It wasn’t a lie, not really. June truthfully described an actual earlier encounter with Hannah. She didn’t mention the most recent one, but she’s probably still coming to terms with that, herself. Even though Hannah hadn’t recognized her, she’d want to believe that her earlier conversation with Hannah would be what…

I did find it interesting to see the contrasts between Moira, Rita, Emily, and June.

Emily escaped to Canada first and was reunited with her son and wife (all of her immediate family), but had gone through hell, including the Colonies, and is still traumatized.

Rita was an outlier as a Martha rather than a handmaid,…

And, when she confronts Serena, she first puts her hair in a bun.

My mistake — I had written earlier that I took the room with floor-to-ceiling window, and the room with the business table and boardroom chairs, as meeting spaces rather than cells. But this episode made clear that the former actually is Serena’s cell. (I’m still baffled by why prisoners don’t meet with visitors in a…

I was thinking along those lines. It’s not as though we’ve seen a ‘successful’ aunt, so we don’t have a comparison. Perhaps Lydia is seen as successful because of the number of births on her watch.

One thing for sure ... Lawrence and Lydia make more interesting antagonists / allies than Fred and Serena do. I appreciated Ann Dowd’s reaction when she realized that Lawrence, rather than fearing her attempt at blackmail, was willing to work with her. As for Lawrence, he knew that Lydia had no love for the other…

Good points. I do wonder if Lawrence’s shift depended more on his need of Nick’s support, than on any loyalty toward June. It seems that Lawrence is playing both Nick and Lydia, to be back in power and pulling the strings.

Given the teaser photo, I had my hopes up for far more of Samira Wiley than we actually got.

I did not know what to expect from Rita, so that story line held more suspense for me. I could see her succumbing to Serena’s mental ploys on friendship and nurturing. It was as though we saw her wake up during the course of the episode, to how she is in fact in control of her life again. Ultimately, Moira was right —…

Thank you. I did miss that.

I am truly puzzled by that claim because June in fact protected Janine at her own expense. That’s what led Janine to forgive June for revealing the safe house location. My take was, they got a bit of food, they got a change of clothes, and they will head off on their own to find Mayday.

Prisoners don’t receive guests in their cells. I thought the large-windowed meeting room and the conference room were both secure meeting spaces, not cells. It would be relevant to see where they spend their days, though.

“Janine decides to give this man his way.”
I might have to watch the end again, because I did not…

I think it was supposed to be sincere. The opening did include June’s message to Luke about Nichole being conceived out of love, not rape. But I’m with you in that I wasn’t buying it, either.

I suspect that the driver took the keys with him.

Sam might have told them about the plane’s passengers (as he said, that would soon become public knowledge) but an ethical attorney would never have volunteered about June’s suspected responsibility.

It was after Karli shouted, “Stay down!”

“Say his name.”

The “Paul & Darlene” is still afloat. Here’s to abandoning clichés.

I didn’t cry during Sam’s on-camera monologue, but I teared up when I saw the addition at the Smithsonian. To be “no longer erased” is huge, and something so many have been fighting for.
Heck, the NYTimes now frequently runs “Overlooked No More” obituaries for people who were ignored at the time of their death…

I took it as, “These are questions Sam has been pondering for some time, and when asked to speak on camera, he ran with it.”