Honestly I’m having mixed feelings about the ending right now. I’m leaning more towards I hate it tbh lol. I guess I wasn’t expecting a really happy ending but damn I was kind of hoping for something closer to one.

To me it feels like Serena is like the only one who truly gets a happy ish ending. She gets to have her baby and be free, and seek redemption of her wrongdoings towards June since they’re together as “equals” now.

Meanwhile June just lost everyone she loved AGAIN (except baby Nichole of course) because she couldn’t escape discrimination and horrible abuse AGAIN because of Gilead.

And guess who perpetuated Gileads values nearly the most from the beginning until almost the very end? Until she couldn’t take not being in power anymore and experiencing the very abuse she put onto others for years— June being at the receiving end of all the worst of it?

SERENA. And after she’s lost everybody again because of the cult SERENA helped to start, uphold and had praised for so long, she now has to be the ONLY PERSON June has in the end?

I get Serena had a redemption arc and I respect that. I’m not saying I hate her character entirely. But if I were June, no matter what good she had done later, I’d feel I was cursed by the Gods if I had to be stuck with this damn woman of all people after everything I’d been through— a lot of such trauma which was brought on by her, mind you. I don’t think I could ever heal.

And Nick? Janine? Luke? They’re all just… fucked? We followed them for so long— enduring such horrible hardships and injustices, swallowing their pain or true feelings as much as possible just trying to either survive or make progress towards something better— hoping for justice, and this is what they get?

And SERENA, the woman who played such a big role in starting this all in the first place— who literally held June down while she was violently r*ped by her husband (not to mention the ceremonies, but that part’s obvious), tried so hard to spread Gilead into Canada, who either abused June or tried to use her to make herself feel better, who dangled her kidnapped daughter in front of her face constantly— gets basically the happiest ending? Her ONLY two redeeming things were NOT killing June (bare minimum, I think) and letting baby Nichole go (she had her own interests in mind here too, she saw Nichole as her own baby and partially due to that thinks she deserved a better life— again, at least that’s what I think).

I just don’t get it. Serena should have had to live even longer as basically a handmaid for karmic retribution. Nick should’ve had the chance to continue trying to help take down Gilead in one way or another from the inside, or finally have been able to get out. And get to be with at least ONE of his damn kids, to get to keep some type of love in his life at least.

Moira and June and Luke all definitely didn’t deserve to lose nearly everyone they love most AGAIN. Hannah deserves to be with her REAL FAMILY.

And Janine, one of the sweetest, purest people, who tried so hard to be “good” even as a handmaid, gets fcking got for letting down the act for a moment with delusional ass now Mrs. Lawrence.

And the fact that this sick woman gets to reach even higher power by getting with Joseph?? And he achieves higher status as well by gaining another wife??

Don’t even get me started on Commander Lawrence. I can only hope he truly continued trying to better Gilead from the inside. But I don’t have much hope on how well he’d actually do that either, considering he was the architect of this atrocious country in the first place. And knowing he likely either ordered or was complacent in the attempted murder of June. If he was I hope he faces consequences, although that won’t likely happen either. He never really has, other than Eleanor offing herself.

Anyways. You don’t have to agree with me but I just needed to put this out there. I’ve personally experienced multiple forms of abuse and injustices so I think it rubs me the wrong way more because of that. I hate to feel like the abusers get any type of win while the abused can never truly be allowed to heal. Does anybody else feel similarly?

I've just watched the episode where Serena gives birth to Noah and I've realised that Noah is the first step towards Serena redeeming herself for all of the horrible things that she's done. I mean, I agree that everything that she did was absolutely horrible and nothing can atone for them, but I believe that Serena now understands what it is to truly be a mother thanks to Noah and so she understands what Gilead took from June and all of those other poor women who were made Handmaids, or sent to the Colonies. So, it is my opinion, that with the birth of her son, Serena may now fight to help defeat Gilead as a way of redeeming herself. I mean, she was on that train to Alaska after all, so it's kind of obvious that she's gone for treason and coconuts by that point.

…why is there a handmaid on the back of this truck?! 😂

I've seen so many people in here lately saying "couldn't Gilead have been avoided if they just did X Y Z?" Or "if they were really christian why would they do that?" And it genuinely makes think some of you guys have missed the point of the show.

Gilead, doesn't actually care about the fertility crisis, cleaning up the environment, traditional family values, or Christianity. From its conception with the Sons of Jacob, its always been about power hungry men

These fake values, fake traditions, and fake empathy, are used to either justify, or discredit the documented torture and horror stories of the people escaping from Gilead. It's essentially PR. Gilead could have been prevented in so many ways, by so many different approaches and people, but the point of the show is that the people who had influence, and could prevent Gilead, had something to gain from creating it, and thus didn't intervene. That's what makes Gilead (even before it was fully gilead) so scary. We think it can't happen here,

until someone in power has something to gain from doing it here.

Please don’t come for me as I have only just started the second series.

I have been the same feeling throughout and that is that if the government offered massive financial incentives for women who are fertile to go through ivf ect it could have avoided a lot of this?

I might be wrong or this could have already been proposed but does anyone else share the same sentiment?

Thank you!

Hi! I'm sorry if this thing was already discussed, but I've been thinking about it for years and really want to know other fans points of view!

Well, Margaret Atwood wrote this story in 1985 and claimed that everything she mentioned existed in our history (which is true). But the show has gone too far in some aspects, which makes it seem unrealistic and overly dystopic!

Like, how can ALL the people (except the Commanders of course) of a very modern and technologically advanced country like the US just stopped immediately using their phones, computers, and the Net after the Gilead seized power?! It wouldn't be a surprise in a poor African country or somewhere like Afghanistan, but in America?? WTF Like, I know, women (about 50% of the population) are forbidden to read and write, but men (who are not as priveleged as the Commaders)?.. Yes, in the 1980s, it was not an issue, but know... We CAN'T live without our gadgets!!

Okay, let's just forget about it. But they also can't read books (females), watching TV, or listen to the radio! In the book and in the 1992 film they had at least two of these available! But in the series, they have literally NOTHING! It seems SO unrealistic for the 2017 - time of information society!!

That's only the beginning. I'm not even gonna talk about how Gilead's economy can survive without at least 50% (women) of people being forbidden to work and most good specialists and highly educated people either executed or sent to the colonies. Women are the majority in many important fields, and you can't just remove them all over the country without serious circumstances!!! USA is not a poor upwards state like, as I've said, Afghanistan! OK, those terrorists chose the military field (male-dominated) to develop and support.

Again, about their lives. They destroyed beautiful churches and almost all Christian rituals. So they can't just go to church and pray unless it's a crowded, imposed "ceremony"! There are also no cinemas, cafes, bookshops (obviously), malls or other everyday life stuff. I know that most of the people there are literally enslaved, but even slaves need some entertainment! They don't even have music anymore!!

Wifes... They are literally doing NOTHING all day long!! They don't do housework and cannot read, listen to the radio, watch TV, listen to music, go to church, go shopping, or even just go for a WALK!! Even handmaids or marphas have more freedom and things to do! It seems like real TORTURE for educated women. They can only abuse their handmaids or play (they don't even feed, care for, or educate them) with their stolen children. Absolutely useless class for the country! They are not even real housewives who do everything on their own!! I'm not surprised why they're so mad

Also about reading. Actually it seems like a total nonsense and insane! Delete all the written signs in cities, especially streets and station names!! Come on, how the f*** are you even able to live in a megapolis like Boston without that?! How can you know the right address you need or take the right train cause you don't have the Net or maps anymore!!

And they all wear special uniforms... Who made MILLIONS of those clothes?! If women are forbidden to work!!

Also, most importantly, they don't even think about pregnant handmaids health!! No diagnostics, a very stressful and miserable life (the only privilege is not being tortured or exuted for a while—how lovely! ), which can affect the baby, and even no doctor's help in labor! Come on, you don't even care if the baby (the most expensive property in Gilead) dies, not helping the mother AT ALL!! They even attend execution in late pregnancy!! Stupid and unreasnoble

Well, how can you explain anything about that? ..

Update. okay, I see that you hate my opinion and answers, maybe I'm not nerdy or fanatic enough to understand the show

I see this written so so much on here and I'm trying to figure out. Why would you guys think that that's where they're going to end up? What evidence?

As if the rapes couldn't get any worse. In Season 1 Episode 6 A Woman's Place June and Nick are talking about the Mexican ambassador's visit and she says something along the lines of "you don't have to lie there one a month while he sticks his cock up your ass." (i felt vulgar just typing it :/ ) I never caught it before and i know to this day there are still speculations about if he is infertile but no its just Fred is a fucking limp dick chump who can't tell a butthole from a vagina. This was so infuriating yet mind blowing to me. Maybe this isn't new news to most of you but I definitely didnt catch it the first time around and it would make sense why no-one but June noticed because he clearly is bad at sex, but also has to maintain eye contact with Serena so its not like he can exactly look and see what he's doing. Stupid stupid stupidddd! I dont even know why i decided to torture myself and rewatch.

.

Edit: Ok ok i get it im dumb! I guess I thought I cracked the code around the mystery of "did Serena cheat or is that really his baby" I just thought the man was lousy at sex

I am rewatching the show and the first time I watched it I didn’t have any kids. Now I have 2 and my gosh it’s so much harder to watch.
Anyone else relate?

I was questioning myself why I thought the rape of Offred pregnant was so disturbing. After all, they do rape them every ceremony. But I noticed that in every other scheduled ceremony, Serena looks uncomfortable and just ‘going through the motions.’ (The one time where she started crying and told Offred to just get out after the said “the chances are better if I lay on my back afterwards) but this rape was unsettling because Serena looked INTO IT. Like honestly I’m used to Fred being a creep but the way that Serena was making eye contact with Fred and they were rambling off in sync about the Bible verses so passionately and energetically it would seem as if they are truly just having sex together. Like it definitely seemed more as if Offred’s body was a vessel and not given a second thought. Whereas before Serena was clearly aware of her inability to be the one having sex with Fred and realized it was Offred who was doing it, this time it just seemed like pure evil because Serena was legit SO INTO IT I mean it was terrifying

In the unknown caller episode June asks Serena what she gets if she arranges for her to see Nichole. She tells Serena "I want you to owe me" this is like my 4th rewatch and I'm just now connecting that to when Serena doesn't rat her out for cutting her in episode 9. I always thought it was just main character plot armor.

I love finding little details, every time I rewatch I connect a puzzle piece I missed the previous time!

So I am re-binging handmaid's tale, because the show, book, and graphic novel are amazing, and I like to look up little facts I may have missed in previous watches, online, while watching the show as like having a cheat sheet for a show while watching it.

I came across a lot of people having handmaid's tale themed parties. What the hell is up with that? Why would you want to do that?

But to make this post more lighthearted I was curious what's the most bizarre, silliest, and dumbest handmaid's tale theme party you've guys heard of?

I watched the handmaid's tale a few years ago and couldnt finish it because I didnt have the subscription anymore. Now I'm rewatching it on prime and I was thinking ... As much as I would like to imagine myself being like June and fight back like a badass, I know I'd probably be like Janine, broken and delusional... I'm wondering, now that thing looks like a prequel to Gilead in the US, what are your tought ? Are you more a June or a Janine ?

I know we aren't given an official roster. I'm asking for a rough estimate. Do Commanders number in the thousands? The hundreds? Or just a baker's dozen?

I made a post over in the childfree subreddit a few weeks ago about how watching the Handmaid's Tale is a much less stressful experience compared to watching it before I had a vasectomy. Even though that post was mostly about the show, I figured it fit better there than here because it was more about real life.

Anyway, someone had replied saying that they didn't think very many men watched Handmaid's Tale, so I was wondering, my fellow male fans, where are you at?? And also, what reason do you like the show for?

I know personally that as a guy, I probably am not able to empathize as much with a lot of the main characters of the show since I don't really know the struggles of pregnancy, being a woman in the US, etc. But I'm really interested in the dystopian aspects of the show. I like to think about the questions of how Gilead came to be and what the rest of the world outside Gilead is like, and stuff like that.

I just finished season 1 episode 7 where it shows Luke made it to Canada, it was 3 years later and he received the note from June. I don’t know if I’ve somehow missed this or I’m just not understanding, if it’s explained later in the show let me know and I’ll wait for it otherwise please help!

Firstly, who is actually doing this and who started all of this? I saw the flashback of the commander and Serena, was it their idea? Was it the US government who decided to start taking all of the fertile women and children? Who is responsible for this? Who are the ‘men in black’? Is it military? How did they get all of these people on board with such a heinous thing?

And secondly, how in the hell is this even happening? Is it just the US? If one country is doing this, how have they even gotten away with it in the first place? Wouldn’t all of the other countries have gotten involved to stop this from happening? I am so confused

Sorry if I sound dumb! It’s getting a bit hard for me to watch the show because I’m not comprehending how this even happened in the first place and how it wasn’t stopped before it happened

Thanks!

Id be grateful if anyone can put these into perspective for me thanks ahead of time! So, In season 5 why was Hannah really smiling and looking at the sky at the end of the episode where June tells Luke they are going to do a raid on her wives school? She couldnt have known anything was about to go down so why film her smiling looking up all happy? She also seemed to know who was filming her i think its Nick personally you guys?? Also when Hannah writes her name on the art work she clearly knows her real identity right?

We know they’re going to adapt The Testaments, and we know Ann Dowd will be playing Aunt Lydia in it.

So, for those who have read The Testaments, you have to know this means Hannah/Agnes is 22 and Nichole/Daisy is 16. Hannah is still in Gilead, Nichole is in Canada living with another family, unaware of her true identity, and Lydia is in Gilead, but now actively working against it.

This means Gilead won’t fall in season 6, Hannah won’t get reunited with Luke and/or June, and not even Nichole will get to stay with June, Luke or Nick.

From The Testaments, we know Gilead won’t fall for a long, long time. If they follow the exact plot of The Testaments, won’t watch Gilead fall, we won’t watch them get reunited, we won’t watch them having a happy ending.

So, after obsessively thinking for a long time, I’ve come up with a few ways this could go

Option 1: season 6 won’t suck, but The Testaments might They change the story completely. June gets reunited with Hannah and Nichole, they escape to somewhere safe and stay together. It’s very unlikely that both Luke and Nick will stay alive, so she’ll probably be with one of them or alone or maybe even end up being close to Serena. Gilead won’t fall, but they might work together to try and help it. Lydia stays and is now actively working against the system. We don’t have a baby Nichole character or an Agnes character for The Testaments. Maybe they use new original characters, which would suck. Maybe they use Angela Putnam to have Agnes’ storyline, and maybe the actual Nichole always knew who she was and was raised by June, but comes back to Gilead to have that storyline.

Option 2: bittersweet end for season 6, lukewarm hopes for The Testaments They change a lot of the story. June gets reunited with Hannah and escapes somewhere safe. June decides it’s best for Nichole to be placed with a Canadian family for her safety, never knowing her true identity. The biological connection between Hannah and Nichole is important in The Testaments, but they can work around that. They could have a new character or use Angela Putnam, which would be mildly unsatisfying but I’d take it. Gilead won’t fall. Maybe Nichole’s new family in Canada is with someone we already know. Maybe Moira assumes Ada’s storyline. If they use Angela, this is a good opportunity to have Madeline Brewer be a guest in some episodes.

Option 3: season 6 sucks, The Testaments doesn’t June never gets reunited with Hannah. She places Nichole with a Canadian family for her safety, and doesn’t manage to get Hannah out. Gilead doesn’t fall. Everything sucks. Lydia stays. The plot for The Testaments is unchanged. It’ll be very anticlimactic and unsatisfying. Maybe season 6 ends in a flash forward to 14 years in the future when the three of them are finally reunited. Elisabeth Moss may even get a guest role in the Testaments series finale.

Option 4: everything sucks June manages to get reunited with Hannah, and she lives with her two daughters. Gilead does fall. The Testaments is actually told completely from flashbacks, and a new character has Hannah’s storyline. I don’t know what happens to Nichole’s story arc. Lydia has been secretly working against Gilead for years and gets a girl out with the information she needed to bring Gilead down, but it’s not Hannah and there’s no Nichole. This would be a hard one to buy into.

So, what do you guys think? Can you come up with different ways it could go? Which ones do you like best?

I think I like option 2 best. I really like the idea of using Angela because it’s someone we already know that would connect the two shows. If Nichole is raised by a Canadian family, they’d have Ada as a friend, who’s a complete badass and could totally be Moira - she only briefly appears and Samira Wiley could have a guest role in like two episodes. She also has a crush on a guy named Garth who could turn out to be Noah… but that could be too tacky lol

Okay, I know that Aunt Lydia is brutal at times, but one of her redeeming qualities is that she genuinely cares about children as shown when she was saying "look at you" to Charlotte in such a sweet way when she had recovered. So, if Lydia learned about all of the horrible things that Dolores did, I can guarantee that she would pounce on her like a lion and dismember her!

If they ever do another flashback episode on this or the testaments, I'd like for it to start with someone saying "how did we get here" then a montage of clips from right now. Example

https://youtu.be/ogAByievq18?si=JH5pEDjcP0wqCZuQ

https://youtu.be/TiEL9EHFczo?si=rEgvK4vKSzrM5pbl

https://youtu.be/oEazeLTe5jM?si=8WtQXsvwgpkB7jna

Stuff about project 2025 where their architect says " it will be a bloodless take over if the left allows it", the Supreme court and roe v wade and if you think they're not going to reverse the decision on gay marriage, you'd be a fool. this kind of shit is insidious and eventually effects everyone negatively, don't believe anyone is really safe once they start going down the path for real.

https://youtu.be/9_uShlD9_SI?si=cl9p7-rpyV5k5gcd

Harrison Butker

https://youtube.com/shorts/STTjQJ-42GE?si=SmvmAWwS6YYemnaW

So many other things you could put into a montage and wouldn't have to make it up, just find them and clip it together.

I mean, I'm only on season 3 episode 3. But it seems like he'll just do whatever in order to not be bored. He's an interesting character, I'm curious to find out how his development progresses.

1. I love Lydia and Serena. I know they’re awful but they’re portrayed so well. The actresses who play them (especially Lydia) do such a wonderful job. I’m captivated every time they’re on screen.

2. I actually like Nick. Like a lot. I read the book before watching and I was NOT expecting to like Nick so much. I feel like he actually genuinely loves June.

3. The actress who plays June is also amazing.

4. The way emotions are portrayed in this show is brilliant. You know a good story when they can show you how characters are feeling, they don’t have to blatantly tell you every thought and feeling they’re having. There’s so much that goes unsaid but you still know what they’re thinking and feeling (like when June goes to Jezebels with Waterford and you know this is awful because at least during the “ceremony” she’s not expected to pretend to enjoy it.)

5. The scene where Serena takes June to her daughter’s school and she’s screaming, desperately trying to get out of the car…. It lives rent free in my head. I will never heal from that.

I’m enjoying this show a lot more than I expected.

When June and Emily are seeing the church being torn down, the eyes show up and take a man with a suitcase. What was the reason behind this?

On my 2nd rewatch … I forgot how amazing Ann Dowds acting is as Aunt Lydia

Why for the love of daisies, did June intentionally walk on the road, not moving aside and let the car run over her, she didn't move, this resulting in Luke's arrest for murder

Sorry in advance if this is a stupid question, I'm rewatching the series and I noticed something. In the first 2 seasons it's heavily alluded or even stated that the Waterfords are essentially the pioneers of Gilead - with serenas book etc. But when they're in DC, the highest ranking members are there, with all the kids etc. So I'm wondering why is Fred not there? Even the wife of the commander (forget his name) says that serenas book is what helped them. Is it got to do with the amount of kids prior to Gilead? I'm just confused lol.