Summary: Janine hands off baby Angela to the Putnams and is relocated as Ofdaniel. She has difficulties adjusting and wants to be with Commander Putnam. Offred is met by Alma who tells her to get a package from Jezebels that night. Offred convinces Fred to take her back to Jezebels. Offred meets with Moira and convinces her to send her the package later. Janine tries to jump off a bridge with the baby. Offred convinces her to leave the baby, but Janine jumps anyways and barely survives. Moira kills a client and escapes Jezebels.
The Good: The Janine storyline was excellent in this episode. It was very clear that she would have issues giving baby Angela (or Charlotte in her eyes) away so it felt like the episode was inevitably building to her breaking point at the end. The performance from Madeline Brewer was superb throughout and she did a great job of conveying Janine's fragile state and impossible beliefs that Commander Putnam would just abandon his life for her to be a part of their family. The ceremony scene was excellent and did a great job of conveying how Janine's world has fallen apart now that she's realized that her family has actually left her. It was tremendously performed. Furthermore, the climax of the episode on the bridge was really powerful and tense, and I think it was one of the best scenes in the entire show which appropriately mixed the show's horrific and cruel nature with genuine emotion and tension. I was actively rooting for Offred to save Janine and I was extremely nervous throughout because I knew that this was a show which wouldn't hesitate to have Janine jump off the bridge with the baby. Thankfully the baby was safe, but the scene still packed a punch with Janine jumping off. I thought that Ann Dowd was excellent and really conveyed how major the scene was due to the importance of handmaids. I really enjoyed the scene where Offred attempted to convince Fred to take her back to Jezebels. It was tense and I was really enjoying the idea of Offred attempting to work Fred to give her what she wants. At first I thought it had went a little too well, but I was overjoyed to learn that Fred knew why she wanted to go back to Jezebels and he just took advantage of the situation. It makes Fred seem less like an idiot which is nice because he really shouldn't be portrayed as just a fool, especially considering his position as commander. I also loved Fred's cold dismissal of Moira after she came into conflict with Offred, as it makes him seem more like the cruel man he most likely has become. Offred and Moira's scene together was pretty good and had some good emotion in it. It was sad to see how their close friendship has fallen and that these 2 who staged an escape no longer can since Moira has accepted her new life. And once again, the performances were stellar. This show is honestly made by how good its performances are. The Bad: Did it seriously take Serena so long to suspect Fred, especially since everyone apparently knew he was messing around with the first Offred? First of all, why hasn't anybody said anything about that It's illegal after all. And also, this makes Serena's "what did you think was going to happen" from last episode even more perplexing, as it seemingly serves no purpose now. Also, how did Serena not notice him leave? The Martha even noticed that he left. Also, while discussing the Martha, what was the point of getting her backstory? She hasn't been important at all so I really couldn't be bothered to care. Apparently Nick actually loves Offred, which just makes him more annoying in my eyes. So why did he just stop being with her in the last episode? Was it actually because it was too dangerous? Why not just stop it earlier? Or let Offred know how he felt about it? So why did Fred even go back to Jezebels anyways? Surely he could have waited for a better day instead of just going back for Offred? We need to know something about his motives. Also, I really want to know why Fred became such a prick over the years, but seeing how the finale is up next, it seems that we won't find out which is disappointing. I had hoped to get more about him in this episode but we really didn't. Moira is an extremely shallow character. We know very little about her which made her transformation in this episode practically meaningless. Why did she decide to listen to Offred? Why did she change her mind? I have no idea and that's a problem. We need to see characters reaching a point where they make decisions like that, not just see them make a choice with no insight on why they made the choice. I feel like getting an episode more focused on Moira in Jezebels would have been much more compelling of an episode than something like "The Other Side", which just wasted time. We also need more insight on Aunt Lydia. Apparently she really does care about her handmaids, which does seem quite different from what I had initially seen from her. At first she seemed to treat them poorly and use that as her way of valuing them, but now she seems far more caring than expected. Also if the handmaids are so valuable that having Janine die would be awful, why would they send potentially fertile women to Jezebels and the colonies? Shouldn't Aunt Lydia be pissed off by that as well? The Unknown: What's in the package? Best Moment: Offred talking to Janine on the bridge was powerful. I love how they talked about how things would change and their futures would be better. It felt very real and was absolutely the best way to bring emotion to the scene since we hardly know about how Janine and Offred work as friends. Character of the Episode: Janine. Conclusion: This was a very strong episode at times, but the show still has some big flaws which prevent this from reaching greatness. This show has some excellent storytelling but it is really lacking on the details which transform a show from good to great. Perhaps the finale will allow the show to reach the heights which I know it has potential to reach. Score: 66
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|