THT Spoilers

[NoSpam]

Now that I've watched the preview for episode 10 a few times, here's what I think will be in Episode 10.

1. Putnam makes his confession and everyone expects a slap on the wrist, but they "purge" him for his sinfulness (a foreshadowing of what happens even to powerful men who break the religious rules -- do you hear, Waterford?). His wife is hauled off but we don't find out where they're taking her.

2. Sorry, but I believe the stoning is of Janine. The guards are definitely dragging in someone in a red dress. She's now guilty of adultery, by Putnam's own admission, and she must be punished. What better lesson to the handmaids than to make them kill one of their own? This makes June realize how precarious her situation is, because she's been "luring Waterford away from righteousness" and if someone finds out, June will pay. (As an aside, I don't think we'll see what happens to Original Recipe Offglen/Emily in this episode).

3. Serena Joy finds the dress/shoes June has been wearing to Jezebel's and confronts Waterford, who does his "YOU answer to ME" line. Frustrated and enraged, SJ does the pecking order thing and smacks June around, promising retribution on June.

4. June tears open the package and it's a picture of Hannah. (Why Mayday wanted that, I don't know. It makes no sense, but none of the changes the show runner has made from the book have made any sense IMO). Of course, this scene is shot so darkly that I may never really know what's in the damn package.

5. Moira is on the run, dogs are after her, and we don't see whether or not she makes it to Canada. Gotta have that teaser for Season 2.

6. June gets hauled into a black van by the Eyes. She thinks it's SJ's retribution, but Nick tells her they're really Mayday. She doesn't believe him and hence she's pounding on the glass of the van to be let out. And that's where they end season 1.

Oh, and somewhere in there, Nick wants a threesome with June and Moira (that's for you, Umbelina!) 

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

One of the main draw of TV shows for me is the romance, but I hope The Handmaid's Tale doesn't develop any OTP. It is not that type of show. At least not with June and any of the men in her sphere; Luke or Nick. 

Give  everything she's been through and is going through is in no shape to fall in love with anyone. In the book, I got that Nick was an escapetism coupled with a recklessness that made her feel alive and in control albeit seflishly.  Please, this is not the beginning of a love story and shouldn't be one 

[LaChavalina]

It's not as clear to me that they're dragging someone in a red dress, but if they are I'd be surprised if it's Janine. The clear implication from the last episode was that she's in a coma or vegetative state, and she's being kept alive artificially because of her ability to reproduce. (I suspect that was also intended as an irony--i.e., Gilead doesn't believe in fertility treatments because they're unnatural, but if you are fertile they're happy to keep you unnaturally alive.) The particicution victim may well be the Mayday Handmaid, in which case it would make sense that June opens the package because there's no one left to accept it.

[NoSpam]

55 minutes ago, LaChavalina said:

The particicution victim may well be the Mayday Handmaid, in which case it would make sense that June opens the package because there's no one left to accept it.

Oh, that's a great guess. OK, I'm revising my prediction. I think it's Alma that they're dragging in. 

They're definitely dragging in a handmaid. She's at the upper right of the screen, between two men in black. 

Edited June 9, 2017 by NoSpam

[Umbelina]

Also, how difficult would it be for them to stone a man to death?  Stoning one of their own fits with the episode description.

[Pachengala]

I paused it at the stoning clip but couldn't see anything definitive. However, Aunt Lydia appears to be close to tears, maybe, which lends credence to the idea that it's a handmaid who is stoned. 

[Umbelina]

2 minutes ago, Pachengala said:

I paused it at the stoning clip but couldn't see anything definitive. However, Aunt Lydia appears to be close to tears, maybe, which lends credence to the idea that it's a handmaid who is stoned. 

Janine makes the most sense.

• Aunt Lydia actually has shown feelings for Janine.
• Janine would have the most emotional impact.
• We see the trial of her former master, and by Gilead law they are both guilty, so if they convict him (likely) they will also convict her.
• Stoning has usually been for women during history, usually for adultery or some sort of sex, including being raped.
• Men in Gilead seem to be hanged.
• I guess there is a remote chance he gets off, but she is punished/killed.  I hope not, I really want to see what happens to a "wife" without a powerful husband.  Hopefully, nuclear waste clean up, maybe why the Fred is so confident with Serena Joy.

Are we ever going to see econowives?  Apparently not, which is sad, since I think as Gilead deteriorates they will suffer the same fate as Handmaids, on one pretext or another.  They could still bring them in next season, and I think it would be powerful to show that.  Just make something up about some special part of town separate from where wives and handmaids are allowed to go or something.  With two seasons, they really should bring in the econowives.  One season?  OK, don't like it but I get it.  Two?  The hell?

[NoSpam]

5 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Janine makes the most sense.

• Aunt Lydia actually has shown feelings for Janine.
• Janine would have the most emotional impact.
• We see the trial of her former master, and by Gilead law they are both guilty, so if they convict him (likely) they will also convict her.
• Stoning has usually been for women during history, usually for adultery or some sort of sex, including being raped.
• Men in Gilead seem to be hanged.
• I guess there is a remote chance he gets off, but she is punished/killed.  I hope not, I really want to see what happens to a "wife" without a powerful husband.  Hopefully, nuclear waste clean up, maybe why the Fred is so confident with Serena Joy.

Are we ever going to see econowives?  Apparently not, which is sad, since I think as Gilead deteriorates they will suffer the same fate as Handmaids, on one pretext or another.  They could still bring them in next season, and I think it would be powerful to show that.  Just make something up about some special part of town separate from where wives and handmaids are allowed to go or something.  

I agree with you about Janine being the most impactful stoning victim, but if it's Alma that gives June a reason to open the package. 

We did see Emily's Martha get hung, btw. That scene was the last one in the whole series that gutted me. 

My money is on Putnam getting purged. It would be a powerful foreshadowing of what might happen to Fred, and it would help fuel Serena Joy's rage.

I'd love to see the Econowives. They could cover it by saying the Econowives are for righteous working men who aren't wealthy, hence they don't live in the same neighborhood we've seen so far. We've only seen the really wealthy men who have been assigned Handmaids, and their servants. But there must be a lower class of married people there, like the butcher and his wife. I'd assume a butcher would have an Econowife. I remember in episode 1, when Offred introduced Nick, she said, "...so low status he hasn't been assigned a women." If he'd been "assigned a woman," she'd be an Econowife. 

But more than the Econowives, I'd like to hear more about June's mother. We had that one line about her ("She gave me the snip after it was made illegal") and that was it. 

What do we all think is going to be in the package?

[Umbelina]

Yes, and we saw a nun hanged as well I think, and the woman in the business suit, and one man "particulated" to death.  In general though, for men, I think they hang them.  I doubt they would want a Commander type particulated.

[Anela]

I've just seen a preview on facebook, and it definitely shows a woman in a red cape, kneeling in the snow. :( Most of the clips were from previous episodes, though (I think). It showed June doing something to another woman, to her face. I think that one might be new, unless I'm forgetting something, and she hurt the Aunt they stole clothes from.

[Anela]

The handmaid has light brown hair. 

[Umbelina]

Thanks!  There you go everyone!  Sure looks like Janine to me.  Although, wait, Janine's hair is slightly darker, and curlier.  Could that be original OfGlen?

Watched again, it's curly enough, and dark enough.  Bye poor Janine.

Edited June 10, 2017 by Umbelina

[NoSpam]

1 hour ago, Umbelina said:

Sure looks like Janine to me.  Although, wait, Janine's hair is slightly darker, and curlier.  Could that be original OfGlen?

Watched again, it's curly enough, and dark enough.  Bye poor Janine.

Thanks for that!

 

It could be either Janine or Alma. I think they're faking us out by showing Emily ... 

Edited June 10, 2017 by NoSpam

[Umbelina]

19 minutes ago, NoSpam said:

thanks for that!

 

It could be either Janine or Alma. 

I thought Alma had black hair?  Or extremely dark anyway.  I don't think Alma dying would have that much emotional impact. 

Alma:

 

Edited June 10, 2017 by Umbelina

[NoSpam]

9 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

I thought Alma had black hair?  Or extremely dark anyway.  I don't think Alma dying would have that much emotional impact.

She might. It's hard to see under the cap, and I don't remember from the Red Center. 

My first thought was Janine, because of the "adultery" she committed with Putnam. I hope Alma survives to keep MayDay alive.

[chocolatine]

The hair is not dark enough to be Alma's and too wavy to be Emily's. Though I really don't get why they would stone Janine after saving her and keeping her alive. I wonder if the Wives wanted to make an example of an "adulterous" Handmaid and perhaps SJ blackmailed Fred that if he doesn't get Janine sentenced she would rat him out for his "extracurriculars" with June.

[AprilNYC]

Spoiler TV posted photos from the finale and I think June is pregnant - there is a photo of Nick with his hand on her stomach.  Also, a photo of him kissing her shoulder while June looks up at someone behind him - maybe they take him away? 

[AprilNYC]

One more thing: In the season finale clip on Facebook there is this one frame that I can't figure out what is going on - but at the end of the clip you hear a zap of some sort - so maybe June gets a stungun? Maybe that is what was in the package?  I would love to see if anyone else had theories!  A lot of the clips in that are from the entire series but I don't recall seeing this:

 

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

 No love stories please 

[Umbelina]

So, what do you guys think? 

They didn't know they would get a season 2 when this first season was done shooting/editing, sometime late last summer or very early fall.  SO, will tonight's end with June and the black van and Nick arranging her escape?

[LadyHa]

1 hour ago, Umbelina said:

So, what do you guys think? 

They didn't know they would get a season 2 when this first season was done shooting/editing, sometime late last summer or very early fall.  SO, will tonight's end with June and the black van and Nick arranging her escape?

I am pretty much expecting that, but I can't seem to guess what will happen to Nick.  Also, I'd be surprised if Offred's escape is completely successful, because then how will the other characters fit into the story next season? I am a little nervous that something tragic will happen in the finale but, then again, would the producers really kill off any of their main characters and lose one of these great actors?

[Becks]

9 hours ago, Umbelina said:

So, what do you guys think? 

They didn't know they would get a season 2 when this first season was done shooting/editing, sometime late last summer or very early fall.  SO, will tonight's end with June and the black van and Nick arranging her escape?

Yes, like LadyHa I'm expecting that the ending will generally fit with the book's...but that we will learn next season that the escape did not come off as planned, maybe. I think what happens to everyone beyond June getting in the black van will be left up in the air. That way, if they hadn't been picked up for a second season, it would generally jibe with Atwood's book ending (minus the newer epilogue) - and if they did succeed in getting a second season, it would serve as a cliffhanger and give wiggle room for wherever they plan to take it in the future.

As for Nick, it would seem, based on the Elisabeth Moss interview in Elle I posted on the media thread, that he will at least be alive at the end of the season. But under what circumstances is anyone's guess.

Even though they didn't know whether they would be picked up to continue the series, it is now very clear that this adaptation was conceived with the idea that it WOULD be continued - if they had originally only hoped to adapt the book's story, they wouldn't have needed 10 episodes, and there's all sorts of obvious setup for next season that wouldn't have been included.

 

11 hours ago, Deputy Deputy CoS said:

 No love stories please 

I understand the sentiment, but I'd be seriously surprised if the show eschewed love stories altogether. I can't think of any show off the top of my head that does so. Even Game of Thrones - based on a book series with a general lack of typical love stories - has included a couple. It's a way to create emotional investment and show us the 'human' side of people, and few shows sidestep that formula.

[Umbelina]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/some-theories-on-what-we-can-expect-from-handmaids-tale-season-2_us_593ef560e4b0c5a35ca24d08

Some Theories On What You Can Expect From ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 2

Here’s what the first season finale didn’t cover  .Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Another theory from VOX:  https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/6/14/15782104/handmaids-tale-hulu-season-1-finale-night-recap-review

Quote

Todd: I should say here that my assumption is that June will be back in the Waterford household next season, reporting on Waterford to the Eyes. Her pregnancy is too good of a screenwriting "ticking clock" for the show to put her in another location. So take all of the below with a grain of salt if she does end up in Canada.

Edited June 14, 2017 by Umbelina

[Becks]

On 6/9/2017 at 1:56 AM, Umbelina said:

Luke would be stupid enough to risk all those lives just to send a teddy bear and tell her not to open it.  Nah, not even Luke is that dumb.

I just wanted to say that I'm REALLY glad to be wrong about what was in the package. I felt like all those 'handmaid's tales' were a little tip of the hat to the book itself, and the way Offred told her story not knowing where it would end up or who would hear it.

But I do think Luke would be that dumb. Hee.

[EC Amber]

3 hours ago, Becks said:

I felt like all those 'handmaid's tales' were a little tip of the hat to the book itself, and the way Offred told her story not knowing where it would end up or who would hear it.

I hadn't considered that, but what a beautiful way to pay homage to the book itself. 

I'm still irritated with June for just laying on the ground surrounded by these tales in a kind of stupor. 

[Becks]

12 hours ago, EC Amber said:

I'm still irritated with June for just laying on the ground surrounded by these tales in a kind of stupor. 

Yeah, I kept thinking, 'What if somebody walks in?'. But what really got me was hiding them in the bathroom. I know she was in a hurry and her hiding places are almost non-existent, but what if they got wet?

[Umbelina]

They were under a very over-sized rim, and I doubt she intended to leave them there forever.  I have no idea where she would put them though, was she supposed to pass them on somehow?  If so, why use her as the middleman, why not just give them to the person she was supposed to pass them on to?

[EC Amber]

14 hours ago, Becks said:

I know she was in a hurry and her hiding places are almost non-existent, but what if they got wet?

Some of those tales seemed to be written on fabric, which would make it worse. I get not hiding them in her room - clearly people go in there and wander through her things (are they even "hers")? I love that she passed them on to Rita... and I hope we really get to see what Rita does with them. If they draw her into working for Mayday as well. 

What bothered me was her disregard for all those other handmaids who desperately wanted their voices to be heard. Her thoughtlessness could have silenced them all. 

[Umbelina]

Quote

 

How many seasons do you see the show running?

Well, you know, honestly, when I started, I tried to game out in my head what would ten seasons be like? If you hit a home run, you want energy to go around the bases, you want enough story to keep going, if you can hook the audience to care about these people enough that they’re actually crying at the finale.

 

Uh, WHAT?
 

Quote

 

You’re in the writers’ room now for Season 2. What do you want to explore?

Aunt Lydia is one of my most fascinating characters. We would like to explore her back story, and what the lives of the aunts are like. The networks between the Marthas. What is the commander doing all day long, and what is his life like? What are his responsibilities?

 

This could actually be good, because the actress is so fine.
 

Quote

 

And the Mayday resistance movement? Rita now has possession of the letters that Moira helped smuggle out for June.

The Mayday resistance is going to be a big part of Season 2. The part that I’ve been thinking about is that Mayday is not the handmaid rescue organization — it’s the anti-Gilead organization. And the anti-Gilead organization is not necessarily a friend to June or a friend to handmaids. If I was going to try to hurt Gilead, the first thing I might do is kill all the handmaids. You’re trying to weaken the state. We make the assumption that there are good guys and bad guys in this world, and that certainly is a bad assumption on our part, just like it’s a bad assumption on our part in the real world.

 

Interesting point.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/18/arts/television/the-handmaids-tale-finale-showrunner-interview.html?mabReward=CTM1&recp=0&moduleDetail=recommendations-0&action=click&contentCollection=Book Review&region=Footer&module=WhatsNext&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&src=recg&pgtype=article

What do you guys think?

[Becks]

 
 

Quote

How many seasons do you see the show running?

Well, you know, honestly, when I started, I tried to game out in my head what would ten seasons be like? If you hit a home run, you want energy to go around the bases, you want enough story to keep going, if you can hook the audience to care about these people enough that they’re actually crying at the finale.

 

I honestly think they're going to struggle to get even one more season out of the show and still have anything of the book's flavor left. Look at episode 7, and how it felt - it bore a ton of resemblance to all sorts of other shows and movies. When left to their own devices, that's what the writers came up with. It's telling.

The shows that should last as long as 10 seasons are very, very few. And I can't think of a single scripted drama that should have, even among the finest shows ever. I love the UK's willingness to stop shows when the story demands it - even if it means something brilliant only gets a couple of seasons.

Edited June 20, 2017 by Becks

[LadyHa]

I keep thinking that all the letters from the handmaids foreshadows the show becoming a spy underground procedural.  Every week, a new handmaid gets saved!  Haha, just joking... I think.  But, yes, mixed feelings about the prospect of so many seasons.  One season was kind of perfect.

 

 

Also:

On 6/11/2017 at 1:03 PM, AprilNYC said:

Spoiler TV posted photos from the finale and I think June is pregnant - there is a photo of Nick with his hand on her stomach.  Also, a photo of him kissing her shoulder while June looks up at someone behind him - maybe they take him away? 

I just realized that they aired a different edit than this still.  I wonder how different the scene was originally?

Edited June 20, 2017 by LadyHa

[Whimsy]

I noticed the different edit, too.  I was really watching out for it as I was wondering who June was looking at. 

[Keener]

On 6/16/2017 at 2:54 PM, Umbelina said:

They were under a very over-sized rim, and I doubt she intended to leave them there forever.  I have no idea where she would put them though, was she supposed to pass them on somehow?  If so, why use her as the middleman, why not just give them to the person she was supposed to pass them on to?

Alma's instruction was that June/Offred was to collect the package at Jezebel's from the barmaid named Rachel. She was then to hide it until "someone" came and got it from her. So there was no end point established and no indication as to who the person was that was meant to receive it. June/Offred could've had the package for a long time before someone came for it at all. Rita could theoretically be the next stage. Maybe we'll see the Martha-network since they've certainly hinted that the Marthas are a problem for Gilead's government.

[Umbelina]

Even floating the idea of 10 seasons is Bizarre.

I could see three seasons though, if handled well, which so far, these writers have a sketchy record of accomplishing.

Atwood is obviously writing a sequel, so that may or may not be a good place to begin.

What I'd like to see, if, say they do actually do 3 seasons/

Next season:

• Introduce the Econowives, it would be very easy to fan wank that they've been kept away from Housemaid areas.  I feel like they are the obvious next place to poach fertile women, and that would give, what could be another fascinating view of Gilead, and the hypocrisy.
• Definitely show the camps, maybe that's why Bledel is coming back?  She could be in one of the camps.
• Expand the stories of other interesting characters already on screen, which they may be doing with Rita, and have pretty much said they will do with Aunt Lydia.
• I don't want some freedom fighters hero show, and that especially includes Luke, and probably Moira. 
• Related to above, this society is obviously unsustainable in many ways, I'd much rather see the much more likely collapse from within than some unrealistic war show.
• Also related, I'd love to see more of the world reacting to what is happening in Gilead, POV's from Europe, Japan, China or other power players in the world.  Major religions as well, Jewish and Catholic condemnation. 
• I feel that they will send Offred back to the commanders as a spy, delay her eventual escape to keep her on screen and in Gilead.  I have pretty much resigned myself to that for one more season, so?  Whatever.  Moss is outstanding, and it could work.
• Kill the Commander and send Serena Joy to join Bledel in the camps. 
• Possibly add in June's mother with that story.
• It's inevitable that this will be heavily Luke/Moria thus Canada based, let's hope they can do it properly.  I'd rather see the human side of their lives than make either of them superheroes.

SEASON THREE?

• Resolve it. 
• Let us know exactly how Gilead failed.
• Show the impact on everyone on screen when it does fail.
• Show us how their lives go on from there, what replaces Gilead, rebuilding a devastated world.

[Pachengala]

13 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

I could see three seasons though, if handled well, which so far, these writers have a sketchy record of accomplishing.

I mentioned this in the Night thread, and it's why I'm probably out for any additional seasons. When they go 'off-book,' the show runners have defaulted to easy, cliched storytelling that we've seen a million times already, a sort of cheesy, 'feel-good feminism' that to me, is reductive at best and antithetical to the book's message at worst. I mean, we're an army? Handmaid power? Huh? Why did Atwood sign off on that? 

Now that they're basically out of source material (I'm not counting the Colonies since Offred doesn't really go into detail), I figure we're in for more of this type of stuff, and while it will probably be a fine show on its own, it certainly isn't the Handmaid's Tale, and that's what I was tuning in to see. Still, those first three episodes will go down as three of the most haunting, disturbing episodes of television I've ever seen. Like, I-will-never-sleep-again type of stuff. 

[Umbelina]

13 minutes ago, Pachengala said:

I mentioned this in the Night thread, and it's why I'm probably out for any additional seasons. When they go 'off-book,' the show runners have defaulted to easy, cliched storytelling that we've seen a million times already, a sort of cheesy, 'feel-good feminism' that to me, is reductive at best and antithetical to the book's message at worst. I mean, we're an army? Handmaid power? Huh? Why did Atwood sign off on that? 

Now that they're basically out of source material (I'm not counting the Colonies since Offred doesn't really go into detail), I figure we're in for more of this type of stuff, and while it will probably be a fine show on its own, it certainly isn't the Handmaid's Tale, and that's what I was tuning in to see. Still, those first three episodes will go down as three of the most haunting, disturbing episodes of television I've ever seen. Like, I-will-never-sleep-again type of stuff. 

Atwood is getting paid, and I think she argued many things, including the exclusion of the racist aspects of Gilead, but she lost.  I don't blame an author for wanting or needing money, and overall, they haven't completely decimated her work.  Much of it was true to the book, and the acting has been great.  Since she's probably writing a sequel as we speak?  It's also promotion for that book.

I'm all for authors making some money, most don't make much.

However, expanding the world to include the camps does make sense to me.  There are ways to expand this world and have it be wonderful, I listed a few in my "hopes" above.  I'd also love to see the reaction of other countries to Gilead.

 

Will they, or will they continue to "go Hollywood" when writing?  That's the question.  I do think they've probably heard the criticisms though, and hopefully that will impact them, the choice of writers, and story direction.

Edited June 28, 2017 by Umbelina

[chocolatine]

15 minutes ago, Pachengala said:

I mentioned this in the Night thread, and it's why I'm probably out for any additional seasons. When they go 'off-book,' the show runners have defaulted to easy, cliched storytelling that we've seen a million times already, a sort of cheesy, 'feel-good feminism' that to me, is reductive at best and antithetical to the book's message at worst. I mean, we're an army? Handmaid power? Huh? Why did Atwood sign off on that? 

Now that they're basically out of source material (I'm not counting the Colonies since Offred doesn't really go into detail), I figure we're in for more of this type of stuff, and while it will probably be a fine show on its own, it certainly isn't the Handmaid's Tale, and that's what I was tuning in to see. Still, those first three episodes will go down as three of the most haunting, disturbing episodes of television I've ever seen. Like, I-will-never-sleep-again type of stuff. 

One of the most powerful scenes of the first three episodes was the Ofglen/Emily non-verbal sequence, which was not part of the book, so the show runners are capable of greatness, they just don't always achieve it. I agree that the "army" talk and the Nina Simone strut was bad, but I thought the part where the Handmaids refuse to stone Janine was fantastic and would have been poignant if it had stood on its own.

I hope the show can get Reed Morano back to direct more episodes, since she was the one who directed the first three.

Edited June 28, 2017 by chocolatine

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

The show is above all, a cationary tale. At the first season has been. I hope season 2 flashes back on the "how" it happened some more. Along with the resistance that obviously failed as the society prevailed anyway. 

I can't rule out the "women army" as I do want them to prevail over the atrocities they've been through. However, the show needs to handle this with care. I will hate for every "victory" to be marked with a Nina Simone strut. The moment Moira realized she was safe was more powerful than the afore mention strut because of its subtleness. And also becase it  was a true win, unlike the handmaids who were still very much sex slaves.

[Umbelina]

I'm kind of sick of the flashbacks honestly.  I don't know if they have anything more to say there, unless it's a Sons of Jacob episode.  They probably will do some, but if they do, I'd rather see that in the camps, and with the Econowive's stories, or, with Aunt Lydia (likely, they've pretty much already said that) or Rita.

As far as how Gilead started?  Honestly what are they going to do?  Blow up congress, and have lots of "terrorist" attacks?  I do get your point though, and handled well, it could be good, but going Hollywood on this with lots of war scenes?  Not really interested in  that part.

[Becks]

13 hours ago, GenL said:

I noticed the different edit, too.  I was really watching out for it as I was wondering who June was looking at. 

Maybe Rita? Another possibility is that the still was taken during a rehearsal or between takes, not the actual filming, and Moss was looking at the director or a crew member.

 

5 hours ago, Pachengala said:

Now that they're basically out of source material (I'm not counting the Colonies since Offred doesn't really go into detail), I figure we're in for more of this type of stuff, and while it will probably be a fine show on its own, it certainly isn't the Handmaid's Tale, and that's what I was tuning in to see. Still, those first three episodes will go down as three of the most haunting, disturbing episodes of television I've ever seen. Like, I-will-never-sleep-again type of stuff. 

I think you're likely right, but I'm still hoping for better at this point. Some of the stuff Bruce Miller has said makes me uneasy, because it feels very 'guysy' to me, if that makes sense, and I have a feeling a 'freedom fighters hero show/unrealistic war show', as Umbelina characterized it, might sit very well with him now that he's less tethered by Atwood's writing.

 

5 hours ago, Umbelina said:

Atwood is getting paid, and I think she argued many things, including the exclusion of the racist aspects of Gilead, but she lost.  I don't blame an author for wanting or needing money, and overall, they haven't completely decimated her work.  Much of it was true to the book, and the acting has been great.  Since she's probably writing a sequel as we speak?  It's also promotion for that book.

Yes, I think part of Atwood's motivation was to lay audience groundwork for the upcoming sequel - and I get it. Other, lesser authors have blown up by letting TV make shows of their book series - it's a powerful tool. Plus, quality book adaptations are flourishing on TV, and maybe she wanted to get the bad taste of the 1990 film out of her mouth. But signing away your rights to your book is done with a heavy dose of compromise, and few authors dare to speak out about anything they disagree with. I can't believe she's okay with everything they did, but she'll never say - may even be contractually forbidden to say.

 

5 hours ago, chocolatine said:

One of the most powerful scenes of the first three episodes was the Ofglen/Emily non-verbal sequence, which was not part of the book, so the show runners are capable of greatness, they just don't always achieve it. I agree that the "army" talk and the Nina Simone strut was bad, but I thought the part where the Handmaids refuse to stone Janine was fantastic and would have been poignant if it had stood on its own.

I hope the show can get Reed Morano back to direct more episodes, since she was the one who directed the first three.

I would actually like to see Reed Morano be brought in as an executive producer full-time, the way Game of Thrones brought in Alan Taylor as an EP when he proved so successful as a director for the series. I know she was an EP for the first three episodes, and now that the first season is over and we can evaluate everything, I really feel Morano brought something extra to those first three that the show really needs. I tend to agree with our recapper Tara that this show would have benefited from a female showrunner, and in lieu of that, more input from Morano in whatever form, please.

I hope we see more outside the box stuff like that Ofglen/Emily sequence, which was brilliant, and less stuff like episode 7, which was entertaining but highly derivative. They need to reach higher, and stop letting every dystopian and apocalyptic film/book/TV show of the last decade influence their off-book writing so much.

Edited June 28, 2017 by Becks

[Umbelina]

Honestly, what else can they do with original recipe Ofglen but put her in the camps?  Maim her horribly and send her back to possible baby making?  I just can't see that happening.  Jezebels?  Maybe, they seem to really want some girl on girl action, or rather threesomes.

I'd rather see her in the camps, and especially if the camps are preparing to revolt or actually do rebel, and I do think it would be interesting to have her meet June's mom.  June's mom was apparently one of the few who DID see what was happening in the former USA and tried to stop it.  They have several, regular old pick the fruit or cotton camps, they all aren't nuclear waste, but that would probably have the most impact, and be quite cinematic.  I just hope they don't let her escape to Canada to have an affair with Moira, but honestly, if they don't get better writers?  I could see that happening.

Edited June 28, 2017 by Umbelina

[marinw]

We are unsure where June goes in the Van at the end of Season One. Maybe the guards who took her are part Mayday, and June is being taken somewhere safe with the help of Nick and Rita.

A grimmer theory is that since Gilead  can’t afford to get rid of every Handmaid who acts up, maybe they are all being taken to a prison or somewhere where the Commanders can visit them once a month. 

[chocolatine]

Some juicy spoilers for S2. Apparently, we'll get closure for Janine, a back story for Aunt Lydia, and more details on Rita and the Marthas' network. Less excitingly, it looks like there's going to be a June/Luke/Nick love triangle.

[Umbelina]

Quote

6) It will be more intersectional. A major complaint surrounding The Handmaid's Tale's first season was its refusal to acknowledge race within Gilead while cherrypicking plot points from the real experiences of enslaved people. Angelica Jade Bastién at Vulture argues, "[The show is] more concerned with the interiority of white women at the expense of people of color who recognize that Gilead isn’t a possible horrifying future, but the reality of what America has always been," while Cate Young at Cosmopolitan.com calls it a "profound failure of storytelling." Miller told Inverse he saw the critiques and conversation on Twitter and is working to make amends: “The thoughtful conversations online really inspired a lot of thoughtful conversations in the writers’ room about this,” he said. “It’s always hard to add another topic that is complicated and deserves real attention, but we’re up to the challenge."

Yay! 

Quote

14) Offred's mother will likely appear at some point. She's mentioned in the book and briefly in Episode 7, but there just wasn't enough time to do her justice in Season 1, Miller told THR. "We've been talking about her from day one of Season 1... It's a story we want to tell."

More YAYS!

Bledel back as full time, interest in exploring the colonies, all kinds of good stuff here.

Edited July 11, 2017 by Umbelina

[Becks]

4 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Less excitingly, it looks like there's going to be a June/Luke/Nick love triangle.

I've taken that as a done deal ever since Elisabeth Moss expressed her enthusiasm for it in that Elle interview from several weeks back. She is a producer, after all, and I presume that at least part of the reason she pushed to be one is so that she could have some say in the writing/direction of the show. I mentioned somewhere around here that I think the show could do something unexpected with it, if only they would. But will they? It could be interesting to have June refuse to choose between them, and have them navigate this new three-cornered relationship. Or for her to tell Luke that she can't and won't go back to being his wife the way she once was, not after all she's been through. Or just walk away from them both altogether. But I sincerely hope they don't take the cliched route of killing off one or the other of the men just to save June from actually having to make a decision.

As far as June's mother goes, I figured they'd bring her in, even though it seems odd for her mother to have been so absent from June's thoughts in the first season. What will be interesting is to see how much resemblance she'll bear to her book counterpart. Those associated with the show have already been (rightfully) hammered for initially denying that it's feminist, so the character of June's mom, if she's faithfully translated from the book, could tear the scab off the wound, so to speak.

 

3 hours ago, Umbelina said:

6) It will be more intersectional. A major complaint surrounding The Handmaid's Tale's first season was its refusal to acknowledge race within Gilead while cherrypicking plot points from the real experiences of enslaved people. Angelica Jade Bastién at Vulture argues, "[The show is] more concerned with the interiority of white women at the expense of people of color who recognize that Gilead isn’t a possible horrifying future, but the reality of what America has always been," while Cate Young at Cosmopolitan.com calls it a "profound failure of storytelling." Miller told Inverse he saw the critiques and conversation on Twitter and is working to make amends: “The thoughtful conversations online really inspired a lot of thoughtful conversations in the writers’ room about this,” he said. “It’s always hard to add another topic that is complicated and deserves real attention, but we’re up to the challenge."

 

It's definitely good that they've heard some of the voices criticizing that aspect of the show, and I do hope they are up to the challenge - but honestly, when they made Gilead a post-racial society and vigorously (and cluelessly) defended that choice in the media, I think they backed themselves into a corner that they can't really escape from. Race doesn't matter in this society - oh, now it does? I fear attempts to address this stuff might only succeed in making things even more WTF.

(But since you're open to input, Bruce Miller & Co. - if you're reading this - please get some Latinas on this show NOW. I realize you don't have many of us up there in Canada, but a quick look at the demographics of the USA and where they're headed should tell you that there ought to be plenty of Latina handmaids in Gilead. Maybe Alma is supposed to be one, but I shouldn't have to wonder. KTHXBYE.)

Quote

8)...The final moments of the season 1 finale signal that Rita is involved with Mayday, so it'll be interesting to see whose side she takes if it turns into a Mayday/Handmaid face-off. Rita seems to really care about June, and we can't imagine her killing any of the Handmaids just to show the leaders of Gilead a lesson.

I didn't get any indication from those scenes that Rita is involved with Mayday, so this quote is interesting to me. June told Rita where the letters were because she didn't have anyone else to tell at that moment - she hoped Rita would do something, but she had no real clue where Rita's sympathies lie. Does Rita care that much about June? She seems to be beginning to care, after having held herself back from it (likely due to her experience with the first Offred) but her sudden rush of warmth in the last episode had more to do with the upcoming baby than June, IMO.

Good to know that shooting for season two will begin in the near future - I was envisioning a loooong wait.

[Shangrilala]

I won't lie, but I  really REALLY dislike the idea of June being in love with Nick.  That relationship is one of desperation.  Not love.  He might make her feel like a bit of a human being again, and less of a possession but that doesn't equate to love.  In the book they fall in love.  But that never came across onscreen for me.  Just because he's kind to her (when it suits him) doesn't mean that she has to fall in love with him and I'm a bit irritated that they would go there in the show and don't understand the purpose -- it feels like nothing more than a plot device.  

[Umbelina]

http://www.marieclaire.com/culture/a14759556/the-handmaids-tales-season-2-spoilers-exclusive/

 

A few spoilers.

[chocolatine]

4 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

http://www.marieclaire.com/culture/a14759556/the-handmaids-tales-season-2-spoilers-exclusive/

 

A few spoilers.

Really looking forward to seeing the colonies, as well as Emily's backstory.

I'm amazed at all the detail that goes into making this show. There were so many sketches just for the ear tag design, and the article said it took two weeks to decide what the Handmaids' shopping bags should look like. BTW, the mesh bags they ended up going with look almost exactly like the ones we had in the former Soviet Union.

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

4 hours ago, Umbelina said:

http://www.marieclaire.com/culture/a14759556/the-handmaids-tales-season-2-spoilers-exclusive/

 

A few spoilers.

Really looking forward to season 2. 

Does anyone get the idea that Emily is going to the colonies? I hope not :(

[chocolatine]

52 minutes ago, Deputy Deputy CoS said:

Does anyone get the idea that Emily is going to the colonies? I hope not :(

Well, as long as June stays pregnant, she's not going to the colonies, and since Moira managed to escape to Canada, neither is she. Of the main Handmaids, that leaves Emily and Janine. Both women have already suffered so much, it will be heartbreaking either way. Of course it doesn't have to be a Handmaid - maybe it's Nick if he's caught double-dealing as an Eye and Mayday member - but I have a strong feeling it's going to be a woman.

Edited January 9, 2018 by chocolatine