The profile shot afterwards —-Laurie sips her wine and smiles self-satisfied—-was such an awesome way to punctuate what she'd just pulled off.

Fast forward to 10:12 min mark, if you have commencement address watch fatigue. It's worth it to watch Maria Bamford's humility, complete lack of artifice, when she does this generous act.

I agree with @kabphillie:disqus 's logic for why Aunt Lydia treats Janine more gently and with less suspicion. Lydia tortured Janine until Janine turned docile and a believer; simultaneously, Lydia refuses to own the price and pain her taming techniques inflicted.

I do not fault Yvonne S., but this Serena Joy-centered episode failed to show me why pre-Gilead people followed her. The tailored suits convince me SJ is poised; Castillo tells me her book influenced a nation. I needed a scene where a pre-Gilead Serena Joy roused her followers aka preach! Not all leaders are…

Exactly! That's not how slavery works.

I'm glad you all started this thread, to sleep or to watch ____ [HT, Amer].
I can't confess anywhere else I seriously I deliberate this choice.
… Even bargain… " I wll watch The Handmaid's Tale only until the first commercial break" or ask myself, "am I willing to be a little or a lot tired at work today?"

Wow! Your fantastic recall is invaluable here. I'd forgotten what 'Brad" told Alexei. At times, when Philip or Elizabeth's alias tell stories about their past, I half-listen because I assume the spies will spin a lie. Big mistake.

I root for Allison Tollman. Unconditionally. Little-known webseries origins to TV project equal underdog territory, imho. I root for underdogs even harder..

1984 - Late spring.

Yes. The symmetry in this episode's structure was excellent, really-finally tuned writing. I commented on this in a different direction — Begin episode with child's play, where flight is possible where flight …escape from troubles (even their poverty) is a possibility to imagine… End return to life that stifles…

This ending is also a poetic series ending, albeit an unsatisfying one for most. No resolution. Too many missions and threads in the air. And yet, we get enough new information and character choices Elizabeth's Let's go enough, Henry boarding school plans get go-ahead, erc..

The images and themes that bookend this hour impressed me w/ their tight symmetr:y
Ep 11 Opens: FLIGHT. Philip flashes back to when possibility of flight exists — when father and son play "airplane". Although Mischa's game occurs in tiny kitchen, the stylized daydream is light and innocence, hopeful

Stan's line was exactly mid-way in this episode (~ 10:34 pm EST).

Thank you for this wiki link to Antonina Makarova's story. Claudia was very explicit about the venereal disease records to track Anna. Those details made me leaned towards "character inspired by actual events." The sheer number of executions, 1,500. No words.

A few episodes ago Stan and Renee watched a film on their date released in March 1984, Romancing the Stone Yes, I noticed the plot momentum slowed down.

Withering.

As the suspense grew more unbearable, I just wanted a to eat a burger…. from IHOP…until that bloody dining room tableau….

We're still in Spring 1984.
While I know I should keep time by geopolitical conflicts, nations' collapse, etc.., I await Big Moments in U.S. Pop Culture History.

The relentless tension tonight twisted my insides until I felt ill. Is she or is she not? Will she or won't she confess? Were loudest anxieties. But the unknown factor — What desperate measure will Natalie take when she *know* she's trapped —- spiked my terror even higher. Suicide? Suicide by lunging at a Russian…

A ++++++++