S03.E09: Heroic

[AnswersWanted]

Quote

 “Confined in a hospital, June’s sanity begins to fray. An encounter with Serena Joy forces June to reassess her recent actions.”

Ooooh baby, do you know what that’s worth? Ooooh heaven is a place is a place on earth! 

I. Hate. Everything. About. This. Episode.

Well except Janine, goddamnit she’s too adorable to quit (how do I quit you, Janine???).

But as for the rest? Fuck it. 

[chocolatine]

I can't believe they dragged Belinda Carlisle into this mess.

[revbfc]

Just four more episodes left now. I sure hope June can get her Harriet Tubman act together by then.

Of course, stupid me.  We all know that hope is only presented to show us the scale of the black hole of hopelessness that is Gilead.

[Brn2bwild]

When Janine makes more sense than you, it's time to rethink your priorities...

Nice ending, glad to see that June is getting her mojo yet, but did we need to spend 95 percent of the hour watching her go mental?

[rideashire]

The fact they left June there alone where she could very easily kill her walking partner in any number of ways is ridiculous. There should have been rotating guards with her, even another handmaid, I don't know. Someone/everyone was slacking in that regard. 

Really glad the doc turned out to be a decent guy. It's nice to see that not everyone is 100% cruel. 

When June was talking to Of Matthew at the end I expected her to say she was gonna kill the babies because they deserve to be free. Maybe because she looked crazed and I thought she went over the edge. Not sure how she's gonna get them out considering she can't even get her own kid out.

Overall this ep dragged for me. Not in a good way, but it wasn't totally awful either. 

Janine continues to break my heart and I want her to find happiness more than I want it for June.

[AnswersWanted]

Okay...so, basically the show was like: 

“Hey, fellas and gal folk at the writing table, we’re on episode 9, what does this season REALLY need to give it that super “wow!” factor? Really make people say “omfg that was stellar storytelling”?” 

“Ummmm,...more closeups of June?”

”I like it, but...it seems like something’s missing...” 

“How about we make the episode 97% closeups of June?? From every angle! I’m talking panning overhead, up her nose, behind her, beside her, through glass, around glass, from the rooftop, drone shots even!”

”Woo! Tell me more!”

“Oh, oh, I know! We will have her produce her own soundtrack during her closeups!”

”Now we’re talking!”

”Ooh, can we use a famous song from the 80s that is one of the biggest ear worms known to modern man???”

”Is there any other option?! Of COURSE!!” 

”Don’t forget her internal monologues, everybody LOVES those! Plus it saves on writing lines for everyone else!”

(High fives around the table)

”Now we’re cooking with gas!”

”And we can have her kneeling a whole lot so her knees get bruised so she’s limping and looks super pitiful! We’ll even work it into the ending somehow so she talks to a random young girl and she’ll be reminded she needs to save ALL the babies!”

“Beautiful!”

”Andddd we will make sure that she and Serena share a scene, with BLOOD!”

”YESSSS! Make it rain plasma!”

(Everyone breaks into a rousing chorus of “Heaven Is a Place on Earth”)

[bluestocking]

So does this mean we're done with intense close-ups of June's face emoting?  Surely we got enough close ups this episode for the rest of the season.  

Otoh there's at least a glimmer of forward momentum, if June follows through on her newfound purpose.

[DiabLOL]

Ok what the fuck was that.

All June all the time.

You know what? They might as well allow her to walk around carrying a machine gun at this point.

I have to say I liked the scene with the surgeon how he knew her Mom and how chilling that is. She was his  colleague then got dumped in The Colonies. That sort of horror is what I want to see in this show. 

[chocolatine]

There were so many glaring inconsistencies. Apparently, there's a hospital that's equipped to keep a brain-dead pregnant woman and her baby alive, monitor both their vital stats, deliver the baby via c-section, and administer CPR successfully on a micro-preemie. Presumably, there are also NICU facilities to care for said micro-preemie until he's developed enough to be sent home. And yet, in the last episode, they didn't bother to do standard diagnostics to screen for simple issues like the umbilical cord being wrapped around the baby's neck and delivering *that* baby via c-section. Makes no sense, especially since "babies are the only thing that matters".

Also, Gilead had supposedly shut down all the tech companies, and yet one of the doctors had a new-ish iPad. Hard to believe Gilead would allow a product created by a company that was run first by a Buddhist (Steve Jobs) and then a gender traitor (Tim Cook).

[Umbelina]

I'm still only about half way through, I totally forgot it was on tonight.

As much as I dislike this showrunner, I have to admit, I'm fairly riveted.

If the rest of the show wasn't so disappointing, I'd probably love this episode.

Back when I finish.

[AnswersWanted]

So if Janine could so easily move between hers and June's rooms, why didn't June try to bolt?

She already had "cracked" like humpty dumpty, she wouldn't be thinking clearly, she had nothing logically holding her back at that point.

But no, this is the one time she stays put and doesn't even seem to once spend any amount of time thinking about escape or getting away.

Not even before she started to spiral into the great void.

They had her in there for weeks, but instead of seeking freedom she just loses her mind because...sure, it's not like she had ever escaped from the same hospital before or anything. Oh wait...

I feel like this show treats its' viewers like morons when they go this sort of route. 

And she totally would have been chained to her bed, to ensure she stayed put and to make sure she couldn't infer with Ofmatthew's care. 

Also, that doctor was quite possibly the biggest pro June plant this show has crafted yet. 

This guy may as well have been her dad, he was so gentle and kind with her, he knew her mom from "before" and seemed to respect her, he didn't report her and in fact seemed to take immense pity on her. 

I get the show wants to give June allies here and there, but this dude was impossibly written to be in June's corner so, once again, she faced no consequences for attacking Serena, for harming herself, for admitting she wanted to hurt Ofmatthew and the doctor, it's just so lazy and poorly written to me. 

What was once random spurts of luck is now sheer impenetrable good fortune that a fucking nuke couldn't dent. 

June's inability to have anything go so wrong she actually faces any real danger totally ruins any and all suspense her scenes could have now. 

She's always going to live to see another episode, fully intact, therefore the system has to lose before the scene is even over with, and then it's rinse and repeat. And it is boring as hell.

Janine had a much better crew in the colonies. She and Emily were great besties.

I mean sure, radiation poisoning was killing her, but at least she didn't have to put up with June.

[Umbelina]

Oh man, I know it's going against the grain here, but I really loved this episode.

I just keep thinking, if it wasn't for all the crap issues this show has, how would we really feel about this one?

Because honestly, I loved all of it.

June's relief at Natalie's baby being a boy.

The young girls just getting their periods, and about to be matched off to various strangers to do nothing for the rest of their lives but have babies, IF they are lucky, if not, maybe they are married off to someone who becomes powerful, and they will be assigned Marthas and Handmaids.

June apologizing to Natalie, and staying with her as she was dying, so she wouldn't be alone.

The doctor telling June about what isolation can do to someone, and asking her about suicide (because obviously she was ready for that in the previous episode, when she didn't run from the gun as everyone else ran.)

The wives praying and June's reactions to that.

June's voice overs were perfect as well, completely in tune with that book.

This one?  Worked for me on every level.  IF, that is, I let the rest of the season and last season's continuity issues go, which I was able to do, because this one?  Worked.  It had the tone of the book, and it compelled me from start to finish.

June has a new goal, to get all the children out, not just Hannah.  Obviously, she won't be able to do that, but the goal itself is something I can wholeheartedly get behind.

With goals like that, simple, based on humanity?  governments have been overturned before. 

June would just be a small cog in that wheel, but without the cogs, without the sacrifices of all the cogs, injustices are never stopped.

I'm shocked at how much I loved this one, I haven't been able to say that in a LONG, long time about this show.

ETA

Janine calling out June! 

Damn, I didn't think this show could impress me anymore, but it just...did.

Edited July 17, 2019 by Umbelina
the ETA

[AnswersWanted]

It actually annoys me how adorable Madeline and Ann are together, because I could really enjoy their scenes so much more if Ann wasn't playing the monster that is Lydia. 

They're too cute for their own good, heh. I cracked up a bit at the "pirate" comment. 

Madeline really brings such a lovely light to Janine, she's like a precious jewel that needs to be protected at all costs. 

Also, also, has the show forgotten, yet again, how old Hannah is supposed to be? 

June is going to compare her, at best, 7-8 year old daughter with girls rounding the bend of puberty as a trigger? 

And how many goddamn triggers does June even need at this point?

She's in Gilead, that should always be her first motivation to get her kid out, no less than because it's a total shithole to have to live in and any and all females are in constant danger.

I seriously felt like I was watching a season 2 episode by mistake.

We have already been through all of this same expositional bullshit before, we have been inside of June's head plenty enough times to know her "heart's desire", it's way past time for them to have gotten her far beyond this point in the plot. 

Things read as stale and redundant to me.

The resistance movement has been on the back burner for way too long, all the messy, clumsy nonsense regarding Canada has been set aside as well, all so that we can see June breakdown in a hospital, again? Ffs, get some new material already.

I don't need June reminding me of what the show has never allowed me to forget for one and a half seasons. Her mental breaks are more regular than her periods I'd wager at this point. 

Just get the ever loving fuck on with it already. 

I didn't need to see a handmaid I didn't give two shits about die, I I didn't need to be introduced to a new doctor, or more extra characters probably never to be seen again.

I would like a story with purpose that actually moves along and makes things interesting. 

Why couldn't we have seen Lawrence come bursting in to grab June, pulling rank and showcasing just how powerful he can be, and he could have taken her home.

Then, instead of June's little bonding session with the doctor, she could have had that helpless breakdown with Lawrence, forcing him to see her pain and grief in full, giving him a newfound desire to help her, save her as he did Emily. And just how many plot centric doors would such a development lead to?

This show can't even be bothered to grow key relationships between the main characters anymore. 

They just jump around from place to place, person to person without much, if any, payoff, and that was a huge part of why the book worked so well. The bonds that were made, and broken, drove much of the story and kept us interested in these characters. 

The show wanted me to care about Ofmatthew when they never gave me a reason to, and then on top of that I should care about June finally acting like a person, suddenly, when I don't even care much about her anymore thanks to the previous 8 episodes that came before. 

The shows wants all this credit for a payoff they never earned. A hearty cheer for a story they've never told. 

And it's not that they can't, it's that they just don't, it's a choice, and it's an inexcusable one to me. 

Edited July 17, 2019 by AnswersWanted

[ferjy]

Jesus, I had to slap myself awake three times during this episode.

The best scenes were with Janine. Sad when I care more about a side character than the protagonist. I feel for Janine, I couldn’t care less about June.  Finally, someone confronts June about her constant BS. “Everything is always about you.” You got it, Pontiac... er... Janine!

[jenn31]

“I’m going to get them out. I don’t know how yet...”

No shit, June. You’ll go by the spur of the moment as usual and screw everything up. I wonder how many casualties there will be with this endeavor. 

[Umbelina]

1 minute ago, jenn31 said:

“I’m going to get them out. I don’t know how yet...”

No shit, June. You’ll go by the spur of the moment as usual and screw everything up. I wonder how many casualties there will be with this endeavor. 

Yeah, totally right.

Why even try.  Just give up.  No sense fighting the power, unless you can have a sure win.

[ferjy]

2 hours ago, AnswersWanted said:

I mean sure, radiation poisoning was killing her, but at least she didn't have to put up with June.

lol She’d be killed either way, and a much quicker death hanging around June. 

[jenn31]

21 minutes ago, Umbelina said:

Yeah, totally right.

Why even try.  Just give up.  No sense fighting the power, unless you can have a sure win.

Again, you’re missing the point of my message. I didn’t say anything about giving up. I was referring to her “I don’t know how” comment. That says it all. As I specified, it’s the fact she’ll do it half-assed without regard for anyone else like she always does.  

[ferjy]

2 hours ago, AnswersWanted said:

June's inability to have anything go so wrong she actually faces any real danger totally ruins any and all suspense her scenes could have now. 

I suppose they wanted us to gasp when she pulled out the scalpel. No reaction here. What difference would it make who she went after, she’d survive untouched and unpunished, even if she had slit her own wrists. I still had to roll my eyes when Serena walked away without reporting June. 

[Trillian]

I didn’t hate this as much as the rest of this season, but I think it’s because  have cracked and am numb to the pain.  The glaring inconsistencies just passed through my mind but have lost their power. Why is The Most Dangerous Loose Cannon of a Handmaid Ever unguarded and unrestrained?  Why is she allowed to go anywhere near a conveniently unchaperoned child?  Why, if they are letting Natalie die now that she’s delivered, is she still hooked up to machines (any reason other than that the beeps make a poignant counterpoint to June’s monologue)?  I didn’t even have the strength to want to slap June as she looked beatifically down on the woman whom she herself got killed. 

For me, June’s realization that she isn’t the only person in this world who’s hurting comes too little too late. Last episode, any residual caring I had left for her crossed into absolute hatred.  And not even the incomparable Belinda Carlisle can change that.

[burghgal]

I watched last night as I couldn't sleep.  This episode did the trick in allowing me to get a few zzz's in.  If it had been a one off, it wouldn't have been as awful -- but we've had enough of the June looking scorned, torture scenes.  We get it -- this regime is awful, with pockets of decent people in it just trying to survive, June is a rebel/fighter.  This show needs to move forward somehow -- ASAP.  My biggest investment in this show right now is going through all the scenarios that can be made to save it from ruin.

That being said -- Janine calling June out on her BS was a good scene.  I also liked how the Doctor basically told June what we've all been thinking -- "you are about to end up on the wall doing no one any good-- get your $%^* together and rise above your emotional baggage".  

[AnswersWanted]

2 hours ago, jenn31 said:

“I’m going to get them out. I don’t know how yet...”

No shit, June. You’ll go by the spur of the moment as usual and screw everything up. I wonder how many casualties there will be with this endeavor. 

If they sacrifice Janine at the alter of June for any reason I will fucking revolt.

She just seems like such a little lamb doll right now, I worry...

2 hours ago, jenn31 said:

Again, you’re missing the point of my message. I didn’t say anything about giving up. I was referring to her “I don’t know how” comment. That says it all. As I specified, it’s the fact she’ll do it half-assed without regard for anyone else like she always does.  

When June "has an idea" bad shit always happens. She can't be allowed to think anything through because the show wants "dramatic flair" and the only way they figure they can get it is to have her fuck up.

But never fear, the whole world can be burning to the ground all around her but she'll still be able to walk right through without even one crispified hair strand. 

2 hours ago, ferjy said:

lol She’d be killed either way, and a much quicker death hanging around June. 

Tell the truth, heh. 

Well quicker but probably still more painful. 

2 hours ago, ferjy said:

I suppose they wanted us to gasp when she pulled out the scalpel. No reaction here. What difference would it make who she went after, she’d survive untouched and unpunished, even if she had slit her own wrists. I still had to roll my eyes when Serena walked away without reporting June. 

All I was thinking about during that scene, while munching cheetos and wondering how much longer we had to go, was that there's no way they would have disposed of the scalpel that way. 

It was so obviously set up for June to get her hands on it, they should have just left it out in the open. 

And her pricking her finger with the used needle and then sucking on the wound to stop the bleeding, sure, why not throw a potential hepatitis infection into the mix. Let's keep things festive. 

Serena told the doctor but obviously she felt so sorry for poor, pitiful, broken June she didn't want to go to Lydia or anyone else about it.

After all, she and June have been getting along so well...this show, man.

15 minutes ago, Trillian said:

I didn’t hate this as much as the rest of this season, but I think it’s because  have cracked and am numb to the pain.  The glaring inconsistencies just passed through my mind but have lost their power. Why is The Most Dangerous Loose Cannon of a Handmaid Ever unguarded and unrestrained?  Why is she allowed to go anywhere near a conveniently unchaperoned child?  Why, if they are letting Natalie die now that she’s delivered, is she still hooked up to machines (any reason other than that the beeps make a poignant counterpoint to June’s monologue)?  I didn’t even have the strength to want to slap June as she looked beatifically down on the woman whom she herself got killed. 

For me, June’s realization that she isn’t the only person in this world who’s hurting comes too little too late. Last episode, any residual caring I had left for her crossed into absolute hatred.  And not even the incomparable Belinda Carlisle can change that.

I totally agree with you. 

June the character holds zero impact for me, her or her storyline,  I am greatly tired of them both. 

The show has so ruined her for me as a character I want to sympathize and empathize with.

She drifts between being a selfish, self centered witch to then being just entirely pathetic and passive and pitiful as if she has had all the fight drained out of her, until suddenly she's fixed or whatever and we're right back to old June, she doesn't read as a "real" person to me anymore, just repetitive and plot driven, nothing more.

[goldilocks]

19 minutes ago, burghgal said:

I also liked how the Doctor basically told June what we've all been thinking -- "you are about to end up on the wall

Silly doctor, he had no idea of June’s thick plot armor.

[Miles]

I mean this was mostly boring. It might have been interesting had it been a season ago, with better episodes around it, but as it is, it's just a boring retread, surrounded by dumb.

So June wants to get all the children out? To where? She should know by now that Canada isn't safe. I'm sure this is going to go great...

Btw. why would they throw a multi use scalpel in the same bin as used needles? Could the show not afford a single use scalpel or something? Or did a plastic scalpel just not look cinematic enough to them and they were going for style over substance again?... Yes, I know the answer...

Edited July 17, 2019 by Miles

[The Mighty Peanut]

Has anything even happened this season? 

Because this is what I've got:

Nichole and Emily are safe in Canada

Nichole and Emily are NOT safe in Canada

Serena hates Fred and is joining the resistance, she wants Nichole to escape

Serena loves Fred and is moving away from the resistance, she wants Nichole back

Nick is good

Nick is bad 

Who's Nick?

June is assigned to Commander Lawrence

June is unassigned from Commander Lawrence

June is close to Hannah

June is far from Hannah

Aside from world building--mouth rings, musical handmaids, DC--has anything occurred to move the plot forward in a substantial way? I am thinking no. I guess Luke isn't in the dark about Nick anymore, but that isn't particularly significant.

Edited July 17, 2019 by The Mighty Peanut

[Trillian]

45 minutes ago, goldilocks said:

Silly doctor, he had no idea of June’s thick plot armor.

Same thought went through my mind. 

Whatever happened to the Wall anyway? 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Within the first five minutes of the episode, I was cracking up because I was already imagining how much you guys were going to hate an episode that was 90% June voiceovers and June closeups.

I liked the moment when the doctor said he knew June's mom and that she was scary.

[AnswersWanted]

Oh man, without you guys and your awesome posts to keep me going, I'd have thrown in the towel already.

The lack of any decent forward momentum this whole season is both baffling and total bullshit.

Just how many times has June "decided to fight back" now, 12? 28? 

I've lost track, and the show seems to as well, because it wants to deliver this message of June finding the will to keep going, again, like it's brand new information.

Maybe, just maybe, if they would stop fucking around and wasting so much goddamn time on so much filler, we could actually get somewhere. 

It's so tedious to watch everything play out that seems like a more basic and boring do over of last season.

I swear, June basically was in nearly the same state, making the same voiceovers and having the same sort of mental breakdowns and freakouts, as last time, nothing's really changed. 

She hasn't changed, she just keeps getting reset, and it's so annoying.

That's not character development and growth, show, that's what you do when an app stops working. 

June is supposed to be a human person, not a computer infected with a virus that needs to be rebooted constantly.

Canada is still stupid and underdeveloped, where is Luke, Moira, and now Emily in all of this? Who cares, doesn't matter, we've still seen shit all of what's left of the real US, or anything to do with the war, we haven't returned to the colonies, barely had a whiff of Jezebel's, the resistance may as well be one lone Martha hidden away in Lawrence's basement building pipe bombs in old Tupperware, Rita could be dead right now and who'd know, Nick could be dropping bombs over Baltimore for all we know, and June is going to somehow liberate a bunch of babies out of Gilead because she believes she can, like really really hard she BELIEVES. 

I'm at work but I feel like I need to go and lay down now. 

[bluestocking]

1 hour ago, AnswersWanted said:

Oh man, without you guys and your awesome posts to keep me going, I'd have thrown in the towel already.

The lack of any decent forward momentum this whole season is both baffling and total bullshit.

Just how many times has June "decided to fight back" now, 12? 28? 

I've lost track, and the show seems to as well, because it wants to deliver this message of June finding the will to keep going, again, like it's brand new information.

Maybe, just maybe, if they would stop fucking around and wasting so much goddamn time on so much filler, we could actually get somewhere. 

It's so tedious to watch everything play out that seems like a more basic and boring do over of last season.

I swear, June basically was in nearly the same state, making the same voiceovers and having the same sort of mental breakdowns and freakouts, as last time, nothing's really changed. 

She hasn't changed, she just keeps getting reset, and it's so annoying.

That's not character development and growth, show, that's what you do when an app stops working. 

June is supposed to be a human person, not a computer infected with a virus that needs to be rebooted constantly.

Canada is still stupid and underdeveloped, where is Luke, Moira, and now Emily in all of this? Who cares, doesn't matter, we've still seen shit all of what's left of the real US, or anything to do with the war, we haven't returned to the colonies, barely had a whiff of Jezebel's, the resistance may as well be one lone Martha hidden away in Lawrence's basement building pipe bombs in old Tupperware, Rita could be dead right now and who'd know, Nick could be dropping bombs over Baltimore for all we know, and June is going to somehow liberate a bunch of babies out of Gilead because she believes she can, like really really hard she BELIEVES. 

I'm at work but I feel like I need to go and lay down now. 

I keep wondering if a lot of their choices are dictated by budget.  No money for battle scenes, location shooting outside Toronto or a couple of shots of DC.  This episode had to be the cheapest ever--basically one set, minimal cast.  So we get a whole season of bottle episodes. 

[bmoore4026]

I might be in the minority but I thought this episode was actually good.  It wasn't over the top (at least to me), the acting was solid, the scene between the doctor and June was nicely done, Aunt Lydia giving Janine the eyepatch was actually kind of sweet, and June staying behind to be with Natalie until she passed on was nice.

[HeySandyStrange]

20 minutes ago, bluestocking said:

I keep wondering if a lot of their choices are dictated by budget.  No money for battle scenes, location shooting outside Toronto or a couple of shots of DC.  This episode had to be the cheapest ever--basically one set, minimal cast.  So we get a whole season of bottle episodes. 

Well, if this is true, Hulu just needs to wrap this show up or they need to bite the bullet and pour some more money in this show. Because ten seasons on extreme close-ups and June's internal monologues isn't going to cut it. I'm not even asking for any large scale battles or multiple locations,  just a little insight into the rest the world. Even a scene here or there would break up the monotony and give the plot a boost forward. Hell, they could easily have Moira, Emily, Luke and baby Nicole flee to safety in Alaska and they wouldn't even need to change location from Canada. 

[AllyB]

I didn’t hate it. Probably because as other posters have mentioned, my expectations have been lowered so the many plot inconsistencies didn’t bother me as much as they should have. Also because I enjoyed seeing Billy for the first time since Ally McBeal. 

[Brn2bwild]

5 minutes ago, AllyB said:

I didn’t hate it. Probably because as other posters have mentioned, my expectations have been lowered so the many plot inconsistencies didn’t bother me as much as they should have. Also because I enjoyed seeing Billy for the first time since Ally McBeal. 

LOL, I thought he looked familiar!  I was trying to remember where he was from.  

I will say that despite the little action, I did like this episode because it reminded me of Season One, when June nearly went crazy because she was locked in her room.  It shows that you can be tortured even when you're not being physically harmed or forced to watch someone be harmed.

[Umbelina]

5 hours ago, The Mighty Peanut said:

Has anything even happened this season? 

Because this is what I've got:

Nichole and Emily are safe in Canada

Nichole and Emily are NOT safe in Canada

Serena hates Fred and is joining the resistance, she wants Nichole to escape

Serena loves Fred and is moving away from the resistance, she wants Nichole back

Nick is good

Nick is bad 

Who's Nick?

June is assigned to Commander Lawrence

June is unassigned from Commander Lawrence

June is close to Hannah

June is far from Hannah

Aside from world building--mouth rings, musical handmaids, DC--has anything occurred to move the plot forward in a substantial way? I am thinking no. I guess Luke isn't in the dark about Nick anymore, but that isn't particularly significant.

This pretty much nails it.

The writers just keep spinning their wheels, dragging this story out, two steps forward, one step back, introducing things that never REALLY advance the story.  While continuity has improved this year (it's hard to imagine how it could have been much worse than last year) they are still getting no where.

I liked this episode, and it didn't bore me, but it's kind of like eating a diet of Twinkies.  It may fill you, and the first one might actually taste OK, but you can't survive on Twinkies, and in a while they will make you sick.   There is no nourishment here, the story, in the end goes nowhere.

While I'd like to believe that the show is actually moving forward (the signs are all there, the pieces are in place for that, this whole season has been sloppily putting them in place) it's very hard to trust this showrunner.  While serving up more twinkies, he dangles a full course delicious meal in the background, or a refrigerator stocked with all kinds of wonderful goodies.  How much longer are we supposed to wait to get to those?

I didn't dislike this episode, Moss was outstanding, and she held my attention, and everyone else in the cast of this one really brought it as well, but as you say in your post? 

We are just running in circles here, and while they occasionally change the scenery as we do?  We are once again, right back where we started.

Oh, to use an effective but tired analogy?  How much longer will Lucy (Miller) keep pulling that football away?

[Umbelina]

This is a very interesting take on this episode, something I hadn't considered really.  The true horror of the future was embodied in Rose.  Refinery's interesting take on Heroic.

Rose, like Eden, is a true believer. And, Rose isn’t alone. She’s one of handful of girls who walked through the hospital for their exam and pregnancy tour. Each one of them believes what their elders are telling them about religion, women's bodies, and politics. Unlike June, Serena Joy Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski), Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd), and every other adult in Handmaid's, these children don’t know a world outside of this one. To them, this is what makes sense and is right in the face of God and environmental disaster. It’s not like they even have edgy teen shows revealing what other options of defiance are possible.

The American government can win the war in Chicago, eventually take back its land, and execute every Gilead commander for treason. But, how can you fix an entire generation who truly believes Gilead has the right idea? What will the emotional fallout be for the children of Gilead when their supposed beacon of piousness is in ruins? Will they really be ready to let it go for progressive Democratic government?

------

Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) and the rest of the commanders could die tomorrow. However, their legacy of horrors will live long after them. The Handmaid's Tale truly is a tragedy.

[The Mighty Peanut]

2 hours ago, Brn2bwild said:

LOL, I thought he looked familiar!  I was trying to remember where he was from.  

I will say that despite the little action, I did like this episode because it reminded me of Season One, when June nearly went crazy because she was locked in her room.  It shows that you can be tortured even when you're not being physically harmed or forced to watch someone be harmed.

I feel pretty much the same way. On it's own it's a really interesting study of solitary confinement and how it affects the psyche. I would be more enthusiastic if it had been a bottle episode in a season wherein stuff actually happens, but there's been so little progress made I am a little resentful, if that makes sense. 

If anyone is interested in an amazing show about the long term effects of isolation and unjust imprisonment....I cannot recommend Rectify highly enough. 

[Ariam]

I haven’t watched the episode and am not going to until Sunday the earliest s I’m going for a camping trip with the family. The last few episodes I ended up watching while having to bake late at night to keep myself awake but I’m really not “having to watch” them like before in the previous seasons. 

So so I wanted to know how did they explain Serena being there? Why did she come? She’s supposed to be in DC home snatching? 

[Umbelina]

4 minutes ago, Ariam said:

I haven’t watched the episode and am not going to until Sunday the earliest s I’m going for a camping trip with the family. The last few episodes I ended up watching while having to bake late at night to keep myself awake but I’m really not “having to watch” them like before in the previous seasons. 

So so I wanted to know how did they explain Serena being there? Why did she come? She’s supposed to be in DC home snatching? 

It's been over a month.  Serena and the other wives came to pray over the baby.

[AnswersWanted]

4 hours ago, Ariam said:

I haven’t watched the episode and am not going to until Sunday the earliest s I’m going for a camping trip with the family. The last few episodes I ended up watching while having to bake late at night to keep myself awake but I’m really not “having to watch” them like before in the previous seasons. 

So so I wanted to know how did they explain Serena being there? Why did she come? She’s supposed to be in DC home snatching? 

It was the typical contrived set up, because Serena was put in that room for June to cut her, there was literally nothing crucial about her making an appearance beyond that. 

The show obviously thought the audience could believe that Serena wouldn’t go very far in reporting June for the attack, if she reported her at all, and of course all Serena ended up doing was leaving June a bloody, hysterical mess on the floor.

She did give the attending doctor a heads up about what happened before she left and we didn’t see her again. 

Nothing really comes from the attack either aside from June getting stitches and sharing secrets with the new doctor who, surprise surprise, is totally accommodating towards this whacked out handmaid who has clearly proven to be a danger to herself and others, but it’s June so she merely gets to cry, vent, and feel things. 

Edited July 18, 2019 by AnswersWanted
Bloody autocorrect, thanks for looking out for me, ferjy!

[ferjy]

4 hours ago, Brn2bwild said:

I will say that despite the little action, I did like this episode because it reminded me of Season One, when June nearly went crazy because she was locked in her room. 

That’s just it, it was already done in the first season. They keep rehashing the same scenarios instead of progressing forward when there is so much to be told and addressed.

[ferjy]

1 hour ago, The Mighty Peanut said:

I feel pretty much the same way. On it's own it's a really interesting study of solitary confinement and how it affects the psyche. I would be more enthusiastic if it had been a bottle episode in a season wherein stuff actually happens, but there's been so little progress made I am a little resentful, if that makes sense. 

Yes, It makes perfect sense! Well said.  It’s an episode that might have been good but at this point it was just boring, and irritating in its repetition. 

[ferjy]

23 minutes ago, AnswersWanted said:

It was the typical contrived set up, because Serena was put in that room for June to cut her, there was literally nothing crucial about her making an appearance beyond that. 

That was so poorly executed. I can just hear Yvonne “I have to come in at 5:00 a.m. and stand around all day in the wings, watching Lizzie making faces, all for a 20 second slashing scene??” I bet she gets her agent to put in precise stipulations in her next contract if these bozo writers are still on the scene next season. 

[ferjy]

31 minutes ago, AnswersWanted said:

Nothing really comes from the attack either aside from June getting snitches

I was racking my brain trying to remember when June recruited informers in this episode, as if she’d even think of planning something so crafty (I could easily have missed it, my mind couldn’t help wandering and I even nodded off a few times) when I realized autocorrect must have been helping you out and it was “stitches”. 😃

[Umbelina]

Nah, I stand by thinking this episode was good, but only as a stand alone, which of course, it was not.

If this rose had been plunked down in a well tended garden (obviously the show being the garden here, ahem) then it would have been a stand out.

Instead this rose was planted in a giant pile of shit that never stops.  So, I get that it's hard to appreciate it, when the piles of shit from the endless getting nowhere lather, rinse, repeat, close ups are littering up the entire yard.

We are right back where we always are, and it smells.

For example, THIS was the time for the close ups, and they worked, EXCEPT that they've been overused.

I think the doc left the scalpel for June to kill herself if she so desired.

Edited July 17, 2019 by Umbelina

[ferjy]

11 hours ago, Miles said:

So June wants to get all the children out? To where?

To the colonies, that will be the furthest they reach. It’s June, they’re sure to end up in dire straits somewhere. 

[secnarf]

12 hours ago, AnswersWanted said:

And her pricking her finger with the used needle and then sucking on the wound to stop the bleeding, sure, why not throw a potential hepatitis infection into the mix. Let's keep things festive.

I was expecting some snarky voiceover comment from June regarding this.

5 hours ago, Umbelina said:

This is a very interesting take on this episode, something I hadn't considered really.  The true horror of the future was embodied in Rose.  Refinery's interesting take on Heroic.

Rose, like Eden, is a true believer. And, Rose isn’t alone. She’s one of handful of girls who walked through the hospital for their exam and pregnancy tour. Each one of them believes what their elders are telling them about religion, women's bodies, and politics. Unlike June, Serena Joy Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski), Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd), and every other adult in Handmaid's, these children don’t know a world outside of this one. To them, this is what makes sense and is right in the face of God and environmental disaster. It’s not like they even have edgy teen shows revealing what other options of defiance are possible.

I had a very different take. Rose is older than Hannah, therefore old enough to remember 'before'. She does know the world before Gilead - though we have been shown that the seeds of Gilead were planted many years before the 'revolution'. I also didn't think Rose was a true believer - she hesitated before saying this was what she wanted, and I interpreted that as her having doubts but being too scared to say so.

I hated this episode. I have had enough of June and nothing of consequence happened in this episode. It was a waste of time and not in any way entertaining for me.

[Joana]

I'm going to have Heaven Is A Place On Earth stuck in my head for days now. I'm listening to it as I type this. Belinda did deserve better than this, but hey, I guess any exposure is welcome. 

I spent the entire episode waiting for Natalie to miraculously recover. Oh, Grey's Anatomy, what have you done to me?

I thought June requested to stay at the hospital because she hoped her daughter would pop up (not that it would have made sense as she's not going to be flowering any time soon, which she actually acknowledged, but still), not because she was genuinely concerned for Natalie. Oh well. I feel like the birth of the baby was supposed to represent June's spiritual rebirth of some sort. Too bad I don't really care about her anymore.

Poor, dear, sweet Janine. "You're different now and I don't like it". I'm totally with you there, girl. Truer words have never been spoken. And yeah, I try not to think how disturbing it is that she is the voice of the reason at this point and I'm just enjoying her scenes. If someone smashes her skull open for any reason again, I'm seriously gonna flip out. Also, I was SO scared this motherfucker would goad her into killing Natalie and she would be tortured and executed while she gets off scot-free. For a second, I could actually see it. PHEW!

How I wished attacking Serena would be some kind of hallucination. But of course it really happened and of course Serena wouldn't report June. They're now inseparably connected on a very deep personal level, as the previouslies were so kind to remind us of. Also, that doctor is going to be an ally, right?

*humming: Ooh baby, do you know what that's worth?...*

[Umbelina]

8 minutes ago, Joana said:

Poor, dear, sweet Janine.

Something tells me we will see more of Janine now.  It won't take hours in the make up chair to get her ready anymore, just throw on the eye patch, wimple, and red and she'll be ready to go.

[Joana]

14 hours ago, AnswersWanted said:

If they sacrifice Janine at the alter of June for any reason I will fucking revolt.

She just seems like such a little lamb doll right now, I worry...

I'm really, really, like REALLY worried this might actually happen. And if it does, it will definitely be a point of no return for me and something I would NOT be able to get over.

At this point, I'm like this guy:

Also, I kinda don't want her to get any more material than she currently does, because it would almost certainly be something ridiculous and stupid. I'm perfectly fine with how she is now in small doses, all innocent and sweet. Just as long as she's not beaten and harrassed, I really can't stand that anymore. 

[Umbelina]

Well, IF as some of us suspect, June will go full on rebel and hopefully even join up with rebel forces so we can get a peek into that world, as well as be able to watch June with "normal" people for a while?

Someone has to represent the Handmaids still in Gilead, and Alma and Janine seem to be the best choices to do that.

We shall see if they are finally done running in place with this show, or if they will actually seat us at the lovely table they've set for expanding this world, *and changing the script* quite literally.

I really think the only reason we haven't seen more of Janine is the make up time, I remember them talking about make up for that kind of eye injury on other shows, 4-6 hours, so that little eye-patch should free her up.