The Handmaid's Tale, Episode 4
"DON'T LET THE BASTARD GRIND YOU DOWN"
It's no news that women live at the mercy of men in Gilead -- to a point that the scene of Nick fetching ice for June is made as if they are having a moment. Please, it isn’t. Nick is part of the problem. He, too, is trying to stay alive, you say? Meh.
Last episode, we saw the original Ofglen, whose real name we now learn is Emily, trying to bribe the Eye with her hand to escape (of course, to no avail). And this week, because there’s no such thing as a sterile man in Gilead, June is offered a help by a doctor. One: there's no way to tell if that will actually save or cost her life. Two: letting a stranger, who checked your vagina when you told him you fainted, impregnate you -- not by your choice -- can be considered a help around here. I need a shower.
We're also brought back to the Red Centre this episode, where, after learning the details of the Ceremony, June and Moira bound an Aunt in a boiler room, stole her clothes and escaped past the guard. That brought them out to the city, with literally no words to read. There was no street sign to tell where to go, but there were bodies taken down from the wall and books burned in the street -- a new reality of what their world has now become. (Emojis are cute but they are also risky and a lot of work.) They somehow made it to the train station, and while Moira was trying to ask for directions, June was approached by two Eyes because she was standing alone in her red uniform with no partner. June could only signal to Moira to go when the train came, and June was brought back to the Centre and punished, well, caned on the feet.
Present day, June, who's trying not to lose her mind, being put under confinement by Serena for two weeks now, finds a writing in her closet, etched by the previous Offred, who we now know killed herself: Do not let the bastard grind you down, in Latin.
After another secret Scrabble with the Commander, June meaningfully reminds the Commander that he would not want to make her stay unbearable, alluding to the confinement.
Apparently, it works. So the next day, she opens the door, breathing the fresh air, ready for the usual grocery shopping again with Ofglen and her fellow Handmaids, while Serena looks down from the window.
The show is art imitating life, but perhaps the writing in the closet also brings us a good real life reminder: Don’t think a tiny good deed -- a smile, a word of encouragement, a hug, a pat on the back, a compliment -- can never make a difference*.
Image of 'Before': Hulu
It's no news that women live at the mercy of men in Gilead -- to a point that the scene of Nick fetching ice for June is made as if they are having a moment. Please, it isn’t. Nick is part of the problem. He, too, is trying to stay alive, you say? Meh.
Last episode, we saw the original Ofglen, whose real name we now learn is Emily, trying to bribe the Eye with her hand to escape (of course, to no avail). And this week, because there’s no such thing as a sterile man in Gilead, June is offered a help by a doctor. One: there's no way to tell if that will actually save or cost her life. Two: letting a stranger, who checked your vagina when you told him you fainted, impregnate you -- not by your choice -- can be considered a help around here. I need a shower.
We're also brought back to the Red Centre this episode, where, after learning the details of the Ceremony, June and Moira bound an Aunt in a boiler room, stole her clothes and escaped past the guard. That brought them out to the city, with literally no words to read. There was no street sign to tell where to go, but there were bodies taken down from the wall and books burned in the street -- a new reality of what their world has now become. (Emojis are cute but they are also risky and a lot of work.) They somehow made it to the train station, and while Moira was trying to ask for directions, June was approached by two Eyes because she was standing alone in her red uniform with no partner. June could only signal to Moira to go when the train came, and June was brought back to the Centre and punished, well, caned on the feet.
Present day, June, who's trying not to lose her mind, being put under confinement by Serena for two weeks now, finds a writing in her closet, etched by the previous Offred, who we now know killed herself: Do not let the bastard grind you down, in Latin.
After another secret Scrabble with the Commander, June meaningfully reminds the Commander that he would not want to make her stay unbearable, alluding to the confinement.
Apparently, it works. So the next day, she opens the door, breathing the fresh air, ready for the usual grocery shopping again with Ofglen and her fellow Handmaids, while Serena looks down from the window.
The show is art imitating life, but perhaps the writing in the closet also brings us a good real life reminder: Don’t think a tiny good deed -- a smile, a word of encouragement, a hug, a pat on the back, a compliment -- can never make a difference*.
“There was an Offred before me. She helped me find my way out. She’s dead. She’s alive. She is me. We are Handmaids. Nolite te bastardes carborundorum, bitches.”*the doctor would agree.
Image of 'Before': Hulu
Comments