Anonymous wrote:Regarding race in this series. I think the book had racial prejudice in Gilead, but the series has largely been race-blind. I’m unsure why. There are several pre-Gilead interracial couples besides June’s marriage and we see AA Commanders and Wives, as well as AA stolen children. I don’t recall any AS high ranked. But lots of Asian handmaids, Econopeople, and Eyes. However, the refugees in Canada seem much more racially and ethnically diverse than Gilead.

I assume thhe show runne and producers didn’t want a lily white cast so they couldn’t carry over the book parts about Giles’s being overtly discriminatory. But it makes sense to me that the refugees would be more diverse than those who remained. I mean, look at the Republican Party. It would make sense to me that People of color would be a little less likely to be cool with a political party that wants to control their bodies and squelch their right to protest.

Anonymous wrote:Regarding race in this series. I think the book had racial prejudice in Gilead, but the series has largely been race-blind. I’m unsure why. There are several pre-Gilead interracial couples besides June’s marriage and we see AA Commanders and Wives, as well as AA stolen children. I don’t recall any AS high ranked. But lots of Asian handmaids, Econopeople, and Eyes. However, the refugees in Canada seem much more racially and ethnically diverse than Gilead.

Well the book followed the headlines in 1984, according to Atwood, so there would be more focus on interracial couples. Now they are drawing on feeling in the current time frame to make Gilead as relatable as possible.

Regarding race in this series. I think the book had racial prejudice in Gilead, but the series has largely been race-blind. I’m unsure why. There are several pre-Gilead interracial couples besides June’s marriage and we see AA Commanders and Wives, as well as AA stolen children. I don’t recall any AS high ranked. But lots of Asian handmaids, Econopeople, and Eyes. However, the refugees in Canada seem much more racially and ethnically diverse than Gilead.

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Anonymous wrote:That last scene with June and Serena. And what do you think the Bradley Whitford character is up to? The sneak peek for the next episode seems to show Serena being arrested. Wow.

Maybe Gilead is his social experiment? This could be the base of the resistance.

I think Gilead could be his intellectual experiment, but I wouldn’t necessarily count on him being in the resistance.

Not necessarily that he’s pro-resistance, but sparking the resistance is part of the experiment. He’s the base of the evil. Taking in the disgraced Martha’s and Handmaid’s gives him a first hand account of the results of his actions. Almost as though he’s so smart, he’s crazy evil. A true sociopath, with intellect.

This. But I think it’s too soon after “Get Out” for me to watch him with anything but suspicion.

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Anonymous wrote:Why are all the white men infertile?

We know that Nick's not infertile.

Nick's not white. He's half Asian

Is Nick half Asian or the actor? I don't think his race of the character has been brought up.in the show and he "plays" as a white man...

The actor is half Asian ( his Mom). I don't think anyone race has really been brought up ( Bread truck guy)

Max isn’t half Asian. His mom is part Asian (I think 3/4) , part Ashkenazi Jew. He’s actually incredibly ethnically and racially mixed. Part Indian, part Irish, part Italian, part Chinese. His looks are pretty ambiguous, but I agree that Nick, the character is white.

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Anonymous wrote:I predict Waterford gets rid of Serena to try and be with June. After shes out of the picture June and Nick will run away with the baby. Serena said he had a sick obsession with her. I also think the old dude is apart of the resistance.

Wishful thinking and way too much hope from a show that feels more and more hopeless. I’m just waiting for someone to kill June at this point.

I do wish something hopeful will happen. Every week is just filled with so much misery.

Like what? Even if June were to escape to Canada, there are so many others like her still imprisoned there. Even if there were to be revolution in Gilead, that would be very dark before becoming light again.

Looking at history, the best end to a totalitarian government is usually when it crumbles from within. There’s usual little innovation and initiative in such societies and they tend to fall apart eventually, absent rebellion or an outside power propping them up. I think that’s what happened in the book but I don’t quite remember.

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who finds this series a bit blasphemous?
Biblical handmaidens were not surrogates, they remained with the family and had been part of it all their lives

Until they and their son are cast out into the desert.

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Anonymous wrote:What is the point of this show?

The same as any other fiction - entertainment

Entertainment? For whom? In the #metoo era? Or the Trump era? Like for real? And Elizabeth Moss is a big proponent of Scientology - why would anyone support that? I'm not being facetious either and would like a genuine response from the people who like this show.

The original book came out in the ‘80s, and has been a hit for the last 30 years. Many people who watch the show (including me) enjoyed the book, and are excited to see an adaptation.

My DS is a rising senior in a Catholic all boy's school. He is taking AP Lit next year and Handmaid's Tale is one of the books he is reading. Considering many of the families at the school are super conservative, I think this book is about a lot more than politics. Glad he is being exposed to this.

I read it in a religion class at my Catholic university years ago. It prompted many interesting discussions from everyone. It was one of the few texts that had everyone talking.

I also read it as a senior in Lit at a Catholic all-girls’ school. It was galvanizing.

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Anonymous wrote:I predict Waterford gets rid of Serena to try and be with June. After shes out of the picture June and Nick will run away with the baby. Serena said he had a sick obsession with her. I also think the old dude is apart of the resistance.

Wishful thinking and way too much hope from a show that feels more and more hopeless. I’m just waiting for someone to kill June at this point.

I do wish something hopeful will happen. Every week is just filled with so much misery.

Like what? Even if June were to escape to Canada, there are so many others like her still imprisoned there. Even if there were to be revolution in Gilead, that would be very dark before becoming light again.

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Anonymous wrote:I predict Waterford gets rid of Serena to try and be with June. After shes out of the picture June and Nick will run away with the baby. Serena said he had a sick obsession with her. I also think the old dude is apart of the resistance.

Wishful thinking and way too much hope from a show that feels more and more hopeless. I’m just waiting for someone to kill June at this point.

I do wish something hopeful will happen. Every week is just filled with so much misery.

Anonymous wrote:I predict Waterford gets rid of Serena to try and be with June. After shes out of the picture June and Nick will run away with the baby. Serena said he had a sick obsession with her. I also think the old dude is apart of the resistance.

Wishful thinking and way too much hope from a show that feels more and more hopeless. I’m just waiting for someone to kill June at this point.

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Anonymous wrote:After the handmaids give birth and leave after weaning; do they list go to another family to be raped?

Yes. They go to the handmaid center to recuperate and then sent to another family.

How awful. I had a friend who was pregnant every year of high school. I imagine she'd be popular

Waterford isn't getting rid of Serena to be with June. June is a handmaid and there is no way a Commander is going to marry a handmaid, they are by definition tainted goods. Whether Serena is there or not, June will only be in the household for as long as she's pumping for Holly/Nicole, and then they will move her on. Waterford, as the head of the household, has ultimate say over whether June leaves sooner than that, regardless of what Serena wants.

Waterford either will have done it because someone has found out about something he did (e.g., arranging for June to meet her daughter at the house) and he's throwing Serena under the bus for it, or to punish her for the degrading things she said to him during their fights.

I predict Waterford gets rid of Serena to try and be with June. After shes out of the picture June and Nick will run away with the baby. Serena said he had a sick obsession with her. I also think the old dude is apart of the resistance.

Great episode! I am so bummed next week in the season finale.