Handmaid’s Tale Season 2 Finale - SPOILERS

[Mama Mia]

So..........thoughts???? WTF ?????

If you’ve seen it - talk to me 

 

I just ....I know it’s easy to second guess and it would make a boring storyline. BUT - if I was June, I would of taken Fred up on his offer. Mutilating, abusive rapist or no, and built up an actual, solid, escape plan - with my child /children.  

And WTF Fred. He seems to have gone completely over the edge. I get the whole doubling down because he’s losing control - but I didn’t expect THAT !

[erunerune]

Fred is truly the weak-link character in this show, he’s too one-dimensional to work with the nuances.

[JenniferJuniper]

Disappointing all around, but June has to get Hannah out.  And if she got out once and for all - no third season.  

Here's hoping Aunt Lydia has joined her maker.  Praise be.

(I knew Emily's new commander turn out to be alright when he was playing Itchycoo Park before the first ceremony that never happened.)  

[adidas]

I am so torn. I loved it and hated it at the same time. 

[freethemall]

I was mad at June for her decision and felt this was more of a writers decision than being true to her character. It's 100% a Sophie's Choice but in a way she chooses neither child - she just sent one away whose safety is not yet guaranteed and is a nursing baby who needs her mom to survive, since it's not like they sent her away with some formula and we don't know how long Emily and Nichole/Holly will be escaping. For Hannah, I think she would have been better off trying to get her out once she was in Canada, maybe try to extradite the commander. It just also pisses me off how she keeps making dumb decisions that put people's lives in danger.

I wonder if Aunt Lydia died, I kind of hope not because she's an interesting character.

[Queen]

Yeah I think I'm starting to agree with you all when you're saying June makes such stupid choices. I'd put myself and the baby first and get the hell out of Gilead. Although I can kinda understand she didn't want to leave Hannah behind. As long as she joins the resistance I'm okay, if the 3rd season opens with her back at the Waterfords again, then I can't take it. I still love the series to bits though, and I hope Emily gets out! She's one of my favourites.

So, best/most powerful moments from season 2? The ones I remember now are when the Handmaidens tell each other their real names, the bombing of the new Red Center, Eden's and Isaac's deaths, the Boston Globe scenes (so powerful albeit nauseaiting), the airport scenes with Emily and her family, the wedding in the colonies... to name a few  

[delphinium65]

I've seen it.  WOW.  Some of my thoughts, not in any particular order:

June:  What the hell are you thinking, woman??!  I haven't been too hard on June's choices for the most part.  She's not a hero, she's a more or less ordinary woman in an impossible situation, having to make decisions with only the information available to her as a Handmaid, unable to see the big picture.  She has screwed up, several times, but hey, would most women do much better?  But this time...what are the chances that she will even survive the wrath of Fred?  He's going to be incredibly pissed off, and will be looking for someone to take it out on.

Fred:  Asshole!  I swear I don't have enough middle fingers to express my feelings when he's on screen.  He's cruel, vindictive, self-centered, and in a position of power.  What he allowed to happen to Serena was unbelievable (although Serena should have expected it, I'll get back to that), and agreeing with Eden's father that turning her in was the right thing to do?  Then later saying that the rules could be bent for June if he wanted to, but he refused to do the same for Serena.  He'd better hope the women in his life never get any power in their hands, or he's dead, probably slowly and very, very painfully. 

Serena:  Mixed feelings.  That took incredible guts to ask for the privilege of reading the Bible for the sons and daughters of Gilead, but really, what did she expect would happen?  Reading the Bible for themselves is the last thing the men of Gilead want for the women!  And opening the Bible up and reading it in front of them...if that wasn't an act of defiance I don't know what is, and we've seen how the men react to defiance.  I think she was making the same mistake that she has all along, thinking that the rules don't really apply to her, and that she can (mostly) wiggle her way around them.  She certainly learned otherwise this time!  I think that, in combination with Fred's remarks to Eden's father, finally made her realize that no daughter of Gilead would be safe.  Despite her flaws (and she has many) Serena apparently did love Holly/Nicole, enough to allow her to be taken to a safer place.  That doesn't make up for all the other crap she's done, but it helps. 

Rita:  Yay!  She should have stepped up and helped sooner, true, but after Eden's execution she seems ready to put aside the differences between Handmaids, Marthas, and Econowives (not sure about the higher ranking Wives yet, or the Aunts).  That 'Praise be' in response to June's hand injury after hitting Fred?  Priceless!  Unfortunately she's probably also going to be the recipient of Fred's anger, here's hoping she survives.

Emily:  Wow!  I'd ask 'what were you thinking??!' but I think she's beyond the point of rational thought.  I would be ecstatic at her attack on Aunt Lydia, but considering what has happened to bring Emily to the point of breaking...I just hope things get better for her, and soon.

Aunt Lydia:  Finally!  It's a wonder someone hasn't done it sooner!  But...as much as I hate what she stands for, I can't see her as a 100% evil person.  We've seen some signs that she actually does care about 'the girls,' even though she has a funny way of showing it sometimes, and we need to find out more of her backstory.  Who was she, and what did she do before Gilead?

I don't see much of a happy ending for most of these people, except maybe the ones who end up in Canada.  IIRC in the book wasn't the Commander presumed to be Fred Waterford, and wasn't he executed in one of the earlier purges?  That would imply that there were more purges in the future, in turn indicating that Gilead will probably be there for a long time, perhaps beyond the lifespan of the TV show characters.  

[Mama Mia]

About Rita - minor point - but it really irritated me that they set up the whole Underground Railroad escape, including burning down an entire house as a distraction - BUT they 1- Didn’t squirrel away a couple diapers, and a change of clothes for the baby ? And - especially - 2- WHY would Rita act so hostile and suspicious when Fred asks her what the disturbance is?? Why wouldn’t she say “ a fire across the street sir” all meek like. If the goal is to give June and the baby time to escape? If she hadn’t acted like that Fred probably would have been clueless about the escape for another hour. That bugged me.

[Blahblah]

Nope. I can’t be bothered any more. Nothing progresses with any sort of logic. The pacing sucks. I can see/hear the writers trying to be clever. I don’t want to be aware of the mechanics of something when I’m watching it. I want to be swept up in the story. When I watch this I’m far too aware of the camera angles, the moody lighting, the set and special effects, the clever dialogue.

”Guys, guys, I’ve got a good one! How about a silhouette of Serena in the greenhouse while June hides outside?”

”And can we pretty please burn a house down? It will look amazing.”

“Ooh, let’s have June walk back down the moodily lit tunnel with backlit water falling at the other end”.

And I found myself rolling my eyes at everyone running about trying to hide in the dark while wearing their bright, white caps. TAKE THEM OFF YOU MORONS.

But the biggest problem for me is that I just don’t believe in (and can’t therefore get invested in) any of the main characters. They are one dimensional. Fred is a cardboard cut out. I can’t find a scrap of sympathy for June. Aunt Lydia is like Miss Trunchbull without the comedy aspects. Serena has no internal logic at all to her behaviour. Some of the minor characters at least made sense (Eden, Emily).

The more I read and hear media gushing over this, the more I want to step back and talk about the Emporer’s New Clothes.

I’m done.

 

[freethemall]

14 hours ago, Blahblah said:

Aunt Lydia is like Miss Trunchbull without the comedy aspects.

Oh my god Aunt Lydia totally Miss Trunchbull. That reference makes me happy!

I kind of hope we're not done with Aunt Lydia, she fascinates me and like someone else said I want to see some flashbacks about her life pre-Gilead. Generally I think the flashbacks are the best part of the show and they should use them more, maybe not as heavily as Orange as the New Black but similar to that show where they show as many characters lives from before as possible, both major and minor. I also want some Jeannine flashbacks.

[delphinium65]

23 hours ago, Mama Mia said:

WHY would Rita act so hostile and suspicious when Fred asks her what the disturbance is?? Why wouldn’t she say “ a fire across the street sir” all meek like. If the goal is to give June and the baby time to escape? If she hadn’t acted like that Fred probably would have been clueless about the escape for another hour. That bugged me.

That's a very significant point IMO, and one that will probably get her and who knows how many others killed. Fred has to know now that it was planned, not just a spur of the moment runaway Handmaid-or could have been passed off that way if June had followed the plan. 

[Hane]

In a THT subreddit, someone linked an interview with Elisabeth Moss regarding her opinions on the season 2 finale:  Her feeling is that June has run out of fucks to  give and is now all-in with the resistance. She trusts Emily to do what’s best for Holly/Nicole (I refuse to spell that name with an h), and doesn’t want to leave Gilead without Hannah. She’s seeing cracks starting to form in the system:  Even the wives are starting to speak up, and S-J has had it with Fred. (That scene when he tenderly brings her home and puts her to bed and makes her tea as if she’d just had a D&C or some damn thing but he’d just been instrumental in having her finger chopped off? FUCK HIM.  Interesting that he didn’t ask June to make the damn tea:  He’s trying to line her up to be his best bud and fucktoy again.)

There’s a mention of the end, where June has her red hood up, covering her white cap—she’s in the process of transforming herself.

I’m hoping to see more backstory about characters like Aunt Lydia, Nick, Janine, Fred, and Serena Joy.

 

[SilverBeach]

I've been partaking of the THT subreddit. No one has mentioned why Fred removed Serena's ring when it was her pinky that was amputated. Was that a Gilead divorce or something?

Folks are also upset about the baby being unable to feed during the escape. June had just fed her before everything jumped off. Also, there is a black market in Gilead (lotion, liquor, probably whatever you want for a price. All repressive societies have them). There may even have been formula in the hospital, not all mothers can nurse. During slavery, babies were often given a mild drug to make them sleep during escapes so the patrols wouldn't be alerted. I really don't think the resistance was that unprepared for a baby to escape, it seems like much hysteria about nothing. Babies are stronger than they seem, and freedom would be worth some discomfort in the end.

The ending...ahh. I am firmly in the camp of stupid and unrealistic, although June has shown before that she can do stupid things when in the heat of her emotions. She stops to write the phrase from the closet onto the wall. She again takes her time talking to Serena. She takes her time walking to the van, much to the consternation of Emily. Then, she turns into superwoman, and stays behind after being willing to leave Hannah in Gilead several times. Huh? Gilead was always shit, there was no new revelation about that. June always knew there was a resistance, she only asked to see Hannah but never even plotted with Nick to get Hannah out. June got Omar killed trying to get herself out!  But now she is going to get Hannah out and bring down Gilead with zero plans and being in that red getup when all hell is going to break loose? One less inmate in Gilead is always a good thing. Gilead extends far  beyond Boston and June's district, it will take a lot more than gumption to bring it down, hell the terrorist bombing had little to no apparent affect. And call her Nicole? No words for that shit, just ridiculous, I wouldn't want the taint of anything Gilead on my child in freedom.

Eden (may she RIP, but fuck Isaac for the way he hit Janine, abusive asshole) was feared as a possible snitch on Nick, June, and the handmaids, but I never felt that way. She was a young idealist and didn't want to hurt anyone. Her dad though? Damn. Fred castigating poor dead Eden while the dad kisses his ass made me sick. I was surprised June wasn't told to shut up after expressing her shock that it was the dad who turned Eden in.

The June and Serena dance is getting tiresome. Just a couple of episodes back, June was devastated by the rape that Serena participated in and that was her idea. Now she's comforting her? It's not consistent, Emily's burning hatred is far more realistic. Serena is stupid too. This is a place that hangs people on walls, drowns them, mutilates them, and rapes them, for fucks sake. The men already showed they don't care about her pre-Gilead status. But she waltzes her blue-dress ass into the council like those dicks have hearts. It would have been smarter to teach girls how to read on the down-low, like some slaves were taught. Fuck Serena.

Love weird-ass chaotic neutral Commander Lawrence. Folks vilified him too, but as soon as I heard how his Martha spoke to him "Try it old man", I knew he was no threat to Emily. One of the few times I have laughed during both seasons is when his wife said it was nice to meet you when Emily was leaving. Poor thing needs to get out of that room.

Best moment of the series was AL getting stabbed, bitch. If not for CL, Emily was a goner for real this time. I hope she gets therapy as soon as she arrives in Canada, her PTSD is real and deep.

The scene with Nick, June, and Holly was so nice and normal, but the background music was ominous, showing that in this awful place the normal is not to be. I don't think they will ever be together.

Well, there's my brain dump. It will be awhile before S3 is here, 2019 sometime. Not sure I will watch or not, more June torment, Fred assholery, Serena split personality doesn't interest me. So many interesting ways the writers could go, we'll see I guess. It's been a wild ride.

 

[violynn]

I am so very excited to come back to FJ after a long hiatus and find a HMT thread!  I've somehow managed, even with 6 daughters!) to really not have anyone to discuss this series with!  I just hate I'm late to the party and missed the last few episodes of this season to discuss together! 

[violynn]

On 7/12/2018 at 8:04 AM, Queen said:

 If the 3rd season opens with her back at the Waterfords again, then I can't take it. I still love the series to bits though, and I hope Emily gets out! She's one of my favourites.

 

I can't see how they could possibly make it believable that June would end up back at the Waterfords.  I can't imagine how the writers are going to get the Waterford's out of managing to lose both their baby and their HM, at best I'd think Fred would lose his higher position in Gilead and SJ would either be shunned because her man lost status or she cooks up some believable story of how June attacked them and stole the baby. 

"So, best/most powerful moments from season 2? The ones I remember now are when the Handmaidens tell each other their real names, the bombing of the new Red Center, Eden's and Isaac's deaths, the Boston Globe scenes (so powerful albeit nauseaiting), the airport scenes with Emily and her family, the wedding in the colonies... to name a few "

 

For me, one of the most powerful moments for me is after June is brought to Gilead after her escape and is chained to the floor.  She's defeated, she's exhausted, she's furious and defiant, and Aunt Lydia pulls that double-speak out, telling June that all the "sinning" that has gone on was done by 'June'.  'Offred' was brought along for the ride, it was willful, evil June who ran off.  Aunt Lydia taking June to the wall and telling her the bread truck driver hanging there was 'June's' fault, not Offred's.  Offred can come back and have her baby, Offred will continue to live after the baby is born, June will be executed.  Having June repeat "It's all my fault, it's all my fault" over and over, ending the episode with those words was gut-wrenching to me.  Fault is so often and so very powerful with women, we are told everywhere that it's women's fault for so many things in the world, and we fall for it so easily!   Also, as someone with PTSD, seeing June broken in those moments felt like one of the truest things depicted as far as how deeply the trauma with these handmaids go.  We love June because she's so badass, but seeing her be broken and so very hurt and real in that episode made me really get how bad it is, in a way the righteous anger somehow didn't.  Not to say I don't grasp exactly how bad it is.

Also, looking at some of the comments on Hulu after that episode and seeing so many women state that they were disgusted by June's breakdown and how they'd better see her get tough again, etc. made me angry and confused.  Really, all the things that have happened to these women through the arc of Congress being killed to Aunt Lydia placing blame on June, and she's not allowed 5 minutes to just lose it and shut down emotionally??  I don't know, it just seemed like we all would *want* to believe we'd act with anger and resistance but I'm too self-aware to not know I'd react with despair and shut down at times as well.

I promise not to go quite so long next time I reply.

PS, I missed this place so much!

[Lizzybet]

On 7/13/2018 at 1:51 AM, Blahblah said:

 

And I found myself rolling my eyes at everyone running about trying to hide in the dark while wearing their bright, white caps. TAKE THEM OFF YOU MORONS.

But the biggest problem for me is that I just don’t believe in (and can’t therefore get invested in) any of the main characters. They are one dimensional. Fred is a cardboard cut out. 

I’m done.

 

Snorted water up into my nose re wearing a white cap while trying to evade detection in the dark.

Ridiculous.