The Handmaids Tale
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I cant imagine a worse scenario to give birth in than this one.
Gilead has left no torture mechanism unused.
But the chanting isnt over yet!
to sit in a circle around June andShame Septaher for endangering her child.
Aunt Lydia cant let her off that easy.
And kids are resilient.
Until now, any animosity among the handmaids has been low level.
Ofmatthews piety has always read as a defense mechanism more than true godly devotion.
And it kind of felt good to hear June cruelly turn on her I have something else to testify.
Ofmatthew doesnt want her baby providing true information.
No reaction is acceptable.
And yet none of this releases June from the emotional deflation of knowing where Hannah has ended up.
And yet he, rather oddly, encourages the two of them to spend more time together.
Is the Commander easing up?
Does he secretly hope that June will make it out?
Its impossible to know between his bellowing and his kindness.
She feels relief that a child, a girl, is spared a life in Gilead.
(Although it really bugged me that nobody tried unwrapping that cord and performing CPR.
In a society this obsessed with birthrates, youd think theyd go to any length to save a newborn.
Hulu, next episode, just show more scenes of the Aunts gathered round playing Wheel O Handmaids.
The little glasses of sherry!
Their sick enthusiasm for matching up victims with their soon-to-be rapists!
Aunt Lydias obvious command over the other Aunts!
With that said, hallelujah forthe Aunt Lydia backstory that weve waited years for but boo to its brevity.
Rather, shes teetering, working hard but coming up short a bag of potato chips for lunch.
So Lydia turns Ryan and his mother, Noelle, into a project.
She brings them back to her house for chili, gets to know Noelle, invites them to Christmas.
But the benefits of the relationship run two ways.
Disappointment and rejection, then, are what set Lydia down the path toward blind religious zealotry and intolerance.
But first, we get to see her in sequins!
And tossing back a glass of Champagne!
Its shocking at first to see Lydias sexual aggression.
All could be righted.
But clearly something has already been knocked off balance inside Lydia.
Rejection in any capacity is too much for her to bear.
What do we make of Junes newfound cruelty?
Until now, June has gone rogue, yes, but always with the spirit of liberation.
Shes lashed out at the wicked who keep her and the other handmaids enslaved and captive.
But is it worth turning Ofmatthews life into its own separate hell?
Does she deserve this?
The scene is perhaps one ofThe Handmaids Tales best this season, or any season.
From there the scene unfolds like its destiny.
Ofmatthew smashes a Guardians face, knicks his jugular, takes his pistol.
Aiming it at Aunt Lydia, and then June, she isnt sure what to do next.
Then, as Doris Days voice spills out, singing that most cavalier of songs, it feels certain.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to the character of Mr. Thorne as Mr. Warren.
We regret the error.
