The Handmaid's Tale [Season 1, Episode 1]
Offred
Shown 26 Apr 17
This is based on a 1980s novel by
Margaret Attwood
. Despite the dystopian setting,
Attwood is infamous for denigrating the Science Fiction genre
and deliberately distancing herself from it.
It seems she is one of those people who does not believe in soft sciences like sociology.
The nearest comparison for this is the classic dystopian SciFi story
1984
. They are both narrated by the protagonist,
in this case a handmaiden named OfFred (
Elizabeth Moss
). Both are set in an allegorical world that is a worst-case scenario for the time in which it was written.
Orwell's book depicted England under the heel of a Stalinist regime,
while this tale is about America under a Religious Right that rose out of the Reagan era.
Fascists resist change for the better,
and instead want to turn back time to a mythical Golden Age that never actually existed.
In Britain this is the Victorian Age,
when Industry was all-powerful and employment was high.
However, in America the equivalent seems to be the age of the Puritans.
The Crucible used the 1690s Salem witch-trials
as an allegory for the 1950s McCarthyite witch-hunts,
but this book takes the metaphor and makes it literal.
The McCarthyite extremists have literally turned America into a 1600s-style Puritan village.
However, if you mess up they will do a lot worse than just make you wear The Scarlet Letter.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 1, Episode 2]
Birth Day
Shown 26 Apr 17
One of the handmaidens is about to give birth.
This brings the Matriarchy's structure more into focus.
The wives, such as Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
), have all the power.
The handmaidens, a sub-class of fertile female, are basically slaves.
This is very reminiscent of a Hugo-nominated novella about a feminist amazon society
that had celibate women and lesbians in all positions of authority,
and relegated traditional roles like child-bearing to an underclass.
In fact, that is not entirely different from contemporary western society
where middle-class females have careers and cats instead of families,
and motherhood is relegated to working-class women who have no such pretensions.
The master of the house, Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
), wants to have a secret meeting with OfFred (
Elizabeth Moss
). What does he really want?
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 1, Episode 3]
Late
Shown 26 Apr 17
This starts off with a flashback to the coup.
OfFred (
Elizabeth Moss
) and her sister-in-law went jogging together,
listening to that anthem of female empowerment
Fuck The Pain Away by Peaches.
Of course, the potentially offensive lyrics are not used.
The girl in the coffee shop has been replaced with a mouthy male.
Rather than be a good little servant he objects to the unruly female customers.
It turns out that all women have been fired from their jobs.
Worse than that, they have been legally denied the right to own property.
This means they have to get their bank accounts transferred into their husband's name.
Evidently the new Government is against women working in offices,
but it is perfectly happy to have them doing domestic servitude.
To make coffee in a cafe is liberating, but to do it at home is slavery.
The sister-in-law complains about being disempowered,
and delivers a passionate monologue about individualism
that Thatcher or Ayn Rand would be proud of.
However, despite disrespecting her brother
when he promises to pull his weight in his marriage,
she accepts his offer of protection when she needs to get to the station.
OfGlen (
Alexis Bledel
) has been arrested.
It turns out her crime is gender-treason,
which in her case is lesbianism.
The trial is based on Biblical law,
like something written by Ian Paisley's DUP.
There is no defence lawyer, and the suspect is gagged and unable to face her accuser.
Ironically this is similar to laws that Feminists have promoted towards suspected rapists.
Now they see the bad side of such laws, when it is applied to one of their own.
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) is really nice to Offred because the handmaid's period is late.
Everyone hopes for the best, but nobody ever thinks the worst.
And Serena Joy has a nasty temper when she is in a bad mood.
She may be a bible-bashing housewife now,
but she still has the athletic body and skills she had as a secret agent in Chuck.
Yes, she can drag another woman while running up stairs ... in high heels!
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 1, Episode 4]
Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum
Shown 03 May 17
OfFred (
Elizabeth Moss
) has been punished by being sent to her room,
as if she were a naughty teenage girl.
She discovers a secret message her predecessor left -
Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum.
In the flashbacks, the trainee handmaidens hang out in a ladies' toilet.
Apparently putting graffeti on a stall wall and using a glory hole
is the height of rebellious behaviour.
They do not like their new school,
even though the matriarchy promises them that they will not be judged on their looks or clothes.
Yes, feminism has triumphed over the male gaze.
However, this is not good enough for them.
The girls decide to take things a step further and stage a breakout.
On the outside, the militiamen with rifles are everywhere.
It turns out the city is a warzone.
Young fertile women are valuable so they get enslaved as handmaidens,
while everyone else is being exterminated.
It is not technically genocide, because the villains are not targeting a specific race.
Instead it is merely mass murder, because they are equal opportunities killers.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 1, Episode 5]
Faithful
Shown 10 May 17
OfGlen (
Alexis Bledel
) is back.
Well, she has a new owner so she is now called OfSteven.
However, she lost everything so she has nothing left to lose.
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) has a new plan to get OfFred (
Elizabeth Moss
) pregnant.
All she has to do is have lots of sex with Nick the chauffeur (Max Minghella -
Darkest Hour
).
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 1, Episode 6]
A Woman's Place
Shown 17 May 17
This week the flashbacks are for Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
). Before the fascist takeover, her husband Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) was a junior member of the conspiracy.
He was involved in the plan to assassinate all three branches of the US Government.
Of course, the conspiracy was incredibly sexist
and refused to allow her to participate directly because she was a woman.
On the good side, this means that they protected her from stress
and gave her plausible deniability in case it all went wrong.
Serena wrote a best-selling book entitled A Woman's Place,
which is ironic for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, despite being a far-right extremist who believes in freedom and small government
she also promotes nationalisation (i.e. government control) of fertile uteruses.
Secondly, despite being written about womens issues for a female readership
it basically espouses that women should be denied the right to read.
All this comes to light when Gilead is visited by a Mexican trade delegation.
Serena is clearly the brains of the operation,
although as a woman she is denied any authority.
The Mexican ambassador is a woman, but nothing is really made of this.
Mexico is willing to trade with the Gilead fanatics.
However, the really disturbing thing is the reason WHY.
Thanks to the
Children Of Men
virus, the Mexican birth rate is practically zero.
However, the Gilead system that Serena created actually WORKS!
By nationalising the fertile women,
training them as handmaidens and protecting them as a natural resource,
they have actually succeeded in preserving the human species.
So ironically, Serena and Fred turn out to be the good guys!
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 1, Episode 7]
The Other Side
Shown 24 May 17
This week the flashbacks are for Offred's husband.
We get to see the events before and after their failed escape attempt.
Before the escape they paid an old straight white man to help them.
He claims to be an experienced people-smuggler,
but he is a beardy old redneck so they cannot really trust him.
After the escape, the husband gets patched up by the Gilead Guards.
They are meant to be a fascist police force,
but they took the suspect alive rather than just execute him on the spot.
They waste valuable time and resources by putting him in an ambulance
and driving him at high speed towards the nearest hospital.
However, the ambulance crashes and he escapes.
Naturally he shows a lot less compassion for the paramedics than they did for him.
Finally the husband gets a lift with a bunch of other survivors.
They are a mis-matched bunch, and the scenario is reminiscent of
The Walking Dead
. Unfortunately he tends to slow them down,
and despite being gut-shot (like Mr Orange in Reservoir Dogs)
he wants to crawl back to Boston and do a one-man Rambo rescue of his wife and daughter.
Meanwhile, OfFred (
Elizabeth Moss
) has TWO lovers - Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) and Nick the chauffeur (Max Minghella -
Darkest Hour
).
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 1, Episode 8]
Jezebels
Shown 31 May 17
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) is out of town visiting her mother.
Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) gives OfFred (
Elizabeth Moss
) a special treat - a trip to Jezebels,
the secret brothel for VIPs.
Nick the chauffeur (Max Minghella -
Darkest Hour
) is unhappy at having to help take his lover to a whore house.
However, he gets to see an old friend - a Martha named Beth (
Kristen Gutoskie
).
The flashbacks are Nick's.
He was an average young man before the war,
but he got a job thanks to a man he met who was in the Party.
Soon he was a chauffeur for VIPs like Fred.
Of course, he has a secret agenda of his own.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 1, Episode 9]
The Bridge
Shown 07 Jun 17
Offred's contact in the Resistance gives her a mission.
She has to talk Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) into taking her back to Jezebels, so she can pick up a secret package.
However, Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) is back so it will not be easy for them to sneak out to the whore-house.
The one-eyed handmaid, the one who was mentally unbalanced even at the best of times,
is seperated from her baby and sent off to serve a new commander.
Offred warns the boss lady, but her concerns are ignored.
It turns out that Gilead's high levels of security,
with gun-toting psychos on every street,
can be easily overcome by a one-eyed slave-girl with nothing better to do.
Speaking of slave girls, the men do everything they can to please their women.
But for Offred and her friend, it will never be enough.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 1, Episode 10]
Night
Shown 14 Jun 17
The plot-lines all come to a head.
OfFred (
Elizabeth Moss
) is finally pregnant, but this just makes Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) even more uncomfortable. After all, the previous OfFred killed herself.
Since the events of the previous episode, everyone is on edge.
As a result, Serena reminds OfFred that she has something to live for.
Unfortunately OfFred takes it the wrong way.
Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) is made aware of the vulnerability of his own position.
He sits on a committee that debates the punishment of one of their own.
It turns out that while the word of a slave-girl might count for nothing,
the testimony of a Free Woman counts for everything.
OfFred has the secret package that the Resistance smuggled to her.
In such circumstances,
nobody in their right mind would draw unnecessary attention to themselves.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 2, Episode 1]
June
Shown 25 Apr 18
The Handmaidens were taken by the Aunties to be punished.
OfFred (
Elizabeth Moss
) gets boosted from captivity,
and smuggled off by the Resistance.
She gets to call herself June again.
And to prove she is not a man-hater,
she has a lot of sex with her new boyfriend.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 2, Episode 2]
Unwomen
Shown 25 Apr 18
The focus of the episode is on OfGlen (
Alexis Bledel
), who is in a work camp. She befriends a new inmate (
Marisa Tomei
). Their job is manual labour in an area that has been contaminated with an unspecified contaminant.
The flashbacks are from OfGlen.
In her previous life she was a college lecturer who punished male students
if they took an interest in the subject she was meant to be teaching them.
In part this was misandry, because of her man-bashing politics.
Also, she may have favoured female students
because as a lesbian she might have wanted to sleep with them.
Just like straight career women she had a gay best friend (John Carroll Lynch -
Carnivale
). When the GBF fell foul of the homophobic laws of Gilead,
she decided to take her lesbian lover (
Clea Duvall
) and adopted child out of the country.
Predictably, Gilead's laws did not acknowledge equal marriage between homosexual people.
A nice little reminder of how important the equality laws were in the USA
at the time this episode was shot and originally aired.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 2, Episode 3]
Baggage
Shown 02 May 18
The focus of the episode is back on June (
Elizabeth Moss
) again.
She is on the final leg of her journey.
However, there seems to be a problem.
One of the network is not keeping in touch.
Has he been compromised?
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 2, Episode 4]
Other Women
Shown 09 May 18
June will be chained up and used as an incubator.
OfFred will be allowed to return to her place as a handmaiden in Fred's house.
Which will she choose?
Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) is happy to have his pregnant handmaid back.
He goes golfing with his boss and cow-orkers, including Greg Bryk (
Bitten
). They congratulate Fred for putting his house in order,
no doubt a snide reference to the works of Dr Jordan Peterson.
Of course, Peterson's preference towards socially enforced monogamy (AKA marriage)
means creating a society that is the opposite of Gilead
and its polygamous Handmaid system.
The architects of Gilead must have realised that polygamy is a bad idea,
because they start assigning Government-appointed brides to their footsoldiers.
Nick the chauffeur (Max Minghella -
Darkest Hour
) is lucky enough to get one,
although the supply of grown-up women has run so low
that they have to give him a teenager instead.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 2, Episode 5]
Seeds
Shown 16 May 18
OfFred (
Elizabeth Moss
) seems to have completely knuckled under.
She does what is required of her.
Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) wants to have Nick the chauffeur (Max Minghella -
Darkest Hour
) re-assigned.
Nick actually wants the reassignment too,
because he cannot stand the stress of being around OfFred.
However, Fred's boss is the one who assigned Nick to him in the first place -
as an Internal Affairs agent, to keep an eye on him!
To mirror the mass marriage ceremony,
a couple of women in the prison have a lesbian wedding.
Yes, Enforced Monogamy is not just for straight people.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 2, Episode 6]
First Blood
Shown 23 May 18
The flashbacks are of Mrs Waterford, Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
). Long before she was a housewife and home-maker,
she was a public speaker who toured University campuses.
Unfortunately this made her the target of much vitriol from Antifa types.
So much for women supporting other women.
And as she points out,
the people who shout abuse at her are privileged whites.
This episode is the second from Mrs Waterford's perspective,
and once again we become more sympathetic towards her.
Someone took a shot at her uterus - yes,
there is good reason to believe she is medically sterile.
No wonder she needs a Handmaid.
Mrs Waterford starts to soften towards OfFred.
Eden (
Sydney Sweeney
), the child bride, has not had her honeymoon yet.
She might report Nick the chauffeur (Max Minghella -
Darkest Hour
) as being a potential gender-traitor.
OfFred (
Elizabeth Moss
) orders him to do his marital duty,
chiding him with the words
You have to f*ck some you don't want to? You poor thing!
In all fairness, the same could be said of Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) himself who was unable to perform during The Ceremony in Season One.
Fred presides over the opening ceremony at a new Handmaid centre.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 2, Episode 7]
After
Shown 30 May 18
The Resistance attack killed more Handmaids than it did Commanders.
At the prison camp, OfGlen (
Alexis Bledel
) and Janine are singled out for special treatment.
Greg Bryk (
Bitten
) is put in charge of investigating the attack.
He tries to put the blame on Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
), so he can get promoted to Fred's job.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 2, Episode 8]
Women's Work
Shown 06 Jun 18
Janine is back in town, since Gilead now has a shortage of handmaids.
Unfortunately her baby has taken ill.
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) considers getting a female doctor to professionally examine the baby.
Unfortunately women have now been banned from the medical profession,
and the doctor in question is now a Martha (domestic kitchen servant).
Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) returns after his stay in the hospital.
Naturally, he finds out what his wife has been getting up to.
He takes responsibility for personally punishing her.
This scene evokes reminiscences of the film Glory,
where the escaped slave (Denzel Washington) is punished for desertion.
Another comparison would be Johnny Rico's punishment in
Starship Troopers
.
OfFred's voice-over narration recites the quotation
men are afraid of being laughed at,
but women are afraid of being killed.
Of course, in the real world death is an inevitability
that must be faced with bravery every day -
for that which does not kill us makes us stronger.
Laughter, however, is murder of the soul rather than the body
- a cruel and emotionally sadistic torture.
The quote is important because it is unattributed,
but is a crossover with the real world
because it was actually originated by Margaret Attwood,
author of the original novel this show is based on.
Eden (
Sydney Sweeney
), Nick's teenage bride, is still trying to fit in.
He is stressed out from his job,
which does not exactly make him a good husband.
She tries redecorating and reorganising the marital home,
but Nick is a triple agent so he values secrecy above all else.
Again, he is not exactly husband material.
This adds an air of menace to the marriage,
and as the male it is the otherwise benevolent Nick
who is cast in the role of potential abuser.
The irony?
If Nick's true loyalties were revealed by Eden,
then he would suffer a far worse punishment than Serena.
We only feel pity for Mrs Waterford,
who physically abused OfFred in
Season One
, because she is just a girl.
Yes, benevolent sexist wins again.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 2, Episode 9]
Smart Power
Shown 13 Jun 18
Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) is sent off to Canada for some diplomacy.
He wants Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) to accompany him,
but she is still both physically and emotionally tender
after the events of the previous episode.
The Canadian hotel that the Gilead VIPs stay in
is protested at by people who escaped from the regime.
OfFred's husband Luke is one of them,
and he gets the chance to confront Fred personally.
Later, Nick the chauffeur (Max Minghella -
Darkest Hour
) has a quiet chat with Luke in a public place.
Hopefully no sharp-eyed observers noticed anything.
One of the protestors is Luke's flatmate,
herself a former Handmaid.
She has a banner displaying her name,
since she no longer has to be named after the man who owned her.
Of course, she does not consider that
she got both her family name and her first name from her father - a man!
OfFred has worse things to worry about.
The Martha complains that security guard can boss her around,
despite the fact that he is only about twenty years old.
Yes, she would prefer a hierarchy based on age instead of merit.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 2, Episode 10]
The Last Ceremony
Shown 20 Jun 18
The Waterfords return home early
after their trip to Canada was cut prematurely short.
Nick the chauffeur (Max Minghella -
Darkest Hour
) is with them, with good news for OfFred (
Elizabeth Moss
). However, he neglects his own wife
and she prefers the company of the security guard.
OfFred starts to throw her weight around.
Her manipulations are crude and blatant,
and it backfires on her horribly.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 2, Episode 11]
Holly
Shown 27 Jun 18
Fred's act of kindness towards OfFred (
Elizabeth Moss
) has backfired horribly.
Nick the chauffeur (Max Minghella -
Darkest Hour
) has been taken away,
and she is trapped in an unfamiliar house.
It is the bleak midwinter,
and there is no heat in the house.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 2, Episode 12]
Postpartum
Shown 04 Jul 18
Aunt Lydia tries to find the murderous handmaiden formerly known as OfGlen (
Alexis Bledel
) a new owner.
Everyone seems to know that she leaves dead bodies in her wake.
Luckily, one of them - Lawrence (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
) - is desperate.
Guard Isaac and Nick's wife elope.
As always, no good will come of it.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 2, Episode 13]
The Word
Shown 11 Jul 18
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) discovers that Eden (
Sydney Sweeney
) was such a bible-basher that she kept her own bible.
This inspires Serena to recruit the other wives
in an attempt to change Gilead for the better.
All they ask is that women be allowed permission to read books.
Emily (
Alexis Bledel
) learns more about her new Commander, Lawrence (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
). Meanwhile, OfFred (
Elizabeth Moss
) faces a difficult decision.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 3, Episode 2]
Mary and Martha
Shown 05 Jun 19
June (
Elizabeth Moss
), formerly known as OfFred, has a new Commander - Lawrence (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
). The Marthas, including Beth (
Kristen Gutoskie
), are running a resistance cell in the basement.
They want to smuggle someone out of town -
the woman who built the bomb that killed a lot of handmaids in Season Two.
Naturally it all goes horribly wrong.
June has to sort out her own mess for a change.
Nice to see someone take responsibility for their actions.
Emily (
Alexis Bledel
) is safe in Canada.
She even woman-splains things to her female doctor,
in order to show off her intellectual superiority.
However, she is reluctant to contact her lesbian wife (
Clea Duvall
).
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 3, Episode 3]
Useful
Shown 05 Jun 19
Lawrence (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
) holds a meeting of the Commanders at his house.
Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) is there, despite having been demoted.
Nick (Max Minghella -
The Darkest Hour
) is also there, having been promoted.
However, he has been posted to the front line in Chicago.
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) is separated from Fred, and has gone to live with her mother.
Unfortunately Mrs Joy is not a very supportive parent.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 3, Episode 4]
God Bless the Child
Shown 12 Jun 19
The entire community attends a church service for the mass baptism of the new crop of babies.
This illustrates how colour-coded the Gilead society is.
Commanders, wives, guards, handmaids and marthas - every caste has specific clothing.
June (
Elizabeth Moss
) schemes to get Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) and Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) back together. After all, Serena is a potential ally.
The one-eyed handmaid is still around.
She tries to ingratiate herself with Aunt Lydia,
who is showing her human side more these days.
Unfortunately her good nature is now mirrored by a violent streak,
no doubt the result of Emily's murderous assault on her.
Emily (
Alexis Bledel
), safe in Canada, is reunited with her lesbian wife (
Clea Duvall
). In the previous Seasons the Canadian scenes featured the token black girl, Moira (
Samira Wiley
), but now the big complaint from the fans is the black woman's erasure
and replacement with the white lesbian storyline.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 3, Episode 5]
Unknown Caller
Shown 19 Jun 19
June (
Elizabeth Moss
) discovers that her baby is now in Canada, with her almost-husband Luke.
She wants to somehow send him a message.
Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) cannot risk starting a war with Canada over the baby,
so he adopts a diplomatic approach. Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) gets flown in a cargo jet to Canada,
where Luke meets her at the airport.
What sets this apart from the other episodes, stylistically,
is the use of music throughout the story.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 3, Episode 6]
Household
Shown 26 Jun 19
Lawrence (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
) sends June (
Elizabeth Moss
) to help Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) on his diplomacy campaign.
The former members of the Waterford household go to Washington DC
to continue the diplomatic effort.
It is a bit reminiscent of the Elio Gonzales affair,
although Canada is not a world-class super-power.
Nick (Max Minghella -
The Darkest Hour
) drops by to say hello to his old household.
This might be the last time they are all together again.
June tries to get him to help secretly derail the negotiations.
However, he has an urgent appointment in Chicago.
The Washington Monument has been turned into an Xian crucifix,
which illustrates the end of separation of Church and State.
The Lincoln Memorial has been defaced and desecrated.
The place is used as location for another propaganda video
that is more than a little reminiscent of a Neurenberg Rally.
Nobody mentions that Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler's top propaganda film director, was a woman!
This acknowledgement of female success would not fit with the victim narrative.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 3, Episode 7]
Under His Eye
Shown 03 Jul 19
June (
Elizabeth Moss
) is back in her own city.
She hopes to get access to her daughter.
However, she underestimates the lengths Aunt Lydia will go to.
Emily (
Alexis Bledel
), safe in Canada, hangs out with her lesbian wife (
Clea Duvall
). However, she hangs out with June's other lesbian friend.
They bond over little things, like the fact they are both murderers.
Unlike the characters in Marvel Comics circa 2019,
they do not automatically hook up.
This show actually addresses the fact that
there is not a lesbian community so much as a lesbian dating scene,
and two out gay women of the same age group can live in the same medium-sized town
without even meeting each other.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 3, Episode 8]
Unfit
Shown 10 Jul 19
June (
Elizabeth Moss
) gets the other handmaids to ignore their colleague.
After all, she got at least one person killed.
The flashbacks are of Aunt Lydia.
She used to be a teacher in a Primary School,
which explains why she treats the handmaids like children.
Once she befriended a single mother with a lonely son.
Of course, if it had worked out for the best
then she would not have become a born-again puritan.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 3, Episode 9]
Heroic
Shown 17 Jul 19
Aunt Lydia takes the handmaids to the hospital to pray for their braindead colleague.
Gilead only cares about the foetus,
and regards the woman carrying it as an expendable vessel.
This is obviously a reference to contemporary American politics.
June (
Elizabeth Moss
) is held responsible, and forbidden to leave.
The stress of this solitary confinement begins to affect her mental health.
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) drops by to pay the handmaid a visit.
The doctor (Gill Bellows -
Ascension
) is helpful, but June resents him because he works for the system.
Teenage girls have appointments in the hospital
to check on their ability to bear children.
June feels this is inappropriate,
but she comes from a society where teenagers have abstinence-only education
and when they reach the age of thirty
they are suddenly pressured into marrying and having children.
At least the Gilead system is more inwardly consistent.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 3, Episode 10]
Bear Witness
Shown 24 Jul 19
A powerful Commander (Christopher Meloni -
Happy
) drops by to visit Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
). They conspire against Lawrence (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
), and want to usurp his position
even though they are not capable of taking on his responsibilities.
Together with Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) and Aunt Lydia they pay Lawrence a visit to inspect his household arrangements.
June (
Elizabeth Moss
) has to organise the Ceremony,
because nobody in the Lawrence household has actually done it.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 3, Episode 11]
Liars
Shown 31 Jul 19
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) takes Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) on a trip to the Canadian border.
Lawrence (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
) loses his nerve and tries to make a run for it.
This means leaving everyone else behind, but he has his wife to think about.
June (
Elizabeth Moss
) gets interrogated by the Council of Marthas,
who want to check her plan is feasible before they okay it.
Then she has to visit Jezebels in order to arrange the escape aeroplane.
She runs into a familiar face - the ambitious Commander (Christopher Meloni -
Happy
). Can she please him?
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 3, Episode 12]
Sacrifice
Shown 07 Aug 19
Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) is not happy about his new accommodations.
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) makes the most of it, since she has half of what she wants.
In Canada, life seems to go on as usual - despite the disasterous fall in birthrate
that caused the international community to make a deal with Gilead in Season One.
Lawrence (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
) has to sort the diplomatic mess out.
The Commanders want to lock down the border with Canada,
but this would make Lawrence's escape plan unworkable.
June (
Elizabeth Moss
) has gotten everything she wanted so far.
But her plan is very ambitious.
Beth (
Kristen Gutoskie
) has heard about what happened in the previous episode,
which means that the circle of trust is already far too wide.
Mrs Lawrence is mentally unbalanced because she cannot get medication in Gilead.
Our heroine has to ask herself,
how many innocent people will she sacrifice to get what she wants?
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 3, Episode 13]
Mayday
Shown 14 Aug 19
Lawrence (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
) does everything he can to help June (
Elizabeth Moss
) with her plan.
Unfortunately the biggest problem is the Marthas,
who are over-eager and cannot follow simple instructions.
It is unwise to draw attention in a police state.
Luckily the handmaids are experienced at stoning people to death.
June could just use Lawrence's pistol,
especially when taking on rifle-toting security guards,
but stoning people seems to be more poetic.
As has been previously established,
the medical staff in Canada are mostly female.
This seems to be the main difference in the demographics of that society.
In a world where the vast majority of people are infertile,
Canadian women become career-obsessed
while men are reduced to mere beasts of burden.
All Gilead has to do is out-breed them,
although the Canadians are keen to steal children.
Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) starts to cooperate with the Canadians.
They have little knowledge about the inner workings of Gilead,
so he gives them very basic information.
He also implicates Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) in a serious crime not covered by her immunity deal.
Apparently anything June and Nick the Chaffeur did
is Serena's fault rather than their own responsibility.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 4, Episode 1]
Pigs
Shown 27 Apr 21
This picks up after the events of the previous Season.
Fred (Joseph Feinnes -
American Horror Story: Asylum
) and Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) have their due process interrupted,
because June's mercy flight got nine Marthas
and eighty-six children out of Gilead.
In a world where the vast majority of women are sterile,
this is a very impressive number.
While Gilead is apparently not bothered that Fred and Serena were abducted,
there is a far greater likelihood of the childrens' fate starting a war.
Lawrence (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
) did not bother to get out when he could,
and instead has handed himself over to the government of Gilead.
Luckily Nick the chauffeur (Max Minghella -
The Darkest Hour
) is now a Commander too,
and somehow manages to influence his superiors.
In reality they would stick with their usual policy of maximum bloodshed,
but now they might actually avert a war with Canada.
June (
Elizabeth Moss
) is smuggled away by the other handmaids.
Somehow they have got a network, and even a safe house.
This is a remote farmhouse,
where the Commander is a senile old cripple.
The real power is his wife,
who is a bloodthirsty tweenage feminista.
She messes with Janine's head, and then June's.
Of course, June barely needs any encouragement.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 4, Episode 2]
Nightshade
Shown 27 Apr 21
June (
Elizabeth Moss
) gets to meet the head Mayday (
Laura Vandervoort
), who is a girl at the local Jezebelles.
In Canada, June's friends are cleaning up her mess.
The children she stole from their adoptive parents
have been reunited with their birth families.
June always takes the big swing, and never thinks about the consequences.
This is especially true of her next move.
She plans an attack on the off-duty men
who are letting their hair down at the Jezebelles.
Yes, she is willing to draw unnecessary attention
to the headquarters of the Resistance ...
the very LAST place she should think to do anything public!
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 4, Episode 3]
The Crossing
Shown 27 Apr 21
June (
Elizabeth Moss
) ends up in the hands of Gilead.
The other Handmaids slipped the net,
so June is interrogated for their location.
Will she spill the beans to a friendly face like Nick (Max Minghella -
The Darkest Hour
) or Joseph Lawrence (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
), which would enhance their status and help them reform the system?
Or will she only crack when Aunt Lydia applyes pressure,
thus reinforcing the might-makes-right assumption?
This was directed by Elizabeth Moss herself,
and she manages to maintain suspense quite effectively.
The final sequence is particularly good.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 4, Episode 4]
Milk
Shown 05 May 21
June and Janine stow away in a milk tanker bound for Chicago.
The good news is that they find some anti-Gilead resistance types.
The bad news is that this group is small and isolated,
and not affiliated with Mayday.
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) has a visit from her old Martha,
who has successfully defected to Canada.
Can Martha be trusted to keep her mouth shut,
or will she spitefully share Serena's secret with her estranged husband.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 4, Episode 5]
Chicago
Shown 12 May 21
Gilead intensifies its attack on the Chicago Resistance.
June goes to take a look, using an unshielded lantern
so as to destroy her night vision and completely give away her location.
The next day she talks her way into going on a supply run,
but all she cares about is attacking some Gilead footsoldiers.
Typically, she has no concept of strategic planning.
Joseph Lawrence (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
) tries to talk the Council of Commanders into holding a temporary ceasefire in Chicago.
Nick (Max Minghella -
The Darkest Hour
), the most able of the Commanders, seeks an alliance with Joseph.
After all, they both want to help June.
Ironically, Auntie also needs help from Joseph -
but her intentions for June are not so beneficial.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 4, Episode 6]
Vows
Shown 19 May 21
June (
Elizabeth Moss
) has made it to Chicago, where a Canada-based Non-Governmental Organisation
is collecting refugees and taking them to safety in Canada.
Obviously if Gilead discovers the NGO helping June,
who is considered Public Enemy Number One,
there will be no more legal access to Chicago.
In other words, they have to make a choice -
does the good of the many outweigh the good of the one?
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 4, Episode 7]
Home
Shown 26 May 21
June (
Elizabeth Moss
) arrives in Canada.
She lies her way into refugee status,
falsely claiming that she would face gender-based persecution.
In reality, she would face persecution for her political beliefs
- but this show cares more about identity politics than actual politics.
Emily (
Alexis Bledel
) and the other escapees drop by to visit June,
and they have a good old-fashioned female bonding session.
Instead of building up other women,
they bond by criticizing other females who are outcasts from that social circle.
For example, they all share a hatred of Aunt Lydia.
But June is completely obsessed with Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
), and does not even mention Fred himself.
This episode's theme is the reversal of power dynamics.
June confronts Serena, who begs for forgiveness.
Afterwards, June has enthusiastic sex with her husband ...
and if the genders were reversed, this would be called a rape scene.
Finally, June describes Serena's ruthlessness ...
but she could equally be describing herself.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 4, Episode 8]
Testimony
Shown 02 Jun 21
June Osborne (
Elizabeth Moss
) attends a court hearing,
where she makes her public allegations against the Waterfords.
Her husband gate-crashes, against her specific wishes.
His intention is not to support her emotionally,
but to satisfy his own perverse curiosity.
June also attends a survivors group at the local library.
Women who escaped from Gilead meet up to compare their stories.
She uses this group as a recruiting ground for her own private army.
Yes, one again she seeks to go on the offensive
but without any concept of strategic planning.
A woman refugee tries to apologise to Emily (
Alexis Bledel
). It turns out that this woman is a former Auntie,
who saw the error of her ways and defected to help the Canadians.
However, Emily and her friends are typically unforgiving.
They blame the Auntie for Emily's lesbian affair getting uncovered.
Perhaps Emily should take responsibility for sleeping around
when she was already married to someone in Canada.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 4, Episode 9]
Progress
Shown 09 Jun 21
The Waterfords finally get visited by official representatives of Gilead.
Yes, they have been pretty much abandoned.
All Gilead offers them is thoughts and prayers.
However, there are a lot of well-wishers from the Canadian Xian community.
June Osborne (
Elizabeth Moss
) tries to get her eldest daughter back from Gilead.
First she phones Joseph Lawrence (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
), who helps her as much as he can.
Then, at the urging of her husband,
she arranges a meet-up with Nick (Max Minghella -
The Darkest Hour
).
Janine is back in Auntie's care.
The murderous young wife from the safe house is now a Handmaid,
although she has gone on hunger strike.
Can Janine convince the girl that resistance is futile?
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 4, Episode 10]
The Wilderness
Shown 16 Jun 21
June Osborne (
Elizabeth Moss
) is now obsessed with getting revenge on Fred.
Yes, her previous obsessions with rescuing her daughter,
destroying Gilead and punishing Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) have all been put aside.
There is one problem with this.
Well, more than one - but it all boils down to the same thing.
Fred has decided to cooperate with the United nations,
in order to avoid prosecution at the International Criminal Court
which has somehow moved from the Hague to Geneva.
Basically, Fred is a defector.
In fact, the info he is providing could be critical in defeating Gilead
and in liberating June's other child.
But she gives no thought to that child,
and in fact cares only about selfish revenge.
June tries to disrupt Fred's negotiations with the US Government-in-exile,
which is apparently still the official UN-recognised government.
All this is a bit ridiculous,
since the Gilead regime is basically a Taliban organisation ...
and after the US withdrawal in 2021
the Taliban is regarded as the defacto government of Afghanistan.
The climax is reminiscent of a scene in
Babylon 5
... but B5 did it first, and they did it better.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 5, Episode 1]
Morning
Shown 14 Sep 22
This starts the morning after the climax of the previous Season.
June Osborne (
Elizabeth Moss
) feels emotional, and not in a good way.
She goes to the Canadian police,
but they do not have jurisdiction in No Mans Land.
Nobody mentions the American government-in-exile.
Emily has quit June's army,
and gone off to liberate the USA single-handed.
The rest of the army decide to split up
when they discover what a selfish bitch June is.
As long as she gets what she wants,
she has no plan to help anyone else.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 5, Episode 2]
Ballet
Shown 14 Sep 22
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) takes Fred's coffin to Gilead for burial.
The three men who talk with her
are the three who June Osborne (
Elizabeth Moss
) used in her plan to murder Fred.
Now Serena uses her powers of persuasion -
eloquence and coercion - to get Fred a proper State Funeral.
The subplot involves the murderous wifie who was made a Handmaid.
She is assigned a post ... and she blames Janine for it.
This was directed by Elizabeth Moss,
and she does a great job of the visuals.
The final shot of Serena,
with angelic angels in the background,
is reminiscent of the best shot in the final episode of
Game of Thrones
.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 5, Episode 3]
Maypole
Shown 21 Sep 22
June Osborne (
Elizabeth Moss
) accepts Serena's implied challenge.
She and Moira go down to No Man's land again,
where they meet up with a female-only terrorist group named Mayday.
Despite being in the middle of nowhere,
they get word from Gilead HQ faster than a Lear Jet can travel.
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) has dinner with some old friends - Nick (Max Minghella -
The Darkest Hour
), Joseph Lawrence (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
) and the Mackenzies.
Joseph needs a wife, because an unmarried man
has little influence on the Council.
Serena needs a husband for protection,
if she wants to stay in Gilead.
Aunt Lydia visits Janine in the hospital.
It seems she is starting to doubt herself.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 5, Episode 4]
Dear Offred
Shown 28 Sep 22
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) is back in Canada, overseeing the setup of the Gilead welcome centre.
It is not an embassy, since Gilead is not officially acknowledged.
As a result, June's husband can get them shut down
with an anonymous phonecall to the local health and safety department.
Aunt Lydia has plans for revamping the handmaid system.
She suggests that the handmaids be permanently overseen by the Aunties,
instead if being domestic staff for the Commanders.
Joseph Lawrence (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
) points out that the Commanders will never agree to this.
June Osborne (
Elizabeth Moss
) digs up her illegal handgun,
and carries it around while she stalks Serena.
Gun maintenance is easy,
since she has access to YouTube videos.
Presumably Google has relocated its assets to Canada too.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 5, Episode 5]
Fairytale
Shown 05 Oct 22
June Osborne (
Elizabeth Moss
) and her husband enter No-Man's Land to meet a contact
who can give them info on the Wife Schools.
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) is well-protected by the Gilead sympathisers in Canada.
In truth, they are just a bunch of cosplayers
who can only imagine what a wife's duties were in the 1800s.
In contrast, Serena is particularly ungrateful with her role
since she demands full credit for her ideas
rather than work as part of a team.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 5, Episode 6]
Together
Shown 12 Oct 22
June Osborne (
Elizabeth Moss
) and her husband are prisoners of an unknown group
that could be affiliated with either America or Gilead.
She has been a prisoner before, but her husband is panicking.
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) is unhappy at being confined during her pregnancy.
Her hosts pressure her into dating her gynocologist,
as they would rather have a single mother in their clique.
She has her own plans, although she is completely vulnerable to Gilead's enemies.
Aunt Lydia conplains to Waterford about a cOmmander who took advantage of a handmaid.
This is clearly hypocrisy, as the man's guilt is a technicality.
However, the raper is a political rivalry of Joseph and Nick.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 5, Episode 7]
No Man's Land
Shown 19 Oct 22
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) takes June Osborne (
Elizabeth Moss
) for a joyride at gunpoint.
Unfortunately Serena is about to give birth,
which interferes with her ability to aim a gun, drive a car, do anything important.
June is very slow on the uptake,
especially compared to how well she handled things in the previous episode.
Serena cannot risk going to a hospital,
because if she goes into the system the Wheelers will get her.
For all her work with the Americans and the Canadian government,
she does not seem to have any contacts who can pull strings for her.
We get flashbacks to the early days of June as OfFred.
Scenes of a handmaid giving birth
are intersected with Serena's own child-birth.
Will June forgive her former owner?
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 5, Episode 8]
Motherland
Shown 26 Oct 22
In the twist reveal of the previous episode,
it turns out that Canada no longer has an open borders policy.
Now there are protesters outside the homes of the American refugees, waving Yankees Go Home signs.
Small wonder, since the refugees are a big drain on Canada's resources
and the violent crime has gone up due to American murders of people accused of being Gilead sympathisers.
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) is desperate,
and keeps phoning June Osborne (
Elizabeth Moss
) for help.
June has been avoiding her calls for the last month.
It turns out that the Gilead couple have been looking after Serena's child.
Now they are willing to take her back, as a wet-nurse, while they will officially adopt her child as their own.
Yes, the tables have turned now and Serena is the servant while June is free.
But June takes the opportunity to sew further discord among the Gilead people,
by advising Serena to play along and plot her revenge.
Like Lucretia in
Spartacus: War of the Damned
, but without the sinister undertones.
Joseph has persuaded his Gilead colleagues to okay his proposal for New Bethlehem.
This is the one chance to redeem Gilead's international image, with the hope of restoring their relations with potential trading partners.
It is a beautiful suburb to resettle American refugees in, since they are no longer welcome in Canada.
Nick gets offered the chance to be in charge of it, since Joseph wants to concentrate on the big issues rather than micro-manage the details of suburbia.
The Americans have plans of their own.
Since June and her husband got them the secret data card, they have been planning a military strike.
When someone sends her an anonymous piece of footage of her daughter at the wife school,
she naturally forwards it to the Americans.
Yes, it seems that she is their only source of Intel on Gilead.
Since she has direct communication with Joseph, who is now pretty much running things there,
perhaps she should be in charge.
Since she knows that Joseph is a safe pair of hands,
she should request that he choose her daughter as his next wife.
After all, he turned down Serena even though she pointed out a marriage would help him politically.
Anyway, June assumes that the Americans will send a special forces unit to rescue her daughter.
Presumably something will go badly wrong.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 5, Episode 9]
Allegiance
Shown 02 Nov 22
June Osborne (
Elizabeth Moss
) gets her hopes up that Seal Team Six will fly into Gilead and kidnap the girls at the Wife School.
It all hinges on the info that June and Luke brought back through No Man's Land.
They ignore all the red flags,
and go ahead regardless.
Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
) is a virtual prisoner in the Walkers' home.
She asks Mr Walker to allow her to take the baby to the Gilead building, which has been brought up to code and re-opened as a maternity centre.
After all, the maternity centre was her idea.
Is she trying to improve her status,
or to stage another doomed and pointless escape attempt?
This episode allows the most growth for Joseph (Bradley Whitford -
Get Out
), so it is only fitting that Whitford is the one who directed it.
The Handmaid's Tale [Season 5, Episode 10]
Safe
Shown 09 Nov 22
The Canadian Right want rid of the Yankee refugees, and June (
Elizabeth Moss
) is the main focus of their hate.
She purchases a bulletproof vest by mail order, to complement her illegally obtained handgun.
However, she is only competent when the story-line demands it.
The next time the Canadians try to kill her,
they very nearly succeed.
The good news is that her husband finally intervenes and does something helpful.
The bad news is that the local cops treat him as a suspect rather than a victim.
He ends up getting Zimmermanned.
The episode, last of the Season, ends on a cliffhanger of sorts.
June and her baby are on the run again,
with the freedom of the open road in front of them.
We also find out what happened to Serena Joy (
Yvonne Strahovski
), who is in the same boat as June.
