The Handmaid's Tale: Seeds (2x05)

Oh jeez. I really thought June was losing that baby. I was so freaked out.

Cons:

We saw June break at the end of last episode, so this week we're seeing Offred. Which I absolutely loved, in the worst way. It was hard to watch, which it should have been. But at the end of this episode, it seems that we've gotten June back. She's back to being secretly rebellious - she's ready to try and escape with her unborn child. I wanted the effect of that breaking to be even more dramatic. Not because I like to punish June, but because I want the stakes to mean more, narrative-wise. This is probably a nitpick.

Also, I think maybe it's because the women of this show are just so interesting, but I just think the Commander is boring and stupid. I honestly think maybe that's the point. But his and Nick's whole thing, where they both know that Nick is likely the child's father, just seems petty in comparison to what June is going through.

Pros:

Okay. Mrs. Waterford is so interesting to me. Her love and desperation for her unborn child, contrasted to her hate for June makes for such an inherently conflicted situation, and I truly adore it. The scene where she and June are going for a walk, and Mrs. Waterford is trying to make small talk, is just the sort of dark, absurd comedy that this show can provide in such an interesting way. It's perverse for this woman to gossip with June about the appearances of other Handmaids like the two of them are friends or something, but it all makes sense when we learn that this is for the sake of the baby, so it can hear its mother's voice. Yikes. When June is rushed to the hospital and later wakes up, Mrs. Waterford is so grateful to see her awake. She seems like she was truly worried for June, but of course we know the concern is 100% for the baby. What a weird dynamic they have.

The Nick situation is also chilling. The Commander, in an effort to create some distance between Nick and Offred, decides that his driver deserves a promotion. So, we see another one of Gilead's famously chilling ceremonies, this one that of a wedding. Several men are presented with veiled brides. Nick's new wife is a very young and timid woman who comes from a rural area. This is disturbing for a number of reasons. She's just so... young, and innocent, and this whole thing is just so manipulative and awful. I'm not exactly invested in Nick and June as some great romance, but the look on June's face when she realized what was happening was crushing.

In general, June was "Offred" all episode, and it was hard to watch. There was no inner monologue, and she seemed like she'd finally been beaten down into being the Handmaid that society demanded her to be. She's been so resilient for so long that it was hard to see that.

Aunt Lydia continues to be creepy. I liked the moments with her and Serena. There's an odd power dynamic there, with Serena Joy clearly outranking Aunt Lydia, but Aunt Lydia being allowed certain permissions, like reading and writing, because of her position.

We also got to check in with Emily and Janine in the colonies, and hooo boy. Basically, everything sucks. But we got a wedding between two of the women, performed in a Jewish ceremony. Of course, one of the two women was on death's door and is indeed dead by the episode's end, but it was a beautiful moment while it lasted. Emily is disgusted by this attempt to make the chaos and evil of their lives look beautiful, while Janine is just trying to grab happiness where she can find it. This is bleak, and there's something so hopeless about the colony scenes. We can keep hoping that June will escape from Gilead. We've seen Moira succeed in that escape. But for those who end up in the colonies, the only escape seems to be death. Yikes.

That's all I've got for now. I feel like this isn't my best work in terms of reviews, but it's what I'm capable of today, honestly.

9/10