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Post by goodhelenstar on Jul 24, 2017 8:53:29 GMT
I suppose the way they are all forced to live poisons everything. No one seems to be happy, not even Aunt Lydia who was fond of Janine and regards them all as her 'girls', zealously imagining that she is acting properly.
Poor Janine! Her story was destined to be tragic. She appears to be alive, but I wonder if she will recover enough to be sent back to her new posting or if she will be shipped off to the colonies.
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Post by marion on Jul 24, 2017 9:19:38 GMT
Yes I wondered if the madmen running Gilead had forbidden intercourse other than for reproductive purposes. But I don't think the relationship between the Commanders and their wives has been made clear, well not clear enough for me at least! I can't remember the situation in the book. And are Commanders' wives also covered by the ban on women reading? Or does that just apply to the Handmaids and the Marthas etc.
I don't think Janine would get a new posting unless they did something awful to her, like electric shocks (please, No!!!). If she remains in the same mental state she will never stay with the new couple.
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Post by geometryman on Jul 24, 2017 11:58:08 GMT
I think it's all women. When the Mexican ambassador was talking to Serena Joy she referred to "A society in which women can no longer read your book. Or anything else." - and we see Serena sewing, not reading (or playing scrabble!).
A powerful episode. I don't see how they can let Janine go back to being a handmaid - nobody will trust her now, and something like electric shock treatment would be too unreliable.
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Post by marion on Jul 24, 2017 12:07:40 GMT
Oh yes, I forgot that. Thank you.
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Post by geometryman on Jul 29, 2017 14:25:36 GMT
It's at 10.00 pm tomorrow, but keep an eye out anyone who's recording it, as it follows an important Women's Euros match (England v France) and could easily run late.
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Post by pearl06 on Jul 29, 2017 16:13:13 GMT
I watch it on catch up anyway so don't have to worry.
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Post by marion on Jul 31, 2017 8:53:59 GMT
There's no pleasing that Serena Joy is there? Furious when Offred isn't pregnant, furious when she is. And thatbscene when he wouldn't play Scrabble and said to her that she knows the law, and she said she helped write it! So she banned women from reading, the little gender traitor! And the scenes of Hannah were upsetting, although at least she is alive.
I was so worried that Canada wasn't real, but a trick version set up by Gilead! Go through this door and there would be a guard. But no! Phew.
I couldn't watch the amputation!
I really enjoyed this series. Some of the scenes last night were really atmospheric I felt, like the slo mo at the stoning. I am so pleased they have secured series 2.
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Post by goodhelenstar on Jul 31, 2017 9:59:57 GMT
The amputation was pretty grim, though at least it was done under a general anaesthetic, which wouldn't have been the case for the Handmaids I imagine.
Serena is a real cow, though like the rest of them I suppose she is frustrated to screaming point at the way she has to live. Knowing she helped bring it about probably only makes it worse. I'm torn between despising her and admiring the way she manages to look so fabulous while always wearing the same colour.
Offred / June was not the ringleader of the mutiny, so I wonder if they were all spirited away in black vans? There were quite a lot of them so if they're being taken for punishment, that takes a lot of potential mothers out of the mix. However, Nick told her to trust him and we have no reason to suppose he was being dishonest – he's been pretty decent, all things considered.
I'm also glad there will be another series.
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Post by pearl06 on Jul 31, 2017 10:18:02 GMT
I wonder what Martha did with the letters she found in the bathroom. No doubt we will find out next series.
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Post by goodhelenstar on Jul 31, 2017 10:34:06 GMT
Yes, it was pretty unwise of Offred to go to sleep surrounded by them all. I wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with them – pass them on to someone? But who? And now she can't do anything with them, so it will be up to Martha. Did you notice that Serena called her Rita? So they are called by their own names, as Nick is. It's just the Handmaids who don't keep their own names. Martha seems very sweet and gentle. I haven't noticed her being sympathetic either to the cause or to the opposition. I wouldn't imagine she would be brave enough to go out on a limb with the letters, but we'll see.
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Post by marion on Jul 31, 2017 11:13:27 GMT
I don't think they would all be spirited away, just Offred because of her connection to Nick who is part of the Reststance. Well let's hope he is!
The Commander did say a group of Marthas had launched some attacks, so let's hope this Martha has some connections. As you say, she didn't seem affiliated to the cause from what we saw of her. I was surprised Offred opened the package. I thought she was supposed to deliver them to the one who gave her the task (was she the one who got the rifle butt in the face?I thought so at first but am not so sure now). And really, what can they do with them in Gilead as they don't seem to have any access to the internet or suchlike to publish them widely..... I was worried when Offred fell asleep with them on the floor and thought she would be found like that!
It was touching when Luke and Moira met wasn't it?
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Post by geometryman on Jul 31, 2017 17:24:17 GMT
Ref the package - last week Ofglen told June, when tasking her with returning to Jezebels to get it, that she was to hide it until someone contacted her. The plan presumably is to get it to Canada where the notes will join those hundreds of others lining the corridor walls in the American embassy. So Rita the Martha (that sounds strange!) would just need to stash it away somewhere until approached - which might be via Nick if he is indeed connected to "mayday".
I thought this was a good finale to what has been an excellent series. I suppose there was an inevitability about the choice of Tom Petty's 'American Girl' to accompany the end credits! Looking forward to series 2.
Have we reached the end of the book?
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Post by linseed on Aug 1, 2017 8:09:42 GMT
Yes so far as I remember we are at the end of the book, though they have expanded on it greatly. Have put the end of the book in a spoiler below {Spoiler} In the book, we never find out what happens to Offred, we just surmise she got out because of which side of the border her journals are found. The book ends in the distant future, where her journal is being discussed at a conference about the historic state of Gilead, now no longer in existence.
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Post by geometryman on Aug 1, 2017 8:47:26 GMT
Thanks linseed. Elisabeth Moss has read the scripts for series 2 and says “In the same way we did in season one, it really explores things in a way that, as a reader, you wanted the book to but it’s only one novel so what are you going to do?” Moss said. “It kind of goes places that as a fan of the book, I want it to go.”. Article here: www.slashfilm.com/the-handmaids-tale-season-2-will-further-depart-from-the-book/
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Post by goodhelenstar on Aug 1, 2017 10:18:50 GMT
There's an article here by Margaret Atwood about the writing of The Handmaid's Tale, written in 2012 when there was already a film and opera but not this series, of course: www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jan/20/handmaids-tale-margaret-atwoodShe confirms that everything that occurs in the book has happened at some point in real life. She also says, which I didn't know, that she was living in West Berlin in 1984 when she started writing it. The Eyes in the novel are reminiscent of the Stasi, and the manner in which everyone is expected to inform on everyone else, creating a society in which no one trusts anyone and everyone lives in fear and suspicion. The stonings, amputations and so on are more graphic but the general atmosphere is just as awful, making it impossible for anyone to live happily as we saw. I'll be interested to see how the second series builds on the first. On the whole, novels written as complete stories don't translate to extended series very well but I have an open mind as Margaret Atwood is going to be a consultant (this was also the case with Lynda la Plant and the ill-fated Prime Suspect 1973 and that didn't end well, not that I'm comparing them in any other way!).
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