Handmaid's Tale Season 3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought Wives were all infertile. Have we ever seen a life with biological children. I doubt they’d give up a breeding woman to the exclusive use of a single Commander. That’s a good incentive for marrying off the young Daughters to young loyal men like Nick.

The wives aren’t necessarily infertile. They are just the Gilead elite who either helped bring Gilead to power or married someone who did. Most of them are infertile, and they have the power to force fertile “fallen” women to breed for them. There are also the econowives, who are not considered fallen, may or may not be infertile, and don’t have the power to force anyone to breed for them.

I think once Nick became a commander he no longer was subject to forced marriage, but would be considered a good catch for one of the other commander’s daughters, probably.

They only check the woman and assume the men are fertile. So in less the woman has an affair, if she is with an infertile man, she will be deemed infertile and the blame. Many are older woman who are past their prime years of having kids.

I think most are arranged marriages.

Yes, Tuello said something to Serena when he was trying to get her to break out of Gilead about having given up the possibility of having a baby that was all her own, but that if she went to the US/Canada maybe she could. I interpreted this as if she hadn't gone to play for the enemy, she probably could have been with a husband who would have been able to give her a child, as the Canadians and Americans seem to know it is the men who are sterile.

This is an instance where the TV show and the book deviate. I was kind of horrified when they chose a then 32 yr old actress as Serena and made the whole Commander class fairly young and the women of a fertile age. The book makes it very clear that most of the Commanders and their wives are 50+, so the fertility of the Commander's wives is not in question. In a way it adds something to the future plot that Serena might have no fertility issues at all.

I don't remember where I heard this, but I must have read somewhere they were planning for about 7 seasons. If that's really the case, they're going to need more twists like that.

I assumed that when Serena was shot in the lower abdomen pre-Gilead, she would have been fully informed by the doctors how the injury affected her fertility (did she require a full hysterectomy, etc.) I don’t think that the show has really touched on that again, possibly because no matter what Serena wasn’t going to have children by Fred so it was a moot point up to this point.

I would love a few more seasons. There is so much potential there; a dive into the rise of Gilead, ripple effects of Gilead on the rest of the world, how Gilead comes to an end, rebuilding... and that doesn’t even touch on the characters and how they rebuild their lives or meet with justice post-Gilead. Maybe see what Hannah’s world is like when she’s June’s age.

Oh, you are so right! I completely forgot that Serena had also been shot in the abdomen and that could have been a complicating factor, no doubt! But I think you're right, they wouldn't have explored that aspect more as her reproducing was basically off the table entirely as long as she was married to Fred.

There is a lot more potential and I would like to see them explore that. I just need their writing to keep up so it doesn't feel like it is just a cash cow that drags things along. I thought this season was not great. The past few episodes have been good, but there was a LOT of fluff. I still have so many questions and they spent 60% of the season doing...not much.

if Serena has eggs and she moves to Canada she could have a surrogate. Gilead seems to have forgotten how to do medicine.

[Anonymous]

Re: June's decision not to try to save Eleanor. Maybe she thought that given Gilead's absence of health care, it wasn't possible to save Eleanor and so letting her die peacefully in bed was the kindest thing to do? Gilead seems to have left Eleanor alone because of Lawrence's status, but I imagine that mental illness is pretty highly stigmatized.

[Anonymous]

if Serena has eggs and she moves to Canada she could have a surrogate. Gilead seems to have forgotten how to do medicine.

The men in power in Gilead are way too fragile to handle scientific examination of the fertility of its men and women. They know it’s mostly the men who are infertile and they don’t want that acknowledged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re: June's decision not to try to save Eleanor. Maybe she thought that given Gilead's absence of health care, it wasn't possible to save Eleanor and so letting her die peacefully in bed was the kindest thing to do? Gilead seems to have left Eleanor alone because of Lawrence's status, but I imagine that mental illness is pretty highly stigmatized.

I think her decision was multi layered. Mercy was a part of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder what would happen if June discovers that she is pregnant with Lawrence’s baby; if that would change her mind about staying in Gilead for Hannah. Who knows who the baby would be given to if she stayed.

Thinking more on this. Ordinarily a handmaid couldn’t become a wife, but if June is pregnant it is Lawrence’s baby. Lawrence no longer has a wife, and couldn’t legally parent alone. Which would be more likely- they take a commander’s baby away, or they let him marry a handmaid if he pushes for that? Maybe he isn’t hankering for a baby, but would want to see that June gets to keep this child out of guilt for everything he’s done.

I kind of want June to be pregnant now, even if it’s dealt with in the next season.

[Anonymous]

The (lack of) fall-out from Fred's arrest and Winslow’s unknown murder/suspected abduction has me rethinking the Swiss delegation episodes. The Swiss hesitancy was pitched as fear of Gilead's ability to project military power. But I have a hard time believing Gilead has much firepower to spare with an active western front and the police power being kept in the heartlands of DC and Boston.

Option 1: The rest of the world severely overestimates what Gilead can do. If commanders are so willing not to take offensive action over one commander being lured out of country and the second, from their perspective, taken from the Boston area, what is their triggering event for striking back?

Option 2: The Swiss delegation was playing a long con with the Canadians and the tricky Americans. But I don't remember Serena being in-play during those episode?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder what would happen if June discovers that she is pregnant with Lawrence’s baby; if that would change her mind about staying in Gilead for Hannah. Who knows who the baby would be given to if she stayed.

Thinking more on this. Ordinarily a handmaid couldn’t become a wife, but if June is pregnant it is Lawrence’s baby. Lawrence no longer has a wife, and couldn’t legally parent alone. Which would be more likely- they take a commander’s baby away, or they let him marry a handmaid if he pushes for that? Maybe he isn’t hankering for a baby, but would want to see that June gets to keep this child out of guilt for everything he’s done.

I kind of want June to be pregnant now, even if it’s dealt with in the next season.

He gave her birth control pills. I can’t imagine she’d want to have a baby while she’s busy trying to get a bunch of kids out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder what would happen if June discovers that she is pregnant with Lawrence’s baby; if that would change her mind about staying in Gilead for Hannah. Who knows who the baby would be given to if she stayed.

Thinking more on this. Ordinarily a handmaid couldn’t become a wife, but if June is pregnant it is Lawrence’s baby. Lawrence no longer has a wife, and couldn’t legally parent alone. Which would be more likely- they take a commander’s baby away, or they let him marry a handmaid if he pushes for that? Maybe he isn’t hankering for a baby, but would want to see that June gets to keep this child out of guilt for everything he’s done.

I kind of want June to be pregnant now, even if it’s dealt with in the next season.

He gave her birth control pills. I can’t imagine she’d want to have a baby while she’s busy trying to get a bunch of kids out.

She refused the pills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder what would happen if June discovers that she is pregnant with Lawrence’s baby; if that would change her mind about staying in Gilead for Hannah. Who knows who the baby would be given to if she stayed.

Thinking more on this. Ordinarily a handmaid couldn’t become a wife, but if June is pregnant it is Lawrence’s baby. Lawrence no longer has a wife, and couldn’t legally parent alone. Which would be more likely- they take a commander’s baby away, or they let him marry a handmaid if he pushes for that? Maybe he isn’t hankering for a baby, but would want to see that June gets to keep this child out of guilt for everything he’s done.

I kind of want June to be pregnant now, even if it’s dealt with in the next season.

He gave her birth control pills. I can’t imagine she’d want to have a baby while she’s busy trying to get a bunch of kids out.

She refused the pills.

I don't think she did, just wryly commented on the horrific penalty for handmaids found with them. If you take a handful at a time, they function like Plan B.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder what would happen if June discovers that she is pregnant with Lawrence’s baby; if that would change her mind about staying in Gilead for Hannah. Who knows who the baby would be given to if she stayed.

Thinking more on this. Ordinarily a handmaid couldn’t become a wife, but if June is pregnant it is Lawrence’s baby. Lawrence no longer has a wife, and couldn’t legally parent alone. Which would be more likely- they take a commander’s baby away, or they let him marry a handmaid if he pushes for that? Maybe he isn’t hankering for a baby, but would want to see that June gets to keep this child out of guilt for everything he’s done.

I kind of want June to be pregnant now, even if it’s dealt with in the next season.

He gave her birth control pills. I can’t imagine she’d want to have a baby while she’s busy trying to get a bunch of kids out.

She refused the pills.

I don't think she did, just wryly commented on the horrific penalty for handmaids found with them. If you take a handful at a time, they function like Plan B.

I agree with you, I think she took them and was going to take a few of them later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The (lack of) fall-out from Fred's arrest and Winslow’s unknown murder/suspected abduction has me rethinking the Swiss delegation episodes. The Swiss hesitancy was pitched as fear of Gilead's ability to project military power. But I have a hard time believing Gilead has much firepower to spare with an active western front and the police power being kept in the heartlands of DC and Boston.

Option 1: The rest of the world severely overestimates what Gilead can do. If commanders are so willing not to take offensive action over one commander being lured out of country and the second, from their perspective, taken from the Boston area, what is their triggering event for striking back?

Option 2: The Swiss delegation was playing a long con with the Canadians and the tricky Americans. But I don't remember Serena being in-play during those episode?

In the last episode some of the commanders were pushing hard for retaliation, but the war council hadn’t met yet to make a decision. Lawrence was doing his best to slow down the works by pointing out how difficult it would be to extract Gilead from a military conflict once it started, and how trade would be severely impacted. His real primary concern obviously being their inability to escape if the borders were shut down.

Gilead not only has military power but controls a lot of global trade. For example, when the delegation from Mexico visited the US, they wanted access to handmaids as a part of any potential trade deal. Their desire for fertile women trumped their concern over human rights abuses.

So I guess my opinion is that other countries are not only afraid of Gilead’s military power, but their ability to destabilize world markets and cut off resources.

[Anonymous]

Eleanor was a liability and in danger of wrecking the whole child rescue plan. That's why she killed herself and that's why June let her do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eleanor was a liability and in danger of wrecking the whole child rescue plan. That's why she killed herself and that's why June let her do it.

Earlier in the episode Eleanor said that she couldn’t ever be happy, even if they got out. I believe that June would have gotten help for her, as was her first instinct, if that conversation hadn’t happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, the finale! Underwhelmed to say the least! So what the handmaiden are going home now like nothing happened?

I loved it, although I’m intentionally overlooking some holes (like how they could walk 50+ kids through yards while a house to house search was going on, or how none of the kids were crying, or the Martha not totally spilling the beans in an attempt to save her life, or the guard actually calling it clear rather than doing the exact opposite knowing he was dead anyway).

Maybe I was just starving for some good news.

[Anonymous]

The finale was boring IMO. Satisfied with the end but the episode was hard to get through.

And I guess it's safe to assume Serena isn't having any children while in Canada.