S02.E07: After

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The rebellion is in full force.

Promo:

[chocolatine]

That new commander looks even creepier than Fred.

[spiderpig]

Whoa!  Can't wait for next week.

[GraceK]

I like that actor a lot better than Joseph Fiennes

[Pachengala]

I thought it was McConaughey until my third rewatch. I was like, really? That guy?

Edited May 23, 2018 by Pachengala

[Umbelina]

That's a lot of red coffins.  I'm kind of surprised they didn't bury the Handmaid's in plain pine boxes, but visually it's nice.

So, that Commander that was Nick's boss as an "Eye" was probably killed as well?  If Fred's dead?  In away that's too easy for me.  I was hoping to see him disgraced, on trial, and imprisoned or executed, with all the resulting fall out hitting Serena very hard.  This way, Serena's husband ends up martyred, and she won't be thrown out on her ass. 

The new Commander looks like an investigator.

I'm trying to remember if the group that was killed included all of the Commanders that were going to be visiting from other areas of Gilead.  Is anyone certain if this is the same event/group? 

Edited May 23, 2018 by Umbelina

[chocolatine]

37 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

I'm trying to remember if the group that was killed included all of the Commanders that were going to be visiting from other areas of Gilead.  Is anyone certain if this is the same event/group? 

 

Yes, it did. In the scene two days before the event, when Pryce admonished Fred that the new building still wasn't ready, he said "we're expecting brothers from every district".

ETA: I watched the bombing scene again, and the creepy commander from the preview was in the audience. So unfortunately, it looks like some commanders survived without major injuries.

Edited May 23, 2018 by chocolatine

[GraceK]

So can someone tell me what happens if Fred dies? Do they have Widows in Gilead? Does Serena still get the baby? Is she assigned a new husband? Become a Aunt? What would happen to her? 

[Umbelina]

17 minutes ago, GraceK said:

So can someone tell me what happens if Fred dies? Do they have Widows in Gilead? Does Serena still get the baby? Is she assigned a new husband? Become a Aunt? What would happen to her? 

We don't know, but it's fun to speculate about.

[meatball77]

1 hour ago, GraceK said:

So can someone tell me what happens if Fred dies? Do they have Widows in Gilead? Does Serena still get the baby? Is she assigned a new husband? Become a Aunt? What would happen to her? 

I would imagine it like the FLDS, she would be assigned to another man along with everyone in her household.  So basically a new Commander would move into the house and she would be expected to take the new man as her husband.

[Umbelina]

FLDS men can take many wives, not so in Gilead.  I think the men would have the choice, and why choose her?  There is no sex.  She's problematic.  She can't have children.  If they wanted a wife, they could have there pick of younger and more pliable girls/women, including fertile women who didn't write books and expect to be included with the men.

[bijoux]

If I’m getting the short cuts right, Moira was a surrogate before Gilead. That explains the question of how they knew she was fertile. Fuck those bastards for taking her $ 250,000.

[planetofapes]

OMFG GUYS Goosebumps!!  I can't wait.  Seriously, this is the best show around right now.  Thanks so much for the promo.  I can't wait until next week.

[hokiefan]

The commander in the preview was sitting in the front row during the bombing, and it appears at least his face didn't sustain any injuries. They made it a point to focus on his face right before she starts running down the aisle. 

[laney]

It’s so nice to see June showing some sassyness. 

It’s interesting that the handmaids knew to run. How could the person in the front row near the bomb make it out fine, yet the handmaids did not? (I cannot see the preview, but am referring to the red coffins someone said were in the preview)

[sam77]

On 5/24/2018 at 12:38 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

1

I guess perhaps OffGlen did not get right to the front to detonate the bomb so the people in the middle, back  and the handmaids in the upstairs gallery received the brunt of the explosion.  

 

I wonder what Gilead will be angrier about the loss of more, handmaids or commanders? Ambitious men will be in greater supply than fertile women.

Edited May 25, 2018 by sam77

[Empress1]

18 hours ago, laney said:

It’s so nice to see June showing some sassyness. 

It’s interesting that the handmaids knew to run. How could the person in the front row near the bomb make it out fine, yet the handmaids did not? (I cannot see the preview, but am referring to the red coffins someone said were in the preview)

The only handmaids who Ofglen II was able to warn were the ones outside the center. There were handmaids on the second floor of the center that she couldn't warn - they wouldn't have seen her holding up the trigger - and they were casualties. You can see them up there as the other handmaids are running away from the explosion.

It's weird to me that they would go to the trouble of creating red caskets for the handmaids. Anyone who has been a part of planning a funeral knows how expensive caskets are. The only luxuries handmaids get are in death. Figures.

[ihartcoffee]

[jennblevins]

If the coffins make a point, though, it seems like the brass of Gilead would be plenty willing to spend the money (like demolishing perfectly good buildings in S1, just because they were churches of the wrong sort).  A handmaid funeral is the sort of thing they can use to portray the rebellion in an unflattering light — they kill handmaids, they’re anti-baby!  They’re just terrorist who kill indiscriminately!  If you join them, they might kill you, too!

[DuckyinKy]

I can't get past Aunt Lydia saying "I wish I could give you a world without pain...." She inflicts pain. Not sure how that works. 

[madpsych78]

10 hours ago, DuckyinKy said:

I can't get past Aunt Lydia saying "I wish I could give you a world without pain...." She inflicts pain. Not sure how that works. 

That was what was bugging me about her line as well! I thought, hypocritical much?

[AnswersWanted]

In the beginning when the woman in Canada is informing the families of the bombing in Gilead, I must admit that the old hymn “There is a balm in Gilead” crossed my mind except I traded out bomb for balm, “There is a bomb in Gilead”.

Yeah I know, I’ll show myself out. 

They gave them back their names...and I wept.

They were property in the beginning, unknown, unrecognized, unimportant as people. And then they got back their names and faces and identities and...it was just right. 

Emily and Janine are saved!!!!!! Praise fucking be!!!!!!!

I got it just as they were getting snatched from the colonies. Wow...Lillie did so much when she blew those assholes a new one. Not ofGlen, she was Lillie, a saint if ever there was one in that dark hellhole. 

Fred couldn’t have lost something of importance? A leg? An eye?  A kidney, not even his pancreas? What about his gallstones? I mean really. I wanted him broken in half.  

I am still holding out hope perhaps he suffered spinal damage and will be confined to a wheelchair. 

Would it not be rather fitting that he would end up with a useless pelvis after this. 

Moira gutted me. Oh Odette...I knew she would be found but at the same time I was hoping that perhaps hope might hold out, at least for her sake. Gilead is not very generous with happy endings.

So Maria was a surrogate and gave her baby away, that’s how Gilead knew she was fertile, of course they would hack someone’s medical records. Bastards. 

 That room full of the binders holding the photos of the unnamed dead, that chilled me to the bone.

And then the all white section which was for the children... yet another reminder that Gilead has never been and hever was about truly repopulating America at all.

They murdered an untold and in some ways unknown number of fertile adults, and then they slaughtered actual children?

And these are people who care about fertility and making babies left and right, as many as possible?

This regime is about control and power, and by any means necessary they get it, babies and handmaids are their currency. 

I thought that last season and I am convinced of it this season. 

Gavin was adorable as hell. Thank god his parents moved. 

That new guy was a monster. I am actually glad that they showed him at the end getting his just desserts, he was too Gilead for Gilead’s sake and that is saying something.

I also guess Fred being a bud to Warren didn’t hurt matters when it came time for Warren to snatch Mr. shoot them up in the streets.

So Andrew is dead and Nick didn’t get his transfer before he died, complicated. 

Edited May 30, 2018 by AnswersWanted

[mamadrama]

The song "My Life" that was playing over the funeral scene at the beginning? My daughter is named after the singer; I love Iris Dement.

[chocolatine]

Not sure how to feel about Serena taking the reins behind the scenes. It was played as a triumph, but to me it just looked like a self-preservation move. And how long can she keep this up until the other commanders figure out Fred is still in the hospital (and in really bad shape)? I'm glad for the short-term effects like taking out Commander Creep and bringing Emily and Janine back from the colonies, but in the long term, I doubt Serena is thinking about anyone's interests but her own.

As much as I applauded Ofglen 2.0's, a.k.a. Lillie Fowler's bravery in the last episode, it wasn't lost on me that she took out more innocent handmaids than commanders (31 vs 26). 

I thought June and Nick hugging and kissing in the hospital hallway was extremely reckless, a guard or commander could have walked past at any time.

Great to get so much of Moira's backstory, and that she had a rich life of her own and the show doesn't just treat her as June's friend. She obviously knew on some level what had happened to Odette, but wasn't ready to have it confirmed until now.

[Umbelina]

Beautifully done.

All of it.   The names!

Serena Joy saving the day!

Janine and Emily not dying!

June holding that pen like a bomb detonator! 

[Brn2bwild]

There was much to like about this episode, but something didn't quite gel with me.  It felt like Moira's storyline should have had its own episode, and have been fleshed out more.  We should have heard about Odette before this episode.  We felt sympathy for Moira because we know Moira, but the discovery would have been much more impactful if we also knew Odette.

I was glad to see Emily and Janine "escape" the colonies, but in some ways, seeing them dumped back into the handmaid pool (and in the same location where they were before, no less) seemed to undercut the journey they were on in the colonies.

I also don't know what to think of Serena's deceit... except that it probably won't end well for Offred (and really, June, shouldn't you be less trusting of Serena by now?).

The best part was the anonymous handmaids getting their real names read, and the other handmaids giving their real names.  But from the look on Eden's face, she did not approve.

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

I am glad Emily and Janine are out of the fire into the frying pan.

This felt like nothing happened even though a lot did. Janine and Emily coming back for one but something about about it dragged. The Nick/June scenes are weighting down the episodes. Nick's emo-ness when he's at best and enabler of this systems is starting to bother me when before I was okay with his presence. I don't know why.

 

Finally, the Canada scenes are not cutting it for me. I care about Moira but her backstory made no sense to me. Having a finance and being a surrogate are two very important milestones in a person's life and we've seen enough of hers and June's past life that one or both should have been hinted at before tonight.  

[AnswersWanted]

4 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

Not sure how to feel about Serena taking the reins behind the scenes. It was played as a triumph, but to me it just looked like a self-preservation move. And how long can she keep this up until the other commanders figure out Fred is still in the hospital (and in really bad shape)? I'm glad for the short-term effects like taking out Commander Creep and bringing Emily and Janine back from the colonies, but in the long term, I doubt Serena is thinking about anyone's interests but her own.

As much as I applauded Ofglen 2.0's, a.k.a. Lillie Fowler's bravery in the last episode, it wasn't lost on me that she took out more innocent handmaids than commanders (31 vs 26). 

I thought June and Nick hugging and kissing in the hospital hallway was extremely reckless, a guard or commander could have walked past at any time.

Great to get so much of Moira's backstory, and that she had a rich life of her own and the show doesn't just treat her as June's friend. She obviously knew on some level what had happened to Odette, but wasn't ready to have it confirmed until now.

 

If the show is trying to set up a Serena Joy redemption, I’m just not here for it.

They have done too much with her to try to redeem her now, imho. 

Having a vagina is never going to be enough of a reason for me, take note show.

 The fact that they killed more handmaids than commanders I think was put in there simply so that they could re-introduce Emily and Janine.

They obviously wanted to bring those girls back, methinks the powers that be realized after season one just how popular those two characters have become, and they felt that this would be a good vehicle to do it with.

 I don’t think it was the most imaginative way they could’ve done it, especially since they did kill off so many other handmaids, but I’m still happy that Janine and Emily have returned to society. Even if it’s Gilead’s, for now. 

Although I do worry about Emily.

She’s been exposed to all manner of toxic fumes and god knows what else for quite some time, a lot longer than Janine has, I’m wondering if they’re going to work that in later on.

[chocolatine]

13 minutes ago, Deputy Deputy CoS said:

Having a finance and being a surrogate are two very important milestones in a person's life and we've seen enough of hers and June's past life that one or both should have been hinted at before tonight.  

IIRC, Moira has mentioned her fiancee before. I don't remember exactly when though, so I may be getting her mixed up with another character.

[tennisgurl]

So, I think I know how people in Gilead spend their time now that anything remotely fun or interesting has been banned: They practice complicated super Extra rituals for everything, and work on their call and response routines! I guess all that choreography takes up a lot of their spare time. And remember when your supposed to say whatever for any situation.

Aunt Lydia telling the women that she tried to "spare them from violence and pain" was a straight up laugh out loud moment. Motherfucker, you wield a cattle prod on these people. 

I thought the Moira backstory was a little meh (I fear this show will drift into the pointless flashbacks zone) but I liked seeing more of her and her aforementioned fiance. Its so sad what happened to her, and Morias reaction was heartbreaking. I do like seeing her and Luke bond over their mutual losses. 

The music was really beautiful this week, especially the song at the beginning. And the ending, with the Handmaidens telling each other their real names, and the handmaidens who died having their real names and pictures read out loud, was really powerful stuff. 

And Emily and Jeannine are back! Kind of sad to lose the stuff in the Colonies, but its good to have them in the thick of things again.  

Edited May 30, 2018 by tennisgurl

[Umbelina]

Serena Joy was always the smart one in that marriage.   Her taking over to save herself and "her" baby doesn't surprise me at all, nor does it redeem her.  Her true self came out.

I was more bored by the Canada scenes.  I want SO much more from those scenes!  Like, HOW is the rest of the world handling the Gilead "story?"  Where are the London papers, what does France say?  What about the exiled government in Alaska and Hawaii?  What are people around the world thinking/doing?

Edited May 30, 2018 by Umbelina
typo

[Shaynaa]

Luke is so effing useless.  I guess we are supposed to contrast him and Moira but he have acted like he cared any less?  Hell, he didn't even pretend to care about Moira's feelings.

So there is a handmaid shortage so they brought Janine and Emily back to the place they rebelled and committed serious crimes against the state.  This seems unwise.  Why not transfer handmaids from other places to replace the dead women and send the two of them to replace those folks.  They wouldn't know anyone which would cut down on the risk of further trouble.

Serena Joy's plan seems doomed to fail.  Someone will notice Fred is no shape to be issuing orders.  Surely someone will ask him and what?  He's going to pretend this was his idea?  Last season SJ tried to give him advice after a Martha escaped to Canada and did a media interview.  He shot her down telling her smart men were working on it.  I really don't understand her involving June.  Yeah, she was an editor.  Is she so worried about grammar?  I was wondering if she did it to involve and implicate June.  So if SJ goes down, June goes with her.

June and Nick continue to have super secret convos and make out in very public places.  How are these two still alive?

I get the feeling the season could end with Eden bringing the whole Waterford house crumbling down.  Everyone in the house besides her knows about Nick and June.  She's going to find out at some point.

[DiabLOL]

WOW June "detonating" her editor's pen the same way Ofglen detonated her actual bomb! Wonder what that means?

I'm a bundle of nerves during any of Rita's scenes she seems like the most intense at expressing her feelings: fear, dread, loss exhasperation.

Why would they put someone who was poisoned in The Colonies back in baby making handmaid's position? How are they supposed to have healthy children that is if they can even conceive anymore after all they've been poisoned with?

[AnswersWanted]

 As a queer woman Moira and Emily are both the realist representations on the show for me and my fam so pretty much anything to do with those two will always have me shook. 

I would have jumped for joy if the whole episode had been dedicated to Moira and her former life, but I wasn’t mad with what we got. 

For me Moira is the sort of person I’d expect to keep a lot to herself.

In the first season when she is with June mostly it’s more of her place and purpose, I felt, to try to keep June together.

June was in no shape to try to do the same for Moira so she didn’t break down, she didn’t try to relive the past and think about all of those memories, she was looking ahead to escape and freedom, there was no time to reminisce.

She turned even more aloof and detached when Gilead took over, but in the book and on the show I feel she was/is a woman meant to have secrets, meant to be a bit of a challenge to understand, a bit of a tough cookie to crack. 

I have no trouble believing that she would have protected her most sacred pieces to the world that had been torn to shreds right before her eyes, her surrogate baby and the woman she loved and cherished, and kept them under wraps as it were to protect them from Gilead’s clutches. They might break her down but they were not going to use those memories and feelings if she could help it against her. 

[QQQQ]

I need less whispering on this show, as I'm only catching every 3rd word.

 

Please excuse me while I go yell at some kids to get off my lawn. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The worst thing about the handmaids' funeral wasn't just the hypocrisy of Aunt Lydia saying that she wanted a world free of violence for them, but the fact that even in death these women weren't called by their real names. They were still Ofryan, Ofzeb, etc. I know that might be a small indignity compared to monthly rape, not being allowed to read or write, and all the other shit they have been put through but it made me so angry that even as they were being mourned and buried, they were still anonymous women whose identities were tied to their rapists.

For that reason, I really loved the scene near the end where the handmaids at the grocery store started telling each other their names. Of course, Eden had to be a buzzkill with her suspicious looks, but still.

Damn, Serena is ruthless! She will do anything to protect Fred and their family. Not that I was sad to see Cushing go because he was clearly not going to stop pushing.

As always, whenever a handmaid is given something she's not allowed, I'm immediately suspicious that it's a set up but part of me loved that Serena brought June into her secret. Now they're in it together (at least for now). Two womenfolk reading and writing is scandalous enough, but secretly wielding power? SCANDALOUS!

Of course, that can only last so long. What will Fred's reaction be when he finds out what Serena has done? I mean, so far the orders she issued in his name were nothing earth shattering - just quit killing the neighbors and calm the hell down, which seems reasonable.

17 minutes ago, QQQQ said:

I need less whispering on this show, as I'm only catching every 3rd word.

 

Please excuse me while I go yell at some kids to get off my lawn. 

Turn on the captions - it will save you so much "What did she just say?" frustration!

[Baltimore Betty]

1 hour ago, QQQQ said:

I need less whispering on this show, as I'm only catching every 3rd word.

I need more light.

[Baltimore Betty]

6 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Not sure how to feel about Serena taking the reins behind the scenes. It was played as a triumph, but to me it just looked like a self-preservation move. And how long can she keep this up until the other commanders figure out Fred is still in the hospital (and in really bad shape)? I'm glad for the short-term effects like taking out Commander Creep and bringing Emily and Janine back from the colonies, but in the long term, I doubt Serena is thinking about anyone's interests but her own.

As much as I applauded Ofglen 2.0's, a.k.a. Lillie Fowler's bravery in the last episode, it wasn't lost on me that she took out more innocent handmaids than commanders (31 vs 26). 

I thought June and Nick hugging and kissing in the hospital hallway was extremely reckless, a guard or commander could have walked past at any time.

Great to get so much of Moira's backstory, and that she had a rich life of her own and the show doesn't just treat her as June's friend. She obviously knew on some level what had happened to Odette, but wasn't ready to have it confirmed until now.

That part reminded me of the movie 9 to 5, the women took over and in the end the boss had to deal with the changes because they were changes for the better.  I loved that Serena enlisted June to edit the papers and that click of the pen was fabulous.  

Moira's story was tragic but I think we all knew Odette was not going to be alive, that said, where did Moira get a photo of the two of them if Moira escaped Gilead with only the clothes on her back?

How come they did not just shot Commander Cummings in head right there on the street?  Will we see him hanging on the wall?

Because most scenes seem to lit with candle light, did they kill Serena's Martha? I could not tell.

The hospital make out scene was stupid, how is it they are never caught?  

Eden was in the market with June and saw the HM's exchanging real names, Eden is trouble and June knows it, why does she think she is above reproach, Eden is already suspicious of her.

Janine and Emily returning from the Colonies seems risky, they have been exposed to nuclear wasted, wouldn't that affect an unborn baby?

[Baltimore Betty]

How do TPTB decide if a 15 year old girl will be an Eco wife or a Handmaid?  Wouldn't you think they would want more HM's? 

The funeral was interesting, choreographed and all, how many times have they done a funeral for one HM let alone a mass funeral, they all seemed to know where to walk and what to say and even had wardrobe for it.

I want to see Aunt Lydia die in a twisted way, confessing her sins etc...and I want someone unexpected, (like someone who seemed to have drunk the Kool Aid),finish the job.  Maybe one of the other Aunts?

[DuckyinKy]

2 hours ago, QQQQ said:

I need less whispering on this show, as I'm only catching every 3rd word.

I solved that nightmare by using closed captioning. Hell, I had to go back and watch a half a dozen episodes and discovered an entirely new show! I missed and misread so many scenes because of the insane whispering. 

[VagueDisclaimer]

So they basically retconned S1 so they could get everyone back in the same location at this point. Who cares if any of these women were a danger to Gilead or these women spent enough time in the colonies that they’ve actually been harmed by the toxicity there(including their ability to conceive and carry healthy babies), who cares about that logic, we need these characters back. Just like it felt wasteful that June was recaptured so quickly this season, it’s been highlighted that the show  sucks at balancing.

Like Canada, oh Canada. It should be a lot more interesting, it should be used to show what the resistance has been working on, how other countries are reacting, if we have allies, etc. It’s just so...boring. Luke is such a flat and passive character and I have no want to root for him. Moira is interesting, thankfully. As someone mentioned upthread, I wish we’d seen more of their relationship together, more about Odette than two minor scenes. It felt like squeezing in the surrogacy and Odette was like a very quick summary to get Moira’s backstory done. I just think it could’ve been handled better, especially considering Moira is the only draw in the Canadian scenes. 

June had the realization of what could happen if Cushing continued his inquiry and how much worse it could actually get for her(and Rita and Nick) and went to Serena, the devil she knew. Serena had her realization in that moment that June called her by her first name that without Fred, she was just as vulnerable as the rest of the women in the household. For that reason i’m not suspicious of her involving June. 

My impression is that Fred might not be happy when he finds out, but will be physically reliable on Serena and the household by then and won’t be able to do much  unless he wants to give the whole thing up, which he won’t want to do.  Something will be worked out where Serena and Fred will be on more equal footing.

Remember when everyone was scolding June for peeking out the window at the EconoFamily’s apartment? Considering the secret convos that are happening out in the open and June making out with Nick in a public hallway, apparently there’s going to be A LOT of suspension of disbelief being worked into this season that we’re all supposed to roll with.

Overall, I found this episode to be okay, if jumbled. My favorite line came from June with her, “Right now the baby needs Twinkies, but we’re compromising.”

And the best parts for me was the emphasis of the power of names and identity: The handmaids introducing themselves quietly to one another, Moira giving a name to one face in a roomful of the lost, and especially the wonderful contrast of the final recitation of the REAL names of the dead with the earlier recitation of their handmaid names. I also really liked the way this episode ended with the click of the pen in a quieter explosion. 

Edited May 30, 2018 by VagueDisclaimer
Because my autocorrect prefers handmaiden over handmaid

[Umbelina]

6 hours ago, DiabLOL said:

WOW June "detonating" her editor's pen the same way Ofglen detonated her actual bomb! Wonder what that means?

---

Why would they put someone who was poisoned in The Colonies back in baby making handmaid's position? How are they supposed to have healthy children that is if they can even conceive anymore after all they've been poisoned with?

The pen is mightier than the sword?  (Or in this case, than a suicide vest bomb?)

Well, we do know they were already short on housemaids (from the Mexico garbage) and now they just lost a bunch more.  My guess?  Desperation and lack of scientists to tell them just what radiation poisoning may mean for fertility and fetuses?

3 hours ago, QQQQ said:

I need less whispering on this show, as I'm only catching every 3rd word.

 

I'm so glad it's not just me, and yes, closed captioning is saving me now that other posters told me how to turn it on.  Go to settings...solved.

1 hour ago, Baltimore Betty said:

That part reminded me of the movie 9 to 5, the women took over and in the end the boss had to deal with the changes because they were changes for the better.  I loved that Serena enlisted June to edit the papers and that click of the pen was fabulous.  

Moira's story was tragic but I think we all knew Odette was not going to be alive, that said, where did Moira get a photo of the two of them if Moira escaped Gilead with only the clothes on her back?

How come they did not just shot Commander Cummings in head right there on the street?  Will we see him hanging on the wall?

Because most scenes seem to lit with candle light, did they kill Serena's Martha? I could not tell.

The hospital make out scene was stupid, how is it they are never caught?  

Eden was in the market with June and saw the HM's exchanging real names, Eden is trouble and June knows it, why does she think she is above reproach, Eden is already suspicious of her.

Janine and Emily returning from the Colonies seems risky, they have been exposed to nuclear wasted, wouldn't that affect an unborn baby?

Yes!  WHERE did that photo come from?  It bugged me too. 

Apparently Commanders get a trial. 

No, they killed the Martha across the street.

Yes indeed.  Eden is dangerous.  That said?  If they are so desperate they are bringing former handmaid's back from nuclear waste colonies?  Maybe they will allow them a few more liberties.  Nah.  Eden is going to tell.

1 hour ago, Baltimore Betty said:

How do TPTB decide if a 15 year old girl will be an Eco wife or a Handmaid?  Wouldn't you think they would want more HM's? 

The funeral was interesting, choreographed and all, how many times have they done a funeral for one HM let alone a mass funeral, they all seemed to know where to walk and what to say and even had wardrobe for it.

 

Only those that have sinned become housemaids.

Gilead loves it's pageantry and big events, there are no books, no games, no TV, no internet...I guess they have to do something interesting to pass the time?  That said, it was beautiful, and it broke my heart when the started reciting the OfAsshole names for them.  The ending and the Canada scene made up for that though.

14 minutes ago, VagueDisclaimer said:

So they basically retconned S1 so they could get everyone back in the same location at this point. Who cares if any of these women were a danger to Gilead or these women spent enough time in the colonies that they’ve actually been harmed by the toxicity there(including their ability to conceive and carry healthy babies), who cares about that logic, we need these characters back. Just like it felt wasteful that June was recaptured so quickly this season, it’s been highlighted that the show  sucks at balancing.

Like Canada, oh Canada. It should be a lot more interesting, it should be used to show what the resistance has been working on, how other countries are reacting, if we have allies, etc. It’s just so...boring. Luke is such a flat and passive character and I have no want to root for him. Moira is interesting, thankfully. As someone mentioned upthread, I wish we’d seen more of their relationship together, more about Odette than two minor scenes. It felt like squeezing in the surrogacy and Odette was like a very quick summary to get Moira’s backstory done. I just think it could’ve been handled better, especially considering Moira is the only draw in the Canadian scenes. 

June had the realization of what could happen if Cushing continued his inquiry and how much worse it could actually get for her(and Rita and Nick) and went to Serena, the devil she knew. Serena had her realization in that moment that June called her by her first name that without Fred, she was just as vulnerable as the rest of the women in the household. For that reason i’m not suspicious of her involving June. 

My impression is that Fred might not be happy when he finds out, but will be physically reliable on Serena and the household by then and won’t be able to do much  unless he wants to give the whole thing up, which he won’t want to do.  Something will be worked out where Serena and Fred will be on more equal footing.

Remember when everyone was scolding June for peeking out the window at the EconoFamily’s apartment? Considering the secret convos that are happening out in the open and June making out with Nick in a public hallway, apparently there’s going to be A LOT of suspension of disbelief being worked into this season that we’re all supposed to roll with.

Overall, I found this episode to be okay, if jumbled. My favorite line came from June with her, “Right now the baby needs Twinkies, but we’re compromising.”

And the best parts for me was the emphasis of the power of names and identity: The handmaidens introducing themselves quietly to one another, Moira giving a name to one face in a roomful of the lost, and especially the wonderful contrast of the final recitation of the REAL names of the dead with the earlier recitation of their handmaiden names. I also really liked the way this episode ended with the click of the pen in a quieter explosion. 

What did they lose?  30 of them in that bomb blast?  I already addressed this upthread though.  Not many fertile women left.    I'm glad they did it, it gave us a chance to see the colonies, AND it saved Janine and Emily, two of my faves.

YES!  The whole interest of Canada for me is that they can really expand the world, show us what the world is thinking about this BS!  Why aren't they on computers or reading papers, or discussing possible options to stop this?  We'll probably see more of Odette, this episode was more about Moira's pregnancy for a quarter million, and the tension/envy with June over having a husband.  Frankly, I would rather see present day from the Canadian scenes.

At first I was worried about that hallway talk/kiss as well.  They were obviously not in a very public area, I don't think June or Nick is stupid, and that hospital often seems pretty empty (June's escape for example.)

I loved the Twinkies comment!~  Probably goes down as one of my favorite lines from any episode!

So agree, they told the power of names story so well, from start to finish.  Breaking my heart when Aunt Lydia did even use their real names, contrasted with Canada reading them off, and then the Handmaids reclaiming them with one another.  <3

[ElectricBoogaloo]

2 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

where did Moira get a photo of the two of them if Moira escaped Gilead with only the clothes on her back?

I am telling myself that Moira had pictures uploaded to the cloud and once she got to Canada, she was able to access her account.

[Bubbetv]

I am thoroughly enjoying the backstory and updates with Moira. She is such a rich character- scrappy and irreverent from the jump and Making me greedy for more.

plus, I think if Samira Wiley were reading the Manhattan phonebook, I'd buy a ticket. 

[tennisgurl]

June and Nick really kind of suck at this whole secret lovers thing. Like, stop hugging right in public with armed guards everywhere! 

[Lady Calypso]

I'm not really that surprised Janine and Emily were brought back to Gilead. They're still main characters and I suspect the show didn't actually want to dedicate their stories to their true painful deaths that they'd go through if remaining in the Colonies. It would have been brave for the show to do, but they didn't. Same with June not escaping a few episodes ago; if she escaped, then the Gilead story wouldn't be prominent anymore. This is still a TV show, where they can do a lot of horrible things to the characters, but they will never go all the way with their main characters. 

That being said, their return scene was very nice, because it led to the Handmaidens telling each other their real names.

I truly do believe Serena's actions aren't for June and aren't for doing the right thing. Her actions are to preserve her baby that she feels is rightfully hers, as well as to protect herself. So it's real damn hard to feel for Serena and June teaming up, even if the short term effects are well done. I just feel certain that Serena brought June into this so that she could be the scapegoat and she could have the chance to raise June's baby. Maybe I'm extremely cynical here, but I just can't like Serena. I get that this is the first instance in a long time where she probably felt power, where she felt like all her hard work has finally rewarded her, even though it's at her husband's expense. I just see her easily turning on June once their plan inevitably backfires. 

I do recognize the symbolism with the pen click at the end. They made it pretty obvious.

I didn't mind Moira's backstory and I felt for her, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Luke's also kind of still an ass. 

Nick's so bland and boring, I think if he just disappeared one day, I wouldn't miss him. He just has nothing to him that makes me like him. Him and June are also so obviously getting caught at some point. 

[AnswersWanted]

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I am telling myself that Moira had pictures uploaded to the cloud and once she got to Canada, she was able to access her account.

 

 I was thinking Facebook or Instagram myself, just because Gilead tried to purge out all electronic and online advancements, at least allowing access to most people, from their area, I would assume that other governments have access to the Internet still and all it has to offer. 

Seeing that photo actually made me think about something I hadn't before, there would’ve been so much uploaded information before the fall of Gilead, people making videos on YouTube or Instagram or Snapchat,  how many might have run live streams through Facebook, how many horrible things were captured forever and uploaded for all to see? 

When was that exact moment Gilead cut the cord, both literally and figuratively, and sealed everyone out?

When they shut down what we know as the World Wide Web in the US, keeping people from being able to do anything online, use laptops, use tablets, use their cell phones, all mobile data, everything gone. 

And we’ve already seen what happened to the media in print, but what about news on television? The major networks, CNN, NBC, ABC, all of those who worked there, did they end up hanging on the wall as well? Did reporters fight to the end to try to get the story? How many times did they televise their own deaths?

[ren]

9 hours ago, DiabLOL said:

WOW June "detonating" her editor's pen the same way Ofglen detonated her actual bomb! Wonder what that means?

I'm a bundle of nerves during any of Rita's scenes she seems like the most intense at expressing her feelings: fear, dread, loss exhasperation.

Why would they put someone who was poisoned in The Colonies back in baby making handmaid's position? How are they supposed to have healthy children that is if they can even conceive anymore after all they've been poisoned with?

"Between my finger and my thumb   

The squat pen rests; snug as a gun."

[DrSpaceman]

Aunt Lydia saying I wish I could give you a world with no pain at the funeral?  Screw you, Aunt Lydia?

Reading off the Handmaiden based names and not their real names?  Screw you again. 

The other officials walk in to talk to Serena after her husband has just almost been killed by a terrorist bomb and what does she say?  "Blessed day".  Really, THAT is a 'blessed day'?  I mean, it actually IS one for humanity and those fighting or freedom, but SHE thinks its a 'blessed day' that her husband was almost killed? 

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

June and Nick really kind of suck at this whole secret lovers thing. Like, stop hugging right in public with armed guards everywhere! 

 No kidding.  I kept think there are probably cameras down their watching them. 

I am actually interested to see what Serena does now that she has some power.  Her husband's power she is using, but still some power. 

Wouldn't those women at the colonies they are trying to bring back again to be Handmaidens be horribly contaminated with.......something, whatever it is they wear those masks to keep from breathing in at the colonies?  How could they possibly be good surrogate mothers after that exposure?

[LordOfLotion]

Maybe I've seen too many horror flicks or HBO, but when the handmaids took off their veils in the funeral scene, I was expecting to see mangled faces from the bombing.

Luke is useless. At least Nick helped fill out Serena's forms and knew how to get that nosy commander taken away.

Those women they brought back from the colonies are going to have shredder babies if they even get pregnant at all.