Oh, crap, I think I am related to Aunt Lydia.

I thought it mirrored the scene when June showed up at the Red Center and was kind of losing her shit and Moira kept her together.

I wouldn't be that surprised. I think they've been fairly overt with Luke's ignorance - the "did you hook up in college" fetishizing; the whole "I'll take care of you" thing when he got all of June's money; the hints that he refused to leave pre-Gilead when she wanted to, assuming it wouldn't be "that bad" for them,…

And June says something about Nick early on about not yet being "assigned a woman" which I took as a reference to the econowives.

Oh god, I hadn't thought of that, but yes. very subtle and yet still damning of Luke and all the other guys who fetishize lesbianism and female sexuality in general. :(

Hey Jessi! Long time no see! I miss our old chats on the TLo boards. You are so smart and articulate these things so clearly. Yes means Yes is where we need to be, obviously. I followed the St. Paul's rape case really closely, and that got people talking in the same way. That poor child was so scared, and that monster…

Given that the book only presents what Offred "knows" (as in, what she's been told), yes, Handmaids who successfully have another child are supposed to get some kind of nice retirement. But who knows how likely GIlead is to stick with that arrangement.

he's not just trapped, though. he actively spies on and rats people out. And you are 100% projecting the "heartbroken" narrative on him. There's nothing in the show to support that.

Everything about the Commanders' homes that we've seen is straight off Pinterest boards of conservative Christian mommy bloggers.

The power dynamic is really the problem though. He could have her killed at literally any moment.

i think it's fairly clear that the commanders don't "enjoy" the ceremony very much, at least, not the way they "enjoy" Jezebels.

There was some woman in the bathroom who kicked Moira and June out, basically an Aunt figure who was there to be sure that the women don't use the bathroom to hide out and "shirk their duty"

You would do well to let go of your dystopian hero narrative fantasies. The show is more about how real people deal with extreme situations than with "What Would Katniss Do"

Said this above to someone else:

Why assume that Nick's recruitment flashback was at the same time as OfGlen II's prostitution. From that ride with the three commanders, it seemed things hadn't yet been fully enacted, so his recruitment was early in the show's timeline.

As you say, all we know of the Colonies is what we've been told. Maybe no one gets sent to any Colonies and just gets killed.

Favorite, I think Cosima. But Alison is definitely the one I am most like, and since I never had an internet-name before commenting on the show at TLo, it seemed right.

I think Nick is an opportunist looking for ways to ingratiate himself to power. But the more I think about it, the more I realize Max Minghella played his part with so much ambiguity that either of us could be correct.

I was wondering how much later after her trip to Jezebels did the first Offred die? Seemed like the show was saying Nick has seen this all play out before.

uh…. no. not sure what show you watched, but nothing about Nick was compassionate. Not the sex, and not the break up. The former was opportunistic and the latter was petty jealousy and self-preservation. That was really clear in the show, and you're projecting meaning that wasn't there.