own need to direct and influence others. Her treatment of June in the earlier episodes was cruel, yet she seems to have forgotten that and wants so much for June to be her friend.

June well what a woman! She’s been through the most awful times imaginable. From the very first episode where Hannah was brutally taken from her, she’s suffered again and again. Some of the cruelty has been from women, notably Aunt Lydia and Serena but the very roots of Gilead consist of power hungry mad men, using religion to subjugate women. June saw this very clearly. But what has the experience done to her? And us? I cheered when she stabbed Commander Bell in the eye.

Great episode. I felt like finally this is what we've been waiting for. There was no way Nick was gonna give it all up to go back to being a nobody. Although I was dismayed to hear him say to Joseph about joining the winning side. I thought then, you deserve to die. I'm glad Luke finally got his moment.

But Nick spoke "to the crowd" I thought when he said that. They both had secrets to keep. Once he was sitting beside him he lowered his voice and said what he wanted to say. I think he'd have left with her if the Jezebels thing hadn't come out. And I think June wouldn't have left him there if that hadn't happened.

The plane seemed so badly guarded they could have smuggled in a load of Mayday/American fighters and gunned down the commanders as they arrived, sparing Joseph. But I think part of him wanted to sacrifice himself, perhaps to show himself and his dead first wife that he was still the kind of person he and she wanted him to be.

I never felt the Nick attraction: he always looks a bit sulky to me. With a pregnant wife embedded in the Gilead system, he was always going to have a hard decision to make, perhaps made easier by knowing that June had a loving husband anyway. She didn't need him in the same way Rose, pregnant, frail does/did. Rose is now by herself though, father and husband gone. Interesting.

According to the recap from TV Line (posted up thread), Nick didn’t see June:

THE FINAL PASSENGER | But WAIT. After Lawrence boards, one more commander drives up: It’s Nick! He doesn’t see June, who is Having Feelings of All Kinds while crouched next to the sedan. And he pauses at the top of the jet’s steps as if he sense something, but then moves on and enters the plane while June silently cries, in shock, in the corner of the hangar.

One more left

Thanks @BIWI
Just gone to watch it on my dodgy firestick and I can’t access it!!

The plane seemed so badly guarded they could have smuggled in a load of Mayday/American fighters and gunned down the commanders as they arrived, sparing Joseph. But I think part of him wanted to sacrifice himself, perhaps to show himself and his dead first wife that he was still the kind of person he and she wanted him to be.

I think he was in an impossible situation- the other commanders wanted him on the wall. As a high commander, he'd have been imprisoned or executed for war crimes or something if Gilead fell. He knew he'd never get a comfortable retirement as a family man,but at least he'd get to do one last good thing (if bombing a plane counts as a good thing.)

In the UK channel 4 and Prime are miles behind the rest of the world. We don't know why. THT has not been shown on Sky in the UK.

The idea that the most wanted woman in the land, who literally had a noose around her neck just hours earlier, would casually drive up - with zero attempt at disguise, not even a hat or scarf - to what must have been a highly secured area kind of spoiled that whole scene for me. I know they wanted the emotional impact of June being present, but they didn't even make even a tiny effort to make it at least semi plausible.

June Osborne has the sturdiest plot armour known to womankind. Janine's not that far off though. Logically they would both have been on the wall at least 4 seasons ago.

I agree with you @IcedPurpleand with everything going on I don't believe for a second that plane would have been left unguarded.

Going to read through later - didn’t see the new thread 😁 episode 9 watched and quite frankly was a bit dull……

I've loved Commander Lawrence since the moment that he found Emily kneeling in his study, waiting for The Ceremony and he said, "I won't be doing that with you."

A bit dull?! Surely you’re being sarcastic?!

Well that solved the scriptwriters “What shall we do about Nick?” issue.