Summary: June is summoned by the Waterfords to DC so that they can continue to pressure Canada to return Nichole. Lydia accompanies her. The Waterfords stay with Commander Winslow who offers Fred a promotion after seeing his dedication to Gilead in the videos he is shooting. June discovers that some handmaids have been silenced, horrifying her and Aunt Lydia. The Swiss arrive to conduct interviews on behalf of Canada. June tries to make a deal with them to keep Nichole out of Gilead by letting them speak to Nick, a commander. However, the deal falls through when the Swiss check up on Nick's past. Serena tells June that Nick was a soldier who fought in the crusades. June is upset that the deal falls through and has a spat with Serena.
The Good: As usual, this was acted brilliantly and shot beautifully. This show is beautiful to behold and it took that to a new level in this episode. Things like the destroyed Lincoln Memorial, the modified Washington Monument and the new Union Station were lovely to see and they added a lot to the world of Gilead. There were some really good scenes of character interaction as well. June's final scene with Serena was emotionally charged and was a good way to provide a climactic moment in their conflict regarding Nichole, though it did have its problems (see: The Bad). Lydia and June's scene was phenomenal, showing a more human side to Lydia and giving us some really good emotion. Though again, that moment had problems (see: The Bad). Lastly, I really enjoyed the brief moments between June and Rita as they took a few seconds to relax and talk amidst a hostile environment. I appreciate that we finally got to learn more about Nick. His backstory seems to take his character in an interesting new direction and I'm happy about that, though like everything else in this episode, I had my fair share of problems about this development too. The Bad: That shouting match between June and Serena didn't achieve its full potential for a number of reasons. First of all, this logistically should never have happened. If Gilead is so restrictive, how on Earth is June able to get away with such a loud shouting match? And in the Lincoln Memorial of all places with its loud echoes! Surely everyone would have heard that. Additionally, there is no way that June was allowed to go to Lincoln Memorial alone, especially not in the capital where it has been established that the rules are far more strict. Furthermore, all of these fights between Serena and June are beginning to feel a little bit numb for me and the only thing that keeps them engaging is the acting from Elisabeth Moss and Yvonne Strahovski. I've seen them fight and make up so many times by now that the repetition outright annoys me. Nick's past really seems like a last-ditch effort to give the character something to do, and it comes off as something that is pulled out of nowhere. I can't fully remember the backstory given to Nick in prior seasons, but I'm confident that nothing like this was even hinted at before. The reveal doesn't feel earned at all unfortunately. Furthermore, it seems odd that Nick's previous life caused the Swiss to refuse to speak with him. Surely speaking with a commander is too big of a chance to pass up regardless of somebody's past. As much as I loved Lydia and June's scene, it seems very out of character for Aunt Lydia. This same woman would torture the handmaids without a second thought, yet she is freakishly horrified by the idea of silencing and then proceeds to actually open up a little bit to June. It doesn't fit with what we know of her character, and continues the show's trend of making characters contradict their past actions. I didn't like the idea of the silenced handmaids. It is unnecessarily excessive brutality, even for Gilead and it seems fairly counterproductive. After all, how would they hide this from convoys from other countries? Surely other countries would have discovered the horrors of Gilead if they are as careless as this. Furthermore, it feels like a manipulative way to gross us out. Just showing the handmaids with cloths over their mouths is telling enough and it sends the message. The rings in the mouths are pointlessly excessive and don't add anything other than a gross out for the viewers. Fred's promotion doesn't make sense to me, especially since he was literally just demoted a little while back. The way that Winslow's impression of Fred suddenly changed offscreen was very convenient and it didn't work for me. The Unknown: Does Winslow have any other plans for Fred? Is he earnest in his offer of a promotion? What were the crusades that were mentioned in Nick's past? I'm interested to learn more about them. Best Moment: Probably Lydia and June's scene, flawed as it was. Character of the Episode: June. Conclusion: This episode was fine overall if not the most exciting, but the problems underneath the surface detracted massively from my enjoyment. The show is hitting a midseason lull once again. Score: 53
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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