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Spoilers The Handmaid's Tale (TV series)

DEWLine said:
No chance of location filming in Ottawa at any point, I take it? Granted that Parliament Hill's Centre Block is currently undergoing reno work for everything from asbestos removal to enhancing earthquake-resilience capacity. But, still...
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The showrunners prefer to pretend that Toronto is the capital of Canada, which of course confuses the hell out of the YouTube reviewers and most of the American commenters there. They just don't get why it annoys me, how messed up the Canada storyline is. The show has desperately needed a Canadian consultant to advise them that the Prime Minister is located in Ottawa and so are the embassies.
 
Atwood seems to be okay with it. Although as a Canadian it is sometimes fun to pretend that you think the capital of the US in in the north west.
 
Season 4 teaser trailer which has a mixture of footage from the first three seasons and season 4 footage:

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Considering it's not coming back until next year, it seems like they didn't finish filming.

I'm also in the middle of reading The Testaments (having finally read the original novel just prior to it) and I find it fascinating. But it also seems...

...incompatible to this series considering what we've learned about Aunt Lydia and where her actions seem to be leading towards (I still have about 100 pages left). There are other inconsistencies although I've tried to head canon them into place. :lol:
 
The Nth Doctor said:
I'm also in the middle of reading The Testaments (having finally read the original novel just prior to it) and I find it fascinating. But it also seems...

...incompatible to this series considering what we've learned about Aunt Lydia and where her actions seem to be leading towards (I still have about 100 pages left). There are other inconsistencies although I've tried to head canon them into place. :lol:
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I don't think this is Spoilery but since you put yours in tags...
Atwood is on record as saying The Testaments is firmly a sequel to the original novel and not the series. Since she works on the series as well, she has said the overall arc and themes fit with the series, but some specific details do not. Aunt Lydia's backstory, or at least the part of it dealing with her life pre-Gilead, is different for example.
 
theenglish said:
I don't think this is Spoilery but since you put yours in tags...
Atwood is on record as saying The Testaments is firmly a sequel to the original novel and not the series. Since she works on the series as well, she has said the overall arc and themes fit with the series, but some specific details do not. Aunt Lydia's backstory, or at least the part of it dealing with her life pre-Gilead, is different for example.
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Yeah, I figured that was probably the case but I've avoided even press coverage on this novel. I wanted to go in completely blind, other than knowing it was being told by three different women, including Aunt Lydia, set 15 years later (and it turns out that 15-year mark wasn't completely true). And yeah, Aunt Lydia's previous life as a judge goes contrary to the show, although she does mention she was a teacher for a bit of time, so you can still squeeze your eyes just right and it could fit.

Considering the show is pushing hard towards the idea of toppling Gilead here and now (despite the original novel's epilogue), it breaks away from everything (assuming they succeed). Race relations are also completely contrary to both books, too.[/spoilers]
 
April 28 in the U.S., but who knows in Canada. We always have to wait.

Still, this should shut the people up on YouTube who constantly whined that the previous trailer didn't have new footage. Some of the scenes in this one are obviously connected to scenes in the first one.

(makes note to subscribe to CTV Drama)
 
Second trailer:

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The Nth Doctor said:
No, it's been renewed for a fifth season. Hopefully that'll be the last season.
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I agree. It is a great series, but it can't go on much longer without losing its impact and becoming torture porn. Also, we know from the original novel that June's identity is not known in the future and Gilead lasts beyond her lifetime so I'm not certain what else the show can actually address.
 
Some are saying they want the show to fast-forward to The Testaments (Atwood's sequel).

The only part of that novel that makes any sense is Aunt Lydia's backstory (except that it contradicts some of what we saw in the series). The rest is boring, tedious crap, at least in my opinion.
 
Timewalker said:
Some are saying they want the show to fast-forward to The Testaments (Atwood's sequel).

The only part of that novel that makes any sense is Aunt Lydia's backstory (except that it contradicts some of what we saw in the series). The rest is boring, tedious crap, at least in my opinion.
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I enjoyed the first two thirds of the novel--it was satisfying world building and social commentary. Like often happens with Atwood, however, was when it came time to create a suspenseful, plot-oriented conclusion nothing really happened. The last part of the novel could actually have benefited from a co-write by people who are working on the series.
 
First three episodes are out...and the onslaught of brutality and cruelty is as strong as ever.

A lot happens...and yet not much happens. The trio repeats the escape, capture, torture, and escape yet again cycle. The torture is new...and it was especially painful to see Hannah scared of June. Gilead has completely brainwashed her and now she doesn't know better. Reed Birney's lieutenant sure took his sweet time getting to Hannah, who is obviously the only effective way to convince June to give up her fellow Handmaids. I think the lieutenant even knew that, going through the motions of holy waterboarding, fingernail pulling, and caging, and he was certainly quite cavalier about pushing both Beth and Sienna off the roof building the moment either of them spoke. He knew...he just had to build up to Hannah so that June had absolutely no resistance left in her.

I worried Janine, Alma, Brianna, and the rest of them would be resentful of June but it was clear during their brief escape that I shouldn't have feared. And now all of them are dead except June and Janine. I figured some of them wouldn't make it across the tracks before the train reached them but I was still stunned to see Alma and Brianna get hit. I thought at least Alma would survive. Fuck.

I still don't care about the Waterfords even as they rip each other apart. Oh, wait, it's a miracle. Serena is pregnant. Nope, still don't care. Hopefully she'll finally stop her mad drive to chase after Nichole, a baby who is emphatically not hers.

The one side story I did like, and I hope we see more of, is seeing how the rescued children acclimate to the real world. As evidenced by Hannah, many of these children only remember one world, Gilead. They've been so terribly brainwashed to think a certain way. I do hope that the show doesn't take the easy route and have them quickly remember and easily accept (like that one young girl remembered in the season 3 finale). If Asher/James is anything to go by, it won't be an easy road. Plus, it'll give Moira, Emily, and Luke more to do than just feeling helpless about June.

I was intrigued by the storyline with the very young Mrs. Keyes (McKeena Grace was probably only 13 or 14 during those scenes) and how June helped her redirect her trauma and rage into violent, bloody vengeance. But chances are she was killed during the raid on the farm. I'll happy to be proven wrong but it would be fairly contrived and convenient if she somehow survived and crossed paths with June again. It is curious she wasn't with the escaped Handmaids as June planned though.

We lost Alma, Brianna, Beth, and Sienna. All of their deaths were brutal and they will be greatly missed. :(
 
Thanks a hell of a lot for not bothering to use spoiler code. Some of us don't get to see it until later (it starts at 7 pm here), and Canadian viewers only get 2 episodes tonight, not 3. It looks like once again, we're going to be a week behind the American viewers.

Maybe a bit of consideration next time? Or possibly waiting to post?
 
Where are they running to? How far do they really think they are going to get?

I live by a train yard. Even the slowest of trains are only minutes long. Unless June and Janine change direction, they'll be caught in no time. Now, since the train hit people, it's going to stop. That will possibly block the crossing for a while. Worse comes to worse, they can uncouple train cars and clear the passage for vehicles to pursue. June and Janine have a head start, but it's not that big of one.

And, in the flashback, why did Janine have a missing eye? She lost that eye after she was placed with a commander. Wasn't that after Moira escaped? Was that before or after Janine had her baby?

Speaking of Janine and her baby... seems like the only Handmaid that is still concerned about her child(ren) is June. Now, yes, they all helped evacuate a bunch of kids, but none of the other Handmaids are talking about their children, their children still in captivity, etc... Especially Janine. Of course, she's got issues.

Timewalker said:
Some are saying they want the show to fast-forward to The Testaments (Atwood's sequel).

The only part of that novel that makes any sense is Aunt Lydia's backstory (except that it contradicts some of what we saw in the series). The rest is boring, tedious crap, at least in my opinion.
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I expect this is going to take a different direction than the novel(s). It's going to feel like a big let-down if Gilead is still standing at the series finale. Fans of the book might want this series to stick closer to the written word, but I'm just not feeling that is what the TV audience is going to be happy with.
 
Shawnster said:
why did Janine have a missing eye? She lost that eye after she was placed with a commander.
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Nope. Janine lost her eye when she swore at Aunt Lydia on her first day at the Red Centre. When she was brought to the dormitory later, her eye bandaged, June asked Moira what had been done to her. Moira quoted, "If my right eye offends thee, pluck it out."

Aunt Lydia was offended when Janine swore at her. Having her eye removed was petty revenge (and a way to scare the rest of the handmaids into obedience).
 
Shawnster said:
Where are they running to? How far do they really think they are going to get?

I live by a train yard. Even the slowest of trains are only minutes long. Unless June and Janine change direction, they'll be caught in no time. Now, since the train hit people, it's going to stop. That will possibly block the crossing for a while. Worse comes to worse, they can uncouple train cars and clear the passage for vehicles to pursue. June and Janine have a head start, but it's not that big of one.
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I wondered about that, too, although I would argue that some of the industrial trains are fairly long and slow. Of course, things might different in Gilead so who knows what exactly that train is shipping and to where.

I'm guessing they'll find some thick woods that makes it hard for a single Guardian and Aunt Lydia to track or they conveniently find a vehicle that allows them to escape faster.

Shawnster said:
Speaking of Janine and her baby... seems like the only Handmaid that is still concerned about her child(ren) is June. Now, yes, they all helped evacuate a bunch of kids, but none of the other Handmaids are talking about their children, their children still in captivity, etc... Especially Janine. Of course, she's got issues.
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That is any interesting point. I don't remember we ever saw Alma or Brianna pregnant or talk about having a baby (anyone else fades into the background). As for Janine, that's a complicated situation but I do hope it's addressed this season why she and June are on the run.

Shawnster said:
I expect this is going to take a different direction than the novel(s). It's going to feel like a big let-down if Gilead is still standing at the series finale. Fans of the book might want this series to stick closer to the written word, but I'm just not feeling that is what the TV audience is going to be happy with.
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I expect it will be, too, and I'm pretty sure I read some where that, while they may take certain things from The Testaments to account (probably things like the Pearl Girls and other societal things that weren't established in the first book), they're going to continue on their own course. Lydia is too far off from what we see in The Testaments, although if you squint just right, you can make her back history work as I mentioned in my review last year. I think it's for the best for the show to continue on its own path without dealing with the larger issues of The Testaments. LIke you said, I don't think the TV audience won't like the show ending with Gilead still standing...or with a big time jump.

That said, I would be curious to see a separation adaptation as a tight mini-series which would also star Ann Dowd but as an alternative storytelling. That might be too confusing for general audiences. Well, at least Dowd narrated the audiobook.
 
INSURGENT: Sex slaves in the United States of America. Who would have thought it? Man, that's sick!
JUNE: We weren't in the USA
INSURGENT: Well, you are now. So, which one of you will be my sex slave?
JUNE: What?
INSURGENT: Our food isn't free. Someone's got to pay. But I'm not forcing you...
 
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