Spoilers The Handmaid's Tale (TV series)

[Timewalker]

And... I've seen a clip, and the kid still looks like a 5-6 year old. She's supposed to be about 10 years old at this point, FFS!

Don't the production people read their own damn scripts?

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Holy sh!t, you got that right on the nose. Talk about abso-frakkin-tasmic-lutely PRESCIENT, to the very DAY that it's relevant! I swear the showrunners have discovered time travel and they're either trolling us or trying to send us a warning...,

It's not unlike the unintentional timing of the first season in the wake of the election of Donald Trump and Mike Pence. It's damn eerie how of this had lined up with reality. I sure wish it didn't.

The evil that is the sadistic Trum-- er, the Waterford family must eventually meet their comeuppance.

I truly hope that we do get to see such comeuppance, whether it's legal or karmic. The characters and us viewers need that catharsis.

Indeed. It's interesting they teased us with a path to redemption over the past couple of episodes then ... this. I know, she's been party to the ceremonial rapes from the get go, but as you say, this rape (which was Serena's idea) was brutal. This grotesque violation was motivated solely to hurry the pregnancy along so they can have "their" child and kick June out. Fuuuck. Fred and Serena are well beyond redemption, so far as I'm concerned. Were they (Serena in particular) ever redeemable in the first place? Probably not. If Serena had flipped when she had the opportunity last week and did what she could to help destroy the twisted Gilead regime, then maybe.

Serena Waterford - you truly are a piece of shit.

There may still be shades of grey for Serena Joy, but you're absolutely right that they're both well and truly beyond redemption. I don't care if she's the chief architect in bringing down Gilead from the inside, there are no actions that can redeem her from the level of cruelty she has inflicted onto June and possibly even the baby.

 

[Avro Arrow]

So I've really been looking forward to seeing this show. And then I found out just this evening that the DVD is out... since March. Not sure how I missed that.

Just wondering, though: it looks like there was a blu-ray released in the U.S., but Amazon Canada doesn't have it listed (outside of imported copies in Marketplace), and neither do the Canadian versions of Best Buy or Wal-Mart. So I'm assuming it's not available here, but just wondered if any Canadians have actually seen it here? I'm fine with getting the DVD, but just thought I'd check.

Sorry if this has come up earlier in the thread; I haven't read it, because I want to avoid spoilers. (No, I haven't read the book, lol.) On that note, if anyone does happen to reply, would it be possible to please either quote part of this post, or tag me, so that I can use the notification to jump directly to the response? Thank you!

 

[Timewalker]

So I've really been looking forward to seeing this show. And then I found out just this evening that the DVD is out... since March. Not sure how I missed that.

Just wondering, though: it looks like there was a blu-ray released in the U.S., but Amazon Canada doesn't have it listed (outside of imported copies in Marketplace), and neither do the Canadian versions of Best Buy or Wal-Mart. So I'm assuming it's not available here, but just wondered if any Canadians have actually seen it here? I'm fine with getting the DVD, but just thought I'd check.

Sorry if this has come up earlier in the thread; I haven't read it, because I want to avoid spoilers. (No, I haven't read the book, lol.) On that note, if anyone does happen to reply, would it be possible to please either quote part of this post, or tag me, so that I can use the notification to jump directly to the response? Thank you!

I check Amazon.ca frequently for things I hope to see, and between that and a mention somewhere else, I did know of the DVD of the first season. I have it, but haven't bothered to check on any other editions.

I don't know if Bravo still has any of the first season available on their website, but there should be 2nd season episodes there.

If you put the DVD and/or the novel on your Wish List (whether you intend to buy them or not), you should have a better chance of being notified when the blu-ray edition is available for Canadians, or it might come up in your recommendations, assuming you have that enabled.

And I do recommend reading the novel. It helps to realize that part of the controversy about the TV show is because the novel depicts Gilead as a "whites only" society, and the TV show opted for a multiracial cast. Most of the main series of events in the first season are based on the novel, though some of it hasn't appeared until the second season.

I recently found some fanfic on fanfiction.net in the TV section of the site. It's not bad - nice to see someone exploring things from Nick's point of view. There are older stories in the book section, but of course those are mostly based on the novel or the 1990 movie.


So I'm caught up now on this season's episodes... and it's too bad somebody can't slip some giant human-eating plant into Serena's greenhouse. She is beyond redemption.

 

[Avro Arrow]

^ Thank you!

And I do recommend reading the novel.

I do actually want to. I waited and waited in hopes that it would come up as the Kobo deal of the day... and then when it finally did, I didn't find out about it until after midnight, and I had missed out! They do tend to repeat their selections, though, so now I'm just patiently waiting in hopes that it comes up again....

 

[Timewalker]

Shouldn't your local public library have it?

I've been sorting through my books these past several weeks, trying to organize them. I've discovered that I have at least two different editions of the novel. It's been handy to have, so I can look up details to support my arguments with people who swear upside, down, backwards, and seventeen ways from the proverbial Sunday that things happened one way when I know they didn't in the novel, and they also didn't in the show because I found the clip on YouTube.

So fair warning: If anyone here ever says the man who was killed in the particicution scene in the first season died by stoning, I will be posting in all-caps and making copious use of the smiley.

That BS has been making the rounds of the YT pages during the last several weeks, and it makes me sincerely wonder if these people just don't pay attention, or if they're watching a different version of the show than I am.

 

[Nerys Myk]

So I'm caught up now on this season's episodes... and it's too bad somebody can't slip some giant human-eating plant into Serena's greenhouse. She is beyond redemption.

 

[Timewalker]

That'd work, except you would need to remove the signs. The only women in Gilead who are allowed to read and write are the Aunts.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Today's was a wonderfully stark episode and the most intimate we've been with June since, well, her last escape. It breaks my heart she had to shoot the rifle in order to get the Guardians' (or maybe the Waterford's) attention for the sake and safety of Holly. My heart further breaks that she was so close to give a proper escape another go but only to be foiled by a fucking garage door and the lack of power (although it's a miracle that car's battery was still functioning).

I didn't expect the flashbacks to mean anything but they ended on such a sweet and tender note about June's mother and how she decided to name her second daughter after her.

I'm only slightly disappointed June missed her window of opportunity to shoot Fred and Serena, although it would've probably just been one of them, if any of them at all. Her nerves were so all over the place that chances are she would've missed and they would've come rushing up to her.

However, it is nice to see both Fred's and Serene's true colors flash against each other, demonstrating just how much they hate each other now. Good riddance. They deserve each other.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

So... Serena went along with Fred's whole theocratic world domination and brutal, abhorrent subjugation of women thing JUST SO SHE COULD HAVE A BABY??? Sheesh. There are easier ways to do that. Adopt, or kidnap children at the border, get a dog, or something that requires a little less over-the-top solution! Once again, the writers overstretch the bounds of credibility with her character.

I agree with the above post, though. It was fun to see Fred's true feelings toward her finally come out.

SERENA: They'll hang us on the wall!

FRED: And they'll put me right next to you, with my fucking luck!

 

[StarMan]

That ... was a frustrating episode.

 

[Timewalker]

I haven't seen it, but there are a lot of complaints on the YT pages... people carrying on that "all she does is give up and have the baby when she should have taken that car and run to Canada!" And "Why did she light a fire, that was so stupid!"

Well, maybe being about to give birth in a deserted house in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of winter, when there was no other source of heat just might have influenced these decisions a teeny-tiny bit? I have a suspicion that the people bitching about the fire probably live in some part of the U.S. or Australia that never gets any snow, so they literally don't understand the concepts of frostbite or freezing to death, and that you can freeze to death inside a house with no heat.

As for the symbolism of the wolf, it seems perfectly straightforward to me: June, like the female wolf, has the instinct to protect her offspring no matter what. That's in addition to the obvious symbolism of Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf... June doesn't want to become the wolf's dinner, or risk her daughter becoming the wolf's dinner.

So I don't fault June's actions: She was in full protect-this-baby mode, and if that meant having to give up her opportunity to escape, so be it. If she'd been on her own or if she hadn't been so close to giving birth, then yes, I would have been among those wondering just how stupid a person would be for giving up at that point.

In case anyone is wondering why she named the baby "Holly"... that was her mother's name (honestly, it's insane how many people on YT haven't been paying attention to this season, let alone last season - there are still a pile of them insisting up, down, and every other possible and impossible direction inbetween that the man who was killed by the handmaids last season was stoned).

 

[The Nth Doctor]

So... Serena went along with Fred's whole theocratic world domination and brutal, abhorrent subjugation of women thing JUST SO SHE COULD HAVE A BABY??? Sheesh. There are easier ways to do that. Adopt, or kidnap children at the border, get a dog, or something that requires a little less over-the-top solution! Once again, the writers overstretch the bounds of credibility with her character.

An overstretch? Maybe. But at the same time, I think you should recognize that she was reacting in sheer anger, desperation, and fear when she said that. As we've seen in the flashbacks in both seasons, her motivations were more deeply ideologically based than just "I want a baby!"

I agree with the above post, though. It was fun to see Fred's true feelings toward her finally come out.

They've both reached a boiling point and surprise, surprise, Fred has finally become somewhat interesting as a result.

SERENA: They'll hang us on the wall!

FRED: And they'll put me right next to you, with my fucking luck!

That whole exchange was great, but that was definitely a highlight.

That ... was a frustrating episode.

I guess I can see why that would be frustrating, but I loved the starkness and the desperation of the situation June was in and Elizabeth Moss beautifully performed what was essentially a one-woman show (flashbacks and the Serena/Fred argument aside).

I haven't seen it, but there are a lot of complaints on the YT pages... people carrying on that "all she does is give up and have the baby when she should have taken that car and run to Canada!" And "Why did she light a fire, that was so stupid!"

Well, maybe being about to give birth in a deserted house in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of winter, when there was no other source of heat just might have influenced these decisions a teeny-tiny bit? I have a suspicion that the people bitching about the fire probably live in some part of the U.S. or Australia that never gets any snow, so they literally don't understand the concepts of frostbite or freezing to death, and that you can freeze to death inside a house with no heat.

As for the symbolism of the wolf, it seems perfectly straightforward to me: June, like the female wolf, has the instinct to protect her offspring no matter what. That's in addition to the obvious symbolism of Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf... June doesn't want to become the wolf's dinner, or risk her daughter becoming the wolf's dinner.

So I don't fault June's actions: She was in full protect-this-baby mode, and if that meant having to give up her opportunity to escape, so be it. If she'd been on her own or if she hadn't been so close to giving birth, then yes, I would have been among those wondering just how stupid a person would be for giving up at that point.

In case anyone is wondering why she named the baby "Holly"... that was her mother's name (honestly, it's insane how many people on YT haven't been paying attention to this season, let alone last season - there are still a pile of them insisting up, down, and every other possible and impossible direction inbetween that the man who was killed by the handmaids last season was stoned).

Why not just wait until you've actually seen the episode before you address it? And why are you responding to YouTubers here? Do you think anyone here actually cares what they think?

 

[Awesome Possum]

YouTube comments are a hive of scum and villainy.

 

[Timewalker]

Why not just wait until you've actually seen the episode before you address it? And why are you responding to YouTubers here? Do you think anyone here actually cares what they think?

Oh, do EXCUSE ME!

Do you realize that unless I go to an "alternative site", I won't be able to see this until Sunday? Did it ever occur to you that my participation in these threads has indicated that I don't mind spoilers (which is why I watch the promos and participate in the discussion/reviews on various sites to the extent that I'm able), and that it's not against the rules of TrekBBS to mention those other sites? Did it ever occur to you that I might just be sick and tired of waiting, and by the time I have seen it, the rest of you have essentially moved on?

What you appear to be saying, is "Timewalker, shut up and get out of this thread."

Thank you so very much for your opinion, but I'm not shutting up, and I'm not leaving. I do not need your permission to be here, nor do I need your permission as to what I can say. If you don't like my posts, by all means, don't read them. You have that option.

YouTube comments are a hive of scum and villainy.

The reason I participate there is because there's discussion going on that isn't happening here. There were three separate threads last year, and this year there's only this one. Some people have interesting insights, and while some of the posters are going overboard with the melodrama (they tend to overreact... a lot), there are others who ask pertinent questions about the novel and movie that I can answer, having read it and seen it easily over a dozen times. And if the people who make the videos happen to include incorrect information, it's an opportunity to help set the record straight (which they've indicated they appreciate).

 

[Awesome Possum]

There's always reddit.

 

[Timewalker]

From what I've heard, it's not a place I'd care to hang out on.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

Oh, do EXCUSE ME!

...
What you appear to be saying, is "Timewalker, shut up and get out of this thread."

No, he's saying "Why doesn't Timewalker wait until the episode airs on Sunday to participate, instead of relying on unreliable second-hand info about the show?"

 

[Timewalker]

No, he's saying "Why doesn't Timewalker wait until the episode airs on Sunday to participate, instead of relying on unreliable second-hand info about the show?"

I'm sure he can speak for himself, if he chooses to do so.

Is there something about "by the time I've seen the episodes on Sunday, everyone else has essentially moved on to the next one" that was unclear? There have been times when I've waited until Sunday, made some observations or asked some questions... and been totally ignored. So no, I will not wait if there's something to say now. There are some review sites that show enough clips that I can get the general gist of what most of the episode is about, and that's fine. As I said, I don't mind spoilers.

I don't think I've said anything here that hasn't been factual, and any speculations have had sound reasoning behind them.

What I have done here is explain some things from the novel and movie, and tried to explain some things about Canada and how things work here regarding refugees, citizenship, and our constitution. I don't need to have seen any specific episodes to do that.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

No, he's saying "Why doesn't Timewalker wait until the episode airs on Sunday to participate, instead of relying on unreliable second-hand info about the show?"

That's exactly what I was saying. Nowhere in my post did I say shut up and get out.