mamadrama

When S3 starts, they will probably gloss over all these things and resolve them in a single conversation, just like they did with many of the other dropped story points this year. Grrr... Com. Lawrence brought the levity I needed. "Stay away from drugs" was awesome-a completely asinine statement in an asinine world that he's helped create. I loved it.

Especially since she stopped and did the writing on the wall. Now she can't even claim to have been kidnapped. She'd best be heading back to the Globe. Or somewhere.

My viewing party is pissed that June stayed. After all that work the Marthas went through... I heart Com. Lawrence, though. Wouldn't have minded more of him.

I didn't approach it with the parents at all, the director did, but it didn't matter. At the slightest insinuation that their little angels were anything but perfect, all hell broke loose. So that's been the drama here for the past week. That's what happens, though, when you live in a county that has only one elementary, one middle, and one high school. No way would I send her back there next year, or my son.

I think Miller is out of touch with intention vs. reality. This is the same guy who was surprised that viewers thought that Serena Joy was shot in the ovary. To him, it was obvious that it was the hip.

According to a podcast with Miller: (from another poster) They asked him about a redemption arc for Serena in the podcast too! Miller said he doesn’t believe in redemption. Life doesn’t work like that, so he wouldn’t intend for the characters to move into a “moral character” box. He said Serena will do what she thinks is right coloured by what she thinks is best for her. He thinks the depth Yvonne brings is the reason why Serena has become more sympathetic. Also, that this season June has been trying to teach Serena to be a mother. June needed to be closer to Serena, to be more understanding, because this is the person who will be raising her child. I think they will go one of two ways- Serena will become more oppressed within Gilead or Gilead will be forced to get the women more on side and she’ll gain power.

Thanks guys. It's been a rough week.

I have also been feeling uncomfortable and angry about this direction. Char-Angela was exhibiting signs of failure to thrive because while her basic needs were being met (food, diaper changes, etc.), she didn't seem to be getting the physical stimulation or the cuddling/contact that babies need. She perked up with Janine because someone finally offered her some skin-to-skin contact, physical affection, and stimulation (playing with her, singing to her, etc.). Janine just happened to be Char-Angela's biological mother but, theoretically, if Naomi had been offering this to her all along then she may not have fallen ill. While babies DO know their birth mother's scent (and their voice), the love and affection they receive is just as important-even if it's from someone else. With time, they will also get to know THAT person's scent and voice and will find it just as soothing. Babies are also good at feeling people's emotions. When my babies cried and couldn't be soothed, I often found myself feeling frustrated. The longer I kept holding them, the more agitated they got. I'd usually try to put the baby down or call in someone else to help because the longer I held on, the more frustrated I became and the fussier the baby got. What I got out of that last scene was not only did Holly get soothed because she was she was in June's arms, but more importantly that Serena Joy realized that she DID need help and that the two women were bound together tightly, regardless of her feelings towards June. I don't want to step on anyone's toes here, but I feel like it's important to keep the comments Serena Joy-specific and not so general. We have lots of foster mothers, adoptive mothers, and adopted children on this board. To imply that ONLY the birth mother could soothe the child or offer comfort or even love the child really might hurt someone's feelings. I don't want to do that.

I have trouble believing that their economy is in bad shape, too, so I know where you're coming from. I took no cars on the road being that nobody else was allowed to drive other than the commanders and trade people, like the bread guy. I grew up poor, I still live surrounded by poverty in one of the poorest parts of the country. It's hard for me to look at any of this and see that they're doing poorly, stuff-wise. I think some of the art was taken from museums and some might be hers. I only know this because in one of those "behind the scenes" things, one of the people involved said that we're meant to understand that the art hanging in their homes was taken from museum during the big war, much like art was taken and hung in generals' houses in Nazi Germany.

This is one of those things that I think they use as an excuse whenever it suits them. Ask for more information on Gilead's formation and the Sons of Jacob and the showrunner proclaims, "This is the Handmaid's Tale, not Gilead's tale!" And yet, as you said, we've seen other characters' perspectives along the way, including Luke's escape to Canada and what goes on in the Colonies-as well as stuff that went on with Nick and the Commanders in the beginning. They need to admit that it is NOT *just* the Handmaid's tale anymore. I am perfectly fine with expanding the storytelling. Emily and Janine and Rita fascinate me more than June at this point.

I was one of those people who just flat out did NOT want to breastfeed my children. Didn't even attempt with the first two because I just didn't like the idea. For something different, I tried with my third child, but it was so painful that I gave up after a week. I didn't like it and my baby didn't like it-she thrived on formula. People were always lecturing me about the benefits of breastfeeding and, in turn, I'd talk about the benefits of formula feeding. It IS weird, though, that they don't have wet nurses floating around. That would have definitely solved the June issue, as well as been helpful for those women who can't supply breast milk for whatever reason.

Anecdotal, but my aunt was allergic to breast milk and she eventually died from starvation. She was born in 1943 and was the youngest of (then) 12 children. My grandmother tried to feed her over and over again, but the breast milk made her VERY sick. (Like anaphylactic sick, not acid reflux sick). We live in kind of an isolated part of the country and even now it takes an hour to get to the closest hospital. My grandmother tried goat's milk, because it's slightly better than cow milk on an infant, and supplementing with syrup and stuff, but Patricia just couldn't handle it. Nana begged the doctors to help her, but there weren't any specialists around at the time. Patricia died of starvation at 4 months old. Later, with the advent of WIC and the soy milk and other types of formula that have been helpful to those with allergies, Nana was confident that Patricia could have been saved. Back then, though, nobody knew what to do. (Incidentally, infant mortality is high in our family. I also lost a child. He was 2 months old when he died of cardiac arrest in his sleep. Today would have been his 8th birthday.)

No more wire hangers! ;-)

Yes, from S1 to now I've gone from "I don't agree with her choices, but I can see how she arrived at this decision" to "Well, maybe the showrunner's having her do this because it's necessary to a future plot" to "Now that's just stupid." I started out watching this feeling kind of creeped out because there are so many true-to-life situations in the show and it got so many things RIGHT. I watched it like it was practically CNN. Now, though, I find myself rolling my eyes just as hard as June did when Eden was speechifying at her drowning.

I am starting to feel like they're writing Serena Joy as a caricature. Her wishy washy emotions and over-the-top antics are starting to come off as melodramatic and even kind of funny. (I don't mean that it's funny that she helped Fred rape June, just funny in the lack of consistency.) The woman goes from 0 to Hot Bitch in less than 3 seconds. It's starting to come across as less Bi-polar and more cartoonish. They're kind of doing Fred the same way. He's starting to look less like a complex man who started out weak and is now abusing people with his newfound power, and more like an evil Scooby Doo villain (though not as smart).

He's an amazing actor. He conveyed more in his short scenes than some *cough Nick cough* have done all season.

Commander Lawrence helps June, Emily, and Holly escape Gilead. (June decides not to go, but the opportunity is there.) Those who have seen ep.13 say that he is "cool" and doesn't go through with any ceremony. For those reasons, I am interpreting his interrogation of Emily as an attempt to feel her out, to see just how badly she wants to escape.

Especially if they assumed that June would go with them. I guess we'll have to see how the episode plays out, but that definitely is going to require a huge suspension of disbelief if they don't address it.

All this bitching about the camp, I let this date sneak up on me. My littlest man's birthday fell at 1am this morning. He would be 8 today, if he'd lived. I can't believe it's already been 8 years. My husband remembers July 5th as a happy day, but I don't. For me, it just starts a timer until the end of August. I wish I could remember every day that he was alive. I don't. I can't even remember his last day. Grief has blocked so much of that time out. For such a long time, the GOOD memories hurt worse than the bad ones, so in trying to trick my mind I went too far and now I have trouble remembering some of him at all. I do remember that he laughed during that last week, though. I'm glad he got to do that.

I am kind of waiting for that. We know that he created those concepts, but how does he feel about them NOW? I leave room open for these things. And yes, I am very interested in seeing someone who might feel burdened and conflicted about the Gilead that has taken root. I watch this show with quite a bit open space for the gray areas.

Not dismissing the colonies thing. I've seen him in scenes totaling approximately 4 1/2 minutes at this point, though. Maybe he had an ulterior motive for questioning Emily about those things-maybe there's more to him than what we saw in this episode. There are far too many other people on my screen to hate on at the moment; I'm reserving my judgment for him.

Since we've been warned against talking about the "soothing" aspect, I won't go there but I wanted to say that I agree with this statement. It is making me VERY uncomfortable for the exact reasons that you mention in another post. Lawrence was kind of over the top. That kept me from taking him seriously over anything. I don't know, I'm getting pretty nervous right about now! I don't know what's worse-when he's being an abusive bully to Serena, a lecherous sleazeball to June, or a complete and utter moron to everyone else. I may have to have a double showing of THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU and SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE as an antidote.

I loved him too. After reading posts from people who were turned off by him and saying how terrible he was, I am starting to think that I watched a completely different show. I LOVED his art collection and his loco wife and sassy Martha. I want more of him!

It bothered me but I am still witholding judgment until we get more. I can't pass judgment on a character until they get more than 2 scenes. When I take in everything else that he did in this episode as a whole, I am willing to pass that particular line off as "social awkwardness" until he does something that I hate.

Really. At this point Janine has caused fewer problems-and she kidnapped her own child and threatened to jump off a bridge with her.