The Handmaids Tale
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How the priest has to hold the hostjust soabove his head.
Everyone knows his or her place and glides along perfectly, as if theyve been practicing for decades.
(In reality, the handmaids must have learned all this at Aunt Lydias School for Wayward Women.)
Except: There are constant interruptions in the order symbols of how some women in Gilead are going astray.
Theres the unfilled seat in the church/meeting house/whatever you call a Gileadean hellhole, where Serena ought to be.
are given seats of honor, while the childrens parents take the stage, babes in their arms.
Who among them, she asks herself, can be persuaded, can be turned?
Can June turn Aunt Lydia, who scoots along in her Rascal (!!!)
and occasionally offers a glimpse of sympathy for the handmaids?
In this episode, Commander Waterford gives good reason to think he may be susceptible to Junes persuasion.
And Serena, more than anyone, is positioned to do some damage to Gileads inner circles.
For Aunt Lydia, nothing more clearly defines the ambiguity of her role than an event like this.
Janines little visit with Aunt Lydia isnt intended to be patronizing.
Are they merely upset that such a thing has happened in their (gasp) living room?
Do even they see the beating of a handmaid who simply speaks out of turn as too extreme?
These are men and women who planned the bombing and overthrow of their own government.
They designed and enact ritualistic rape ceremonies.
They know about the radioactive colonies and blithely allow women to rot and die there.
So what is it about this moment that causes them such distress?
Part of their shock is certainly due to Junes forceful, effective intervention.
Her prescription, of course, is one that will also help her.
She might as well be walking down the hall with a box of her belongings and some Japanese erotica.
The plan bears fruit immediately.
Serena, it seems, knows a lot more about Hannah than we ever knew.
Will both of them reunite with Nichole one day and live out some shared-custody arrangement?
Its possible, I suppose, though its not probable that Serena will make it out of this alive.
As if to finally dispense some hope into this bleak landscape, the episode ends on two high notes.
Or perhaps just the idea that the wee one theyre holding may one day see her mother as well.
