mamadrama

Cindy seemed to idoolize Joy and coveted her lifestyle. Jeanette had a girl crush on Kate and kind of obsessed about her. I wonder if Mallory did, too. Her taking up with Kate kind of came out of left field. If we're looking at mirror images, though, Mallory and Kate shouldn't be any less weird than Jeanette and Kate's friends. Everyone on the show seems to want something or someone they can't have, and if they DO get them then they've done it by immoral, unethical, or just flat out weird ways.

It was hard to know whether he was genuinely surprised or trying to minimize the situation. Sometimes it feels like he's just tone deaf. At one point Serena Joy did something to June (I can't remember what) and when June tells Nick he's all "what do you mean she did that, I thought she could be decent." Read the room, Nick. "Decent" people don't hold down women while their husband forcibly rapes them. Or when she's on the run and hanging out in the newspaper building and she wants to take off for Canada. Nick's all "What's going on here, June? Why?" Like, seriously? He has to ask WHY she wants to leave Gilead? He just seems to flip back and forth. I can see what they're trying to do with Nick as a character, but I just don't think they're there. Sometimes if I wonder if it even matters to the writers. The men aren't nearly as fleshed out as the women. I'm okay with that in general, but if they ARE trying to give Nick some big romantic role then I need to see substance, not Sybill.

Yes, the way she was searching for Kate to clear everything up said "this is a misunderstanding and we can fix it" more than "I gotta go find her and lie my ass off." She seemed genuinely bewildered when Jamie punched her and she wasn't wrong (or being mean) when she told Jamie that Kate may be confused because of her trauma. And damn him for using that same argument ON Kate. Glad she dumped his ass. I don't trust Mallory. I think she's shifty.

I'm treating it like I've treated every other book-to-TV show: judge it on its own merits and think of book & show as complementary yet totally different entities.

I was thinking the same. At this point just make June a wife. It would be great PR for Gilead: Looky here! She's done X,Y, & Z but she wasn't punished! See, we're not the monsters people say we are!

Brandon saying this interview is the last thing...well, it's not. Right now she's getting approved for a conditional green card. It will be good for 2 years. After that they have more paper work, fees, and interviews. That step will be to remove the conditions. Once she gets approved she becomes a permanent resident (like my husband). PRs can basically do everything that a citizen can do except vote or join the Peace Corps. You can remain a PR forever, you just have to get your green card updated every 10 years. Or you can try for American citizenship. My DH has no desire for citizenship. He's happy being British. Our kids are automatically dual citizens, though, as are the other kids on this show. TL/DR: Brandon and Julia still have more shit to do.

Those are problems I have with Nick. My chief complaint is that he seems dissociated with what's going on around him. Why send her off to a breeding camp? Normally I'd say he doesn't have a choice and it's either that or get killed. But then I keep thinking about S1 when June was losing it and Nick was all "what's wrong, why are you unhappy here, why don't you like this?" (Weird on many levels, especially considering he's a small part of the rape ceremony.) Either he's dense and really doesn't get that women are being abused, separated from their families, basically held hostage, and forced into sexual slavery or he's way into Gilead shit more than he lets on. He KNOWS most of this is bullshit. He was there in early meetings when the men were creating the ceremony and laughing about how the wives would love it. He knows this is about power and not so much religion ideology and yet he just seems to go with the flow. A lot of his character choices don't make a lot of sense.

That reminds me...In an interview Chiara said that she was kept in the dark about her character and the ending. She only got information as needed and scripts were sent to her one episode at a time. So it's possible her reaction was simply a choice made by the actress who, like us, didn't know what was going on at the time.

Honestly, I think that's just a marketing campaign with a good hashtag. At the end of they day I think the answer will be "both."

Some thoughts: - I love how Jeanette can simultaneously be both a victim AND unlikable. She can be a lying brat, but that doesn't mean Kate's not wrong. - I like the 'boy who cried wolf' narrative. Jeanette does all kinds of shady shit and lies but that doesn't mean she's lying about THIS. - I like how both girls are victims in different ways. - I think when we put the whole story together everyone will have their own truths and nobody will be wrong. Just a series of bad luck, misunderstandings, and bad coincidences. The only real "bad person" is Martin. - I think Jeanette lost the necklace in Martin's house. Martin found it and either kept it as a souvenir or flat out gave it to Kate as a "gift." - Jamie's an asshole but may also be going through some survivor's guilt. His girlfriend was abducted and probably assaulted and held less than a mile away and he couldn't save her. - Through the filter of adulthood Jeanette comes off shady AF. In the context of a socially awkward teen, though, some of her actions are not totally abnormal. Unfortunately, the Gideon thing DOES happen. Poor dude. - Jeanette practicing what to say, both times, isn't weird to me. She's nervous and awkward. Last week the lawyer told her that her own personality and reactions weren't good enough, but Jeanette can't help feeling afraid, angry, and overwhelmed. Even though those feelings are valid, she can't be like that on the witness stand. - I still think all teen girls are sociopathic. I wouldn't return to my teenage years for anything. - Martin and Kate have amazing chemistry as actors, and that makes this even more unsettling to watch. - Poor Gideon. Martin's projecting, though...wow. - I don't think Jeanette is lying. I think she honestly didn't see Kate. So far Jeanette's reactions (going to Jamie's not as a defensive move but because she wanted to make sure he was okay and naively hunting Kate down at the county fair to talk) seem more inline with her not being guilty. - My latest theory is that Kate went to Martin's house. She may have developed a small crush (perfectly natural) or went to talk, and had no idea how deranged he was. Maybe he made a pass at her or something and she tried to leave. He panicked and locked her in because he knew he'd lose his job, go to jail, etc. I'm sure he was planning something horrible, but he didn't seem like he was ready for a long-term hostage. - I still think Annabelle is Martin, a la PSYCHO. - I think the liar letter came from Kate herself. She's struggling with unwarranted, yet totally natural, guilt and shame. - To me this isn't so much a mystery but a story about how a small town struggled in the aftermath of an abduction. Everyone's a little guilty for something, yet only 1 person is at fault.

This happens a lot in countries at war and it's generally on the fighting side's border. Gilead would do their best to keep people in or less they'd have a mass exodus. If they can get out then they can claim asylum in Canada, but they're going to make it as hard as possible. Canada can't do anything to help them until they cross over the border, but Gilead is going to do their damndest to make sure that won't happen. The people who want to escape probably have stories to tell. They don't want those to get out. There were similar walls of barb wire in various places in Bosnia. Snipers in Sarajevo would shoot at people trying to cross the airport. Even if you were able to get past the barb wire few people actually made it to safety. All the U.N., who were there with foreign aid, could do was watch. Some of the former communist countries, like the Czech Republic, had them too.

So we have to go to Betty if we want to plan something on Mother's Day, Whitney if we're in labor... Also: her "go to" is a maxi dress? If by maxi dress she means leggings and a sports bra...

I am with you on this. I don't even see June as a "freedom fighter", just a regular person who's been put into some irregular situations. The majority of what she's done has been for herself and didn't benefit anyone else. The only thing she's coordinated is the Angel Flight, but there's no way she could've done it without the Marthas, other Handmaids, and Lawrence.

I've been saying this about Nick. His character just doesn't make sense to me. In S1 he appeared legitimately surprised that June wasn't happy being a Handmaid. He seems to not really care about the ideology or politics one way or the other, but and it looks like he was dragged into this just by luck/opportunity, yet even in private he seems to not be particularly be bothered by what's going on. Max Mingella is a hottie, but I have no idea if he's a good actor or not. To supposedly have such a pivotal role on the show, he lacks personality. I have zero stakes in him. I'd rather watch Fred who, though a prick and rapist, at least inspires feelings in me when I watch him.

I'm having real problems with the way that Nick and Lawrence are written. I understand playing both sides to stay alive, but they're not being clear about personal or political motivation. The episode dragged for me. It took June 3 1/2 minutes to fall, slllooowwwly stand, and look around. By the time she saw Moira I was kind of over it. My son said that if we were playing the drinking game then we'd have to chug at the end; June's face filled the screen for almost an entire minute.

If June stays in Gilead then I'm out. We've had HOW MANY major plots around getting June out? It reminds me of the joke about the guy in the flood who's waiting for God to save him.

There are references to Episode 6 which has not aired yet. Erring on the side of caution is never a bad thing.

Does anyone actually think she's protecting them? She's one of the worst ones...

S1 Aunt Lydia: if a man looks at you or a group gang rapes you then you brought it on yourself, and it's YOUR fault you 'hos! S4 Aunt Lydia: come, my precious ones, I'm here to save you and protect you from all those things those horrid, evil men might try to do to you!

Good point. Maybe some of them have? I don't know. With soldiers nearby they may be guarding the border well and that makes crossing harder.

This is sort of spoilery. It talks about some things that might be coming up. Also: It made me laugh because we've said a lot of the same. Not-at-all-a-spoiler alert: June did not die. Elisabeth Moss is on the poster, after all. Also, killing June would qualify as "something actually happening," and that's not how this show rolls — at least, not for the last two seasons. Since 2018, June's story hasn't advanced much at all: She is forever fleeing Gilead, forever witnessing and enduring physical and psychological torture, forever staring into the middle distance — jaw set and eyes ablaze with rage and agony — determined to keep on keepin' on. and June's forbidden love, asks for help finding her. "Everyone that helps her ends up on the f---ing wall." Or shot, or pushed off a building, or flattened by an oncoming vehicle. https://ew.com/tv/tv-reviews/the-handmaids-tale-season-4-review/

I feel like they're a little bit of Rick Grimes & Co. They're not mounting an insurrection or anything, they're literally just trying to survive. They move around from place to place, trade with other groups, and occasionally go on supply runs. They kill when they have to but they're not really fighters.

Yes, it was the model home. The realtor or property manager said it was.

Tell that to Chris Meloni.

You make good points. The problem is that they don't care about the Handmaid as a person. They don't even let them have names. You'd think that more comfort would ensure better fertility probability and fewer pregnancy complications. To Gilead men, though, hobbies/tasks/stuff to do would distract the women. Comfort will make them too complacent. They're less women who can have babies and more like robots. Their comfort level doesn't matter because they're barely human. As far as Lydia? I think she thinks the women are treated well. The have clothing and food and beds AND get to serve a holy purpose. What more could they want?