Did anyone else think, when Cushing returned to the Waterford house, that he was there to take them all into custody? (Or simply hang them, as had happened to other households?) Why else would he have returned? I think that’s what we were meant to believe. He wasn’t wasting any time and he expected to see a look of…

I don’t think it’s that Waterford is immune to consequences; rather, it’s that Serena acted fast, before Fred himself could be accused. Cushing thought he had time to build a case against the Waterford household while Fred is incapacitated. It was already shaping up; the interrogations, the insinuations, the fact that…

Yes, that took some rehearsal time, and Aunt Lydia appeared pleased with how well her “girls” performed it. I doubt it was part of the basic training, though. So much isn’t shown; I took it as a compulsory exercise after the bombing took place.

“Delores.
“It was my grandmother’s name!”
I also loved that. For many of us, our names are not our own, not entirely. They are legacies, they speak of our forebears. That legacy was also taken away.

If I have a quibble with this episode, it’s that Janine and Emily were returned to the EXACT SAME community. Yes, that’s the community that lost handmaidens, but I thought there must be others. You’d think the management would realize that transferring a few handmaidens from elsewhere and sending Emily and Janine to a…

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Last week’s theme was “Who can speak?” and this week’s is “Who has power, and why?”

No one expected Emily and Janine to return (least of all, Emily and Janine). They’ve been in an environment that at least allowed them to use their own names, albeit at a tremendous cost. As for the others, the twistedness of being “remembered” by an interchangeable name that signified you are someone else’s property,…

Yes, the more I think about it, the concept that people should be denied free speech (or punished for speaking) made the conclusion right and fitting.

I see your point, but at the same time I think the shooting explains some of her zealotry. If she were simply infertile, she would have to accept that as God’s will. Instead, she’s a martyr out for her own form of justice.

Considering the power and influence Serena Joy once had, I wouldn’t be surprised if she assigned the dress code colors. She knew she looked good in teal.
That name, though ... I think she’s incapable of either serenity or joy, and always has been.

I didn’t find the OfGlen2 suicide bombing a bad fit. The flashbacks showed repeated protests and RESIST! signs. OfGlen2 was the only handmaiden we’ve met who was cool with it all, because of how bad life had been for her before Gilead — until it got worse than before. She thought she understood how bad life could be,…

It was stated, in the episode in which flashbacks showed Hannah being born, that the problem isn’t solely conceiving - it’s that most of the babies being born are unable to thrive. Just getting pregnant is no guarantee of having a healthy child.

This comment probably should go in an earlier episode but all of the comments to the effect that Serena is barren made me think back to a moment when she was alone, and with great reverence took a small bundle from (I think) a trunk, undid the wrapping, then carefully replaced the wrapping and put it back. The viewer…

Quite possible. But Fred is the type to take credit for things over which he had no control. He might have been blindsided, yet still wanted Nick to give him credit.

Hmmm. Fred did accuse Serena of “bringing lust back into this house” afterward. Perhaps, once a Commander and wife have been awarded a handmaiden, they’re supposed to have relations only through her, and have a platonic relationship otherwise. That would be a Puritan way to look at it - “Sure, you can rape this other…

It very often does indicate a miscarriage - but not always. https://www.babycenter.com/400_has-any-one-had-any-bleeding-and-been-ok_1280260_848.bc

I also saw it as a “divide and conquer” strategy. An attempt to make all fertile women handmaidens would never be accepted. — but labeling them as a different group, deserving of their fate, makes low-ranking families more tolerant of the regime.
But from what child-bride Eden said, those families are still not…

I agree, it’s vague (though that might have been intentional). She hadn’t changed clothes since we saw her in the blood-soaked undergarments in the window. All we know is that something compelled her to head outside. Given what she says later, I took that as an awakening of her urge to flee (though it could have been…

Do you think that Serena and Fred, going into the “Prayvaganza,” knew that their household was about to increase by one wife of Nick? I’m not sure. Both of them could envision some positive outcomes from that, but neither seemed prepared. They can barely control the people already within their domain.

It’s been established that the windows are barred (and for the same reason the mirror was removed). June couldn’t have jumped or fallen. Handmaidens have been known to kill themselves before, and even in that house (though, if I recall correctly, the prior handmaiden hung herself in the bedroom).