THT Spoilers

[alexvillage]

4 minutes ago, mamadrama said:

Thinking back about the Colonies...there was another wasted opportunity to learn shit. Which aunts are chosen to go there? What about men? Has anyone escaped? We were only there for, what, 2 or 3 episodes? And we learned almost nothing. 

What are they excavating all day? Why is that whatever-it-is thing so important?

[Anela]

On 6/15/2018 at 10:01 PM, kieyra said:

I don’t suppose there are any spoilers that Nick dies?

(There is a rabid “omg he is so hot, #teamnick” fanbase ruining discussion on another forum I’m on. Yes, I’m a mildly bad person for hoping he’s toast.)

Nope. I like Nick, too, so I'm not hoping for his death either.

On 6/16/2018 at 9:00 PM, Eri said:

 

But my goodness, kudos to the actors/actresses involved who are dedicated enough to even manage such stomach-curdling scenes.

I hope that at least one of them complained about it, though. Saying it's too much. I guess they won't, if there's the chance of it bringing more emmy awards to them. 

On 6/17/2018 at 2:23 PM, Eri said:

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Particicution. I know they're rare and has only been shown once in the first season but it would be a fitting crime for Fred given what happened to the last guy accused of raping a Handmaid and causing her to lose the baby.

Please Aunt Lydia, let it be so by the season finale!

A good online friend of mine mentioned the particicution, hoping that the handmaids would get to stone Fred.

18 hours ago, Umbelina said:

We already know he's disgraced and loses power, is executed.  I'm ready.

We do? Was that in the book, or a spoiler online? I'm ready for it, too.

[Umbelina]

9 minutes ago, Anela said:

Nope. I like Nick, too, so I'm not hoping for his death either.

I hope that at least one of them complained about it, though. Saying it's too much. I guess they won't, if there's the chance of it bringing more emmy awards to them. 

A good online friend of mine mentioned the particicution, hoping that the handmaids would get to stone Fred.

We do? Was that in the book, or a spoiler online? I'm ready for it, too.

In the epilogue of the book.

[mamadrama]

Spoilertv offers an episode description for 02.10 that differs slightly from the other one:

 

The Handmaid's Tale -- "The Last Ceremony" - Episode 210 - A frustrated Serena becomes desperate. The Commander tries to make amends with Offred. Nick pushes Eden farther away. Offred is faced with an unexpected reunion. 

Edited June 19, 2018 by mamadrama

[Umbelina]

Unexpected reunion has to be Heather, Omar's former wife.

So, Eden's still alive.  Wonder who is hanging on the wall, and who goes into the pool?

[VagueDisclaimer]

37 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Unexpected reunion has to be Heather, Omar's former wife.

So, Eden's still alive.  Wonder who is hanging on the wall, and who goes into the pool?

Were both those scenes supposed to air by episode 10? 

Edited June 19, 2018 by VagueDisclaimer

[NoSpam]

38 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Unexpected reunion has to be Heather, Omar's former wife.

So, Eden's still alive.  Wonder who is hanging on the wall, and who goes into the pool?

I dunno... "pushes Eden further away" could lead to her execution.

[LittleRed84]

1 hour ago, Umbelina said:

Unexpected reunion has to be Heather, Omar's former wife.

So, Eden's still alive.  Wonder who is hanging on the wall, and who goes into the pool?

Woah hold on. How did Heather re-enter the picture. I know Aunt Lydia says that she’d become a handmaid for her transgressions earlier this season. But what makes you think she returns to the screen??

[Umbelina]

16 minutes ago, LittleRed84 said:

Woah hold on. How did Heather re-enter the picture. I know Aunt Lydia says that she’d become a handmaid for her transgressions earlier this season. But what makes you think she returns to the screen??

Just a wild guess.  Who else is there really, and all the handmaid's gather for births, so it makes sense to me.  Aside from that, GREAT potential there.

[LittleRed84]

1 minute ago, Umbelina said:

Just a wild guess.  Who else is there really, and all the handmaid's gather for births, so it makes sense to me.  Aside from that, GREAT potential there.

I thought everyone assumed it was Hannah.  Not unexpected to us, but unexpected to June. 

I guess we will find out soon!

[Umbelina]

7 minutes ago, LittleRed84 said:

I thought everyone assumed it was Hannah.  Not unexpected to us, but unexpected to June. 

I guess we will find out soon!

You are probably right.  I wish it was Heather though.

[chocolatine]

2 hours ago, mamadrama said:

 

 

How is June's hair so long again? Didn't she chop it into a lob after she escaped? It's been less than six months since then. Does pregnant women's hair grow that quickly?

[Umbelina]

7 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

How is June's hair so long again? Didn't she chop it into a lob after she escaped? It's been less than six months since then. Does pregnant women's hair grow that quickly?

She didn't cut it that short.  Average in 6 months would be 3 inches, but some hair grows faster or slower.  Looks like about 3 inches to me.

[ClaireS]

Do you think unexpected reunion is Hannah?

[NoSpam]

44 minutes ago, ClaireS said:

Do you think unexpected reunion is Hannah?

 

I think I was the first one to say I think it's Heather, the wife of the delivery truck driver. It would be nice to have another handmaid to follow, one with a kid to fight for.

If it's Hannah, I hope she's bonded with her new family and doesn't remember June. That'd be a good wrench to throw into the story.

[Shaynaa]

5 minutes ago, NoSpam said:

 

I think I was the first one to say I think it's Heather, the wife of the delivery truck driver. It would be nice to have another handmaid to follow, one with a kid to fight for.

If it's Hannah, I hope she's bonded with her new family and doesn't remember June. That'd be a good wrench to throw into the story.

Hannah is on the imdb cast list for this ep and Heather is not so... While IMDB is not infallible I think it's got to be Hannah.  Heather showing up would not be interesting or shocking.  We know she's a handmaid.  We know June feels guilty.  She already had one breakdown over this.  Hannah would be ripe for drama.  Especially since it is obvious it won't be a happy reunion.  I think Hannah has been completely brainwashed and thinks both her parents are awful sinners.  June has been trying to get back to her for three years and now she finally sees her and it isn't a happy reunion.  I don't think Waterford would even consider taking June to see her if he thought it would have any kind of positive outcome.  I think this is part of him taking revenge on her.

[NoSpam]

2 minutes ago, Shaynaa said:

Hannah is on the imdb cast list for this ep and Heather is not so... While IMDB is not infallible I think it's got to be Hannah.  Heather showing up would not be interesting or shocking.  We know she's a handmaid.  We know June feels guilty.  She already had one breakdown over this.  Hannah would be ripe for drama.  Especially since it is obvious it won't be a happy reunion.  I think Hannah has been completely brainwashed and thinks both her parents are awful sinners.  June has been trying to get back to her for three years and now she finally sees her and it isn't a happy reunion.  I don't think Waterford would even consider taking June to see her if he thought it would have any kind of positive outcome.  I think this is part of him taking revenge on her.

Probably. I'm just kind of bored with all the focus on Hannah and Janine's baby. Yes, I know that makes me a terrible person.

The writers COULD make a reunion with Hannah interesting, but given how sloppy the writing has been, I'm sure that won't be in their wheelhouse.

Edited June 19, 2018 by NoSpam

[ClaireS]

They could make a reunion with Hannah heartbreaking in that she doesn’t remember June but then after being with her for a little while she does start to remember her real family...this could be that said ‘nice’ thing commander does for June???

[mamadrama]

5 hours ago, NoSpam said:

Probably. I'm just kind of bored with all the focus on Hannah and Janine's baby. Yes, I know that makes me a terrible person.

The writers COULD make a reunion with Hannah interesting, but given how sloppy the writing has been, I'm sure that won't be in their wheelhouse.

I'm starting to get bored with ALL of June's storyline. The wishy washy storyline of fuck you/nevermind and each week's installment of "WTF Serena Joy" is not holding my interest like it was. I'd be willing to accept just about anything new at this point. 

2 minutes ago, ClaireS said:

They could make a reunion with Hannah heartbreaking in that she doesn’t remember June but then after being with her for a little while she does start to remember her real family...this could be that said ‘nice’ thing commander does for June???

I think "nice" is just their sense of irony or sarcasm. 

9 hours ago, Umbelina said:

Unexpected reunion has to be Heather, Omar's former wife.

So, Eden's still alive.  Wonder who is hanging on the wall, and who goes into the pool?

The pool/hanging scene has been speculated to air at the end of 11/beginning of 12. Eden's father and sister appear during those episodes as well. The actress who played Heather doesn't appear on the cast list again, although there is one actress they're calling "new handmaid." Heather would be a more interesting twist, I think, but with the whole "unexpected reunion" and Fred doing "something nice" it almost has to be Hannah (especially since she shows up on tomorrow's cast list). 

[GraceK]

5 hours ago, Shaynaa said:

Hannah has been completely brainwashed and thinks both her parents are awful sinners. 

Hannah does look very happy and beautiful in that picture Fred gave June. She’s smiling and looks like she’s dancing almost in a field of sunshine. That’s the impression I got. It’s very possible Hannah is very loved and happy. For now anyway she is a child in a child hungry place. Her future is undetermined 

Edited June 19, 2018 by GraceK

[LittleRed84]

38 minutes ago, mamadrama said:

I'm starting to get bored with ALL of June's storyline. The wishy washy storyline of fuck you/nevermind and each week's installment of "WTF Serena Joy" is not holding my interest like it was. I'd be willing to accept just about anything new at this point. 

I watched an interview with Bruce Miller (producer). I previously found myself wishing they would start concentrating on other storylines as well. He addressed this in his interview, saying something like:

—-

The writers and I get carried away with ideas in the writing room with all the side stories and plot lines and what’s happening in the rest of the world. But then I have to pull us back in. This show is called “The Handmaid’s Tale”, not “Gilead”. It’s about the handmaid and her story. 

—-

So, I think if nothing else, that at least explains why we are not hearing more about the world and those other supporting cast members don’t have a more substantial storyline of their own. The producers want this to be Offreds story, not Gileads story. 

[The Mighty Peanut]

1 hour ago, LittleRed84 said:

So, I think if nothing else, that at least explains why we are not hearing more about the world and those other supporting cast members don’t have a more substantial storyline of their own. The producers want this to be Offreds story, not Gileads story. 

Wow, that is a case of life imitating art. One of the biggest criticisms of the epilogue (and it's not really a criticism since Margaret Atwood did it intentionally) is that the historians, all male, who listened to June's tapes were frustrated that she didn't go into detail about who exactly Commander Waterford was in the scheme of things, or other important men in the rise and fall of Gilead.  They also encourage attendees of the Gilead studies symposium not to judge too harshly because we weren't there and we don't know what happened, and that June is an unreliable narrator, which for me kind of hearkens back to the Cosby case and others like it where people don't want to admit someone they liked committed rape, instead insisting "there are two sides to every story" and "only the people in the room really know what happened". Well, no, we know what happened because the 100-something women he raped all say he took them to his place to give them acting advice and then brought out the special drugged cognac. 

Anyway, before I get too OT, here's a link that expands on this premise if anyone is interested:

https://www.bustle.com/p/the-epilogue-of-the-handmaids-tale-is-actually-the-most-disturbing-part-of-the-whole-book-7873951

Edited June 19, 2018 by The Mighty Peanut
edited because unreliable nanrrator is not a thing

[LittleRed84]

33 minutes ago, The Mighty Peanut said:

Anyway, before I get too OT, here's a link that expands on this premise if anyone is interested:

https://www.bustle.com/p/the-epilogue-of-the-handmaids-tale-is-actually-the-most-disturbing-part-of-the-whole-book-7873951

I very much enjoyed this article. Thank you for the link!

[NoSpam]

5 hours ago, GraceK said:

 It’s very possible Hannah is very loved and happy.

Well that would be in keeping with the book. And IMO whenever the show strays from the book, they screw it up.

[Umbelina]

12 hours ago, NoSpam said:

 

I think I was the first one to say I think it's Heather, the wife of the delivery truck driver. It would be nice to have another handmaid to follow, one with a kid to fight for.

If it's Hannah, I hope she's bonded with her new family and doesn't remember June. That'd be a good wrench to throw into the story.

I just liked the actress quite a bit, and if June is ever to escape, I thought she'd be an interesting one to keep the story going in Gilead while the world opens up.  BUT, see below.

If Hannah has bonded and is happy, that may give June an easy out (story wise) to escape and leave her there.  Escaping with Hannah is much more difficult.  That said, sure, she may be happy as a child, but at 15 she'd be married and have a life in Gilead.  I should care more about Hannah, but the writers have kind of failed there for me. 

6 hours ago, LittleRed84 said:

I watched an interview with Bruce Miller (producer). I previously found myself wishing they would start concentrating on other storylines as well. He addressed this in his interview, saying something like:

—-

The writers and I get carried away with ideas in the writing room with all the side stories and plot lines and what’s happening in the rest of the world. But then I have to pull us back in. This show is called “The Handmaid’s Tale”, not “Gilead”. It’s about the handmaid and her story. 

—-

So, I think if nothing else, that at least explains why we are not hearing more about the world and those other supporting cast members don’t have a more substantial storyline of their own. The producers want this to be Offreds story, not Gileads story. 

OK, FUCK THAT!  I'm seriously pissed at that statement by him.  Hey Dude, Atwood already expertly DID that story.  Your job is to expand the world, and if you don't see it that way, if the whole epilogue part of the book is irrelevant to you?  I am SO out of here after this season.

As I said in my post before this one, that's why I'm putting myself through this.  For the rest of it, for all the things June couldn't see or hear about.  You don't get to have it both ways, showing us only snippets from the world that June can't possibly see, and then failing to make them whole with the excuse "This is Offred's story."  At all.

You want ten seasons of abusing women and Lucy pulling the ball away from Charlie Brown as far as June getting out?  NO.  Just NO.

Smart People had better have just been a start of the kinds of things I'm expecting from this show, or I really doubt I'm the only one who will be saying "Screw this!"  I don't need June to escape right away, I don't need it to be easy, hell, I don't even need her to make it to Canada, she can make her tapes and tragically die in that cabin in Maine if needed.  I'm not looking for a "happy ending" but I AM looking for an ENDING to the entire Gilead world.

I want to know how that happens.  I want to SEE the resistance fighters and the wars, and the rest of the world.  Gilead existed in a vacuum for Offred, it was all she knew, she had no access to the outside world news at all.  That was fine in a book, and that would have been fine in the show as well.  You, as showrunners, chose to not make this a first person story long ago, and that's fine, and I think it was the right choice.

You don't get to have it both ways, either tell the whole story or shut the fuck up.  You can't improve on Atwood's story of Offred.  Your job is to tell the story of Gilead, the rest of the story we've been waiting so many years to know.  Why the hell do they think 10 years of shows primarily about Offred stuck in the same hell would be of interest?  Maybe it will be for some, but not for me.

5 hours ago, The Mighty Peanut said:

Wow, that is a case of life imitating art. One of the biggest criticisms of the epilogue (and it's not really a criticism since Margaret Atwood did it intentionally) is that the historians, all male, who listened to June's tapes were frustrated that she didn't go into detail about who exactly Commander Waterford was in the scheme of things, or other important men in the rise and fall of Gilead.  They also encourage attendees of the Gilead studies symposium not to judge too harshly because we weren't there and we don't know what happened, and that June is an unreliable narrator, which for me kind of hearkens back to the Cosby case and others like it where people don't want to admit someone they liked committed rape, instead insisting "there are two sides to every story" and "only the people in the room really know what happened". Well, no, we know what happened because the 100-something women he raped all say he took them to his place to give them acting advice and then brought out the special drugged cognac. 

Anyway, before I get too OT, here's a link that expands on this premise if anyone is interested:

https://www.bustle.com/p/the-epilogue-of-the-handmaids-tale-is-actually-the-most-disturbing-part-of-the-whole-book-7873951

 

Yes, it's an excellent article, and there is another one that similar posted (probably in this thread earlier) as well.  It really worked for the book, even though at the time I was so annoyed with his pretentiousness, I really didn't quite get the misogyny.  I certainly do now.  I've been waiting for thirty years to hear "the rest of the story" and that's what I was expecting the expanded show to do.

Now, I'm not so sure the writers have any intention of that, and I can't tell if I'm more disappointed or just plain angry after reading that quote above.  Both I guess. 

Why am I having such an emotional reaction to a damn TV show writer's casual dismissal or revelation about where he intends to go about that epilogue?  Maybe because this isn't an easy show at all, and I honestly don't want or need more "difficult, horrifying, sad" in my life right now, but I was willing to accept that, in order to get those answers I've been wondering about for thirty years? 

I have some decisions to make now.  That may be reading recaps next season instead of watching.  The acting is stunning, but holy hell, not 8 more years, if his plan is just more of this.

4 hours ago, LittleRed84 said:

I very much enjoyed this article. Thank you for the link!

It's really well done, there are a few more out there.  Even at the end, June is dismissed, and all the things I cared about as a reader, were casually criticized and glossed over by that pompous windbag.

1 hour ago, NoSpam said:

Well that would be in keeping with the book. And IMO whenever the show strays from the book, they screw it up.

I  disagree with that.  Straying from the book is why I'm here.  This last Canada-reacts episode is probably my favorite episode so far, along with June's first escape attempt.

Edited June 19, 2018 by Umbelina
an not and

[NoSpam]

57 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

 

I  disagree with that.  Straying from the book is why I'm here.  This last Canada-reacts episode is probably my favorite episode so far, along with June's first escape attempt.

I wouldn't mind them straying *if they did it well*. But they haven't. Not one time. I'm still pissed about the stupid one-off Mexico plot line that they summarily dropped after one episode. Ait took them a whole episode just to get a message to Luke. Who, BTW, has done nothing to "save Hannahć.

[Umbelina]

9 minutes ago, NoSpam said:

I wouldn't mind them straying *if they did it well*. But they haven't. Not one time. I'm still pissed about the stupid one-off Mexico plot line that they summarily dropped after one episode. Ait took them a whole episode just to get a message to Luke. Who, BTW, has done nothing to "save Hannahć.

Mexico was stupid, I hated that episode.  Ignoring racism was detrimental as well.

Showing the nuclear waste colonies didn't stray from the book, but it expanded it beyond June's knowledge.  Ditto the private gatherings we've seen with the Commanders.  The suicide bombing was also well done, and I think, plausible.  The Jezebel's crap was seriously poorly done by the show, but not a departure from the book, except they ruined it by making the outfits less used and threadbare and trashing, and also as a T&A scene in my opinion, they missed the tawdry by a mile.  The wives gatherings were also something June didn't see.  The wars were in the book, so why aren't we seeing some of that?  Mayday and the Eyes were in the book as well, WHY HAVEN'T THEY SHOWN THOSE MEETINGS?

So many things were "in the book," specifically the epilogue, such as Mayday, and the underground female railroad, and the 3 phases of Gilead, and that it failed.  THAT's where they need to expand, not create the story. 

If they don't?  Sorry.  I already know the book.  They can't improve on it, except for the non-Offred stuff.  They can't have it both ways, dabbling in it like the pompous professor but giving no answers, and then using the cutesy "this is Offred's story!" excuse.

Just no.

Edited June 19, 2018 by Umbelina

[Magoo]

I saw Episode 10, and the description of the rape is accurate (it's revolting, absolutely revolting) and 100% spurred on by Serena as (my opinion) punishment for false labor and, as someone mentioned above, completely humiliating her in front of the other Wives by disrupting her long-awaited labor ceremony.  June took some small delight in that disruption - you can tell by the smug smirk she throws Serena while she's caressing her still-pregnant belly in Serena's marital bed, but unless I missed something, I didn't get the feeling she was faking the labor - it seemed like a legitimate case of Braxton-Hicks.  It's estimated by someone (I can't remember...Lydia, I think?) she has about 2 weeks more to go before real labor.

More episode details:

Fred arranges for June to see Hannah.  Nick drives her to an abandoned "meet" house where she reunites with Hannah (who has a new name now, but I can't remember what it is) and her Martha and a guard or two.  Truly heartbreaking as Hannah has only a vague memory of June - mostly about June getting hit on the back of the head, and did she try to find her, and questions any child would ask, but at first she seems not to recognize her and hides behind her Martha's skirts.  

The last scene was one of the guards getting an alert on walkie and abruptly whisking Hannah and her Martha away while minutes later 2 other guards unexpectedly drive up to the house - Nick goes out to see what they are doing there and there is an altercation.  Nick is shot and the guards drive off in their SUV, but also take Nick's SUV, so June (who runs out when they leave) is now stranded in an abandoned house, in the snow, with a seemingly dead Nick at her feet and no one left to help or...conversely...hinder her.  The question I had was whether the Commander had set it up for Nick to get murdered - how were the new guards alerted to this secret meet-and-greet, and who tipped off Hannah's guards?  Hopefully answers in Episode 11. 

[Umbelina]

Wow.  Thanks @Magoo!

If Fred set it up though, the killing/wounding of Nick, why would he leave June there though?  You'd think he'd at least want the baby, not that he gives a shit about some other man's baby, or possibly even babies at all, but his wife certainly does.  To punish Serena maybe?  Nah, even though Fred would do that, losing his handmaid to "kidnappers" twice would put him in a pretty terrible position.

A fake out that June may escape again probably?  It would be lovely if she finally at least makes it to that cabin in Maine though.

[Magoo]

(reply-to Umbelina) Right, right - that's all true.  There had to have been a lot of people involved for that little rendezvous, so it could have been anyone who blew the whistle.  I wonder if the Commander will get any blowback for setting it up.  It seems like Nick is alive in the final episode (didn't the actor say he and June have a sweet moment in the finale?) - so what will June do - abandon a wounded and bleeding Nick to make a run for it at eleventy-billion weeks pregnant?  Will she stay until help arrives and be returned to the Waterford house (my bet).  How is Fred going to explain any of this to Serena?  She's going to go off the rails when she finds out June saw Hannah.  I don't know how much more I can see June go through.  And after the rape in this episode, nothing, nothing will redeem either Fred or Serena to me, ever.   

Edited June 19, 2018 by Magoo
misspelling

[ClaireS]

Could it actually be that the Waterfords do something so horrendous to June that they let her see Hannah to make some kind of amends? 

[Magoo]

13 minutes ago, ClaireS said:

Could it actually be that the Waterfords do something so horrendous to June that they let her see Hannah to make some kind of amends? 

The rape would seem to be the horrendous thing.

[mamadrama]

57 minutes ago, ClaireS said:

Could it actually be that the Waterfords do something so horrendous to June that they let her see Hannah to make some kind of amends? 

 

42 minutes ago, Magoo said:

The rape would seem to be the horrendous thing.

Yeah, if there is something more horrendous than the rape then I'm gonna need stronger alcohol for tonight. 

1 hour ago, Magoo said:

I saw Episode 10, and the description of the rape is accurate (it's revolting, absolutely revolting) and 100% spurred on by Serena as (my opinion) punishment for false labor and, as someone mentioned above, completely humiliating her in front of the other Wives by disrupting her long-awaited labor ceremony.  June took some small delight in that disruption - you can tell by the smug smirk she throws Serena while she's caressing her still-pregnant belly in Serena's marital bed, but unless I missed something, I didn't get the feeling she was faking the labor - it seemed like a legitimate case of Braxton-Hicks.  It's estimated by someone (I can't remember...Lydia, I think?) she has about 2 weeks more to go before real labor.

More episode details:

Fred arranges for June to see Hannah.  Nick drives her to an abandoned "meet" house where she reunites with Hannah (who has a new name now, but I can't remember what it is) and her Martha and a guard or two.  Truly heartbreaking as Hannah has only a vague memory of June - mostly about June getting hit on the back of the head, and did she try to find her, and questions any child would ask, but at first she seems not to recognize her and hides behind her Martha's skirts.  

The last scene was one of the guards getting an alert on walkie and abruptly whisking Hannah and her Martha away while minutes later 2 other guards unexpectedly drive up to the house - Nick goes out to see what they are doing there and there is an altercation.  Nick is shot and the guards drive off in their SUV, but also take Nick's SUV, so June (who runs out when they leave) is now stranded in an abandoned house, in the snow, with a seemingly dead Nick at her feet and no one left to help or...conversely...hinder her.  The question I had was whether the Commander had set it up for Nick to get murdered - how were the new guards alerted to this secret meet-and-greet, and who tipped off Hannah's guards?  Hopefully answers in Episode 11. 

In the next episode description, "Holly", it says that June has to face something alone. I wonder if this turn of events will send her into actual labor and she'll be left to deliver there at the meet house?

Thanks for the big head's up! :-)

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

Thank you for the recap Magoo. Does anything else besides the June stuff happen? 

And she doesn't give birth in this episode so does she go into labor next episode while stranded alone? 

I am one of the people who wants Nick to go away so if this is a takeout, I'll be very annoyed. The show have done too much of this. They ought to pull the trigger or stop with the teases. 

[mamadrama]

1 hour ago, Magoo said:

(reply-to Umbelina) Right, right - that's all true.  There had to have been a lot of people involved for that little rendezvous, so it could have been anyone who blew the whistle.  I wonder if the Commander will get any blowback for setting it up.  It seems like Nick is alive in the final episode (didn't the actor say he and June have a sweet moment in the finale?) - so what will June do - abandon a wounded and bleeding Nick to make a run for it at eleventy-billion weeks pregnant?  Will she stay until help arrives and be returned to the Waterford house (my bet).  How is Fred going to explain any of this to Serena?  She's going to go off the rails when she finds out June saw Hannah.  I don't know how much more I can see June go through.  And after the rape in this episode, nothing, nothing will redeem either Fred or Serena to me, ever.   

What goes on with Eden in this episode? Is she suspicious of Nick and June? Any word on Issac? 

[Magoo]

53 minutes ago, Deputy Deputy CoS said:

Thank you for the recap Magoo. Does anything else besides the June stuff happen? 

And she doesn't give birth in this episode so does she go into labor next episode while stranded alone? 

I am one of the people who wants Nick to go away so if this is a takeout, I'll be very annoyed. The show have done too much of this. They ought to pull the trigger or stop with the teases. 

There are other things that go on, but I have to be completely honest - I watched it almost a week ago (I know, I was holding out on you guys - I'm so sorry!) and there may have been wine consumed while watching, so other than the main plot points, I'm a little hazy on the rest of the details.  I can say they don't touch on the failed Toronto trip and I was surprised there weren't any repercussions or professional blowback for Fred - not yet anyway.  As far as Eden goes, not much with her I can remember, but the way Nick treats her like an annoying little sister makes me laugh - his brush-offs are so obvious and, perhaps unintentionally, funny.  Also, no labor/birth this episode.

Edited June 20, 2018 by Magoo
Added labor note

[NoSpam]

8 hours ago, Umbelina said:

Mexico was stupid, I hated that episode.  Ignoring racism was detrimental as well.

Showing the nuclear waste colonies didn't stray from the book, but it expanded it beyond June's knowledge. 

Agreed, but the Colonies were sanitized IMO. There should have been "skin peeling off" as Moira said, and no Ticket Back to Handmaid Town for Emily and Janine.

 

It's like the show runners are afraid of doing anything permanent, like killing a character the audience likes. Or moving one to Mexico. If everything can be undone in the span of an episode, none of it is suspenseful. It's cheap writing IMO.

[Magoo]

Rewatching. Wow did I forget a shit-ton of plot!

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

8 minutes ago, Magoo said:

Rewatching. Wow did I forget a shit-ton of plot!

How could you forget Emily's vagina taking down a commander or the stomping of his balls? lol

[AnswersWanted]

9 minutes ago, Magoo said:

Rewatching. Wow did I forget a shit-ton of plot!

 

But you got a shit ton right too, heh, I would have forgotten at least 75%. 

 I just watched the promo for episode 11, Fred is the one who sent them to the house so he should know exactly where June is but for some reason he’s unable to fetch her?

Is it because then everyone would find out he was the one who sent Nick there with his handmaid?

So he’s fine sacrificing June and the baby as long as he doesn’t get in trouble?

That does sound exactly like a selfish ass Fred move actually. 

 And he’s getting violent with Serena again. 

They both just need to be off my screen now. 

[chocolatine]

6 minutes ago, AnswersWanted said:

So he’s fine sacrificing June and the baby as long as he doesn’t get in trouble?

Like June said, the baby isn't his flesh and blood. He doesn't give a shit.

[AnswersWanted]

1 minute ago, chocolatine said:

Like June said, the baby isn't his flesh and blood. He doesn't give a shit.

 

I was more so thinking that he wouldn’t want the death of a, at least for the moment, pregnant handmaid on his hands, that would seemingly be far more self preserving than leaving her to die in the middle of nowhere.

Unless he wants to again try to make it seem as if she escaped?

But if he’s aware that they’ve captured Nick, to me it’s just a gamble I would think Fred wouldn’t want to take, especially since June is pregnant so if he’s found guilty of her and the baby’s demise, whatever power he may have I don’t see it saving him in that instance.

I don’t think Fred gives a damn about anyone but himself, certainly, but he’s already had a lot go against him lately: the bombing of the new center, the fuck up in Canada, and now for his handmaid to go missing again and potentially lose her baby because of him?

To me that just seems like three strikes and he might just be out. Fingers crossed. 

[Umbelina]

10 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

18 minutes ago, AnswersWanted said:

So he’s fine sacrificing June and the baby as long as he doesn’t get in trouble?

Like June said, the baby isn't his flesh and blood. He doesn't give a shit.

Initially I thought Fred may have set it up, but I quickly changed my mind.

He CAN'T have a handmaid "escape" again.  He can't explain why Nick was there with her, unless that is his plan, to set Nick up and get rid of him?  Fred's on shaky ground though, why would he risk it?

I really think it was just a regular or random patrol of some Commander's house that happens to be out of town.

We shall see.

We know Nick lives already, and interacts with June, right?  So how could it be the Commander?  Unless of course, Nick's status as trusted Eye trumps even a Commander.

[GraceK]

Do we think this has something to do with Issac and Eden? 

It can’t be a coincidence that Eden accuses Nick of having feelings for the handmaid, after being caught kissing Isaac, then all of a sudden Nick is ambushed and attacked.

It would explain how Isaac and Eden end up on that wall for sure. 

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark!

Edited June 20, 2018 by GraceK

[AnswersWanted]

 I am going to need the Israeli promo pronto, because they always give so much more insight than ours and I want to see their take on episode 11.

To me there has to be a good enough reason why Fred and Serena are panicking and attacking each other since Fred knows where June is or st least has an idea where she should be.

Why wouldn’t he just go fetch her in the night?

What is he so afraid of that would prevent him from bringing her back home, unless he has so far overstepped his boundaries and he now has risked his own neck truly.

That would surely mean he’s not nearly as powerful as he has made himself out to be, which I wouldn’t mind honestly, I just also think that proves his utter stupidity in pressing his behavior so often the way that he always has. 

[Umbelina]

19 minutes ago, GraceK said:

Do we think this has something to do with Issac and Eden? 

It can’t be a coincidence that Eden accuses Nick of having feelings for the handmaid, after being caught kissing Isaac, then all of a sudden Nick is ambushed and attacked.

It would explain how Isaac and Eden end up on that wall for sure. 

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark!

 

I seriously doubt Issac has any power at all, at least not to do something like that. 

He could mess them up other ways, but he's twenty, he doesn't command the guardians.

Edited June 20, 2018 by Umbelina

[Umbelina]

Wait, June finds a car and a rifle next time?

[Brn2bwild]

12 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Wait, June finds a car and a rifle next time?

I think it's actually a flare.  But yeah, finding a car with gas and being able to start it is pretty fortunate.

[Umbelina]

2 minutes ago, Brn2bwild said:

I think it's actually a flare.  But yeah, finding a car with gas and being able to start it is pretty fortunate.

Hopefully she can find an axe to break that garage door.  I'm thinking that really may be the home of one of the Commander's killed in the bombing.

[Brn2bwild]

Didn't see this posted yet, but more information about Emily's next posting.