The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu

[Dreadcrumbs]

1 hour ago, SilverBeach said:

This should have been behind a spoiler, that scene really upset me.  

Apologies. Would you like me to go back and spoiler box it, or just take note to do that in the future?

Not to be snarky, but when discussing a show like THT, where do we draw a line when it comes to what needs a spoiler/trigger warning and what doesn't? It's kind of tricky when  discussing a show that is filled to the brim with upsetting, potentially triggering things.

Edited August 1, 2019 by Dreadcrumbs
punctuation. i'm tired.

[SilverBeach]

13 hours ago, Dreadcrumbs said:

Apologies. Would you like me to go back and spoiler box it, or just take note to do that in the future?

Not to be snarky, but when discussing a show like THT, where do we draw a line when it comes to what needs a spoiler/trigger warning and what doesn't? It's kind of tricky when  discussing a show that is filled to the brim with upsetting, potentially triggering things.

Not trying to make any sort of general rule or censor anyone, I was just providing my personal feedback.  No line. It probably can't hurt to put really gross kink/violence/repulsive acts behind a spoiler, but I've been watching since inception and was shocked by that scene, even given the horror of the dystopia. That man's fetish had nothing to do with dystopia and it was not expected and personally made my skin crawl.  The whole show can be a trigger, partiularly for rape victims, in which case I just wouldn't watch. 

[Dreadcrumbs]

1 hour ago, SilverBeach said:

Not trying to make any sort of general rule or censor anyone, I was just providing my personal feedback.  No line. It probably can't hurt to put really gross kink/violence/repulsive acts behind a spoiler, but I've been watching since inception and was shocked by that scene, even given the horror of the dystopia. That man's fetish had nothing to do with dystopia and it was not expected and personally made my skin crawl.  The whole show can be a trigger, partiularly for rape victims, in which case I just wouldn't watch. 

Understood. Thank you for your feedback.

I meant for my question to be a more general, thoughtful question about what one would warn THT viewers for. I think now the answer is much more clear: the stuff that is particularly gross/disturbing even for a show like THT.

[TuringMachine]

Do posts here in the activity stream? Like should we be worried someone who's not familiar with THT accidentally reading something upsetting in the activity stream? Should the thread have a trigger warning maybe?

[LilMissMetaphor]

I mean, honestly, I don't know why one would read a thread about a show if they hadn't actually watched the show, so presumably they realize what they're getting into as far as rapey/patriarchal/triggering stuff, but maybe that's just me.  

[SilverBeach]

2 hours ago, TuringMachine said:

Do posts here in the activity stream? Like should we be worried someone who's not familiar with THT accidentally reading something upsetting in the activity stream? Should the thread have a trigger warning maybe?

Posts here do show up in activity streams. THT is very popular, so we can hope that anyone reading here is at least somewhat familiar with what the show is all about. Not sure a general trigger warning is warranted. 

6 minutes ago, LilMissMetaphor said:

I mean, honestly, I don't know why one would read a thread about a show if they hadn't actually watched the show, so presumably they realize what they're getting into as far as rapey/patriarchal/triggering stuff, but maybe that's just me.  

I have had issues with people complaining about spoilers when they could just stay out of the dicussion threads until they have seen the latest episode.  It put somewhat of a damper on open dialogue. Some stuff, like the fetish, were not in the book and frankly I don't understand why such gratuitously sickening material was even included in show in the first place. It's bad enough when limited to Gilead oppression and human rights violations. 

[TuringMachine]

JFC the amount of people who excuse Serena on reddit and facebook is disgusting. I can't post screenshots since it's a closed facebook group but there are tons of posts and comments referring to Serena as a victim or acting like the things June has done and Serena have done are some how comparable. It's gross.

[SilverBeach]

To hell with Serena. Sympathizing with her would be like sympathizing with Lori Alexander or Jill Rodrigues if they suffered in Gilead which they fully endorsed. Serena fully supported women being baby factories, even wrote a book about it. She has been cruel and inhumane, recommending an unsanctioned rape to speed delivery.  WTF. She only let Holly go because she was in shock over her finger amputation. BTW, I will never call that baby Nicole no matter what June says, sometimes I think June has lost her damn mind also.  Nopity nope-nope, no sympathy whatsoever for this heifer.

Edited August 2, 2019 by SilverBeach

[TuringMachine]

23 minutes ago, SilverBeach said:

To hell with Serena. Sympathizing with her would be like sympathizing with Lori Alexander or Jill Rodrigues if they suffered in Gilead which they fully endorsed. Serena fully supported women being baby factories, even wrote a book about it. She has been cruel and inhumane, recommending an unsanctioned rape to speed delivery.  WTF. She only let Holly go because she was in shock over her finger amputation. BTW, I will never call that baby Nicole no matter what June says, sometimes I think June has lost her damn mind also.  Nopity nope-nope, no sympathy whatsoever for this heifer.

Could not agree with you more. Holly is Holly, Charlotte is Charlotte. And Serena only cares about the atrocities of Gilead when it affects her. I don't believe for one second she turned Fred in because she felt he deserved to pay for his crimes. He wasn't helping her steal back her kidnapping victim, so she threw him under the bus to give herself a better chance.

[Hane]

I think Serena’s decision to call Holly Nicole was a big eff you to Fred—a reminder that Nick is the baby’s father. Fred is in no position to object to the name without drawing attention to the fact of her paternity. But, yeah—she’ll always be Holly to me.

[Blahblah]

Serena is a psychopath. Only tears she ever has are for herself.

Everyone is expendable to her and is a means to an end. Her power in Gilead is tied inextricably to Fred. She thought she was invincible, demanding to be allowed to read. As soon as her finger was chopped offand Fred showed his true colours, the relationship was irretrievable.

I think she only stayed with him to get “her” baby back. She sees the baby as her possession. She protects June because June is still a potential means to get to the baby.

Once she realised Fred was stalling the retrieval of Holly/Nichole, any use for him ended. But without him, she has no power in Gilead, hence throw him under the bus and defect herself.

Edited August 3, 2019 by Blahblah
Spelling

[SilverBeach]

4 hours ago, Blahblah said:

Her power in Gilead is tied inextricably to Fred.

This turned out to be illlusory. Wives have no power except to abuse Marthas and handmaids.

[JenniferJuniper]

Am I the only one who thinks Serena may have set Fred up? 

 

[Hane]

4 hours ago, JenniferJuniper said:

Am I the only one who thinks Serena may have set Fred up? 

 

Interesting idea! Let’s stay tuned!

[Blahblah]

8 hours ago, SilverBeach said:

This turned out to be illlusory. Wives have no power except to abuse Marthas and handmaids.

Exactly. The power is Fred's. She was in a power couple with her power being by association only. Without Fred she had no status. (Are there any former Wives hanging around? Commanders must die and not all of them have children. What happens to Wives who are not mothers and therefore have no defined role once their husband is dead?) 

4 hours ago, JenniferJuniper said:

Am I the only one who thinks Serena may have set Fred up? 

 

Of course she did. They arrested "Commander Waterford", not "Commander & Mrs Waterford". The charges were all addressed at him. She wasn't arrested  - she was restrained and kept out of the way.

That's why I said she threw him under the bus. She needed to get rid of him, but couldn't divorce him. And if he conveniently died, she had no status in Gilead of her own without him.

Totally planned to get rid of him and escape Gilead. And now she's in Canada closer to "her" baby.

Also, she has status in Canada. This episode reminded us that she was the successful partner prior to Gilead. She's no dummy.

[SilverBeach]

20 hours ago, JenniferJuniper said:

Am I the only one who thinks Serena may have set Fred up? 

 

She definitely set him up, expertly so I might add. True psychopath.

16 hours ago, Blahblah said:

What happens to Wives who are not mothers

Serena's mother is a widow and retains her status as a wife.

[JenniferJuniper]

On 8/2/2019 at 10:11 PM, Hane said:

I think Serena’s decision to call Holly Nicole was a big eff you to Fred—a reminder that Nick is the baby’s father. Fred is in no position to object to the name without drawing attention to the fact of her paternity. But, yeah—she’ll always be Holly to me.

It's almost certainly was.  And I think June was okay with it for more or less the same reason.

Speaking of Nick, we need to know more.

[Hane]

@JenniferJuniper, could Nick have thrown Fred under the bus?

[JenniferJuniper]

1 hour ago, Hane said:

@JenniferJuniper, could Nick have thrown Fred under the bus?

Possible, but we haven't seen him in awhile so I tend to doubt it.  They are keeping the character on ice for some reason and we don't know his back story.   I do think it was Serena, although I'm not sure exactly what she's up to.  If she truly wants Nichole back, she'll have a harder time in Canada.  She's not the baby's mother and she'll have a war criminal for a husband.  If she's looking for freedom, that seems like a plot line dead end for an important, if wildly inconsistent, character. 

[Blahblah]

Unless Fred’s trial is going to be a major plot line? That would open up the opportunity for endless flashbacks/back stories etc. And frankly we need more back stories to flesh out some of the supporting characters.

I read an article recently that talked about how OITNB was dying once they used up all the Piper stories, so they relegated her to the ensemble, brought out the other characters and thrived.

Time for June to step to the side and for us to hear more about Moira? Nick? Janine? How about a Martha-focussed plot line?

Edited August 4, 2019 by Blahblah

[JenniferJuniper]

5 minutes ago, Blahblah said:

How about a Martha-focused plot lie?

I'd go for that. Marthas rule.  

[SilverBeach]

4 hours ago, JenniferJuniper said:

They are keeping the character on ice for some reason

Nick is leading the fight in Chicago.

Marthas are badass! The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Domestics have always had unheralded power because they were treated as invisible but were actually taking everything in. The same was true in slavery days. The black Martha who told June they could make her disappear was a renowned neonatologist! Those ladies are qualified to run shit. 

[Hane]

@SilverBeach, you are so right. The Marthas are “invisible” in Gilead and have zero fucks left to give. They have no spouses or kids to worry about. They’re in a perfect position to mobilize for radical change, and are among the bravest characters we’ve seen so far.

[Blahblah]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vakfl5RhPjM

Trailer for episode 12. I have so many questions. 

[Pretzel]

All I can think of when I see EM is Sierra Jo Dominguez. I can't be the only one seeing the resemblance, can I?