AnswersWanted

Man oh man did that article not age well, heh. I’d bet if you showed Miller that he’d still manage to claim his goals are still the same, after all he’s got 10 seasons planned for... They have painted themselves into such a corner regarding June. She cannot be the all conquering heroine if she has to stay trapped in Gilead and consistently fail at escape and resisting at nearly every turn. I know, right? I am not sure if I’ll be able to make it to the end of this season, the next couple of episodes will be a big decider for me as well. I can hardly believe I once looked forward to seeing more scenes from Canada, detailing more info about their operation and helping the refugees. This show is laughable with their lazy attempts at creating tension and strife now, suddenly, by having Canada turn traitor towards Gilead refugees, plus they’re trying to convince us Gilead suddenly has all this clout they never did, or could have had, just last season. Gilead should be ostracized by pretty much the entire world, if we are to believe this world reflects much of current day, especially military wise. Gilead’s got shit to say at the international table, they haven’t even won their own Civil War yet, how the fuck do they even have time for this bullshit of a negotiation? No joke, June would have been guaranteed no less than a lost limb or eye without question. This show is the one who told us even the thought of harming a baby would bring death. But still they have Super June choking out a fellow pregnant handmaid and hardly anyone blinks. The show gambled with the decision to have June nearly escape Gilead in season 2 and that gamble did not pay off. At. All. They now are stuck having June rinse and repeat the stupiest shit so she stays where she is now. Even though we have seen her involved with the resistance, she’s no longer the wide eyed terrified woman who paced in her room locked away in solitary confinement and had a breakdown curled up in her closet. She has developed enough to reasonably be doing smart, effective things to work towards freedom. Yet, because blah blah season 3 reasons, she gets her daughter’s kind, helpful Martha killed because she got sloppy and selfish, yet again, and she’s reset all of her hard earned progress towards finding a way to access and potentially rescue Hannah. Hell, she fucking nuked it, she’s lost a trusted contact, plus Hannah’s physical location. And honestly she should have burned a lot of bridges at this point within the resistance. If she cannot control her emotions enough to focus on the ultimate goal of getting free, and not just wasting time, energy, and people’s lives just so she can feel a wall for a few seconds that her daughter lies behind, she’s not worth trying to help. These people all have loved ones, children, spouses, some living and dead, they are trying to do everything they can to cripple Gilead internally, risking everything. June would have them do so for her and die for it, and she will still merely be left standing, scowling, in the same disadvantaged position as she started in. She takes 1 step forward and then 12 backwards, and why? For what? Because if she actually showed growth and progress then we would expect her to have fucking gotten out already, or died trying. But of course, many have already reached that point anyway. We eye-roll and snort at her theatrics which never lead anywhere. She can’t die or escape, so what’s the purpose? They want the audience to hold on for 5 or 6 more seasons of this kind of indecisive bullshit? It’s total idiocy. They are not telling a story, they’re regurgitating recycled ideas over and over. They have turned their main character, the hero, into a dumb moron who can’t seem to learn her lessons from one day to the next, solely because they already squandered their ace in the hole: her escape arch. They never should have pulled that pin, not just once but fucking twice in season 2. Especially since all we were going to get was this mess of a season driven solely by June’s implausible decision to stay when she had Holly in arms and knew only certain death awaited her if she didn’t leave right then and there. June has to stay stupid as shit to remain in a Gilead as she is, but not just that, she also has to remain impervious to any serious punishment or death as well while she stupidly exists, she doesn’t even seem like a person at this point, but a physical manifestation of a plot point.

I saw that and pretended she didn’t say it because I thought the rest of her comments were sound, heh. But truthfully, I have resigned myself to the fact that, for some reason, most reviewers of the show think Lizzie is the most amazing actress no matter what she does. Even her fellow costars, the writers, and producers seem to believe it. Why I’m sure even headless Lincoln would agree.../s. Personally I don’t think she’s the worst, but she’s certainly never blown my socks off. And this season has definitely done her no favors, I absolutely agree. Her on screen appeal has become incredibly limited, and frankly she’s become almost intolerable to me. I would much rather check in with Sam or Alexis or Ann or even Yvonne than watch another montage of June flaring her nostrils and twisting up her mouth.

This may be one of the best breakdowns of this episode yet. The writer of this article really hit on so many issues with the show as a whole which this episode managed to highlight in grand detail. I especially agreed with their statement that THT struggles mightily when it tries to focus so hard and so often on one handmaid, June, instead of the entire group in rotation.They could really build up intrigue and suspense but they never do. I think because they feel that they need June to drive so much of the action all of the time, they write themselves into hole after hole plot wise. June has to both save the day while fucking up royally, it's her and her kids at the center of 2 nations, it's her life that must but spared above l else, so on and so on, but if they would just share the burden of screen time more fairly with the others collectively, I think we would end up with some really fantastic stuff. That's what they did in season 1 and it worked beautifully. There was a lot more give and take between the characters and they all got a real opportunity to shine individually. Now, it's the June show, 24/7 coverage, nonstop, and it's become torturous to watch. I loved this quote here because I think we all have thought and complained about this very same situation: The Handmaid’s Tale hides one interesting story inside a three-story dud Can someone print out a thousand copies of this and mail half to Littlefield and the other half to Miller?

Tell the truth. The show is so determined to make all of Gilead, from the highest in status to the very lowest, risk it all time and time again for blessed mother Saint June. All because they just want to SKIP! directly to the parts of the story they want to tell and nothing more. June's the lead character, all life revolves around her and she must be protected at all costs. It makes the overall story so cheap it's worthless. June is like the player who is always practicing their "game face" while on the bench, but never actually expects to get called into the game, and when they are, you immediately realize they aren't prepared to do shit. June is presented as being in plan mode or thinking mode, especial with all her close ups and internal dialogue, but it's all smoke and mirrors. She doesn't even have to deal with the ceremony anymore since the Lawrences' don't take part in it. So what else would she be doing? Every waking second of her very slow day should be, would be, filled with intense plotting and planning. As you said, she could have been asking the Marthas' network for assistance and advice. She could have worked on figuring out exactly where the school was, maybe get Hannah's travel route, make more friends or connections closer to those around Hannah, etc. It's crazy that the show wants to trap June in this world where frankly tons of alone time to herself is pretty much guaranteed to her every single day, but she's never ready to actually act literally or figuratively when an opportunity presents itself. She's never mentally prepared to put an actual plan into action. Totally agree. Every time I see an interview with him it proves so annoying to think such a charming, thoughtful, good actor has been shoehorned into playing Luke. Mr. Do Little or Do Nothing most of the time. I know Gilead is supposed to be this "colorblind" society, which pfft, as if. But I think he could have played a fabulous Nick, but then another actor would have needed to be cast as Fred for obviously reasons, not like that would have been a bad development either, heh. I could certainly think of some really strong candidates. Agreed. Cautious, thoughtful, prepared, and alert. I really don't think it's terribly unreasonable for the audience, this long into watching the show and seeing how shit keeps unfolding, to expect a June who shows, on screen, real growth and a lot more awareness by now. She should be a much better player in this game than she clearly is. It felt like they had spliced in some shot from a cheesy B movie from the Hallmark channel that showed us the two leads suddenly twirling around the floor with professional ballroom flair which came out of thin air, because last we knew he was a broker and she was a flower shop owner. If they had any sense of real storytelling anymore, they definitely should have shown us the scene as you pitched it. It would have been a good way to continue to show Serena disassociating with her reality more and more, and maybe it could lead to a breakdown, which could finally start toppling things. And the Martha's murder was punishment for June. She may as well have had it scribbled on the front of her uniform: "I'm here because of Ofjoseph". They killed her to stick it to June, while June got off scot free as usual. I want Atwood to end up suing this crackpot team of Littlefield and Miller somehow. Just on principle. They keep trying to write a world within a world and it is not working. It is leaving us with two shitty realities that neither make sense nor seem to be worth the effort to even care about. One second we see handmaids with mouths horrifically pierced to prove a vow of silence, and are forced to kneel like pet dogs awaiting their masters. The next it's cocktail hour and who's up for a quick game of Yahtzee?? If the higher ups in DC are supposedly so much more strict and entrenched in Gilead principles and proper etiquette, then why the hall are these people behaving more like the 70s jet set? That's the exact type of lifestyle they all swore to forsake, at least publicly. But in the end it all circles back around to the fact that the show doesn't give a shit about following the book in any way that's significant anymore. Season 3 gotta season 3, random shit gonna random, who the hell cares what the subject matter was about anyway. I wonder if I could sue them for Atwood... I actually thought about that when they described Hannah's school as an institution for "art" and I think that's it exactly. These girls are going to be trained to be proficient in gardening, sewing, knitting, taking walks for good health, and I am sure baby care is number 1 on the list. Can't start them too young after all, since these fuckers will probably want them betrothed by 14 or whatever. I would say they might learn to cook and clean, but if these are only the girls belonging to elite Gilead members, then they would have their own Marthas' to take care of all that. You know, they might even have the girls go through a training course wherein they're taught how to "train" a Martha or Handmiad even for household service, like they used to do during slavery times. You want even the "little masters" observing and learning how to command or punish or use their slaves "properly". And now I feel queasy... Of course somewhere else, I assume the boys are being taught an actual education to strengthen their minds and surely their resolve and dedication towards Gilead. Disgusting. Preach. The show has become so laser focused on June and her storyline only, they've now lost the whole plot. Gilead cannot actually function if all that matters is June's constant survival and getting to Hannah. That bullshit is not even close to the story Atwood wrote. In fact in the book that angle couldn't be farther from the truth. The show built up a world first that was meant to crush June, and all those like her, under its' heel, but now they want to totally flip the script and make the same world dependent entirely on June's existence. It doesn't get any lazier or uninspired in storytelling than that to me. Writers who get bored or stop caring in the middle of their own story and decide pull a June, say "fuck it", and just start off in a new direction writing whatever shit comes to mind. The Canada angle has gotten so bad it's insulting to think the writers thought the audience would be satisfied with it. It doesn't even make any sense. Why would Canada, obviously fully aware of Gilead's barbaric rules and limitations for females (remenber how they so awesomely shaded Serena during her first visit with printed pictographs instead of words), underage marriages, forced into illiteracy their whole lives, forced to be fully submissive and subjugated by men, not to mention the whole enslavment and rape side of things (just in case anyone forgot...), yet it's the prospet of sending back a baby girl into that world that has made them finally decide to start working with Gilead? Get the fuck out of here with that noise, man. You forgot option three: June gets 5 more people killed, dresses up as a wife and then a commander in drag, steals and subsequently wrecks three vehicles, tortures a guard to find out where they've taken Hannah, sends her spirit wolf to run and fetch Hannah for her while June steals a boat because why not, then she'll have the wolf bring Hannah to her and they'll escape Gilead forever... I need a drink.

If I could heart this a hundred times I would. My eyes nearly lodged in the back of my skull when June launched herself at Ofmatthew. The massive middle finger the writers keep throwing up at us is getting more and more obvious all the time. That scene was pure comedy, June screaming and strangling, Ofmatthew dying, the other handmaids all fighting to separate them, not a single guard giving a single shit, and Lydia was MIA, probably deciding which of the hung victims would fit best in her basement as a snack for later. My god it was so tragically bad. Honestly during the school scene they could have just had June morph into Beast mode and just go full on HAM and snatch Hannah before taking off. Maybe she could be a secret X-Men? DC became Ibeza in a week's time. All of that bullshit was ridiculous. Next I expect to see them all just throwing a swingers' party where Serena and Fred get introduced to the "Eyes Wide Shut" side of DC, led, of course, by Commander Keller in latex. I will never get sick of the phrase "dumpster fire" , and it fits this episode perfectly.

I usually avoid talking a lot about Serena and Fred, saying I hate them over and over just gets old, but they really were put on display this episode, and honestly I don’t get it. Does the show really think these two would be better served leaving their villain roles now? After the past 2 and a half seasons these two have been the worst of the worst, all that they’ve done and continue to do, but the writing definitely seems to be trying to soften them in ways that leave me befuddled. I’m starting to think Miller and Littlefield just wanted these characters to steal from Atwood, but they didn’t ever plan to keep them as the people she so carefully crafted, or even keep them as true citizens of Gilead. I mean, they danced a Tango...ffs, a Tango?? Are we watching DWTS: Handmaid’s Edition? And I remember my main concern for this season was how it would treat Emily once she left Gilead and I was right to worry. She and Moira getting up to “hijinks” is not what needs to be happening. Their freedom, their lives are at stake, where is the urgency? Where is the fear and terror that gets their asses in gear and makes them take matter into their own hands that does not involve a jail cell? A scene with Emily and Moira watching Fred’s shit video and discussing it, ripping it apart, bonding over their rage and pain at seeing their fellow Handmaids, especially June, still in bondage would have been a much better replacement for that coffee scene. Then they could have easily transitioned to a scene with them booking a live interview on TV, deciding to fight fire with fire. That’s the kind of retaliation these smart women would go for, not stupid physical altercations that get them nothing. The writers are making these characters foolish, brainless, and just having them ambling along without any real purpose.

And getting to make some of you laugh is why I’m sticking around. Sanity in numbers and humor! Beautiful post. Yes, the actress playing Hannah’s Martha was brilliant. She really sold me during the hanging scene. In fact seeing her acting against Lizzie’s in that scene actually was jarring to me. June came across as completely self absorbed, not even really caring this woman was losing her life because of her fuckery. It was such an awful display from her. And yes yes, about the race issue. Miller wanted so badly to dance around the subject and avoid “issues” and he’s ended up creating an even bigger, frankly uglier problem. From season 1 to now this show has disintegrated rapidly, the vision has evaporated.

I agree, it's a good comparison. What's sad is that once only Serena would have garnered my wrath over how selfish and obsessive she is, unable to put what's best for "her child" first. I think that's my biggest issue with June right now. She's not just a character that we will love to hate or hate to love, etc, she's supposed to be our hero of the story, thanks to the writers. We are to feel empathetic aboiur her, sympathize with her, grieve when she grieves, hurt when she hurts. We should care about her winning at all cost. But how can you care when she's behaving so inexcusably? I know some people who just got started watching the show this season, they were intrigued by promos, but they didn't really know the characters yet, and they were shocked to find out June was the supposed heroine. They thought she was a fallen woman who used to be another Serena or something, they didn't get an initial vibe that June was a "good guy". Love that gif, heh, and I completely agree with you. June is impervious to her own, constant, stupidity and carelessness, that is her super power. She lost what tiny advantage she had in connection to Hannah, but it was someone else's head on the chopping block. She attacked another handmaid while surrounded by guards, armed, and Lydia and she may as well have been Jesus walking on water, she was untouched and merely stomped away. I don't know what else to call that kind of protection but a fucking super power at this point. Plot armor works when there's an actual plot, but I have no clue what to call this mess. June continually does dumb shit and then skates by with no repercussions. Yes in this episode she actually did lose something, but she didn't lose her life even though she should have. I don't think her super power makes her a genius, it keeps her alive at all costs and that's the problem. Even the best superheros have their Achilles heels. June has a scowl, a bonnet, and apparently eternal life.

If the show truly wants to sell the image of June actually trying to save Hannah, as in actually getting her out of Gilead, then they need to write it out in the plot, not just give us lip service and then have June pull all of the most shortsighted, ill-advised, dumbest shit imaginable that would never, ever lead to her being even the slightest bit successful. Nothing June did in this episode was crafty, well thought out, planned out, carefully prepared, nada. She had nothing set in place. She had no escape planned for, she hadn’t asked for a favor from Lawrence before hand, she went to Hannah’s school, cried, then went home. That was nothing more than a fucking waste of time and resources, she squandered her ace in the hole with having connections with Hannah’s Martha, and she has no clue where they’ve now moved Hannah. She provided Ofmatthew her ammunition to nark on the Martha and got her killed, and again June should have been on top of that from the start. She basically flaunted in Ofmatthew’s face she was up to something. She should have planned for a much less suspicious run in or maybe got a note passed to her. She claimed she could get them all out, which not only was a lie to get the Martha to help her right then, she really could have been telling the truth. June had more than enough time to plan for a move by now, especially after taking part in so many executions. Her sole focus after returning from DC should have been to get Hannah and make like the wind. June could have gotten the Martha to help her by promising to take her with them but seriously this time. The Martha would have been June's perfect link to getting Hannah to a rendezvous point, especially since thae school guard who was "a friend", if given a proper headsup to actually be available on the day of, could have assisted, and with Lawrence's help, then everyone makes a break for it, and you let the chips fall where they may. What you wouldn't do is cause your one and only contact to your still very protected and guarded daughter to be ratted out, and then hung, and now said daughter has been put into basically a witness protection program situation by a bloodthirsty regime from hell, and the best you have now to rely on is your pitiful regret. All this episode did was expose June’s lack of planning and preparation. They love to show her scowling and spitting and seething and all “fuck the system”, but she’s the one making everything ten times harder for herself, and there is no reason for it. It’s shitty writing and it’s producing a very shit character. If June really was responsible, she would have resolved herself to not laying eyes on Hannah again until she was ready to make a run for it. And by run for it I mean: “balls to the wall, hauling every bit of ass, peddle to the ultimate medal, it’s go time, it’s do or die, literally” run for it. It would be an all or nothing operation, with June knowing she’d either succeed or at least she died trying. This June wants to die for physically assaulting a handmaid out in goddamn broad daylight, where was Hannah on her mind then? As one of those reviews I linked to said, she made a selfish, terrible mistake, mother or not, and it’s not one she should be given a pass for, imho. At this point if Hannah gets saved at all, it will be in spite of June, not because of her. Because this episode alone should have ended with June hauled away if not shot down in the street. All this show wants to do is keep June tied to Gilead, they are willing to write whatever they must to make it happen, even when it's total garbage and blatantly unbelievable.

Amen. Preach. Hallelujah. You guys are just saying it all and more, I really cannot add much, heh. Tell the truth. It’s really disheartening that June’s behavior is being highlighted for just how harmful and deadly it’s becoming for everyone around her, especially Hannah. This is Gilead after all, yes they claim to be so concerned about “their children” but June should know better than to trust that. Every time she shows her ass, that’s another potential strike against Hannah. Thankfully they just decided to move the McKenzies, this time, but clearly she’s put them and her daughter on Gilead’s high alert radar, the worst place anyone could be. June’s thoughtless choices are really making her unwatchable, and potentially unredeemable, at this point. Once they realized it was her majesty June, they knew to back off, she is practically running the show now. She might have turned her fearsome wrath upon them. I want to joke more about the stupidity of it all, but it’s just so stupid it’s not really as funny as I’d like it to be. Damn show, you’re breaking my funny bone. I wanted to wring her neck honestly, especially watching her face as that woman strangled to death right in front of her. She actually had the audacity to mutter, without any clear remorse or guilt present in her tone of voice, “under his eye” (that’s where the title came from) right before the group was hung. It was probably the most disgraceful scene yet. I really would love to see all the Marthas turning their backs on her at this point. She already shat all over their best effort to date to rescue her, plus infant, and get her to Canada. Now this? She should be blacklisted from being provided with any favors from now on, she’s too high a risk, she’s literally leaving bodies in her wake, it’s madness. They didn’t miss it, they just don’t care. It’s June’s world and everybody else is just living in it, until June gets them killed that is. Another brilliant post from you, I agree with every word. Miller and Littlefield have completely hijacked Atwood’s story, it literally feels like something brand new and it’s terrible, just terrible. Even if this was an original piece, what the hell kind of story are they even trying to tell us right now? The purpose of the plot has completed vanished. But they died so she could live to scowl and fuck up another day...gag me. She’s a disaster, these writers really aren’t doing her any favors as the so called protagonist. Same here. Apparently husbands and wives can’t do the nasty, but they are allowed to fucking Tango and that’s permitted? Say what? Is the Tango, a secular dance of sexual desire, now sanctified by god? Did I miss that little tidbit? Oh wait, I forgot, this show pulls every episode out of its’ ass so random shit gonna random. Better yet “why” is she? Her general purpose seems to have poofed. If she’s supposed to be this budding heroine who helps bring an end to this regime, then maybe it’s time for her to stop getting so many involved in resisting and doing special favors in Gilead KILLED. I’d say that isn’t too much to ask for. As am I. I feel like I’m watching a train wreck happening right in front of me, and I know I should look away but at the same time... June could go up to a guard, slap him, take his gun, and use OfMatthew for target practice and the most that might happen is she’d get a stern telling off from Lydia, maybe no supper that night as well. Lydia (aghast): June! June (standing over dead body): Sorry not sorry, Aunt Lydia, the bitch had it coming, (Other Handmaids’ form a chorus line and begin to sing “Cell Block Tango” from Chicago) Lydia: Now girls, don’t be so naughty. June, stop tap dancing right this instant, young lady!” They have completely overplayed the “plot armor” angle with her. June’s done nothing but sink her battle ship this entire season, yet she’s still going strong, all fingers and toes, both eyes, no burns, no being locked away in solitary confinement, she hasn’t even lost any privileges. They may as well rename Gilead to “Juneland”. Apparently a good number of reviews for this episode haven’t been, shall we say, kind. Here are three of my favorites, I already listed my top fav earlier, the Forbes review: June Just Made A Terrible, Selfish Mistake on 'The Handmaid's Tale' The Handmaid's Tale' Recap: June's Single-Minded Obsession Keeps Hurting People 'The Handmaid's Tale' Season 3, Episode 7 Recap: June 👏 Needs 👏 to 👏 Focus 👏 Yet who wants to still bet Miller and Littlefield won’t give two shits about what people are saying or care about their complaints.

Aunt Lydia is no longer a match for Sassy Super June. Even she with the cattle prod realizes June is the one really in control. In fact, if Lydia isn’t careful she just might end up on the wall if she makes June irritated enough, she and her little snitching pet ofmatthew (I think that’s her name). At this point I fully expect to see people start bowing whenever June enters a room.

They are definitely laying the groundwork for it. Gilead has managed to get Canada seriously discussing an extradition treaty between their nations, using baby Holly as the driving force. Plus they have officially filed all of Emily's so called "criminal acts" with Canada, meaning she could be a potential first sacrificial lamb if the treaty is put in place. Frankly after this train wreck of an episode, I really don't know if I can hold out much longer myself. I am trying to make it to the finale, just to see where things will stand, but at this point...I'm weary.

Speaking of caped crusaders, Superman, for example, at least was vulnerable to kryptonite. An alien who was practically invincible to anything still had a chink in his armor, a weakness that could be exploited and used against him. June has none, absolutely none, and this show openly seeks to rubs it in the viewers’ faces every chance they get. We have passed the point of plot armor, we’re in imaginary, fairytale, folklore territory. Not even the best superhuman imaginable has been written out like June. They can trip, stumble, be caged, caught, fail, even be killed. This chick? She’s a god frankly, that’s how they’re writing her out to be. It’s so far beyond ludicrous right now, I cannot even really enjoy ripping the writing apart because, to me, this isn't storytelling anymore, it's lazy, uninspired, rubbish.

Ann is going to kill it, but honestly I wish it was Rita. Lydia gets so much more screen time already, I’d love to see Rita expanded on and fully explored. Frankly as long as June and Serena aren’t the main focuses in the episode, I will take it. This week’s episode makes me never want to see either of them again for the rest of the season.

Couldn’t say it any better myself. June has become the ultimate Mary Sue for this show. She is untouchable, the most that might happen to her is another feet beating. It’s obvious they knew that Martha was trying to do June a favor, June the escape artist, June the rebel, June the runaway, but all they do is hang her “partner in crime” as her punishment. The same way they killed the husband who tried to help her escape, made the mother a handmaid, and gave their baby away. June however just gets to feel bad about it. No wonder the Martha in Lawrence’s house avoided trying to help her, helping June always gets the other person/s killed, it’s not worth it. Also, what the hell is June even going to do now? Hannah’s been moved, the only link she had to her, who actually was willing to help her when she could, is now dead, and she has no more sway with the Waterford’s. Lawrence hasn’t exactly proven eager to help her reclaim the kid, so what was the point other than to prove June never learns, also she will never, ever die. Is she supposed to actually be making a plan for a real escape attempt anymore? Have they just forgotten that part of her staying in Gilead? She decided to throw everything away so she could touch a goddamn wall and weep. I thought it was bad enough in episode 1 when she snuck into Hannah’s room and merely knelt and cried at her bedside. June’s goals keep flip flopping and it’s asinine for a woman who, at this point, should just plain know better. Where is her common sense? She’s not new to this world, she’s acting like a child herself, focused only on immediate gratification that is fleeting. Thanks, show. I’m floored at how terrible each episode gets.

Honestly I am puzzled, how can an episode be both so underwhelming and over the top with stupidity at every turn? How nice of them to show us Serena’s tour of a home once owned by a happy family that was ripped apart and decimated thanks to her. Maybe she’ll honor them by naming her next kid Phoebe, wouldn’t that just be so adorable? I hate you, show, straight up hate you. Fred needs to die. His and Serena’s dinner date and dance bit was worthless to me. So Canada is totally caving and a bullshit treaty is in the works for “reasons”, what fantastic news... I hate everything. Commander Keller is super randy, holy shit, he was basically ready to molest Fred right in the middle of everybody. He wants it bad apparently. Meloni deserves so much better than being portrayed like this. June is a fucking MORON, full stop. Of course she wasn’t caught or anything, that’s obviously not possible, even when she’s choking out another handmaid in full sight of everyone, most with guns at that but I guess the guards are all afraid of her now, but she may as well have just worn a rope loop around her neck this entire episode. If she wants so badly to die without succeeding at her grand scheme then can we just get it all over with? Does she not remember that Hannah would very possibly tell her new “parents” she saw her again? Yeah, who could have guessed such a halfassed, ill advised plan would fall apart almost immediately. She has known from the beginning that new handmaid pal of hers was a total nark for Gilead, and they were so obvious in the store with their “secret messages”....like fucking really? She got that Martha killed, straight up killed. That makes how many lives now June’s selfish, self centered actions have destroyed? I am over this. Done, I am just done. Not even the Emily and Moira sightings could save this episode for me, not even a tiny bit. 'The Handmaid's Tale' Season 3, Episode 7 Review: 'Under His Eye' Fails To Impress This article sums up all the other criticisms I have.

Tell the truth. I literally could hardly believe that shit was a direct quote, and it was left in! What’s next, are they going to have him put Fred in a slinky dress and heels, like Fred did to June, just so you know he really is a macho, macho man? I am really starting to think these guys are plants, they’re conducting a social experiment or something, this cannot be real life for them to say what they say with a straight face and not expect to infuriate people. Maybe the wives could knit large enough cozies, heh. Exactly, Rita is in survival mode, she either appeases her masters or she could end up sent off to Jezebel’s, the colonies, or the wall. But hearing this bunch describe it as Rita choosing, how does a slave have a choice, to care for and bond with Serena because they have formed this special connection through motherhood and losing a child? That shit just infuriates me. Serena Joy is a big part of the reason Rita lost her child and her freedom, for crying out loud, just make it stop already. It truly trivializes what is actually happening and the power structure that exists between these two people. One is the owner, the master, and the other is chattel, property, there is nothing balanced or fair about this relationship. There is nothing right, moral, or good. Rita can’t just stop treating Serena well, she can’t just unfriend her on Facebook or stop texting her back or taking her calls. She is her Martha, her house slave, and therefore all that she can do is try to stay alive, meaning she must please Serena’s every whim, ffs, do these guys have any rationally thinking people in the writers’ room anymore? Agreed, this way of taking and twisting situations that are so obviously corrupt and evil into understandable happenstances is very concerning, especially coming from the very sort of men in real life who strongly resemble those who are depicted in Gilead.

I honestly would believe that was a fake interview, a prank piece, were it not that’s just how those two really are. Well in the book: As for the show, Imma guess “reasons”, because it doesn’t make any sense a couple as young as Fred and Serena, and as powerful as they once were, wouldn’t have had a kid or two given to them straight off. Serena has always seemed baby hungry enough to accept a child through any means. Except for legal surrogacy, fostering, or adoption apparently before Gilead took over, but I digress... Or the show is trying to imply only the super most high in Gilead leadership got dibs on the stolen babies and those like the Waterford’s just lucked out, it really doesn’t compute. Are we meant to think commanders like Commander Keller could frankly hoard so many kids all to himself instead of giving at least four other families a child to raise? Why not share, it’s not like these guys don’t also have handmaids to rape and impregnate. Just like the show keeps inflating its’ number of handmaids, they’re doing the same with the kids within Gilead. Wouldn’t there be enough remaining children for most, if not all, commanders to have their share? And it doesn’t seem to be a rank issue either, such as only the lower ranked commanders have handmaids or have stolen children and aren’t given the chance to have their own biological child. Someone really needs to bring up this subject to the drivel twins, Miller and Littlefield, see what kind of bs answer we get.

Just saw this today, and it’s Miller and Littlefield at their oblivious finest, trying to explain their sloppy storylines as usual. The Handmaid's Tale EPs Answer Our Burning Episode 6 Questions (Rings! Winslow! Marthas! Nick?!?) WTF are they even talking about with this drivel? They are just making shit up on the fly, I am fully convinced of it.

Just wanted to leave this in here since it covers this episode and some of the specific issues we’ve had. The Handmaid's Tale EPs Answer Our Burning Episode 6 Questions (Rings! Winslow! Marthas! Nick?!?) So now they want to make it clear the mouth piece is removable, sure. Just hope those handmaids have lighting quick reflexes whenever they need to sneeze or things could get real messy. Also, their “coy” talk about Commander Keller (my personal favorite role of his) and his sexuality was super annoying. Why are they talking about him “discovering himself” like this is some after school special? They just want him to tap back into the role he played so incredibly on OZ, real original guys. And their comments about Rita “bonding” with Serena...the fuck? She is her SLAVE! It’s like I am reading one of those old accounts from slavery when a slave was considered “close” to their master or mistress and it was portrayed as this tender, loving bond. Because of course, once you get to a point where you fully are immersed in your slave role, knowing you have no choice or opportunity to regain your freedom, and this person literally controls and owns you like a piece of goddamn furniture, you eventually learn to make the best of things. Get all the fucking way out of here with that insulting bullshit. Stop trying to make it sweet and normal that these women are growing closer when it’s due to genocide, slavery, and rape. This is not something to celebrate, you assholes, gah. Plus, now it also amounts to Rita backing off her Marthas’ underground operation so she can take care of Serena...I just can’t. And the Nick bs is laughable. Do they really think they’re setting him and June up for this epic love story? And I find it funny they want to say it’d be dumb if Nick had been playing June all along but she didn’t recognize that he was...seriously? Have they watched their own show before? You mean just like she’s done with Fred and Serena how many times now? Yeah, June is so impervious to being manipulated and taken advantage of, sure. I swear they are trolling us so hard, just so damn hard right now. Oh he is a special one...the article I just linked here is full of his, and Miller’s, nonsense. I am beginning to think these guys are secretly members of the Sons (though SOBs does work as well) of Jacob, they are pulling some epic reverse psychology right now. Slaves can form the most trusting, loving bonds with their owners, women trapped in a breeding program and held as sex slaves can willing take up “vows of silence”, it’s getting beyond creepy for me to see them speak about these topics the way they do. Their uncanny ability to find a “silver lining” is all types of fuckery.

No, we had the Mexico group come in at the end of season 1. But aside from seeing the Swiss make an appearance in Gilead this episode, Gilead has been totally off limits to visitors from anywhere. Probably due to their concerns of being infiltrated by "terrorists", "spies", etc. If Gilead still has nukes, the rest of the world is going to want to either keep them in check or work with them and avoid conflict, same as we often see today. Nuclear technology is always that big game changer for diplomacy. That's why I feel the other nuclear powers, at the very least, would have made their presence known by now. Either by forcing a meeting like they had with the Swiss or a teleconference, something. They would not trust Gilead, this fanatic, fractured group, with nukes and just hope they don't get too stupid. Oh I saw that...the words these showrunners commonly use about these characters or the horrific things that happen to them are often ridiculous and unbelievable. Handmaids are slaves, they have no rights, therefore they cannot "take a vow" to even shit when they want to, let alone pledge themselves to a life of servitude in silence. It's actually disgusting to me that he would try and frame it in such a gentile manner. The fact that he and Miller are the two headlining this show baffles me. How does anyone listen to them and their ideas yet no one seems to "WTF????" them out of the room. How are they taken seriously? I just don't know.

My biggest issue with presuming Gilead’s military might is still so imposing and threatening an international force is then why hasn’t Gilead been swinging their weight around in general? They merely negotiate and work on trade deals, but these mf-ers should hold a clear upper hand over those like Canada. Why haven’t they threatened them with retaliation for harboring refugees in the first place? Why is it even an option for those escaping Gilead to be granted shelter in Canada if Canada should be so wary of angering Gilead? If anything Canada would have a system that would immediately process and then return the refugees, right? Similar to many countries today who don’t want to offer a safe haven to those escaping their home country. Canada should be assisting Gilead with returning their people, no questions asked. The second they discovered Emily had “escaped and stolen a child of Gilead “ a red alert should have gone up. Emily would have immediately been detained and identified, along with Holly. Then they would have contacted Gilead leadership and Emily and the baby would have been returned the next day. I really think the writers have not properly conceptualized Gilead’s power structure. Hell, I doubt they know anything about how the world powers as a whole are supposed to function. No feedback from China or Russia? Nothing from Japan? What about the Middle East? The UK? Or France? Where do these juggernauts stand in all of this? Are they just ignoring what’s happening in North America in general, waiting to see how it all plays out, or are they also struggling with the same problems at the same rate? Fertility, food, pollution, military coups, etc. In the book: I personally think the show is leaving too much of this up to speculation, and it makes little sense to throw shit like “the Swiss have been brought to the table” in, when last we knew the table was out of options and desperate enough to trade handmaids with Mexico.

Gah, you’re so right about the teeth needing to be removed, I forgot about that...no way these writers gave the rings any thought whatsoever, they just wanted to put a little “Saw” into THT. They should have just gone all the way and put the handmaids in some of these.

I didn’t mind June in season 1, in season 1 she was a very sympathetic character to me. I understood her fear, her terror, her sometimes crazy, dangerous choices trapped in the Waterford’s house, sneaking around with Nick for comfort, getting close to Emily even though she was a resistance member. Just like the Offred in the book, this woman was flawed and human and so I could empathize with her sudden descent into this hellscape madness that was Gilead. But the past 2 seasons have done a lot, in my opinion, to strip away June’s purpose and potential as a character that tugs at our heartstrings. And I 100% blame the writers for that. In the first season her unpredictability was warranted, but now we see her activity acting stupid as if she shouldn’t already know better. Somehow they’ve regressed her development, she acts out in ways a woman with her history and past in Gilead, one would think, would never dare. I think the expectations a lot of viewers have for her are never met by the writing. I fully think June at this point would be more cautious, secretive, guarded, and trust absolutely, positively no one. Instead we have her showboating in a verbal sparring match with Serena in broad daylight, removing her requirement “gag” without concern, and showing no fear of discovery by the large group around them. The show loves it for the dramatic effect of course, but character wise it’s just too much to even take seriously at this point, to take June seriously at this point I think. I will fall back on one of my favorite sayings this season, because “season 3 gotta season 3”. That decision was one made solely for the writers’ benefit who wanted to keep June inside of Gilead for plot purposes. There’s no way June the character wouldn’t have known not escaping with Emily and Holly, after everything, meant that she was facing certain death. She never would have assumed she could possibly get to Hannah, she was going to get recaptured, probably tortured for info, then sent to Jezebel’s, the colonies, or she would have been hanging on the wall by morning. Hah! Maybe one day we’ll see the scripts with crayon scribbles all over them. I have brought that fact up previously, the only way to truly restrict speech is through restricting the tongue. Otherwise their lips can part and speech, while hindered, is still possible. The kicker is that if they actually have pieced their tongues, those handmaids have the shortest self life imaginable. These women wouldn’t be able to swallow properly, manipulate their tongues in any way, the risk of infection from not having access to their teeth or gums to brush, even trying to rinse out their mouths would be nearly impossible and they’d probably end up choking to death. And we won’t get started on what vomiting would lead to. The writers really stepped right in it with this ring angle, it is so implausible it’s laughable. And I am just going to put it out there: Holly’s a GIRL. These fuckers in Gilead don’t exactly seem hard up to want plenty of illiterate princesses running around. If Holly was instead a Harry or Henry then I could definitely see them putting forth a lot more effort to get him back, to have a healthy baby boy added to the bunch. But a girl? We cannot forget how lackadaisical they were when Janine’s baby fell ill right in their own backyard. This group settled on prayer and a shoulder shrug while she literally lay dying and none of the men, not even her own father, pressed the issue and fought to get her the help she needed, even if it proved futile. So yeah, the show can shove it on this premise that Holly, a girl child, has mobilized the Gilead leadership in such a way and they’re determined to move heaven and earth to get her back. Are Serena’s tears just that powerful now? Ffs, man.