Good point. I still feel like it was a bit more about June than Emily. Maybe it's just something about the execution or editing. Possibly I have a bone to pick with what looks like Emily's exit.

Nope, just the magazines conveying the sexist messages they had to save women from in the first place. What a confusing treat! *facepalm*

It looked like the Wife felt protective toward Emily, or even getting comfort from her touch because they were in it together as women. Such a wonderful little sketch.

I took Emily's new Wife's actions as meaning that the Wife herself can't go through with the Ceremony. Shading in women who benefit from but can't tolerate Gilead. I think that's one of the reasons Emily took the car. The threat of failure and going to the Colonies hangs over her, so she decided to take action for…

I didn't love this episode. It felt a tad heavy-handed - the girls in red playing in the background of June and Luke's lunch. Emily's rebellion felt a little like her character being used as canon fodder, a slightly inelegant way to spur June's reclaiming some power. June's nod was so strange - as one of the…

YES. There's a lot of potential. Misinformation, propaganda, and tight control of the news - we know we're not getting an accurate picture of what's going on there.

I do hope Atwood is the main creative force. This is such a perfect and brilliant book, I want her to stay in control of her world.

Sorry, my parenthetical was that I think there was a wave of suicides we don't see.

We've seen them broken down, but we've also seen women like Emily, who carve out a little life for themselves. And we're watching June try to hold it together. You raise a good point, though. In the book, Offred went through long periods of being numb and dazed, and the show isn't getting into the emotional…

I think that's one of the things open to the interpretation of the reader (viewer), but my feeling is this is a more refined version of Gilead, with "kinks" like that ironed out. I'm thinking of when June and the others were fired, and the militants all wore black but didn't have uniforms - there's so much transition…

Yes, and the show does such a good job of driving home the point that they have to stay vigilant against slipping into the past so they can survive the present. Offred letting herself fall backward was heartbreaking.

That was beautiful! The solidarity. They weren't afraid to acknowledge her small victory in getting out. (Hi Jane!)

I had to stop listening to My Favorite Murder because of the silliness. Thanks for the tip!

This adaptation is more goal-driven than the book, and it's fascinating to take a step back and look at the technicalities of the difference. It does seem that the mission statement is to find her daughter. In the book, she isn't certain that Luke died. We haven't seen her mother, so Hannah might be her sole reason…

I kept thinking in vitro would be more reliable, but (as now) science takes a back seat to mania, and that would be heresy in a theocracy.

I wonder if this series will end the way the book does. The adaptation so far gives me confidence in the interpretation of the world, and I'm cautiously optimistic about them introducing new elements in season 2. Maybe going inside Mayday?

That was horrifying. Realizing that was a necessary step for the leaders of Gilead to take, that the power structure was so upended and misunderstood by the citizens. How disposable we are because we're resistant. That's a pivot point in their society, and it shook me hard because we're in that protest space right…

I haven't seen Roots. Your confrontational manner is insulting and unnecessary. We are talking about fictional characters. I'm not making a mistake talking about a real situation of slavery.

I think that will come later, but I'm positive they'll go there.

Same! There's much more than just Offred's experience. The book is so much her thoughts, so there's a lot of potential for more seasons. They could go into the Resistance, create new characters.