BrindaWalsh

They re-recorded. I'm convinced. And they switched to their original commentary just a minute ago where they are expressing confusion over rules, will she stay on the floor, etc.

Wtf NBC? Did they go back and re-record the commentary? That montage of her recent slips, Tim and his "lost in tbe air" comment. It is like in their effort to "explain," they are rooting for her to fail. She looks devastated.

This show lacks everything that the OG had. The original show, especially season 1, was bright. It had energy, fun, frivolity and dare I say it, charm. This is just drab, unlikeable, and lacks any spirit whatsoever. In other words, they are trying WAY too hard to be...well, I don't actually know what they are trying to be.

"You will miss her" - is she leaving the show? Teresa would never tolerate sexual harassment in the workpalce but she tolerated Joe Giudice calling her a c*nt on national television, telling her he never wanted to marry her and got rid of her on national television, telling her to shut up more times than I can count. But nobody would dare to harrass her because she wouldn't tolerate it. Oooookkkaaayyy. Luis is skeevy and slimy looking. That said, so is Tre a lot of the time. So they do match in that regard. Tre said on the reunion that he had watched every episode. Of course he knew exactly who she was and her story. He may not need her money but that doesn't mean he isn't an opportunistic sleaze.

I'd like to know how they found a wall in the woods on such short notice.

Once again, somebody gave the writers room a copy of Daughter's of Eve. I think they had a similar revenge scene in the woods, although not ending in death because it was a tween/teen novel afterall. I get why the went the route they did in terms of the revenge killing of Fred, but I kind of rolled my eyes a bit. I actually thought, when June and Fred were having a drink, that she was going to slip him some of the poison that she used earlier in the season - dump it into the whole bottle to kill him the next time he goes to have a drink. I was ridiculously tense during that scene. Instead I found myself rolling my eyes at June somehow manufacturing this entire thing in 24 hours, right down to her kissing Nick in the woods. Not because I don't think Fred deserves it. But because I don't know that I buy that June has that much influence or that her alliances are that strong. As for the final scene with Luke, we know from The Testaments that: So while we didn't have an explicit conversation where Luke asks June to take a more peaceful, play by the rules route and she instead decides that her commitment is 100% to revenge and hurting Gilead, and will sacrifice everything else to do so, I think that's what they were getting at. But my issue with this is that Luke is choosing the life that June delivered to him - NOT one he chose or created for himself. Let's not forget that he's raising the child that she insists was born out of love with another man. Moira has come out and said that she wouldn't have chosen that life, that she did so out of guilt. Did Luke really have any choices there about raising Nicole? On paper yes, in reality, not so much. So why does June get to decide to abandon her role as Nicole's mother, when Luke isn't her father and never had a choice to become one to Nicole? Because he got out and she didn't? I don't know if I'm explaining myself well, and again, given what I know about the future of June, at least as far as the Testaments go, this falls right in line with what happens down the line. But the steps for June to get her justice, do it her way, make her point, whatever it may be, just creates more victims along the way. Can somebody please explain Lawrence to me? I just. don't. get. him.

I'm not sure Nick necessarily wants to defect. As others have said, he's essentially a war criminal. However, pre-Gilead Nick was "a loser." Couldn't keep a job, wasn't respected, short tempered, a nobody. Gilead Nick IS somebody. He is respected, trusted, and whether it is warranted or not, he has power -- even if he doesn't agree with certain aspects of Gilead (and people can justify a lot in their minds when they need to), I'm not convinced he thinks going back to "freedom" is better. I had forgotten all about that. The show writers probably did as well. But this is another place where I think they did a disservice by killing Alma. She also seemed to know a lot more than she should about how things work in Gilead.

I think it is entirely possible that Nick was able to step "away" for a bit. He is essentially a high ranking general and also an eye - an intelligence officer. He knows how to work those situations without raising suspicion and the people around him probably don't bat an eye. He could have told his superiors that he was meeting an informant whose identity was known by very few, maybe just 1 other, or perhaps a new informant who had just made contact recently. He could have told his subordinates he was going somewhere else. People like Nick are trained to be able to do this kind of thing. And people in the military are trained on a "need to know" basis. It even happens here. My mom's brother was in the military, he was in intelligence. That's all I ever really knew, it never occurred to me to ask anything, I just knew he was in the army. At his wake, I met some of the people who served with and for him. They told me they had no idea what he did, but if he was in the field, it was important. That was it. I don't think June wearing red was anything character driven. I think it was the show doing a poor attempt at symbolism. It reminded me of season 1 when June and Luke are meeting in some cafe and there are these little girls playing in the background all in pink while 2 older women in long coats watch on. That was effective. June in a red coat as some kind of symbol of either empowerment OR her inability to let go of her past as a handmaid didn't really work. It was too in your face. This episode had me going "huh" like a lot of episodes this season. It is weird. A lot has happened this season but it feels like not much has gone on at all. Huh.

I've gotten the impression that it was more loosely arranged. That the families have a hand in it however if they don't actually get along, they don't have to get married.

They were updated? Fascinating! I will have to check them out again. My favorite two were Down a Dark Hall and Stranger With My Face. I don't think I fully understood Daughters of Eve as a teen, it can be hard to grasp the concept of a group mob/cultish mentality for violence and harm when you are 15 years old. I brought up the question of June's return to Canada lacking poignancy, and somebody pointed out her stepping onto Canadian soil, and other scenes. It is interesting, I didn't find myself moved in that same way. June is out for blood - justifiably so - and so as these moments go, I am tense x 1000. Unlike the relief I felt when Emily crossed over and realized the officer was a canadian, unlike the tears I cried when Rita stepped off that plane and was so happy to meet Luke, or the happy tears when Luke went to find Moira. And I don't mean this as a criticism of June. I just wish we could have a moment of true happiness for her, somewhere. Just a moment, please, then we can go back to where we were.

Was anybody a Lois Duncan fan growing up and if so did you get Daughters Of Eve vibes to the nth degree in those therapy sessions? Speaking of therapy, what is this group stuff? Every single one of these ladies should be inextensive private counseling, group led by a trained psychologist and some likely on a prescribed anti-depressant and/or anti-anxiety. And as for June, I know why the show is going in this direction but honestly the show is so dark, I was hoping for some moments of light and love for June. Remember the beautiful reunion of Moira and Luke, that he had listed her as family? Yes, it is a dark show, but where is the poignancy? Who in their right mind in Canada would be fans of the Waterfords.

We actually have no idea if Luke was objecting or not. She stopped him from saying what he would have said. She covered his mouth, held his hand down. If a woman is sleeping, and man starts to move on to her and then starts to have sex with her, and she says "wait wait," and that man covers her mouth with his hand and disregards that statement and keeps going, that is not clear consent. Furthermore, the man would know exactly what he was doing. He was having sex with that sleeping woman and still going - despite clear signs and words that were indicating a wish to stop, or at the very least, slow down. Luke was sleeping. June started to move over him and then started to have sex with him. He clearly said "wait" and she covered his mouth with her hand and disregarded that and kept going. There was no clear consent, and she knew exactly what she was doing. She was having sex with Luke, despite clear signs and words that were indicating a wish to stop or at the very least slow down. It doesn't matter if June didn't want to hear Luke ask her if she's okay. As callous as it sounds, it doesn't matter if she is a Gilead survivor. It doesn't matter if she was raped repeatedly and is trying to take back her power, her sexuality, her womanhood. And who knows, Luke might have said okay let's keep going. We'll never know. She did not allow him to express hesitation during sex. Honestly, credit to the actors - the scene left us confused as to what just happened. There are layers upon layers to peel back here, this is even really just surface stuff - and the actors portrayed that beautifully. I said this during the similar scene with Nick - I don't find these sex scenes to be empowering at all. I find them to be the exactly opposite, quite frankly. They are driven by rage, desperation and sadness. Nowhere in them to I find empowerment. While we were cheering her on for her rage at Serena, it was that rage that fueled the sex with Luke. I don't find that empowering. Maybe nobody noticed this but me, but there was a scene earlier in the show where Luke announces to Tuello that he is taking his wife home. Luke taking charge and telling June where she was going, what they were doing, etc. In his eyes, "protecting" June who is still incredibly vulnerable. We then got long shot of June absorbing that moment. I don't think she was looking at Luke with gratitude or admiration. I think she was taking in that she was "free" and yet it was another person taking charge of what she was going to do, just in another kind of way. And I think that also played a role, on a subconscious level, of June not acknowledging Luke's hesitancy. I suppose one could argue that if Luke had really wanted to stop her he could have but given the situation he may just as easily have felt that if he HAD forced that stop it would have caused greater problems. That's why it was even more important for Luke to not have his voice silenced. June was doing what SHE wanted. She was not necessarily what Luke wanted. And if you don't allow that person to express that, then what are you left with?

Interesting debate on rape or not. Food for thought - exact same circumstances, except reverse the roles. If it had been Luke in the June role, June in the Luke role. Rape or not?

There is an article out in People right now where Teresa talks about always being under attack and this time she showed her true self and did what she had to do and is proud of it. "I did what I had to do" - referring to the reunion Does this that all this time we've been seeing a "restrained" Teresa? Sweet jesus. I guess we will see tonight. But I have no interest in seeing Teresa the bully on steroids. I mean, she's bad enough as is and it reaches a point where it's not entertainment anymore.

That's because they were playing closer to the book then - you were forbidden from talking about the past, it didn't exist. And you had no idea who would report you if you did, everybody could be a spy. So it wasn't mentioned. That is why Emily talking about the former ice cream shop in her early scenes with June was so jarring and shocking. Can I ask a question? Why do people like the Bradley Whitford character? I can't stand him. Even his alleged remorse seems doused in greed and selfishness.

This season was so unmemorable. And it isn't like there wasn't drama. There was plenty. But it was unmemorable. I guess Jackie doesn't have tobworry about Evan's reputation, it was the most dramatic storyline of the season and completely unmemorable. Jennifer was fantastic this season. Tre has to go, at this point she is nothing but nothing but a bully with the maturity of an 11 year old, Dolores is boring, Melissa is boring, Jackie is way too private and not nearly as exciting as she seems to think she is, and Margaret is well into bully territory as well. They are lacking the fun factor. I love RHONJ and I actually really love this cast. But they need shake it up a bit. This 3 and 3 thing is done. And call me crazy, but aside from Jennifer's pool, there is nothing about their lives that I actually envy. They are really just basic bitches.

I came out of this episode torn on how I felt about where June started the episode and where she ended. On the one hand, I thought June was getting a little too "big for her britches" - to quote my mother - and positively hateful in some of her interactions with others. However I absolutely HATE that they used rape and oral sex as the mechanism to bring on that self-reflection - it was completely unnecessary and the end result could have been achieved in so many other ways. I really liked Janine pointing out that she might not have made the same choices as June. Okay, yes, we all know she would have if it were Charlotte in that glass box, but her point is that there are heroes all around them. Janine has "saved" June plenty of times, as well. In the hospital when June wanted to kill her walking partner. When she was laying dead in the forest. This episode with the Resistance Rapist. Saving and heroics doesn't always come in the form of big grandiose moments. For example, we had June snarling in Janine's face that she should have left her behind a long time ago, or something along those lines. Well, had Janine left JUNE a long time ago, June would be dead in the forest - for example. Does Janine turn to June and say "what do we do next??" plenty of times? Yes. And while June may not show that level of vulnerability or uncertainty in the same way, lord knows, it's clear that she'd be nowhere if not for the smarts, wit and courage of others. I just hate that it took her being unable to blow job to get her to that realization. That sucked. Literally, for poor Janine. Where this episode came in so strong was the fact that it wasn't All June All The Time. Janine held her own, we got more Rita, Serena and Fred (my god, Serena and Fred have a real talent for distortion). We were introduced to an aspect of the Handmaid's Tale that I'm eager to explore. And we even toughed on some other aspects of the book that go beyond June as well. For example, at the very end they talk about how some women, once liberated from Gilead, had a real struggle assimilating back into "normal" life. I like how we keep getting little glimpses of that along the way, most recently here with Rita. Although I do wonder if her deference to Serena and Fred was intentional at first, out of "habit" and fear, Stockholm syndrome, or if she went in there knowing exactly what she was going to do and how she was going to act around them? I mean, with the commander, she went in there with a clear plan. But did she go in to meet with Serena being all "yes m'am" intentionally?

So with that statement and the 3 "contractors" on the show the most is it fair to say that they need the income more than Evan or Tony the Turk? Just an observation that aligns with my theory that Melissa, Dolores and Margaret are living in a house of cards. Every time I watch this show and see something that makes me mildly sick to my stomach, I get all pissed off that Andy Cohen is basically profiting off of the worst of women. But then again, I keep watching, so I suppose I'm part of the problem.

To be fair though, Dolores is the cast member of the show, not Frank. We see Dolores' life, and Frank through that lens, not Frank's life. It is entirely possible that other women have been around - we just don't see or hear about them because they don't fit the narrative. Maybe. Other than knowing that Frank had a girlfriend her first season, and then they broke up which prompted him to move in with her in her second season, that's all we really know about Frank and his personal time. I think we are overthinking it. I think Dolores gets what she needs from David on a physical level when they actually are together. I think she gets the social/emotional needs covered by Frank. This of course assumes that Dolores and Frank aren't boinking on the side and I'm not sure I believe that. But let's just say for the purposes of this discussion that they haven't crossed that line since hey split. I simply don't think she has found anybody who gets it all done for her and so we wind up here. I also don't think David is ever going to marry her (he is married to his job) and I also think he wants absolutely NOTHING to do with RHONJ. And to be fair, can you blame him on that last point? ETA: I just googled to see if Frank has a girlfriend however instead found out that Frankie has a girlfriend. And there is definitely a Gia resemblance. Perhaps it's his type, or just a common "aesthetic" but to me it was pretty obviously Gia 2.0.

I am not assuming that all of their money is her parents money. They went "away" 20+ years ago. One can fairly assume that Jackie and Evan have earned a significant amount of money. Didn't they say in a reunion that Jackie had more at the start of the relationship and then Evan was bringing it in? There is a lot of the finance world that is under high scrutiny at any point in time. That doesn't make everybody who works in finance and their spouses shady as fuck when we have seen nothing to support that.

The hampton house is hers. You can find the rental listing on air bnb, somebody posted it last year. And it is entirely likely that the place has been occupied by long term renters. People were getting out of dodge last spring and summer and fleeing NYC and their suburban homes. With people working fully from home, camps closed, swim clubs closed, those who could left for the summer and went long term down the shore or out to the hamptons, lake george, etc because at that point NJ and NY and CT were in sync and didn't require testing/quarantine. Some went for weeks, some for months. It was practicqlly impossible to find a rental in the area and with Jackie being beachfront with a pool that place was certainly snapped up. Even if the her parents wealth was sketchy (and it certainly might have been given what we know), they seem pretty legit now and living within their generous means. She has investment property and probably pulled down a good salary as a lawyer when she practiced. Evan is high up in his firm. They have other investments, we have heard Evan make reference to their kids 529s, and have heard Jackie reference what she and Evan have done together. And let's not forget she now gets paid for the show, appearances, etc. Of all the NJ housewives, the goldschneiders and the Aydins seem legit. Teresa we know is a fraud, I am suspect of anybody who is a contractor just because in NJ that ENTIRE industry is so damn corrupt, I don't believe you can do that legitimately without crossing some lines somewhere, we know that Frank was disbarred for misuse of escrow funds so he clearly is willing to bend some rules and honestly, I am not sure I understand the Macbeth Collection, something seems not right there. So a plastic surgeon in an area of the country where a nip and a tuck is as normal as brushing your teeth, and a hedge fund/tech investor living in northern nj mcmansions seem pretty damn normal to me. God this episode was boring. I do not care about Teresa and her new man. And I totally believe he is in it for the fame and knew exactly who Teresa was, there are way too many red flags from his past. Granted people could say the same about her so maybe they are a match made in temper hell?

Killing Alma was a mistake IMO. She was part of Mayday. She had a greater understanding of Gilead and how it works. She didn't blindly follow June and they were clearly leader 1 and leader 2 of the group. And quite frankly, given how much she knew over the course of the seasons, there was a lot more they could do with her. I'm also not a fan of Janine and am annoyed that she and June made it. This episode had too much torture and too many close-ups of Elisabeth Moss. Moss is amazing, I've always believed that. But that particular filming choice is losing it's impact, you can only convey the same emotions in so many ways. I feel like you could simply pluck out one "horrified by the realization of what has happened" close up and replace it with any other "horrified by the realization of what has happened" close up from any other episode and we wouldn't even notice. The same applies for the "I'm royally pissed off and I will make you pay by opening my eyes and staring UP at the camera," the "dazed and confused by trauma," the "desperate for any kindness," and (my personal favorite), the "look what I just got away with bitches" close-ups. In other words. Enough close-up shots of Elisabeth Moss. That said I'm glad they escaped again. I know it's totally improbably that June would even be alive at this point in time after all that has happened, but how many times can we see her assigned as a handmaid? As viewers we have asked to see more of the resistance and so far that's what we're getting. Are we expecting some type of evolution to begin with Aunt Lydia this season? They are certainly laying the groundwork.

I don't know what to make of this episode. I kept watching it and thinking "huh." And now I'm at today and still thinking "huh." The location of the farm confuses me. Why were they taken from the Boston area all the way to the midwest. And in the aftermath of the season 2 finale, I find it hard to believe that the truck wouldn't have been searched more completely when it was stopped. So I don't believe for one moment they would have gotten that far. Perhaps they headed in that direction because heading towards the border would have been to obvious and too difficult, but geez. They get away with transferring 8 handmaids 12 hours west? Kind of seems like getting out of Gilead shouldn't be that tough if they pulled that off. Kudos to McKenna Grace. I was impressed. I was NOT, however, impressed by June egging her on to murder her rapist because no matter what, she encouraged a child to murder and that is just one more trauma to add to that poor girls long list of horror. And above all that, the girl desperately wants a mother, she chose June. Would June have encouraged Hannah in the same way, even IF Hannah said, "I'm ready to fight, I want to fight"? I don't believe it, not for one second. I could 100% get behind the handmaid's exacting "justice" according to the laws of Gilead, we've seen them do it before. But having the child commit murder? I know June isn't supposed to be innocent in this story. She's a deeply flawed character. But that one just doesn't work that way and I'm legitimately pissed off the show went that way. Which brings me to June. At this point we are supposed to believe that she is full-blown vigilante rebel. I suppose we are also supposed to believe that she has been so deeply wounded by Gilead that she will stop at nothing - including prompting a young girl to murder - to get revenge and do what else? (legit question: is she still focused on finding Hannah and getting her out, or is she now just focused on being a rebel). And she has established herself as the leader of this pocket of the resistance, and so I suppose it's not surprising that the other handmaids, particularly Janine, follow her. But why does she show up on this farm, a place that is giving her shelter and is a safe-house in Gilead, and suddenly take over as HBIC? Am I wrong to assume that a safe house has protocols in place to protect the property and operations of the safe house, and that would include requiring that those in residence who actually require that safety to either remain hidden or blend in beyond just putting on a gray dress? Has she learned nothing from her past carelessness in past situations like these? June's storyline is being driven by plot, not by character. And the others are driven by character just fine so I can't figure out why that philosophy doesn't apply to June. I have never had so much trouble rooting for "the good guy" before. I legitimately hated her in this episode. And did anybody else find the party in the barn scene to be really disturbing, or was that just mean? I got the impression that they did that to lay the groundwork to convince the Waterford's to see the positives in cooperating and also limit their options to anything but that choice. Their former Martha escaped on the plane with the children. Their former handmaid led the effort. They can't ever go back to Gilead now, no matter what deals they try to strike. They'd be executed. Where does that leave them? Stuck in Canada. So what do they do then?

You mean the OG with tacky style, 3-then-4 kids, with a good looking husband (Juicy wasn't bad looking in the beginning), parents right there to cook and pass on italian traditions to the kids, in a huge new construction house, with money to frivolously burn, who considers herself funny, warm and generous, and above all is proudly over the top in everything she does is feeling threatened by the newish housewife with tacky style, 5 kids, a good looking (and successful and well spoken) husband, with parents right there to cook and come together to share traditional turkish customs with the kids, in a huge new construction house, with money to frivolously burn, who considers herself funny, warm and generous, and above all over the top in everything she does? I can't imagine why Tre would feel that way.

After all we have seen does anybody believe for one second that Jackie ate in the car? What was with the snide comment about a huge mortgage and no furniture? That was bitchy. I am more and more convinced that Jackie, Marge and Melissa are supremely jealous of Jennifer. For all their talk about how she is rude, out of touch, etc, they are outright assholes to her. They hardly represent graciousness and thoughtfulness. I may be in the minority, but I thought Marge looked really pretty in the convo with her mom. I didn't like her yacht look.