The Handmaid's Tale: The Last Ceremony (2x10)

This episode was hard to watch for a lot of reasons. But it was certainly powerful as all hell.

Cons:

The whole start of the episode is one big fake-out, with June appearing to go into labor, but then it turns out it was just false labor. The Waterfords have already gathered all of the other Commanders and their Wives for the ceremony, so they are humiliated and disappointed. I didn't have a problem with the premise, but I was a little confused by the way this was handled on screen. Did June know that she wasn't really in labor, and wanted to trick them? What good would that do? She later begs Commander Waterford for the chance to see her daughter - you would think she wouldn't want to piss them off. And if she didn't realize the labor was false, what was with that smirking expression on her face when Serena came in later?

Pros:

I'm obviously always very uncomfortable when sexual violence and rape are portrayed on TV. I think there are very few situations where it's warranted to see such explicit behavior on the screen, and for some people it may never be deemed justified. And I actually get that. Which is why I am so impressed with the way this show has handled it. Obviously the ceremonies we've seen have been super uncomfortable and strange and alienating. In this episode we see two rapes - we see Emily undergoing the standard ceremony, after which her Commander collapses, having had a heart attack during the act. This scene reinforces the horror of something we've seen before. And then later in the episode, Serena and Fred decide to help induce labor by raping June. The reason that sex can induce labor is usually connected to the pregnant person achieving orgasm, which apparently they didn't realize, or didn't care about. If we're being honest, this scene wasn't about inducing labor. It was about the Waterfords punishing their Handmaid for her behavior. And it's horrifying. It's shaped like the ceremony - Serena sitting on the bed, holding June's arms, Fred standing above them. But add in one element: June struggling and crying out for them to stop. Begging Serena for mercy. It really throws into relief how horrifying the situation is, and always has been. It's not that you could exactly forget, but in some ways you become desensitized to it over time. Not after this scene, though!

Eden and Nick continue to be incredibly disturbing. I feel bad for Eden. She's a literal child, and she's confused and hurt and doesn't understand why she's married to someone who isn't buying in to the system the way she has. She's following all of the rules, and it's not producing the results she has been promised. She kisses another man, and is then upset that Nick isn't more upset about it. He doesn't love her. She has finally come to accept that, and it breaks her heart. Obviously Nick has got a lot on his mind, what with June close to giving birth to his child, but I do hope that he realizes Eden is a victim in all of this too. The situation is beyond screwed up.

Apparently Fred felt guilty about violently raping his pregnant Handmaid, because he does decide to grant her a pretty huge favor. Or, what passes for a favor in this messed up world where parents are separated from their children (the timing, given what's happening to undocumented families in the real world right now, is really chilling). In short, Fred has Nick take June to an empty house, and she is given ten minutes with Hannah. This scene was hard to watch for a whole host of reasons. Hannah is shy of June, and at first I was terrified that she wouldn't remember. But eventually she does - she's angry, though. She wants to know why her parents didn't try harder to find her. This whole thing is just completely breaking my heart. Of course, the moment when they are torn from each other's arms is even worse. Hannah, now going by Agnes, asks June if she'll ever see her again, and June can't give her a definite answer. She just tells her that she's going to try.

How twisted is this? It's so incredibly messed up. Little Hannah knows enough about this world to understand that her mother is pregnant but won't get to keep the baby. She knows enough to realize, even if she can't fully put the pieces together, that her mom doesn't have the agency to protect her own children. A kid her age shouldn't have to be thinking about these things, and it sucks so hard. And then, the episode ends in a really shocking way - a couple of guards show up, and while June is hidden in the house, Nick is taken away and driven off. June is abandoned in the house. She's alone. She's nearly full-term. She's trapped, with no way to travel, and no way to communicate. She wasn't trying to run away this time, but who on earth is going to believe that story when they hear it? Can Fred save her at this point? Yikes! I have no idea what's going to happen.

Often this show is more thematically interesting than it is just for the sake of the plot. This week was a good example of both - I genuinely don't know how June is going to get out of her current situation, and I can't wait to find out. At the same time, I'm reeling with the social commentary, the brutality of rape, the horror of the government separating families and, get this, citing the bible as justification for doing so? I despise how relevant this all is to our current reality in America.

I can't wait for more of this nightmare...

9/10