alexvillage

Yes, I agree that this was long overdue. Still, there is a possibility that the writers will just make something happen that will get her new boss to apologize to her for not believing her 100% from the start. I admit that my view of Callie is somewhat biased because I can't stand the actress. She is also an executive producer, so she might have some say on what happens to the character.

June is messed up because the writers messed her. In the book the character is anyone, a victim of the absurdities of the totalitarian regime. She is also a mystery. The writers in the show just don't know what to do with her, they have no concept of nuance, so the character lacks the same. She is a caricature of the book's character. I liked the young EM in the West Wing. Small doses of her, her story was cute. When I stopped watching the show on season 5, she was already kind of boring, but that was probably the general failng of the show. I watched the remaining seasons a while after they finished and felt the same meh. I never watched Mad Men. I am probably the only person who found the show extremely boring. Didn't make it past the first episode and don't even remember much of it. Then I saw EM on Top of the Lake, which I hated. I watched the whole thing out of stubbornness. Her performance was terrible, imo. So I am not impressed. The fact that she is a cultist makes me very unsympathetic to her. I have seen the stories and the hard choices people who want to leave the cult have to make but I also know that celerities are treated differently. There is no real excuse, with all the information around and the platform she has.

So, June survives because she is fertile and then the handmaid who had three kids and is pregnant gets shot? Is that what happened? yEah, it makes total sense. 👏👏👏 your whole post. June survives because she is not only June, she is a main character who knows she is the main character. At this point I guess it is fair to speculate if Miscavige has something on the showrunners. Or maybe it is Hubbard himself. Who knows? Tethans, cultists, the hole...Do we have to start a "save Miller" campaign to see if he gets his sense back?

Wow, I cannot believe Criminal Minds survived this long. It became unwatchable to me several years ago - some characters were never watchable and the acting was baaaaaaad.

Same. I could get past the bad stuff though, and it was semi-enjoyable. It has been a free fall since the first episode of the second season. Initially, I could just dismiss it as a one-off thing, but then it acme clear that there was no hope with the head-writers in charge. Not only they are bad at what they do - writing - they are the type of clueless men who see women as stereotypes.

And here we have another example of missed plot opportunities the writers could have explored to go beyond the book and justify their cholce of including the handmaids of color and ignore Gilead's white supremacist ideology. They could have used one of the close ups to introduce a line about the value of having PoC, I guess it would be black people in particular, as vital to increase the number of births and THEN having the racist couple say whatever they said. I said many times that one of the things that bug me the most about the series versus the book is the white supremacist erasure. This little made up plot that I - a non-writer, definitely not creative - imagine would at least explain that. Instead, we get bullshit.

Wow, having a replacement child for the one who is gone. Poor kid. This is not love.

I agree. I just think it is out of character. She has been very direct on everything she does and says. I do think that's completely understandable, for a person to change how to react to things when there is a high emotional issue in the balance. I just don't see this in shows. I would welcome her father's complexities if they include his Black Panthers life. There are several cases of extra harsh punishment for some members that the "justice" system refuses to address. People change, and the BP did a lot of good stuff, and they did some controversial stuff too. It would be interesting to see some of this played out. And hopefully including their allyship and commitment to the fight of disabled people that eventually led to the ADA. That is important to me.

Couldn't agree more with points one and two - Callie. Also agree with point three. Maybe it is a matter of budget. Keep the "stars" who are also exec. producers at the center and rotate the other characters. I am guessing last season for this show if the reason is budget.

Thanks. Yes, I know that the boyfriend isn't lie. I don't think that it is a good idea for Malika to lie to her father. I would think that she is the type of person that would simply go to him and say what she thinks. I understood that she is concerned he is a scammer, and that's good. But if she has doubts, she should go directly to him - that to me would be more consistent with the character.

I usually watch this on HULU but I did watch it yesterday in a hotel TV and now I am wondering if I cannot follow the time jumps when there are commercials involved. Either that or I was tired/bored because I found Davia's story confusing. Was there a timeline when the mother visited, when David and Dennis were not friends, then another one? And they seem to be going into the Davia-Dennis romantic relationship which I think is bad. Why can't they be really good friends? I thought that Malika's boyfriend offering her father money that was Malika's money story was unnecessary. Way of starting a relationship, with lies and doubts. I can't stand Callie. Never liked her very much but he scenes are close to unwatchable to me. Does she still believe she is the super teenager that can save the world whenever she sees injustice?

I am going through these comments and wow *the writers really reached bottom* is the thought that comes to mind. The flip-flopping on the white supremacy ideal of Gilead seems to be exactly what was mentioned here: a fuck you to critics of the show - I am not using the quotes because there are too many great comments here. If I understand well: aunt Lydia became this person who believes that terrorizing other women because she was rejected by a man? If this is the reason given, or if it is anything near this, the writers are, undoubtedly, completely ignorant of women, or they are actual women haters. I am judging but I am also basing this on observations from clueless "dudes" everywhere who see women as inferior (openly or in a not so obvious way) and who have this idea of defined roles for women and for men, and they live in a 100% cis world because they will never ever accept anything other than this simplistic view. I agree with the assessment of Moss. I don't understand the praise for her and this show is showing her limitations, if nothing else. But her cult is about believing they have all the answers for everything, they know more because they reached the whatever they call level after paying the unsurmountable amount of money demanded, so that ship has sailed. I am wondering now if the writers are also part of the cult. Maybe they are simply too confident that they are doing a great job because they know better, at the same time getting the cultist star to show the talent they are sure she has. Either that or they are really asinine men who need to be right at any cost, even if the cost is what they probably think of as their legacy of artistic might - then they just send a big FUCK YOU to all the critics by making the stories even worse.

Or maybe it will be in Clearwater, where the main star's cult is based. But since the Celebrity Center of said cult is in LA, maybe June will be sent there - celebrity handmaid has special treatment, after all.

But she is June and she knows she will not be punished either way, that's how bad the writers missed up with the stories. So much logic! The writers are like people who want to prove a theory but their start point is the end result they want. From there, everything is tainted because anyone who is serious about proving anything need to be impartial and unbiased. Or the police framing someone and doing everything to prove their point, until they get what they want. The writers decide that they now want Emily as a criminal, so all the writing will lead to Emily causing her arrest and extradition, and probably believing she was wrong - until the writers decide to change course again. Who knows?

Moreover, she is June and she could go to Canada, tell the Canadians that she is the legitimate mother, then go back to Gilead to continue her heroics there. She said they don't punish escapees because Gilead does't acknowledge that there are escapees. If Commander Lawerence would get her out, he would accept her back, because plot armor.

I guess this is possible. The way the show is directed/edited is sometimes annoying to me I if this is the case I probably didn't pay enough attention to the scene.

From the article: "The series’ Offred is more feisty. In part, Miller explained, he thought it would be more interesting to create a large gap between Offred’s internal and external monologues: Internally, she’s indignant. Externally, she’s obedient. And, frankly, the change makes her a more likeable character, a rulebreaker akin to another one of Elisabeth Moss’ characters, Peggy on Mad Men." Hahaha first bold: These guys cannot even follow their own previous ideas about the main character. Hahaha second bold: nope, she is not even close to likable. Quite the opposite. Go to hahaha first bold. "The book gives readers a small glimpse into a terrifying world. Both Miller and Moss have expressed interest in exploring that world beyond the confines of Offred’s room in seasons to come." They did that. They went out in the world and got so lost they probably need up in another universe.

I agree. It was disappointing that they create a character with such a rich story - there are so many possible storylines based on - yes - yet another character, that would fit the general *diversifying as much as possible* in the show. But going to his newfound daughter to ask for help because he's being evicted? How did he do all those years before when he needed some kind of help? One thing that I wanted to see more in the show is a little more of the real problems when it comes to diversity. There is a lot of bigotry inside the groups represented there, plus the intersections of race, sexuality, gender, class, etc. In the real world, at least some of the characters would mess up really big, showing their biased views, and not simply acknowledge them and apologize. There would be conflict. I would like to see this addressed a little more in depth. Bringing transgender people to the forefront is great but ignoring to mention how they are still excluded from, sometimes tolerated but not fully included in many LGBTQIA+ organizations and events is not a secret. I like Mariana's boss. I hope they don't mess up with the character by making him to be some needy neurodivergent guy who has never experienced a relationship because he cannot understand all the neurotypical societal rules and then Mariana saves him from his little world. That would be disrespectful and wrong, besides completely uninformed about how neurodivergent people deal with relationships that have rules that do not fit their way of existing. Did I miss anything or they did explain why Davia and Dennis were not there? Are they going to ignore other coterie characters on every episode? It was Alice in the previous episode. Budget woes?

June is a superhero that cannot get anything right? The superhero part is tongue in cheek because the writers decided that the character knows she is in a show, that this story will eventually end and most of it will be a happy ending at least for her, and since the character is played by the star of the show, June can do whatever she wants. If she dies it will be in the last minute of the last episode, with a smirk close up. Basically, yeah they are just bad at their jobs. That is better than my attempt to explain. And that's why I am NOT watching the show anymore, I come straight here. I haven't watched but the situation itself - I cannot comment on how it was played - would be explained by the trauma. Traumatized people are not always brooding in a corner. They can have different reactions. All that she went through - plot armor aside - would boil over from time to time. And since the writers won't give any logical follow up to anyone's life in Canada, it could be anything, or an excuse for Emily to be now the villain.

What I was thinking as I rad the final part of your post. They will still pat themselves on the back and say they are creating a masterpiece. If the writers had a plan, they would have June escape to Canada and tell her story, why she had to escape and that she has another daughter in Canada - that as she grows up, being half black, is possibly fertile, so she will be abused by the cultists. A basic, simplistic and silly plot came to my head in a few seconds, and that's not my job. Why can't the writers spin something else from there, or from another silly plot instead of the June escapes/comes back/escapes/gets punished/not really/SUPER HERO! Just for novelty's sake?

It is a good article. I like that they also found this to criticize: "it’s always winter and never revolution" The part you quoted is one of the best examples of blunder in the show, I have been complaining about it since the first episode. And also the part about Serena and Fred "tangoing" perfect.

From the article: "Nevertheless, the Swiss diplomats are interviewing Emily, asking her about anything she might have done that the Gileadean state would view as a crime. Gilead is attempting to paint the refugees as criminals rather than refugees so that they can be extradited and tried (or returned to slavery, rape and torture)." To answer the part in bold - existing as a woman. Gilead sees women as criminals. What a travesty, the writers are not even pretending there is a great book they are supposedly expanding on. Exactly! They are writing the show to please an audience and maybe the main actress/executive producer (I guess some people like this crap still), not to tell a story. Agree. The place is a dystopia, supposed to be, not a Marvel Universe with Super!June! still alive and well. So, Canada and the rest of the world is simply going to send Emily back to appease a place that abuses and kills women and dissidents, a cultist place, because they have too much power, a power they never used but will now because a baby was "kidnapped" by a women who was mutilated for being a lesbian? Instead of getting all the refugees and all the rest of the world because there are dissidents to every dictatorship somewhere to rise up and create an international crisis, they will just punish the victim? I mean, I know I am talking logic and there are atrocities that the world does keep silent about but accepting refugees and then returning them because they are afraid of the same possible threat that existed before they started accepting refugees? Another thing that the show could explore: Hannah was young when she was kidnapped. Her brain was growing at a fast pace. It is likely that she is forgetting June, getting settled on the life she has a happy. It is heartbreaking to think about this but it happens. It is happening now, kids at the border separated and being adopted by religious families without a possibility of seeing their parents again. The young ones will forget where they came from. But I would love to see Hannah flat out tell June to fuck off under his eye and run away to her not mother.

Where to start with what these people say? Seriously, I can't even begin to try to make sense of any of what he said. It is not only ridiculous, it seems to be coming from someone who has never seen a gay person, or heard about one. Pretty much everywhere people - some at least - are trying to understand how there is not only one gender, how sexual orientation is not the same as gender identity, the Merrian-Webster has had singular "they" for a few years now, and all this guy has is a pre-1950's suburban stereotype (sorry about the suburban, I am trying to convey the bias of some other long ago time)?

A man said that (it is a man, right)? Color me not surprised at all. Do we even need to dwell on the reasons why? A man implying women are responsible for all the bad things that happen to them?

Regarding ACLU: Callie wouldn't make it. The ACLU needs as many lawyers as they can get but they all have to really understand that bad laws apply to bad people too. It sucks, it is unfair, but a lot of laws were written to protect the ruling class and white people. And the ones that exist to try and balance things also apply to extremists and fascists. Callie cannot accept that. To you first point, Malika is black, Callie is white. And I guess the assistant going to the judge and telling that he can destroy Malika's life was a subtle way to tell him to back off and check his racism. It was well done, not sure if most white judges would get it, or be fair. But that was a good scene.