Who says they are sustaining? Waterford's documents had "CONFIDENTIAL" stamped on them, Gilead could be in crisis.
Gilead has a 'closed' economy. This has been revealed by the introduction of Commander Joseph Lawrence, the architect of Gilead's closed economic system.
Right, but I don't just mean economically. The rebels would have clear access to allies and their armies from the west coast, Mexico, Canada, etc. they would also likely have access to the nuclear weapons and military bases in the territory they control.
Good point. They do talk about rebel attacks, and they're obviously really vulnerable to internal resistance attacks. And the epilogue of the novel takes place in the future after Gilead fell. I don't think they could make it a decade without controlling all of CONUS.
When June folded the photo of Hannah and put it in the blanket folds with the baby I immediately thought that odd and felt something unexpected might occur. I couldn’t fathom how she could give up the photo of Hannah, a child she may never see again, as a parent if three daughters I certainly wouldn’t. But after witnessing the next few minutes of the episode and being completely knocked out by her not getting in the van with Emily, I lost my focus on that photo, frankly at that point the suspense was so intense I was on the edge of my seat and looking towards the end for some relief from the knots in my stomach. Viewed now with a bit of perspective, I think June’s plan from that moment she slipped the photo in the baby’s blanket was to get her safely to Canada and then go back for Hannah. June’s surprise at finding Emily in the van gave her the immediate option of not taking on the journey to Canada and doubling back, she could trust Emily to care for the baby and presumably deliver it to Luke. I for one can’t wait for Season 3. In addition I really want a backstory flashback about who Aunt Lydia was before Gilead, I hope her apparent death doesn’t preclude that. I also want to know about the U.S. military’s involvement in the Gilead revolution. It’s one thing to kill off the the three branches of governent, but what happened after?, who controls the nukes? If the current government of Gilead had nukes and/or an air force couldn’t they have had Canada over a barrel?
Lydia doesn't die despite the well-deserved kicking she got from Emily. When Emily got the knife I knew it wasn't for herself but for the Commander. Lydia was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. 'Handmaid's Tale': 9 Burning Questions For Season 3
Me too! The lack of Lydia backstory has been a big disappointment this season. I've been saying to my wife that the idea that a religious cult could take over the US by force is pretty far fetched. The conspiracy would have to be vast. How would they take 48 state governments and national guards at the same time they're slaughtering the president and congress? I presume they gave up Alaska and Hawaii. The would be Gileadeans in American society have proven that slow and steady wins the race, not violent revolution. You just get your party motivated, hyper disciplined and extremely well funded. You spend a generation packing local, state and federal courts and state houses and take full advantage of the vagueness of the Constitution whenever your party controls the White House and/or Congress to pass more and more draconian legislation. All the while, you brainwash just enough of the population with angry, overly-simplistic propaganda on radio, TV and the internet so they are primed and ready to vote in a "strong leader" who will let the Trojan Horse in the gates. It can happen here.
Out on a limb here, but what if it was a political party that was pretty much a religious cult, that wanted to reduce women's rights, be a closed border country & quoted the bible a lot. Would it be possible that they could just be voted in instead of by force?
Lets not forget that the prime reason for this Gileadean revolution and the fast transformation of the society is this virus that made the majority of women sterile. Exactly the same scenario, but in reverse (men were affected by a virus, many died and many sterilized, so the women dominated society by using the surviving fertile males in a similar fashion) one can find in the excellent Robert Merle's dystopian novel "Les hommes protégés" (The Virility Factor) written in 1974. So of course the Handmaid's tale is a social satire to some extent, but it's mostly a entertaining fiction, and no, it can't happen in the christian Western world, IMO. But most of it sadly is a reality in other parts of the world, ruled by other religions.
I admire your optimism. Do you have any idea how hard it is for women, now in the majority of states, to access women's health services and abortion clinics? And that's solely down to christian dogma enacted by their representatives in power. With the accelerating appointment of partisan, dogmatic 'judges', for life, things will only get worse.
Was it a virus in the novel The Handmaid's Tale? I thought it was just environmental degradation leading to mass sterility.
Actually I’m not sure, but I think it was some sort of virus, caused by (or attributed to) such degradation. Don’t forget that the novel was published in 1985, when AIDS was the most discussed and “popular” disease, and there were many voices, stating that it's is some God’s revenge or punishment for the moral decline. Anyway, no matter what it is, this thing led to quite rapid infertility, spread among the vast majority of the population (neighbor Canada was equally affected, so there was some talk about “exporting” or lending handmaids to Canada from Gilead), and this was the main factor that permitted the bad guys to take power and change the society according to their perverted fantasies, and not the fact that there were many religious people in the society. Religion in Gilead is just a tool, not a fundament, and it seems that no one there genuinely believe in God.
Abortion is a big moral issue for all humans, and also a legal issue in many “civilized” countries, so the laws regarding it are often discussed and adjusted. I think it is still completely illegal in Ireland and Poland, for example, and quite restricted in other places. Finland of all countries had very severe restrictions in this regard in the past, to the extent that during the 70’s there was a well-established air charter program between Finland and my country – airplanes full of Finnish women came just to make an abortion in totalitarian socialist Bulgaria (because here abortion was never an issue, and it’s/was also quite cheap, even with the added air ticket cost). Poland is actually an interesting example – during the communist rule abortion was perfectly legal, but almost immediately after democratization it was banned completely. It’s quite ironic – you set free from an oppressive totalitarian regime and immediately receive this ban. I’m giving you this example just to illustrate that birth control is a very specific issue, that’s not necessarily linked to the totalitarian or liberal nature of the state.
No, it isn't. It's only an issue in theocratically dominant cultures. I don't know about Poland (hasn't it recently been taken over by an extremist, authoritarian regime?), but Ireland has just recently cast off its shekels regarding abortion in a referendum vote. True liberal democracies don't have a problem with abortion, leaving the very personal decision to be made by women without being coerced on religions or patriarchal grounds.
Perhaps a second viewing of the last episode is in order. But I can't recall any indication in it prior to the fire being set that would suggest June was considering a plan for getting Hannah or taking an active role in the resistance. Only indicated was a growing intention to get Holly/Nicole out. That was her focus, and then the opportunity presented itself. At that point she followed the direction of the Marthas, and had no idea Emily would be at the rendezvous point until she arrived there. Now, to be clear I am not saying that there is no plausibility to June's decision. People make sudden decisions, and a change of conditions, here the sudden appearance of Emily, can lead to a rethinking done on the run, here literally on the run. But I do think the writing on this was weak and left me, and I take it many others, feeling less than totally on board with the plausibility of the ending. As the episode ended, where is June going? Where is she going to sleep that night? How will she be able to move about? Won't she be sought as a fugitive? Perhaps most sought after fugitive in Gilead? The whole situation with Nick is another that is totally unclear, and how will they, can they, reunite? I think it would have made more sense to escape to Canada and try to get help.
There was a scene back in ep 9 where June internally monologued: "I know I should accept the reality of you (her baby) being born here, make my peace, but eff that!". That was a pretty good indication, imo.
Good end to a solid season. My take, June planned to escape until a few things quickly present themselves. Emily is an opportunity to take the baby. There's a commander who seems sympathetic to at a minimum the handmaids' position, and possibly more. Serena started to crack. I am curious to see what happens with Aunt Lydia. If not dead, how does Emily's action and escape impact the commander of the household. I also want to more background on that character, so hoping she's still alive. Few highlights from the season: Yvonne Strzechowski as Serena -- again a fantastic job at being able to illicit both hatred and compassion towards her character. Her scene with the agent at the bar in Canada was worth watching a few times. She is an architect of her own position, and it's interesting to see the power shift between her and Fred. The character of Eden -- interesting arc for that character, where I was always unsure of direction. The scene after her death with her father and Fred, possibly more than her death, cemented the brutality of Gilead. The use of music -- an earlier post disliked the use of pop music, I find it helps to pull me back to the concept that this is modern times Joseph Fiennes and Fred -- season 1 and through most of season 2 was a hard character to pin. A political leader, but also willing to step outside the rules when it suited him. Through the back half of season 2, more fully embraced the doctrine of Gilead. Fiennes is excellent at mixing compassion, care, and creepy as his character becomes more out of touch with common human decency. Hoping to see more of Bradley Whitford, or just the oddity of that household (his wife yelling goodbye to June was strangely amusing)
It was difficult to imagine how Nick is (once again) going to escape the suspicious attention of Gilead's authorities (it almost looked like he was arresting Waterford). BTW I had wondered where is the Priestly Class who one would expect in such a state? Theocratic states past and present usually have such an authority in them. The Commanders don't seem to come across that way.
I got my wife the book - neither of us have read it. I've been told that the book is more or less the first season of the show, so that there shouldn't be any spoilers with regard to the direction of the TV show. Can anyone who has both read the book and watched the show comment?
