This suicide bombing was definitely not just a sensationalist ploy to make an episode more interesting. There will be ramifications going forward. We can bet on that. The Handmaids will pay for Ofglen 2.0's (cathartic) actions. I predict regular body cavity checks.

It was all too familiar to watch Fred do something nice, only to expect sex in return. As Naomi Putnam said in Season 1, “Men don’t change.” Not men like Fred, anyway. I hated him so much in that moment, and I hated his selfish wife who actually cried from butthurt when June asked to see Hannah.

It’s like, “Hey. I had…

In the first season, Emily says she was caught at the airport.

I absolutely love “The Yellow Wallpaper” and am enticed by your comparisons with the bedspread and sheets to the wallpaper. The episode is very heavily focused on pitting June against herself in order to break her down (drive her crazy) and squash rebelliousness. It’s frighteningly effective. I think this part of the…

The point of depicting her “cheating” guilt was that she shouldn’t feel guilty at all. Happy couples can’t be broken up. Annie was Luke’s first love. They were young and, as June said, people grow apart.

Alma said as much. “It’s not your fault. Not that part.” Ofglen’s loss is Ofglen’s fault, but all those burned arms are June’s burden. Other Women blame June for what Gilead has spawned.

Meanwhile, in Iowa, the temperature in the gradually heating tub just went up another degree....

I’m sure you’re right about him. Some of his behaviors were not-so-subtle clues. And his first name is Ben. Another nature name, like Kai, Winter, Meadow, Ivy.

And Ivy is clearly helping to drive Ally nuts, and set her up to kill Pedro. Her outrage over the bathtub thing may even be manufactured.

I’m going to try to answer your questions about Ivy again. Last time didn’t stick for some reason....

You ask - as if to point out the irrationality - why Ivy would allow the paranoid Ally to go deal with the restaurant alarm. And the answer - and this is no spoiler since it’s all on screen - Ivy is in on it!

She’s…

Or Breaking Bad?

Why Ivy sent Ally to the restaurant is the same reason she sent Pedro to the house. She’s in on this. There’s a name theme going on here: Meadow, Winter, Ivy.... And Kia means “sea” in Hawaii or “willow tree” in Navajo.