I loved the season finale! There were so many dull episodes this season but it was worth it to get to tonight’s episode!

I sobbed as the kids got off the plane and that girl found her dad! And when Rita (Martha) hugged Emily.

My only criticism is June getting shot. I hate when shows put their lead character in peril when we already know that actor is signed on for another season.

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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.

Between the commanders and older wives? Why do you think that?

They showed the arranged marriages earlier on. The older ones were probably married before Gilead so those marriages stayed but anyone young is arranged.

I don’t remember arranged marriages with commanders; I remember the episode with the mass wedding ceremony between guardians/eyes and the child brides. The commanders are powerful and function in Gilead as entitled elites. They have much more freedom of choice than econo men.

Commanders kids are married to commanders kids. June was clear the girls were married at 14 in this last episode.

I think we’re talking about two different things here. All women/girls would be subject to arranged marriage, even if they are a widowed wife of a commander, because they have no power and men tell them what to do. Men below the rank of commander, and maybe even a young commander like Nick, would also be subject to arranged marriage. But what about someone like Cmdr Lawrence, or one of the other high ranking commanders (if they were widowed), who tell everyone else what to do? If one of them sets his sights on a particular unattached, “pure” woman (let’s say a widow or pretty teenager who has caught his eye), who is going to tell him that he can’t marry her? I have a hard time believing that those egomaniacs wouldn’t fight marriage to someone that they dislike.

What is sad to me is this is what life is like in some countries for women now.

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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.

Between the commanders and older wives? Why do you think that?

They showed the arranged marriages earlier on. The older ones were probably married before Gilead so those marriages stayed but anyone young is arranged.

I don’t remember arranged marriages with commanders; I remember the episode with the mass wedding ceremony between guardians/eyes and the child brides. The commanders are powerful and function in Gilead as entitled elites. They have much more freedom of choice than econo men.

Commanders kids are married to commanders kids. June was clear the girls were married at 14 in this last episode.

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Anonymous wrote:It was a good finale but I don’t know why prestige television seems hellbent on making these very dark episodes. It was like listening to a radio show.

I cried at the hanger scenes obviously.

Its a dark show.

No no I meant dark like black. Battle of Winterfell (really GoT in general), this episode. I can’t see what’s happening. I think they get into “movie quality” mode and bleieve everyone will be watching on a giant screen in a perfectly dark room.

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

Between the commanders and older wives? Why do you think that?

They showed the arranged marriages earlier on. The older ones were probably married before Gilead so those marriages stayed but anyone young is arranged.

I don’t remember arranged marriages with commanders; I remember the episode with the mass wedding ceremony between guardians/eyes and the child brides. The commanders are powerful and function in Gilead as entitled elites. They have much more freedom of choice than econo men.

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.

Between the commanders and older wives? Why do you think that?

They showed the arranged marriages earlier on. The older ones were probably married before Gilead so those marriages stayed but anyone young is arranged.

Anonymous wrote:It was a good finale but I don’t know why prestige television seems hellbent on making these very dark episodes. It was like listening to a radio show.

I cried at the hanger scenes obviously.

Its a dark show.

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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.

You want June to be pregnant from coerced sex?

Go stand in front of a mirror and say that out loud, please.

+1

Pp you know it’s all make believe and the original poster was alluding to a more complex storyline

It was a good finale but I don’t know why prestige television seems hellbent on making these very dark episodes. It was like listening to a radio show.

I cried at the hanger scenes obviously.

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.

You want June to be pregnant from coerced sex?

Go stand in front of a mirror and say that out loud, please.

I’ve enjoyed watching June’s evolution this season, from focusing with a single minded passion on her own two children to devoting herself to a much bigger cause.

Now the painful wait for season 4.

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.

You want June to be pregnant from coerced sex?

Go stand in front of a mirror and say that out loud, please.

The plot holes are really ridiculous, but any finale is better than last season’s. I was relieved to have this one end on a more uplifting note, for a change.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I used to be impatient for rapid fire action and quick resolutions, but I have come to love the show as it is- so well thought out, even if it is a slow burn. I’d rather have a long, complex series with good structure but a slower pace than a short series jam packed with action.

As for the house to house search, Marthas in the past established a back yard sort of railway for ferrying people around. I assume they took advantage of that as far as it took to get to the woods, which wasn’t far, while the houses themselves were being searched.

I think the guard who called the all clear simply underestimated June. She put his mind at ease with her “I’m just a girl” smile, and boom.

One thing that bothers me is the handmaids leaving those damn high-vis white caps on when they’re trying to be low vis.

The plane arriving with all the kids was so, so uplifting.