Handmaid's Tale Season 2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Oh, I was under the assumption ALL fertile women became handmaids. So how did women like June and Emily etc get ripped from their families and forced to be handmaids, but others didn’t? I’m digressing and I know that’s not the point, but wondering for my own curiosity.

June was considered an adulterer because Luke was married before. Emily was gay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Such a good episode!!

Questions (relating to the LATEST episode):

— why does Luke seem so ‘whatever’ when moira asks ‘don’t you wanna find out if she’s alive?’ After the woman was releasing details about the blast

— I’m the PP that posted about craving a soft side from both aunt Lydia and Serena. We keep getting teased with it and then they act like b*tches again. Did we finally see a soft side from Serena towards the end?? I’m sure she’s just looking out for her own interests (both with getting rid of cushing, and needing June for editing), but still. I saw a glimmer of compassion, I think.

— this ones not directly episode related. But, can someone remind me who the econo-families (I think that’s what they’re called) are? Like the women that wear all grey. One example is the bread truck driver that helped offred and then got killed. How did they have a kid / family if all the fertile women were forced to be handmaids? The wife was still fertile since aunt Lydia said she got shipped off to be a handmaid. Why are they ‘allowed’ to be normal citizens/ families? Any details on this class?

The econowives are the wives of non-powerful/average men. Not all women are infertile, just many. The Commanders (and other powerful men) have the luxury of handmaids if their wives turn out to be infertile.

Oh, I was under the assumption ALL fertile women became handmaids. So how did women like June and Emily etc get ripped from their families and forced to be handmaids, but others didn’t? I’m digressing and I know that’s not the point, but wondering for my own curiosity.

wrt June, she was made a handmaid because while she was fertile and had already had a successful pregnancy, she was a “slut” (according to A Lydia) because her husband was married when he and June began their affair. Had he not of been married/then divorced, Luke and June would have been an econo-family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Such a good episode!!

Questions (relating to the LATEST episode):

— why does Luke seem so ‘whatever’ when moira asks ‘don’t you wanna find out if she’s alive?’ After the woman was releasing details about the blast

— I’m the PP that posted about craving a soft side from both aunt Lydia and Serena. We keep getting teased with it and then they act like b*tches again. Did we finally see a soft side from Serena towards the end?? I’m sure she’s just looking out for her own interests (both with getting rid of cushing, and needing June for editing), but still. I saw a glimmer of compassion, I think.

— this ones not directly episode related. But, can someone remind me who the econo-families (I think that’s what they’re called) are? Like the women that wear all grey. One example is the bread truck driver that helped offred and then got killed. How did they have a kid / family if all the fertile women were forced to be handmaids? The wife was still fertile since aunt Lydia said she got shipped off to be a handmaid. Why are they ‘allowed’ to be normal citizens/ families? Any details on this class?

The econowives are the wives of non-powerful/average men. Not all women are infertile, just many. The Commanders (and other powerful men) have the luxury of handmaids if their wives turn out to be infertile.

Oh, I was under the assumption ALL fertile women became handmaids. So how did women like June and Emily etc get ripped from their families and forced to be handmaids, but others didn’t? I’m digressing and I know that’s not the point, but wondering for my own curiosity.

Np - I believe all the handmaids had a dream gression from their prior life where repentance by being a handmaid was the way to salvation. June was an adulterer, Moira was a lesbian, etc. If you were a believer and fertile (or not proven to be infertile) you were allowed to wed and procreate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Such a good episode!!

Questions (relating to the LATEST episode):

— why does Luke seem so ‘whatever’ when moira asks ‘don’t you wanna find out if she’s alive?’ After the woman was releasing details about the blast

— I’m the PP that posted about craving a soft side from both aunt Lydia and Serena. We keep getting teased with it and then they act like b*tches again. Did we finally see a soft side from Serena towards the end?? I’m sure she’s just looking out for her own interests (both with getting rid of cushing, and needing June for editing), but still. I saw a glimmer of compassion, I think.

— this ones not directly episode related. But, can someone remind me who the econo-families (I think that’s what they’re called) are? Like the women that wear all grey. One example is the bread truck driver that helped offred and then got killed. How did they have a kid / family if all the fertile women were forced to be handmaids? The wife was still fertile since aunt Lydia said she got shipped off to be a handmaid. Why are they ‘allowed’ to be normal citizens/ families? Any details on this class?

The econowives are the wives of non-powerful/average men. Not all women are infertile, just many. The Commanders (and other powerful men) have the luxury of handmaids if their wives turn out to be infertile.

Oh, I was under the assumption ALL fertile women became handmaids. So how did women like June and Emily etc get ripped from their families and forced to be handmaids, but others didn’t? I’m digressing and I know that’s not the point, but wondering for my own curiosity.

Np - I believe all the handmaids had a dream gression from their prior life where repentance by being a handmaid was the way to salvation. June was an adulterer, Moira was a lesbian, etc. If you were a believer and fertile (or not proven to be infertile) you were allowed to wed and procreate

*dream regression??!? Sb prior digression

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Such a good episode!!

Questions (relating to the LATEST episode):

— why does Luke seem so ‘whatever’ when moira asks ‘don’t you wanna find out if she’s alive?’ After the woman was releasing details about the blast

— I’m the PP that posted about craving a soft side from both aunt Lydia and Serena. We keep getting teased with it and then they act like b*tches again. Did we finally see a soft side from Serena towards the end?? I’m sure she’s just looking out for her own interests (both with getting rid of cushing, and needing June for editing), but still. I saw a glimmer of compassion, I think.

— this ones not directly episode related. But, can someone remind me who the econo-families (I think that’s what they’re called) are? Like the women that wear all grey. One example is the bread truck driver that helped offred and then got killed. How did they have a kid / family if all the fertile women were forced to be handmaids? The wife was still fertile since aunt Lydia said she got shipped off to be a handmaid. Why are they ‘allowed’ to be normal citizens/ families? Any details on this class?

This one will have some spoilers, so if you haven't watched the latest episode, don't scroll any further.
















On Luke, I think it's a defense mechanism. He knows there is basically nothing he can do right now to help June, so he's just kind of disconnected himself from his emotions about it. There was that scene with Moira when Moira asks what if she's not in here, and Luke says "Welcome to my world." That was his way of acknowledging that the not knowing is a quiet and unrelenting hell.

On Serena, that wasn't for June's benefit, that was for her own. Remember Ofglen's entire household was executed because of her involvement in the attack, including her Commander and his wife. Serena knew that if Cushing got a whiff of proof that June wasn't really kidnapped, the entire Waterford household could be executed as well. As for bringing June into it, I think she knows that 1) having June work with her will improve the quality of the work she submits under the Commander's name so it's less likely to be questioned, and 2) bringing June in and making her complicit will keep June from ratting her out.

On the econofamilies, I don't think it's ever well explained, but not all fertile women were taken as handmaids. I believe that a woman had to have already successfully given birth to a live child (so women who had never been pregnant yet weren't take), and it seems like all of those who were taken had some kind of "sin" upon them, such as homosexuality (Emily and Moira), adultery (Offred), drug use (New Ofglen/Lillie) or sex outside marriage/unwed mothers (Janine). Making them handmaids is kind of a way to remove their sinfulness from proper society and puts them to good use as a form of penitence. So if a young woman had never been pregnant or given birth at that point, if she was part of an intact family who didn't present a threat to Gilead's morality, or if she'd not yet reached sexual maturity, she wasn't taken as a handmaid. Don't forget that we're only a couple of years into the rise of Gilead, so they've not yet had to deal with the issue of how to replace handmaids as they become infertile so we don't know what might happen down the road when they need to replenish the stock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Such a good episode!!

Questions (relating to the LATEST episode):

— why does Luke seem so ‘whatever’ when moira asks ‘don’t you wanna find out if she’s alive?’ After the woman was releasing details about the blast

— I’m the PP that posted about craving a soft side from both aunt Lydia and Serena. We keep getting teased with it and then they act like b*tches again. Did we finally see a soft side from Serena towards the end?? I’m sure she’s just looking out for her own interests (both with getting rid of cushing, and needing June for editing), but still. I saw a glimmer of compassion, I think.

— this ones not directly episode related. But, can someone remind me who the econo-families (I think that’s what they’re called) are? Like the women that wear all grey. One example is the bread truck driver that helped offred and then got killed. How did they have a kid / family if all the fertile women were forced to be handmaids? The wife was still fertile since aunt Lydia said she got shipped off to be a handmaid. Why are they ‘allowed’ to be normal citizens/ families? Any details on this class?

This one will have some spoilers, so if you haven't watched the latest episode, don't scroll any further.
















On Luke, I think it's a defense mechanism. He knows there is basically nothing he can do right now to help June, so he's just kind of disconnected himself from his emotions about it. There was that scene with Moira when Moira asks what if she's not in here, and Luke says "Welcome to my world." That was his way of acknowledging that the not knowing is a quiet and unrelenting hell.

On Serena, that wasn't for June's benefit, that was for her own. Remember Ofglen's entire household was executed because of her involvement in the attack, including her Commander and his wife. Serena knew that if Cushing got a whiff of proof that June wasn't really kidnapped, the entire Waterford household could be executed as well. As for bringing June into it, I think she knows that 1) having June work with her will improve the quality of the work she submits under the Commander's name so it's less likely to be questioned, and 2) bringing June in and making her complicit will keep June from ratting her out.

On the econofamilies, I don't think it's ever well explained, but not all fertile women were taken as handmaids. I believe that a woman had to have already successfully given birth to a live child (so women who had never been pregnant yet weren't take), and it seems like all of those who were taken had some kind of "sin" upon them, such as homosexuality (Emily and Moira), adultery (Offred), drug use (New Ofglen/Lillie) or sex outside marriage/unwed mothers (Janine). Making them handmaids is kind of a way to remove their sinfulness from proper society and puts them to good use as a form of penitence. So if a young woman had never been pregnant or given birth at that point, if she was part of an intact family who didn't present a threat to Gilead's morality, or if she'd not yet reached sexual maturity, she wasn't taken as a handmaid. Don't forget that we're only a couple of years into the rise of Gilead, so they've not yet had to deal with the issue of how to replace handmaids as they become infertile so we don't know what might happen down the road when they need to replenish the stock.

In this episode they went and retrieved the problem Handmaids from the colonies. As far as Handmaids coming of age, the girls in the school with Hannah are Handmaids in Training (my theory, I don’t know this for sure), as Hannah was in light pink when Serena took Offred to Hannah’s school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Such a good episode!!

Questions (relating to the LATEST episode):

— why does Luke seem so ‘whatever’ when moira asks ‘don’t you wanna find out if she’s alive?’ After the woman was releasing details about the blast

— I’m the PP that posted about craving a soft side from both aunt Lydia and Serena. We keep getting teased with it and then they act like b*tches again. Did we finally see a soft side from Serena towards the end?? I’m sure she’s just looking out for her own interests (both with getting rid of cushing, and needing June for editing), but still. I saw a glimmer of compassion, I think.

— this ones not directly episode related. But, can someone remind me who the econo-families (I think that’s what they’re called) are? Like the women that wear all grey. One example is the bread truck driver that helped offred and then got killed. How did they have a kid / family if all the fertile women were forced to be handmaids? The wife was still fertile since aunt Lydia said she got shipped off to be a handmaid. Why are they ‘allowed’ to be normal citizens/ families? Any details on this class?

This one will have some spoilers, so if you haven't watched the latest episode, don't scroll any further.
















On Luke, I think it's a defense mechanism. He knows there is basically nothing he can do right now to help June, so he's just kind of disconnected himself from his emotions about it. There was that scene with Moira when Moira asks what if she's not in here, and Luke says "Welcome to my world." That was his way of acknowledging that the not knowing is a quiet and unrelenting hell.

On Serena, that wasn't for June's benefit, that was for her own. Remember Ofglen's entire household was executed because of her involvement in the attack, including her Commander and his wife. Serena knew that if Cushing got a whiff of proof that June wasn't really kidnapped, the entire Waterford household could be executed as well. As for bringing June into it, I think she knows that 1) having June work with her will improve the quality of the work she submits under the Commander's name so it's less likely to be questioned, and 2) bringing June in and making her complicit will keep June from ratting her out.

On the econofamilies, I don't think it's ever well explained, but not all fertile women were taken as handmaids. I believe that a woman had to have already successfully given birth to a live child (so women who had never been pregnant yet weren't take), and it seems like all of those who were taken had some kind of "sin" upon them, such as homosexuality (Emily and Moira), adultery (Offred), drug use (New Ofglen/Lillie) or sex outside marriage/unwed mothers (Janine). Making them handmaids is kind of a way to remove their sinfulness from proper society and puts them to good use as a form of penitence. So if a young woman had never been pregnant or given birth at that point, if she was part of an intact family who didn't present a threat to Gilead's morality, or if she'd not yet reached sexual maturity, she wasn't taken as a handmaid. Don't forget that we're only a couple of years into the rise of Gilead, so they've not yet had to deal with the issue of how to replace handmaids as they become infertile so we don't know what might happen down the road when they need to replenish the stock.

In this episode they went and retrieved the problem Handmaids from the colonies. As far as Handmaids coming of age, the girls in the school with Hannah are Handmaids in Training (my theory, I don’t know this for sure), as Hannah was in light pink when Serena took Offred to Hannah’s school.

I think they're going to realize really fast that any babies conceived by Handmaids retrieved from the colonies do not turn out well. Radioactive waste has a way of messing up a woman's eggs.

In the book, Offred's daughter was adopted by a family loyal to the regime.

[Anonymous]

The bread truck driver and his family were allowed to be together because they were "traditional" (straight, no child out of wedlock, no adultery, etc). However, they were Muslim and were forced to abandon their faith for Gilead.

[Anonymous]

Who are the new, young wives? How do we know they are fertile? Are their mothers handmaids?

Is that the destiny for all the stolen kids, like Hannah? I assume the boys become Eyes and drivers, and the girls given as wives?

[Anonymous]

I don't know why I keep watching this show. This interview https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/05/handmaids-tale-recap-season-2-episode-6-explosion-serena-joy-protest-demonstration-bruce-miller-interview suggests they're trying to make Serena a complicated or sympathetic character, and I just don't buy it.


I know, I know. Too many women have been complicit in the rape and torture of other women and men for too long in our history for them all to have been monsters. But I'm not sure they literally held them down.


Politically I don't consider myself to be part of the puritanical wing of the resistance, but I just don't want to go there with Serena. She's a deeply, deeply horrible person. Nobody wants a baby that bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why I keep watching this show. This interview https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/05/handmaids-tale-recap-season-2-episode-6-explosion-serena-joy-protest-demonstration-bruce-miller-interview suggests they're trying to make Serena a complicated or sympathetic character, and I just don't buy it.


I know, I know. Too many women have been complicit in the rape and torture of other women and men for too long in our history for them all to have been monsters. But I'm not sure they literally held them down.


Politically I don't consider myself to be part of the puritanical wing of the resistance, but I just don't want to go there with Serena. She's a deeply, deeply horrible person. Nobody wants a baby that bad.

For me, learning about Serena's back story actually makes her less sympathetic. She wasn't an innocent bystander. She actively fought to bring Gilead into existence. On top of that, she thought that she would be exempt from the restrictions imposed on other women because she was part of the early leadership. That even though she's a woman, she's special somehow. It's worst of hypocrisy. She created a set rules for women that she didn't think applied to her.

[Anonymous]

Serena held a lot of power in her previous life and misses it. She had a had another taste of it in the last episode and my guess is she wants to continue being in power while she can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serena held a lot of power in her previous life and misses it. She had a had another taste of it in the last episode and my guess is she wants to continue being in power while she can.

Agree. I can’t tell if she truly loves her husband or not. You can tell in the flashbacks she did, but now it seems as if she’s just with him out of loyalty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why didn't Offred say anything when she started bleeding?

My impression was that she was hoping to miscarry. When she woke up in the hospital and the baby was still.alive she seemed surprised.

I don't think she was hoping to miscarry. I think she assumed she was miscarrying and that she was delaying telling them because her situation would get very bad if they knew she lost the baby. If you are miscarrying, there's really nothing they could do. So if she thought (and given the amount of blood, it would be reasonable) that she was miscarrying, she probably assumed there was nothing they could do. It's possible she thought that maybe dying by blood loss would be better than what they would do to her once they realized she lost the pregnancy. I doubt she realized/thought it was a blood clot.

And of course she was surprised when she woke up and realized that she didn't miscarry; that was an epic amount of blood. She probably assumed the pregnancy was over, but she didn't know what to do because she figured she'd be blamed if she lost the pregnancy.

The director said June was disconnected from her body and mind. I don’t think he lack of action was intentional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serena held a lot of power in her previous life and misses it. She had a had another taste of it in the last episode and my guess is she wants to continue being in power while she can.

Agree. I can’t tell if she truly loves her husband or not. You can tell in the flashbacks she did, but now it seems as if she’s just with him out of loyalty.

I think she stayed with her husband at first because she thought that would give her more power. Now she stays with him because the alternative would be terrible (is divorce even allowed? Since she's infertile, would she be sent to the Colonies?)