I'd have liked to know why his power was unchecked. Vee was prisoner, constantly checked, but she was subtle and operated in secret. Other abusive guards (Pornstache, etc.) were also careful to not be too obvious. There was no subtlety in Piscatella's story, he was openly defiant of authority and openly abusive to…

I agree that it fit with the story, I just don't think it was necessary to show it in gory detail as they did, and then give us no followup. In the true version of this story there was an investigation that determined the man's scalding death was accidental (yeah right). This could have been a serious indictment of…

Not to mention the *constant* reminder that Piscatella is highly aware of the skin color differences between them, which adds another unsubtle layer to the already significant power-imbalance in the relationship.

Great analysis. Now that you've linked it together for me, I can see how this arc developed for Piscatella. I wish it was more clear in the writing and direction though; I'm usually pretty good at picking up subtle character arcs but this was really obscured by the other crap they threw at us, especially the…

Agree regarding the format. Since I rarely watch anything all at once immediately, I'm used to having the review published way before I've seen the episode, and I just avoid reading it. But since I did watch OITNB in a few days this year, it's nice to have all the reviews out already. The only thing is, I'm…

I agree, nothing that we learned about him "explained" his cruel sadistic self, so what was the point, except to show more rape and violence? As an indictment of the prison system it would have been way more interesting to me to see how he kept his job and kept getting promoted despite everything he'd done.

Yes, I thought they should not have shown it, and in any case why the turn into Pulp Fiction torture porn. For Piscatella to have done that and kept his job required a massive coverup/collusion by prison authorities. Even with a full boatload of cynicism regarding "the system" I don't believe an act of torture that…

Very dark! At least it gives SJ some agency… uh, right? Super dangerous for her, penalty for harming a Handmaid being what it is. That theory fits the suggestion that the music box she gave June is really just a way of inspiring suicide by broken mirror glass.

Realizing this would indeed be a wide veering from the novel, but after seeing Serena Joy bond with her Martha, be repulsed and horrified by her Wife "friend," witness the suicide of yet another Handmaid, and then burst into Commander Fred's office in a most purposeful way, I'm now thinking how awesome it would be if…

I still can't tell if Aunt Lydia's concern for Janine is actually affection, or a personal pride at what a good handmaid Janine is/was, rapidly getting pregnant and producing a healthy child. I agree she's quite different than in the book and I like that her character is unclear. Is Aunt Lydia a mother? How did she…

And who isn't hanging on a wall.

Yes! But then I was bummed in a small way just after that, as I was watching with captions on and the caption said "Angela cries," and I yelled at the tv "her name is Charlotte!"

Totally. I kept expecting them to happen in this episode and was sad they didn't. Ann Dowd who plays Aunt Lydia is riveting.

The formal or commercial name for pads is still "sanitary napkins." Most people call them pads though.

I remember when I saw the Faye Dunaway/Natasha Richardson movie in 1990, it also has a less ambiguous ending than the book's. I hadn't read the book at the time so it didn't bother me, but there were audible gasps in the audience when certain things were revealed

I think it's even creepier. The scenes we saw of the Commander and Serena Joy before the overthrow suggest that he loved her and that he knows what consensual sex is like. But love made him vulnerable. I think he can tell June is uncomfortable, but he likes it, it makes him feel powerful. He doesn't mind that it's…

It was like a scene from a horror movie.

This argument was very explicitly made during the debate over allowing women to serve in the armed forces; that male soldiers need to feel they are "protecting" women, that's what motivates them to fight, so having non-submissive women in combat will weaken all aspects of our military.

Actually what we now know about Nick made him even more inscrutable in some ways. We know he gave evidence that brought down one Commander, and we know he has enough on Waterford to bring him down… but then that might harm June… so what's he going to do?

Yes, they cut to Nick's memory of the first Offred's death right after he saw June go upstairs with the Commander. I thought he was thinking the Commander is pushing her too far, forcing her to bear too much, and she's going to snap.