The Testaments - Handmaids Tale Sequel has started on Disney + ***contains spoilers***

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

It seems pretty good so far, Gilead through a Young Adult gaze.

Anyone watching ?

In the first episode aunt Lydia paired daisy with Hannah. The other aunts had a conversation about it and wondered if pearl girls were going to always be paired with plums or greens. No one knows. It’s all part of a bigger plot I think.

Hope I’m not repeating previous information but I found this interesting -

‘The Aunts in The Testaments are named after commercial products that were popular among women in the pre-Gilead era.
It's revealed in Margaret Atwood's novels that the founding commanders introduced this tradition in an attempt to ease the transition into Gilead.
Each Aunt picks their name from a list of product names that are "familiar and reassuring" to them. These include the "names of cosmetic lines, cake mixes, frozen desserts, and even medicinal remedies".
This is why the Aunts have unique names such as Aunt Estee, seemingly named after Estee Lauder, or Aunt Gabbana, derived from Dolce and Gabbana’.

Yes @tinglywinglyI remember that from the book but interestingly Lydia has not changed her name during transition

Yes, I wondered why she kept her name - maybe as she was the founding Aunt and as we saw in the last episode was involved in various decisions such as choosing uniforms.
I’m rereading The Testaments at the moment and am surprised how little I remember.

I think it may be because Lydia is a biblical name anyway.

Was this an answer to me?

Do you need to have watched Handmaids Tale to watch this?

No, it can be a stand alone series but having the back story would help you understand the plot better. The handmaids tale is a tough watch!

@Chocolatecoffeecupyes I think so 😂

Not necessarily but you’d be missing a hell of a lot of context, particularly relating to the main characters of Agnes/Hannah and Aunt Lydia

In theory no but I think it would make no sense. I'd just watch the THT

@mrsnjw 😂 ok thanks!

I’m so jealous of people who haven’t watched THT.

The first series was SO good, albeit a difficult and very sad watch.

I’d love to be able to binge watch it from fresh.

I don’t think I could watch it again from scratch, there’s one episode in particular I couldn’t bear to watch again, what June goes through is just so awful, I felt scarred

I watched it from the beginning again last year. I could watch it again but I also don't enjoy some of the flashbacks even the first episode where they take Hannah.

Why has Lydia screwed Agnes over?

If she had give her a happy match she would not be able to get Agnes out of Gilead

Oh True!

Didn’t immediately think of that

Is Lydia still covert mayday? She’s hiding it well! 😅

I can tell you but it’s a spoiler?!

I’ve read the book just can’t remember anything about it… other than thinking it was a bit crap! 😂

In the book she was Mayday, but she definitely wasn’t in THT so it’s a development, if they are going that way with the series.

It's not a spoiler to refer to what happened in the book surely as most people will have read it?!

I actually just listened to the testaments on audible again as I couldn't remember any of it and I've confused myself slightly now!

Re the show, I really enjoyed episode 7 and the chemistry between Agnes and Garth. I recognise commander Weston. What is he from or what's his name? He's old for Agnes but he's quite attractive actually 😂

Garth sounded really nice and might actually treat Becka well and not force anything on her. Is it a real marriage for him? Presumably he lives in Gilead but can leave any time?!

I liked the exchange between Agnes and Daisy too. I liked that were started to see more of Agnes and she's opening up to Daisy. I felt for Daisy when the eyes came back though!

Wasn't commander weston the one Daisy was given info about before she went in who had a history of domestic violence?
Garth can't leave Gilead - Gilead residents can't leave, unless they are very powerful commanders for diplomatic reasons or pearl girls for missionary duties.

Yes she was looking at a picture of him in that episode.

Not sure how aligned with the book some of the storylines might be (not so much, so far) but I do think her reference to what happened at Jezebels was a big clue that she is working with mayday.