Earlwoode

What a pity. It was one of the best sci-fi series on TV. I hope Netflix picks it up but I'm not holding my breath. Must be awful for the actors to now be unemployed.

It's not been more than 4 years - not that long to forget a man who was the father of her child and whom she was supposed to love a lot. And she does know he is alive after the Mexican episode which could have happened two years before now (thought the timeline in this series is very wonky -one of the irritating things about it). Frankly, I don't find either of these two guys attractive in the least so I don't really get how she fell for either (or both) of them. But, of course, we all find different people attractive.

But wasn’t Nicole a reference to Nick as her father? That’s what I always thought. I don’t get though, how June reconciles the fact she loves Nick with the husband she left behind? Mind you, I think what’s-his-name is totally uncharismatic and as boring as a rock but still... He was supposed to be the great love of her life, the guy she broke up a marriage to snare. All that seems to have fallen by the wayside.

Now that caught my interest. Zach McGowan was in Black Sails amd he did an awesome job. Loved his character. It’s a bit ironic he’s joining the cast just as AL is leaving, Black Sails filmed in South African for 4 years. Rumour had it ZM left the show after a couple of seasons because he wanted to get back to his family in LA. I’ve heard that AL wants to leave to spend more time with his family on the U.K. Not sure that is completely true because a lot of people say he is leaving because he was furious they fired Carl with no warning. They sure seem to be putting in a lot of new characters. Sadly though, I can’t see this show surviving AL’s departure (Rick’s death?). I think there will be a massive surge in ratings/audience at his final episode and then the show will lose so many viewers that it will be cancelled. Of all the people I know personally who used to watch it, I am the only who still tunes in.

Ok even if it has been that long, Eden would still have had plenty of time to have learned to read and write.

The timeline of this show is one huge, gaping problem. Now, Eden obviously went to school (or was home schooled) because if she was about 15 when she was executed, that means she’s was about 12/13 when Gilead came into being, plenty of time for her to have learned to read and write. Because based on Hannah’s age when she wa captured and her age when we see her now, no more than a couple of years can possibly have passed.

Yeah, strange that lol. Did she not realize what she was signing on for when she helped write Gilead rules? I think she wanted the baby because she is bored out of her mind and just wants something TO DO! Not that I don't think she hasn't a maternal streak - it seems so when she was so gutted to give up the baby. I can't help but sympathise with her even though I know a lot of people think she is a monster - maybe it's the actress who does such a fantastic job. While June just irritates me with her smirks and sudden malevolent looks from her underface shots, Serena gets a genuine reaction from me. I think Yvonne Strahovski (whom I'd never heard of or seen in anything before) is absolutely phenomenal. I could watch this series just for her performance alone.

They will probably just ignore the whole thing and show her peacefully back at the Waterford's with absolutely no explanation for anything like they've done before. They sure leave a whole bunch of lines danging without every picking them up again. It's getting very silly.

All part of why this world is just not believable. No one understands what the “colonies” are; where they are and why are they called “colonies” in the first place? Did Americans colonize their own country? A lot of this world makes no sense.

Exactly. I also,thought no cars was because Fred explained they did not like technology which polluting (wasn’t that supposed to be the reason fertility rates had dropped)? I took the regimented clothing to be something like the Puritan outfits or the clothing the women in those religous 19th century communities in the US wear - all part of the repressive society. Oh and BTW, I see Serena’s clothing as completely green not teal or blue. And I didn’t get anything about the aupposedly looted art since everyone has a standard very classical decoration in admittedly very gloomy houses, but this Comander has modern paintings. Hence, I thought the wife had painted them, lol. Nah, they’re doing a terrible job of conveying a staggering economy if that’s what they were aiming for. That’s why I find this world so unbelievable - it seems like it’s existed for decades not a couple of years (based on Hannah’s age).

Haha, hilarious,especially the replicator. Good catch about the Rachel and Leah Center. Another anomaly in a supposedly very stretched economy. A beautiful, brand new building - full of shiny glass and finished in record time too. Did all the the workers get pulled in from the war? Because you would presume every available man is fighting this hypothetical war at the front. Also, the jumps between episodes where they din’t explain what happens in the previous one: who ”rescued” June and why was Nick arrested and how did he get back? This series has some very good acting but the writers and storyline are absolute crap, IMO.

Is it? I thought his wife painted them seeing as he said she was an art teacher or something. i don’t buy your explanations for the Gilead economy, sorry. The place is too pristine and people seem very well fed. I’ve seen places where there are food shortages and people spend half their time waiting in line not waltzing In to stores and checking out plumpness of the veggies. If they wanted to make us believe Gilead is not in a good place economically, they should have made everything a little bleaker and more threadbare and with scarcer foodstuffs.

She said that to her husband, not Emily. She asked for Emily's real name and said her husband had done bad things because he engineered the whole colonies thing.

Well, I'm sorry but to me it looks like it's anything but stumbling. It looks picture perfect. Here, I got this from a reviewer on Vulture. She seems to have the exact same concerns as I do about the economy of Gilead: But the society is, economically speaking, a wonder. Econo-families have plenty to eat and live in relatively comfortable circumstances. Medical facilities are not only up to par, they’ve all been redecorated to a minimalist white specification like something from a Daft Punk video. The shops feature bountiful produce, there is ostensibly still trade with outside nations, transit systems are fully operational, and uniforms for all ranks have been mass produced and distributed. How the hell is this possible? http://www.vulture.com/2018/07/the-handmaids-tale-recap-season-2-episode-12-postpartum.html Exactly, how the hell is this possible and she doesn't even mention the ongoing war which would have made rationing an absolute must especially if there is really no trade with the outside world? The world building is severely flawed.

Tons of people with little food, a war on, and no trade? Sounds like a recipe for disaster (or ripe for an uprising). Of course, no economy would survive a situation like that. Not with everyone looking as prosperous and well fed as these people all look.

Yes of course and he himself is one too. Didn't he face down a drone who also didn't kill him? If outliers are basically military personnel then it stands to reason Broussard would have been picked too. I guess he was CIA or Special Forces or something. Will was FBI wasn't he?

Well, if there is a war on than this neat little world with plenty of food and nice uniform clothing for everyone is even less believable. So Gilead is being boycotted internationally and they still manage all of that, have tons of guys in the streets with guns (when you would thing they would be at the front fighting). They have also lost half their workforce (women) but have a nice little working economy going. Hmm, it really stretches credulity to think this place would work at all. What is also not made clear is if the so called econowives (of which we saw one) get to work or just stay at home like all the others (except for the Marthas who are basically live in maids working in someone else's home). I presume the Marthas are slaves and don't get paid?

Well, that’s another problem with this world: I thought (it’s implied anyway) they’d given up technology as evil and polluting? So they kept the nukes? And what about this war they are supposed to be fighting? Who are they at war with? Where is the “front”? Who is fighting there since we see a lot of armed young men in the streets? Where, exactly, are these “colonies” and who (or what) are they colonizing? Are the Commanders military commanders or is it just a title for the elite? There are lots of questions that remain unanswered and make this very world very unbelievable. I agree with the overkill of EM staring into the camera with the exact same smirk all the time. I find her character distasteful. She’s married but professes to love Nick. Mind you, I find the Luke character bland and uninteresting and can’t see why she married him at all. They have no chemistry as a couple. I also get the impression he is now shagging Moira but maybe that’s just me, lol. And oh yes the Waterford’s are so much more interesting to watch. For me the best actresss is IS - she acts rings around EM, IMO, .

There are always people being massacred somewhere, sometime in the world. What, exactly do you suggest is done about the slaves in Africa and Asia? Because, ya know, militarily interfering in other countries has really worked out well, hasn’t it? Obviously, other countries might economically boycott Gilead but I doubt anyone would invade to change the regime. Why should they risk their people’s lives?

I totally agree. The birth scene was a huge yawn and boring. I kept thinking: get on with it, we know what a birth is like. Too long, too much and I had to turn down the volume as the grunting and groaning was grating. Good job she didn’t shoot the Waterfords - she would have missed and given away her position. And seriously, a wolf? Besides, wolves hunt in packs - there should have been more of them around. If you can believe a house that has cars coming and going has wolves approaching it that close. Is it never summer in Massachusetts?

Lol, I once read a zombie story posted on the Internet where this sort of gated town perched on a hill (thus safe from zombies) get hits by a tornado which slings dozens of zombies into the town center. Very ingenious it was. Did anyone else notice the zombe extras were wearing suits to simulate being burnt? My favorite character was the crazy Troy. I was sorry when they killed him off. He was great fun.

God that had to be one of the most boring episodes of the whole series. And jeez, stop with the confusing time lines - whoever dreamed this up needs to be struck off the writer’s roster. So Madison is dead....yawn! Are they killing off Alicia too? Who is left? And please don’t tell me we are going to get another whole season od Morgan saying: this has to stop somewhere?

Never heard of her but then, I’m not American so have no recollection of anyone famous at that time in the US. What struck me of the Gilead setup is it’s exact representation of the oppression of women in hard line Muslim countries.

We'll see if the writers address the situation in any more detail going forward, but here is how I am currently understanding what happened in the closing scenes. Because of the super-secret nature of the meeting (Fred turned to Nick to handle this; Nick is the person Fred trusts most to keep his secrets, such as driving him to Jezebels), I think it's most likely that Fred arranged the meeting by calling in a favor with Hannah's "father" (who also turned to the subordinate he trusts most). The area where they were sending them had known, regular Guardian patrols, so they had a small window between such patrols to hold the meeting and get out unseen. Fred and Hannah's "father" did not want to draw attention by changing the Guardian patrols or alerting the Guardians that people would be in the area. Thus the admonition not to be seen. But they failed to get out without being spotted by the patrol. The patrol intended to arrest Nick and take him for questioning. He fought back but got knocked out and thrown into the van. The patrol saw the other car leave the site and were going to pursue it. That's why they did not immediately search the house. They could return to search the house afterwards, because if anyone else was at the house, they had nowhere to go in this remote location in the dead of winter without Nick's car. If they tried to make their way on foot, they could be easily tracked in the snow. Why would Fred feel the need to hide this plan from Serena, since he is the head of household and has final say relating to everyone within it? We've seen him do several favors for June behind Serena's back. I think that most likely the Commanders are not supposed to have any contact with the Handmaids outside of the Ceremony (and ritualized meetings, such as when they all stood in the foyer to welcome the Commander home from the hospital). It is the Wife's job to manage the Handmaid. So everything about the Commander and June's relationship - not just the extra-Ceremony sex - is breaking the rules. Fred probably gets off on all of the clandestine interactions with June as much as the sex with her. How in heaven’s name are we supposed to infer all that from the scant details we are given? And I've never understood Nick’s role as an Eye. What, exactly, is he supposed to do? It seems to me they gave him that role and then never developed it because they don’t know what to do with it. It’s a total mystery to me why it was even mentioned at all since it has no relevance to the plot.

A lot on this show makes no sense. Fred is meant to be all powerful in relation to Serena but he’s afraid she’ll find out he sent June to see her daughter? If he organized the reunion, why was it clandestine? Whom did he organize it with to bring the child? I can’t see the Martha agreeing to it without anyone else’s approval. She’d be risking her life. Why did that patrol turn up at an empty house in the middle of nowhere at just the right moment? They are really straining my credulity - writing is becoming very silly.