The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu

[Blahblah]

Why on earth June wasn’t hung several episodes ago is beyond me. And in every episode since then. And several times in this episode. 

Edited July 5, 2019 by Blahblah

[danvillebelle]

What a nothing/filler episode.  When it ended, I said out loud and rather annoyed, to my cats, "That's IT?"  

The most tense moment was when George leaned in close to Fred - straight-up thought he was going to lay a big kiss on him.  It's coming, for sure.

[SilverBeach]

9 hours ago, Destiny said:

Fair game after the episode airs, though, it's best to not be a jerk and scream JUNE KILLED FRED* a la SNAPE KILLED DUMBLEDORE 30 seconds after the episode airs, and keep in mind that those in earlier time zones possibly haven't seen the thing yet.

tl;dr: don't be an asshole.

*Bullshit spoiler as far as I know. I'm still way back on ep 3.

I have tried hard during my years of FJ membership not to be an asshole. That's a good all-around rule for life in general though, LOL. I like specific threads devoted to specific episodes like Reddit has, so I actually spend more time over there discussing HMT. I realize this is not practical on FJ. I'm weird, I don't mind spoilers, but if I did I would avoid threads where there might be some. With an international membership, it's too hard for my old brain to know what has aired where and who has seen what. 

Emily might kill Fred if she goes back t Gilead, she is a woman of action, not talk and stares like June.

[Destiny]

3 hours ago, SilverBeach said:

I like specific threads devoted to specific episodes like Reddit has, so I actually spend more time over there discussing HMT.

I actually agree with you, in theory. The problem with that is we just don't have enough people discussing the episode here to make that make sense. If we had more discussion, that would totally be my preference as well. I've probably liked some of your posts on Reddit at some point. I go there as well.

As far as I am concerned, if i read a spoiler because I looked at this thread while knowing I'm OMG BEHIND on the episodes, that's on me. Don't come on to a discussion thread when you haven't watched the show and then get mad because you found out June killed Fred and threw the body off the Empire State Building.

*still a bullshit spoiler as far as I know.

[Dreadcrumbs]

42 minutes ago, Destiny said:

Don't come on to a discussion thread when you haven't watched the show and then get mad because you found out June killed Fred and threw the body off the Empire State Building.

*still a bullshit spoiler as far as I know.

Don't give them ideas!

ETA:

@danvillebelle I was expecting George's hand to travel a bit farther south.

Edited July 5, 2019 by Dreadcrumbs

[Destiny]

Just now, Dreadcrumbs said:

Don't give them ideas!

I mean, SOMEONE needs to do it. Fuck that guy.

[Maggie Mae]

I don't spoiler tag after the episode airs. I figure that's on you. If, I did go and find some spoilers (which don't seem to exist for this show) for upcoming episodes, I would spoiler them.

My preference would also be indivual episode threads, so people could comment on them as they watch. But you're right, @Destiny  that there isn't enough discussion. I thought there would be more. I also read reddit discussion as well. I really miss TWOP. 

[Dreadcrumbs]

6 minutes ago, Destiny said:

I mean, SOMEONE needs to do it. Fuck that guy.

Yeah, but don't have it be silly! June throwing his body off of a building in NYC that might not even be there anymore is too silly.

[AliceInFundyland]

I spent a lot of time contemplating the variety of blue formal wear for the dress ball. I've been slightly obsessed with this all along and been having a hard time ascertaining how many styles the Serena Joy's had to pick from. It hadn't been looking good back at those baby showers and previous gatherings.

At the ball. Many necklines.

I do love Christopher Meloni. He's quite the charmer. (Oz anyone?)

Emily got more pressure than June has all season.

Going to that school was so stupid. Wtf! She doesn't need to see Hannah. Everydamnone knows that. If I was crafting a plan to get my kid out of Gilead when I already had a high profile I would keep it on the way down low.

[Destiny]

1 hour ago, Dreadcrumbs said:

Yeah, but don't have it be silly! June throwing his body off of a building in NYC that might not even be there anymore is too silly.

Would the Washington Monument work better then? ?

1 hour ago, Maggie Mae said:

I really miss TWOP. 

forums.previously.tv/discover/693/

The spirtual successor to TWOP, run by the same people. I read there too.

[Dreadcrumbs]

5 minutes ago, Destiny said:

Would the Washington Monument work better then? ?

Ah, that would work so much better!

Ah, but, now that I think of it, if the show keeps jumping the shark then dropping Fred off of the Empire State Building would just be par for the course.

[Blahblah]

17 hours ago, Destiny said:

I mean, SOMEONE needs to do it. Fuck that guy.

Fred has zero charisma. I can't figure out whether he's just a really good actor, or whether Joseph Fiennes also has zero charisma. 

Edited July 6, 2019 by Blahblah
Spelling

[Maggie Mae]

5 hours ago, Destiny said:

Would the Washington Monument work better then? ?

 

I am so distracted by the physics of the new Washington Monument! So not thought through by anyone. Just like the mouth staples. Or the fact that this would be best suited as an ensemble or a limited series. Not a sprawling ode to a Scientologists face. 

[SilverBeach]

8 hours ago, Destiny said:

The problem with that is we just don't have enough people discussing the episode here to make that make sense.

Yep, that's why I said I realize this is not practical for FJ.

[AliceInFundyland]

I am very interested in Margaret Atwood's sequel. I think I will get it quickly from the library since it isn't showing up as purchased yet. I can't imagine they won't. I do like the book. I reread it. I still like it. And I like some of her other books.

It's always great to see the creator's vision continued.

(Very relieved that it isn't a Game of Thrones situation.)

Completely tangential:

This is why the Child's Play series is probably the best horror saga ever. It is not even. But! The creator has maintained control and has kept a vision and a weird sense of story and dark humor for just about thirty years now.

[LilMissMetaphor]

I'm still watching, but I find much of this show to be ambiguous and not in a good way, just vague and underlit.  What are we meant to make of Fred and Serena's lengthy gazes while dancing and whatnot? Are they supposed to be falling back in love with each other? Is Serena faking the whole time? I don't buy this renewed connection, if that's what it is, when he had her FINGERS CUT OFF.  

I'm also really bored of close-ups of June's mad face.  We get it, it's appalling, you don't want to have to kill people, you don't like where you are.

And she keeps making such stupid choices, cloaked in the ineffable strength of a mother's love, or something.  There's no way she wouldn't have been hanged already, as Blahblah noted above, or sent to the Colonies by now. 

  

[Dreadcrumbs]

Karaoke Aunt Lydia

 

but seriously my last inkling of sympathy for June is gone. She should have been on the wall ages ago.

[AliceInFundyland]

4 minutes ago, Dreadcrumbs said:

Karaoke Aunt Lydia

 

but seriously my last inkling of sympathy for June is gone. She should have been on the wall ages ago.

I was digging the weird Aunt Lydia back story. Been waiting for it.

Plot where we are completely anti-June?  It's astonishing how fast they have managed it.

 

[Dreadcrumbs]

39 minutes ago, AliceInFundyland said:

I was digging the weird Aunt Lydia back story. Been waiting for it.

Plot where we are completely anti-June?  It's astonishing how fast they have managed it.

 

I enjoyed most of Lydia's backstory, but I really hope they don't expect us to believe that the final straw for Lydia was not getting in a guy's pants.

[AliceInFundyland]

Yes

13 minutes ago, Dreadcrumbs said:

I enjoyed most of Lydia's backstory, but I really hope they don't expect us to believe that the final straw for Lydia was not getting in a guy's pants.

Agreed, that was odd. They seemed mutually into it. Then when they stopped I was confused. I couldn't tell if he rejected it her. Or, they both rejected it? Or she did the saintly maid thing? Or a coworker thing? Then she smashed the mirror. Whoa!

I suppose with eleventy more seasons or so we could probe into it more.

She's done family law too!

There is so much of this world we could investigate and back story.

Maybe we can put June in a coma for a season and do some other things for awhile.

 

[Dreadcrumbs]

1 minute ago, AliceInFundyland said:

Yes

Agreed, that was odd. They seemed mutually into it. Then when they stopped I was confused. I couldn't tell if he rejected it her. Or, they both rejected it? Or she did the saintly maid thing? Or a coworker thing? Then she smashed the mirror. Whoa!

I suppose with eleventy more seasons or so we could probe into it more.

She's done family law too!

There is so much of this world we could investigate and back story.

Maybe we can put June in a coma for a season and do some other things for awhile.

 

I'll take one or several seasons without June.

[danvillebelle]

That episode messed with my head.

I am glad to understand Aunt Lydia more fully.  IMO part of her mental pathology is she is punishing herself for being a sexual being with sexual urges.  I have lived in that space in my own head in the past and it's not pretty or fun to live through.

June is becoming what in the first season she most hated about those around her...she is taking pleasure in others' pain.  As much as she hates Gilead, she's becoming just as bad as Aunt Lydia and Serena.  She's losing her humanity the longer she's there.  

The scene with the handmaids surrounding and hugging the one who lost her baby hit me in the gut.  Involuntary tears.  

Edited July 11, 2019 by danvillebelle
more

[Dreadcrumbs]

On 7/11/2019 at 8:25 AM, danvillebelle said:

June is becoming what in the first season she most hated about those around her...she is taking pleasure in others' pain.  As much as she hates Gilead, she's becoming just as bad as Aunt Lydia and Serena.  She's losing her humanity the longer she's there.

I just realized we're already 8 episodes into a 13 episode season and this is the only thing that is clear about the direction the story is going in. I don't even think this is the intended message, but it's there.

[danvillebelle]

BTW Dreadcrumbs, high five on your avatar.  I LOVE that movie.  

[SilverBeach]

Ep. 8 had some surprises for sure.  Didn't see Natalie (thanks AL for saying her human name) freaking out like she did, although her cradling the canned lobster before she broke down was just silly. An AL's backstory showed that she had been a judgmental religious zealot, particularly about young women, for a long time. If she had played her cards right, she could have been a wife instead of an aunt, if her and the principal had worked out. But no, she just had to go for the D on their first date. I was surprised he turned her down, but he was a religious zealot too. And he still wanted to see her, but then she went to the opposite extreme, throwing that poor young mother under the bus in the process. The principal could not stand her after she did that, but in her warped mind it was a small price to pay for "saving" a child. AL pretends to have a heart but she really doesn't.

I have had enough of June and her faces. Gilead is crazy and dysfunctional, as is everyone in it. Snitches have always got stiches, even before Gilead, so Natalie should not have been surprised that she was ostracized after getting that Martha killed. 

The stillborn baby scene was sad, but the culty chanting would not have helped me give birth, not one bit. Appropriate care could have saved that baby.

Edited July 15, 2019 by SilverBeach
add remark about baby