I think I remember in the book that fertility rates were plummeting and babies were also not surviving infancy for unknown reasons... does anyone else remember this? Maybe this is alluding to that issue.

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only person who watched today’s episode and thought baby Angela has a Muchhausens by Proxy thing going on? Or that Naomi just does not want her and is somehow slowly poisoning her? The neonatologist said no virus, bacteria, structural problem. And sure, Janine looks like a miracle. But that is probably not it. More likely that putting her in the hospital got her away from whatever Naomi is up to and have her a chance to recover.

I do think this show is nuanced with the female characters. I don’t think Serena, Aunt Lydia, etc are all evil. I think they are making the best of a bad situation where they have no power. I don’t think Eden is all evil either, but I do think she is a girl who should be in her freshman year of HS, and who is playing a dangerous game. Things are not going to end well for her and Nick. But, they never stood a chance.

And I do not think June is 100% good. She’s the heroine. But she is also collaborating with Giliad. Maybe for the right reasons, but still...

+1 on the muchausen by proxy feeling.

Am I the only person who watched today’s episode and thought baby Angela has a Muchhausens by Proxy thing going on? Or that Naomi just does not want her and is somehow slowly poisoning her? The neonatologist said no virus, bacteria, structural problem. And sure, Janine looks like a miracle. But that is probably not it. More likely that putting her in the hospital got her away from whatever Naomi is up to and have her a chance to recover.

I do think this show is nuanced with the female characters. I don’t think Serena, Aunt Lydia, etc are all evil. I think they are making the best of a bad situation where they have no power. I don’t think Eden is all evil either, but I do think she is a girl who should be in her freshman year of HS, and who is playing a dangerous game. Things are not going to end well for her and Nick. But, they never stood a chance.

And I do not think June is 100% good. She’s the heroine. But she is also collaborating with Giliad. Maybe for the right reasons, but still...

oh my god
(don’t read ahead if you haven’t seen today’s episode)










The scene with the neonatologist, when she was putting on the white coat again, I cried so hard. I can’t even put into words why, br watching her go from no identity to HER identity, with the male doctor saying such nice things to her, it just covered me in goosebumps.
Also, Serena has been slightly redeemed for me in this episode. I have a feeling her little taste of freedom has ignited a different fire inside her.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I believe that is the idea but when you think about it, it doesn't make much sense. Why are you as a high placed govt official want to have your baby conceived by a woman who you think is unworthy and immoral.

There's a biblical justification for it. But it's probably a mixture of genuine belief and an excuse for men to have temporary concubines.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I believe that is the idea but when you think about it, it doesn't make much sense. Why are you as a high placed govt official want to have your baby conceived by a woman who you think is unworthy and immoral.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand how the US is so f’ed up, from the political regime to the wasteland. And Canada seems totally normal. I don’t get it!

The Sons of Jacob overthrew the American government and made their own country. It’s a play on how the Sons of Liberty overthrew the British rule of America in the late 1700s. It’s so fd up because now we have nuclear weapons, which are powerful and ruinous.

I don’t understand how the US is so f’ed up, from the political regime to the wasteland. And Canada seems totally normal. I don’t get it!

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t see a beating in the preview.

It sounded like Aunt Lydia’s cattle prod.

Wow! The last episode was great! I love that Serena is getting some balls.

I didn’t see a beating in the preview.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?)

She's not allowed to leave him. The laws in Gilead wouldn't allow that to happen. Even though Serena helped usher in Gilead, I believe she thinks it went too far. Now she wants to roll some of it back. Call me crazy, but Serena reminds me of Ann Coulter.

If Serena is who Fred ****spoiler alert****












is beating in the preview of episode 8, I wonder if this will lead to an uprising within Gilead led by Serena, and behind the scenes, June.

Anonymous wrote:

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?)

She's not allowed to leave him. The laws in Gilead wouldn't allow that to happen. Even though Serena helped usher in Gilead, I believe she thinks it went too far. Now she wants to roll some of it back. Call me crazy, but Serena reminds me of Ann Coulter.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone remember this HGTV show a few years ago about a family in Canada that was renovating their house? The husband was an actor, they had three kids, and the mom was a designer/hottie. Anyway... the dad from that show is the actor who plays Commander Cushing!! It was driving me nuts last week when they showed that shot of him at the end, sitting in the auditorium, right before the place blew. It's so funny to try and reconcile the goofy hot dad from that HGTV show with the evil Commander Cushing.

Greg Bryk from Family Under Construction. Good catch!

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0117374/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Random thoughts:

Serena is essentially pulling an Eleanor Roosevelt, and running things while her husband is ill. It will be interesting to see if the Commander is grateful or resentful when he returns to full health. It could hurt him in that things become dumb-downed once he returns to writing regulations and protocols. If he is angry with her, he could turn her over to the eyes, and I believe her punishment would be some type of Martha, where she keeps house. Or the Waterfords could rise to rule Gilead, with Serena and June doing the majority of the work behind the scenes. How far will June go to become complicit in her own capture?

Rather than reminding me of current events, it actually reminds me of the ancient Egyptians. They would have Jewish advisers to help them control the Jewish slaves. At some point there should be a breaking point where you stop helping the enemy control your own people. Or will June become so indoctrinated that she develops a Stockholm like syndrome? That would be disappointing.