Summary: Flashbacks show Offred and Moira talking during their handmaid training. They stage an escape and Moira gets away but Offred is caught at the last second. She is punished by Aunt Lydia and Aunt Elizabeth. Offred is kept in her confinement and reads a message from the previous Offred. Offred discovers Fred is sterile and they have another unsuccessful ceremony. Offred has her rematch with Fred who tells her about the previous Offred who killed herself. Fred also frees Offred from her captivity to Serena's chagrin.
The Good: This episode was really strong. The previous episode was very powerful but it was also quite flawed. This episode on the other hand was much more consistent (at least until the final 30 seconds), and I think that this episode itself really got me hooked into the series. The show just really needed a full episode which had me engaged without any major problems which detracted from the show as a whole. Offred's main storyline in her room was very strong. We get to see more of the harsh life in Gilead and it's clear that Offred won't be as exempt from it as we may have hoped, especially seeing how vicious Serena continued to be in this episode. It was pretty sad to see Offred continually trashed by Serena who is determined to keep her isolated, despite how much Offred wants to be able to leave her room. The flashbacks were also very cruel to Offred this episode. Seeing her whipped in the feet was deeply unpleasant and brutal, and it continues to make aunt Lydia the most vicious villain of the series. Ann Dowd is fantastic in the role and she is a character I really want to see receive some comeuppance. Her reign of terror continued to be really painful with her whipping of Offred. Continuing with that storyline, I really enjoyed the escape attempt from Offred and Moira. It made sense that they would try to get out of their containment, and the final scene where Offred is reprimanded while Moira leaves was very powerful stuff (see: Best Moment). I also think it's good to build more around Moira and Offred's relationship. I suspect we will be seeing more of them, so I feel that I really need to care about what their relationship was for an of Moira's scenes to have resonance. As a side note, I was really unsettled by the ceremony scene in the flashback. It was really creepy and awful, in a lot of ways even more so than actually seeing the ceremony for ourselves. This show continues to find success by being unpleasant, but still powerful. This isn't a show I can watch for long periods of time, but it is one which has really stuck with me so far. I really enjoyed seeing Offred interact with the various people in this episode who offered to help her out. Nick was rather creepy as he continued to seemingly affirm love for Offred, which I think really helps to show how Offred really can't trust anyone no matter how helpful they may seem. The doctor was the same way as well. He claimed to be a good listener and he also offered some invaluable information to Offred by suggesting that Fred was sterile. Yet despite all this, he came off very poorly by offering to have intercourse with Offred to help her out. In this world it's hard to tell if he's genuinely trying to help or if he's just taking advantage of her. Offred refuses, implying that she couldn't trust him either. And now that takes us to the Waterfords who are the most trustworthy, yet Offred just can't trust them. Nobody else is trustworthy so why would they be? The shadow of the past Offred was also cast over the storyline, raising the paranoia as we try to find out the motives of both Waterfords. Fred seems decent enough at the moment as he tries to help improve Offred's life, apparently since the previous one killed herself, but can we really trust him? Such is why this show has been so fascinating thus far. The Bad: I wasn't very happy with the ending scene, just like with the last episode. I thought it wasn't properly built up to and I really didn't get the feeling of Offred taking control, which is what I believe was intended. It was also quite cheesy and didn't fit at all with the tone of the show. How did Moira get away with writing in the bathrooms? Surely the aunts would notice, and seeing how remorseless they are, I'm sure they would punish everyone until the culprit revealed themselves. The Unknown: Is Fred sterile or was the doctor lying about it? The evidence does point to him beign sterile though, so I suspect it's true. What happened to Moria after she left? Apparently she was caught and killed according to Janine, so how did that happen? Was Fred telling the truth about the past Offred? I don't trust anybody at the moment. What happened to Aunt Elizabeth? Did she violate the laws or die somehow? What did Ofglen do while Offred was locked in her room? Best Moment: Moira leaving was a spectacular scene. I love how Offred wordlessly communicated to her that she should go while Moira expressed guilt, sadness and gratitude to Offred. The scene was carried by acting and created a pretty powerful moment, which was much more powerful than the reveal of Moira's death in "Offred". I think that reveal did add an air of tragedy to this scene as well, since we know that Moira is destined to be captured and killed anyways. Character of the Episode: Offred. Conclusion: This was a very good episode. It was consistently enjoyable and continued to build the world and its characters in fascinating ways while also having more powerful and uncomfortable scenes. This was the first episode that felt like a complete package of enjoyment, making it quite effective. Score: 68
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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