The Handmaid's Tale - Hulu Original (**Spoilers**)

wakka12

Hm if it was a cliffhanger that turned out to be a fantasy that would change my opinion of the show for the worse:pac: Adn seems unlikely to me espeially as they added that rebellious rock music at the end credits. I really doubt she made it, I assumed a guard sneakily gave it to her like the one that gave offred the key in the first episode.

kunst nugget

bodhrandude wrote: »

Then again this episodes ending could be a fantasy dream sequence of one of the handmaids too.

If they did that I would probably give up on the show even though I've been enjoying it immensely.

wakka12

Also handy little bomb she had on her wasnt it? :pac: It looked smaller than most grenades but looked like it had the effect of a car bomb

nomdeboardie

wakka12 wrote: »

I was just rewatching that ending

and you think all the handmaids escape by running away but I realised you can still see all the handmaids on the first floor gallery level who didnt have a chance to escape and are all sent flying back and crack the glass

I hadn't noticed that! What a scene.

Even the little moment when the circumambulating Ofglen's bonnet is brought from a blur into focus before she pauses and runs to the centre - great cinematography (if that's the term) - chilling.

:cool:

kunst nugget

wakka12 wrote: »

Also handy little bomb she had on her wasnt it? :pac: It looked smaller than most grenades but looked like it had the effect of a car bomb

That was just the detonator - the bomb was most likely strapped to her.

Hande hoche!

wakka12 wrote: »

Also handy little bomb she had on her wasnt it? :pac: It looked smaller than most grenades but looked like it had the effect of a car bomb

Was thinking the same thing,

thing was portable on a person's body and she was able to run. Bomb went off like an arms cache. Still imagine a lot of casualties with all that glass around the place.

iguana

I'm not using tags as the thread says spoilers in the title. The bomb was strapped to her body. You can see it a bit when her cloak falls slightly open as she shows the detonator to the ground floor handmaids.

Unearthly

Darkglasses wrote: »

Hope I don't seem thick - but how does one watch season one of this legally in the ROI?

Sky have season 1 on demand box set

iamwhoiam

iguana wrote: »

I'm not using tags as the thread says spoilers in the title. The bomb was strapped to her body. You can see it a bit when her cloak falls slightly open as she shows the detonator to the ground floor handmaids.

Also its not a spoiler if already aired on Rte ! I presumed the thing in her hand was a remote control too .
Great episode and liked seeing some hint of compassion in Serena ( for all of two seconds ! ) I laughed at June taking off Aunt Lydia "We don't want to be roly polys do we dear "

Marje

Serena is a spiteful horrible person with a split personality.

Wonder what happened to the man they didn't kill.

Thought the end would see Nick killed for trying to leave the Waterford's. He will hardly get escaping now if Pryce is dead.

NinetyTwoTeam

what has stuck out for me so far in season 2 s that the actress who plays Serena Waterford is doing a phenomenal job, plays both her b#tch side and angel side really convincingly. hard for anyone to match Moss's chops but she is a star in the making.

in fact I'd say it's mainly the acting that is keeping me watching as the writing has dipped a bit imo. aunt L, fred, nick, his new wife are all played really well, and as i mentioned before Emily/ofglen/ofsteven. and janine/ofwarren too!

the pace has really slowed, usually i don't like flashbacks but the ones with serena were interesting.

bodhrandude

Go Ofglen 2

wakka12

NinetyTwoTeam wrote: »

what has stuck out for me so far in season 2 s that the actress who plays Serena Waterford is doing a phenomenal job, plays both her b#tch side and angel side really convincingly. hard for anyone to match Moss's chops but she is a star in the making.

in fact I'd say it's mainly the acting that is keeping me watching as the writing has dipped a bit imo. aunt L, fred, nick, his new wife are all played really well, and as i mentioned before Emily/ofglen/ofsteven. and janine/ofwarren too!

the pace has really slowed, usually i don't like flashbacks but the ones with serena were interesting.

Completely agree. Theres hardly been any plot development of note this season outside the first episode after she was captured, the shows strong points is its incredibly tense character relationships and amazingly well played characters

Like that scene at the crib when serena was showing offred the nursery and she asked to see her child, just one of the many incredibly beautifully acted scenes between them, its not often I compliment acting skills but it just really stands out to me in this show

Sunflower 27

Only watched the last episode this morning and wow.

I tend to binge on series these days with Netflix, so watching week to week is proving difficult. I just want to know what happens next....

The dismissiviness of Fred telling Ofglen to "go back, it's not time yet" really sums up how they view the handmaids . That last scene was incredible

Darkglasses

Unearthly wrote: »

Sky have season 1 on demand box set

Found the box set in Golden discs after, cheers folks!

fran38

bodhrandude wrote: »

Yup that was an unbelievable ending, its like where da phuck did that come from and some kickass rock n roll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTfgWegud7o

wakka12

Wasnt a fan of that episode Seemed a bit bleak for the sake of bleak. Not much action, plot development or character development..just sadness, like finding out Moiras wife had died(what looked like being shot..?) but no reason why it happened, how, when, much else about her, or about how Moira feels about it other than being sad really.
Hope the finale is a strong finish

Also Starring LeVar Burton

wakka12 wrote: »

Hope the finale is a strong finish

You do realise there's still another 6 episodes to go in this season, right?

wakka12

Also Starring LeVar Burton wrote: »

You do realise there's still another 6 episodes to go in this season, right?

No I thought it was 8 episodes! For some reason on google when you type in Handmaids Tale S2 episodes it only shows it as 8 episodes so thats why I thought that . Praise be

Also Starring LeVar Burton

wakka12 wrote: »

No I thought it was 8 episodes! For some reason on google when you type in Handmaids Tale S2 episodes it only shows it as 8 episodes so thats why I thought that . Praise be

13 episodes total for Season 2, so still plenty to come.

Slydice

Hrmmm... I'm not sure if this is a turning point (season 2.. doubtful) or if the writers are lulling the audience into a false sense of hope.

I’m finding it very tiresome

Walter Bishop

wakka12 wrote: »

Wasnt a fan of that episode Seemed a bit bleak for the sake of bleak. Not much action, plot development or character development..just sadness, like finding out Moiras wife had died(what looked like being shot..?) but no reason why it happened, how, when, much else about her, or about how Moira feels about it other than being sad really.
Hope the finale is a strong finish

Well her wife was a 'gender traitor' so that probably had a lot to do with it - or shot on a protest or something.


Thought that was a great episode, this season is shifting focus now to June helping Serena, although presumably with her own agenda in mind.


The relationship between Serena and June has really been the high point of this season, great acting from both and really interesting territory to explore.

bodhrandude

I thought it interesting

That they were quick (Gilead) to snatch back some of the handmaids from the colonies after loosing a fair few to the blast.
Ofglen 1 looks pretty ill

.

dark crystal

I thought it very clever how they ended last week's episode with the click of a detonator and this one with the click of a pen - both signifying a liberation of sorts.


Serena looked very comfortable sitting at the Commander's desk didn't she? :pac:

nomdeboardie

dark crystal wrote: »

I thought it very clever how they ended last week's episode with the click of a detonator and this one with the click of a pen - both signifying a liberation of sorts.

Good spot :pac:
Small but powerful action

Serena looked very comfortable sitting at the Commander's desk didn't she? :pac:

Ha, yes

iamwhoiam

Two questions if anyone has read the book and knows more .I noticed there are no teenagers in Gilead , well apart from the 15 year old wife .Are teens in camps somewhere and being groomed as soldiers ?
Also wondered how much of the US is Gilead ? Is it only a few states or is it the majority ? And why are the rest of the States not defending the people or opening borders for them? It seems only Canada is offering sanctuary ?

Sleepy

The book doesn't make any reference to teen camps or anything like it - it does refer to some of the Guardians as being teenaged boys and econowives as being teenaged girls. So, my guess is that they're still in that world but we don't see many of them onscreen - the declining birthrate wouldn't have happened overnight either so there'd be less teenagers in their society than in ours anyway...

Gilead occupies a large section of the US though it's never explicitly stated in the book how much - there are references throughout both the book and the series to "fighting in Florida" and hold-out states etc.

The wikia for the series is pretty good on the details: http://the-handmaids-tale.wikia.com/wiki/Republic_of_Gilead

kunst nugget

iamwhoiam wrote: »

Two questions if anyone has read the book and knows more .I noticed there are no teenagers in Gilead , well apart from the 15 year old wife .Are teens in camps somewhere and being groomed as soldiers ?
Also wondered how much of the US is Gilead ? Is it only a few states or is it the majority ? And why are the rest of the States not defending the people or opening borders for them? It seems only Canada is offering sanctuary ?

There was no mention of teenagers specifically in the book iirc and in the book Gilead seem to encompass most or nearly all of the US. In the book, you didn't get any outside perspective like you do in series with June's husband and Moira in Canada - it was told completely from the point of view of Offred/June and the insular world she was inhabiting as a Handmaid and her retelling of how Gilead came into existence.

Neyite

It's never made really clear in the book IIRC, but I assume that

older children are in some sort of compound or camp getting indoctrinated and prepared for their roles that will be allocated to them by Gilead when they are older. Babies and preschoolers seem to stay with their parents.

I'd imagine that Serena's kid won't get taken away aged 7 or whatever to a compound though. Likely a different rule for the upperclass.

I don't think it's made clear in the book the geographical extent of Gilead either.

kunst nugget

I'm going to spoiler this just in case anyone is reading the book.

At the end of the book, Offred tells Nick that she is pregnant and he tells her he is part of the resistance and he puts her into the back of a van where she doesn't know if she is going to freedom or to her death.

In the epilogue of the book it tells us that the story is transcribed from a collection of tapes recorded by Offred which were discovered and transcribed by some historians for a Symposium of Gileadean Studies sometime in the future. They give only Offred's perspective at the time and what little information she can garner from what's going on around her - it doesn't give a full overview of the creation of Gilead, just snippets of information here and there that she has been able to pick up.

iamwhoiam

Thank you all for the help .I will read up the wiki page and get myself informed !! Praise be the fruitloops

iguana

In the book there is also mention that Gilead had expanded into Central America and was fought back by the Libertheos. We don't know how much of Central America they held, how long they held it for or if the Libertheos were a rebel army, a combined Central American force or maybe even a combined South and Central American force. All we know is that Gilead held enough of Central America to ensure an orange supply to Gilead and that since the lost the region oranges were hard to come by.

wakka12

I wonder how Gilead even has enough people to make up an army with such low birth rate and the fact they seemingly execute nearly everybody for no reason

NinetyTwoTeam

bodhrandude wrote: »

I thought it interesting

That they were quick (Gilead) to snatch back some of the handmaids from the colonies after loosing a fair few to the blast.
Ofglen 1 looks pretty ill

.

yeah it actually doesn't make any sense considering the colonies were so toxic, surely that would affect the women's fertility and pose a risk to any babies they might have.

and after the blast Gilead is on high alert for rebellious handmaids. but they

bring Emily and Janine back?

Emily killed a guard an Janine endangered a child, and they have even more reason to be angry now!

also they obviously

had that guy Nick asked for a transfer killed in a blast

so that would be the end of that plot point and probably the same for

the Moira as a surrogate backstory

because how she got tagged as a fertile woman when she was a lesbian was a plot hole I wondered about.

You can see Serena is trying to sneakily get back the power she lost due in part to her own actions which is interesting.

Also does anyone think

Nick was 'faking it' in the prior episode where he consummated his marriage to Eden, so he won't get her pregnant

my prediction is: he'll keep doing that, she won't get pregnant and will be considered infertile and Nick will try to get her sent back to her family. she's such an ardent supporter of Gilead's ideology that she becomes distraught over this and tops herself.

mzungu

NinetyTwoTeam wrote: »

yeah it actually doesn't make any sense considering the colonies were so toxic, surely that would affect the women's fertility and pose a risk to any babies they might have.

and after the blast Gilead is on high alert for rebellious handmaids. but they

bring Emily and Janine back?

Emily killed a guard an Janine endangered a child, and they have even more reason to be angry now!

I was thinking about that. It could be said that it signifies that the cracks in Gilead are larger than they might appear if they have to resort to desperate measures like bringing back exiled handmaidens back from the colonies. Or maybe there is a lot more to it than meets the eye.

One thing that came to mind was that it could be rebel sympathisers that have infiltrated Gilead to the point where they could make the order to bring back Ofglen, Janine and the others?

NinetyTwoTeam wrote: »

Also does anyone think

Nick was 'faking it' in the prior episode where he consummated his marriage to Eden, so he won't get her pregnant

my prediction is: he'll keep doing that, she won't get pregnant and will be considered infertile and Nick will try to get her sent back to her family. she's such an ardent supporter of Gilead's ideology that she becomes distraught over this and tops herself.

I'm thinking

she will end up shopping them all in and will probably get Nick killed too.

NinetyTwoTeam

mzungu wrote: »

I was thinking about that. It could be said that it signifies that the cracks in Gilead are larger than they might appear if they have to resort to desperate measures like bringing back exiled handmaidens back from the colonies. Or maybe there is a lot more to it than meets the eye.

One thing that came to mind was that it could be rebel sympathisers that have infiltrated Gilead to the point where they could make the order to bring back Ofglen, Janine and the others?

I'm thinking

she will end up shopping them all in and will probably get Nick killed too.

well teenage girls can be devious but she's very devoted to Nick and is getting the off him ride now, but if she finds out about him and June all hell would break loose.

but i doubt it. Nick is clever and cautious. but they did get a bit too close in that one scene.

nick needs to somehow prove his wife his infertile is right after the baby is born and pull a few strings to get June as a handmaid. that would be a pretty weird scene in the bedroom!

i think the series will end similar to the book which you can read in a spoilered post above or on the last page.

and they'll take the baby with them and find Hannah as well. dunno what will happen to Luke tho

has it been confirmed that it's Nick's baby or is that just a theory of Serena's? i think it has to be, to allow for the possibility of a happyish ending like the one in the book. you can't have a series be this bleak without a payoff for the viewers who endured it all! tho i think it's been too successful for them to end it any time soon, especially as it's themes are so timely in Trump's America.

Walter Bishop

NinetyTwoTeam wrote: »

...especially as it's themes are so timely in Trump's America.

Just in case people don't think some sort of Gilead couldn't happen in the future, they are out there you know...



Congressional Candidate In Virginia Admits He’s A Pedophile

If that wasn't enough:

According to Larson’s campaign manifesto, his platform as a “quasi-neoreactionary libertarian” candidate includes protecting gun ownership rights, establishing free trade and protecting “benevolent white supremacy,” as well as legalizing incestuous marriage and child pornography.

In the manifesto, Larson called Nazi leader Adolf Hitler a “white supremacist hero.” He urged Congress to repeal the Violence Against Women Act, adding, “We need to switch to a system that classifies women as property, initially of their fathers and later of their husbands.” He also showed sympathy for men who identify as involuntary celibates, or incels, suggesting it is unfair that they “are forced to pay taxes for schools, welfare, and other support for other men’s children.”

In a 3,300-word essay on incelocalypse.today, titled “Here’s How to Psyche Yourself Up to Feel Entitled to Rape,” Larson tells other members: “Don’t forget: feminism is the problem, and rape is the solution.” On the platform, he also advocated for father-daughter marriage, killing women and raping virgins.

bodhrandude

I'd also be interested if the series visited dissident America, the people fighting Gilead, is there any semblance of normal American military, I'm sure one of the episodes will deal with this too. In fact how much of America does Gilead rule.

Nick wouldn't be given a handmaid even if his wife is infertile though. He's under the guise of a low level worker.

NinetyTwoTeam

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Nick wouldn't be given a handmaid even if his wife is infertile though. He's under the guise of a low level worker.

ah, that's right. do the Waterford's know he's an eye or not? cuz they seem to think of him as more than a driver having him help with government docs etc.

NinetyTwoTeam

NinetyTwoTeam wrote: »

ah, that's right. do the Waterford's know he's an eye or not? cuz they seem to think of him as more than a driver having him help with government docs etc.

Good question. I am under the impression that they don't know. Serena Joy could be executed for assuming Fred's place like that, I can't see her trusting an eye to keep her secret.

nomdeboardie

Deleted User wrote: »

Good question. I am under the impression that they don't know. Serena Joy could be executed for assuming Fred's place like that, I can't see her trusting an eye to keep her secret.

Indeed. On the other hand, she seems to think he has knowledge of the Gilead legal/power system(?) would a simple driver have that?

scrumqueen

I still want to know how Nick got away with visiting June while she was "kidnapped" . I reckon his new wifey is going to report on all the handmaids saying their real names in the market, if the look on her face was anything to go by.

nomdeboardie

nomdeboardie wrote: »

Indeed. On the other hand, she seems to think he has knowledge of the Gilead legal/power system(?) would a simple driver have that?

I think Fred had trusted Nick with a lot more than a commander would usually entrust to a driver, he did the same with his handmaid in season one, and were led to believe had done with the previous handmaid who had committed suicide.

nomdeboardie

Deleted User wrote: »

I think Fred had trusted Nick with a lot more than a commander would usually entrust to a driver, he did the same with his handmaid in season one, and were led to believe had done with the previous handmaid who had committed suicide.

Perhaps, so Serena might have realised this about Nick. (I can't now remember if she also knew about the 'extracurricular' activities with June!)

nomdeboardie

nomdeboardie wrote: »

Perhaps, so Serena might have realised this about Nick. (I can't now remember if she also knew about the 'extracurricular' activities with June!)

I think she knows alright (about June and Jezabelles). Can't remember for sure either. She asked Fred to play scrabble with her in season 1 which suggests to me she did know. It was hard to read but I think when the commander who was asking too many questions of June was arrested outside the house on evidence from the Eyes, that Serena may have copped that Nick may have had something to do with it. May have been reading into that though.

wakka12

Serena saw makeup on her fancy dress and then went straight offreds room and gave her a smack remember? She 100% knew about jezzebels

dark crystal

Poor poor Janine - her moment of happiness will be cruelly torn from her by next week


Anyone else get the feeling baby Angela may be a victim of Munchausens Syndrome by proxy? It's been clear for a while that Mrs. Puttnam may not be bonding with the baby and the fact the expert doctor/ Martha (bless her) couldn't find anything wrong with her got me thinking.



Also, I'm ready for Fred to die now. Die hard. By Serena's hand if possible.

Agent Coulson

The closing song to each episode are always great.


This weeks was amazing I felt the transition from the ending into the credits.