It was. I went ahead and watched it right before bed last night and even knowing that it didn't go where I originally thought it would, it was still tough to watch, because god do I feel Janine. I'd be at batshit crazy as she is in that situation.

That's actually not what I assumed, but thank you nonetheless because it was good for me to be prepared for that. I can handle adult trauma/injury/death, just not kids these days.

Yeah, I watched it last night and that was tough for me, I was just irrationally furious about it. "COVER THAT KID UP AT LEAST SNUGGLE HER AGAINST YOUR SKIN YOU SAD SACK NAOMI".

Lydia is a true believer, and truly truly believes that what happens is necessary to continue Gilead (and by implication, the human populace - since they seem to largely disregard the rest of the world). I think she takes very seriously her role to create Handmaids out of fertile "fallen" women, and that she is around…

If we get to see Serena Joy's already-existing complexities slowly morph into an actual sense of how tragically wrong everything has gone, that would be amazing. Even if it's not total redemption - even if all she does is tell June to walk out a door, or just not tell anyone if she witnesses it happening.

Autocrats understand that everyday citizens need "release valves", so to speak, or resistance will be even stronger. Even Jim Jones (of the Jonestown cult/mass suicide) routinely let cult members get away with things that were technically forbidden if they stayed in his good graces otherwise, because Princess Leia…

Yeah, that made me sick. The opening shot of them taking June's daughter away from her… I had to stop the show for an hour or so, I kept imagining them taking my baby girls away from me.

Thanks.

Yeah, 100%. I used to be fine and not even care but now a child being missing, injured, or killed can mess me up for days.

Thanks. It's nice to have people immediately know what I mean and be really pleasant about letting me know.

Dale Cooper was always a vaguely supernatural Boy Scout - witness the scene where he uses the "throw rocks at bottles" theory to actually lead him closer to solving a crime, for instance. It makes sense that he'd still have those things when he comes back from the Lodge but wouldn't be able to really utilize them yet…

It's actually a nice element of his character - it underscores how much of his position is largely due to Serena Joy's much more formidable strength of character and charisma, even if she's no longer allowed any influence at all.

Thank you for the reassurance. I can handle a lot of things but injured/dead kids is an absolute no-go for my mental health these days.

Before I watch this: I have an infant and a toddler and scenes in which very small children are killed or seriously injured fuck my shit up right now in a way that is difficult for me to come back from. We're talking full-on panic attacks (there's a whole thing in my history about this, please don't ask me to…

My condolences to your sister and her husband. And like your whole family. Sincerely. That's awful.

Hahaha, it happens! David Lynch turns all our brains into noodles in the end.

Also, Sheriff Truman's wife rang utterly false to me. I didn't buy the performance, I found the "nagging wife" claptrap tiresome, and if there is anything I absolutely don't want, it's another Nadine-and-Big-Ed-style relationship.

ALso worth remembering, the Maddy death on TP was one of the most gruesome and openly shown deaths on television at the time. Ugh, that scene is so brutal to watch.

I don't know, I mean, I know women like that - who have turned a waitress job they picked up as a teenager into a career as a server over time. Shelly dropped out of high school because of Leo Johnson. She likely didn't get her GED until later. Norma gave her a job and would give her an advance here and there on her…

Dale Cooper's in there - he just can't access himself fully yet. So I also think Dale Cooper's mind is capable of recognizing a sense of loss even if his body can't acknowledge it yet.