The Handmaid's Tale: Postpartum (2x12)

So I do have some concerns about some things, but over-all this was yet another brilliant installment.

Cons:

My concerns all center around a worry that things are going to get a little repetitive, if they haven't already. The pattern is this: June is stuck with the Waterfords. Something crazy happens, she has a chance to escape, but she ultimately returns back to the Waterfords. Serena hates June and wants her gone, but then something happens to grant them some tentative peace. Around and around we go. I'm not bored of this cycle necessarily - it's well-acted, and the characters are interesting enough to sustain the story. But June doesn't have a lot of agency in her own path. That's intentional to a degree, but it runs the risk of getting stale at some point. I have my eyes open.

Emily was in this episode, being introduced to a new Commander and his wife. It's not that I hated the scenes, but they did feel a little out of place, like they were really only there as setup for something coming next week. The new Commander is cold and erratic, the wife is deranged and desperate, and Emily is trapped in yet another bad situation. I guess I'll wait and see where this is going.

In some ways I understand why the show didn't have room to tell this story, but I wish we could have seen Eden and her boyfriend interact a little more. It would have been nice to understand their love so we could really appreciate the full horror of what happened to them, and understand why a fifteen-year-old girl would be unwilling to repent of her misdeeds. I wanted to feel that connection.

Pros:

But let's be real, the stuff with Eden was plenty devastating without that added context. Every time this show presents us with a new ceremony, the realities of Gilead get more and more creepy and sinister. This ceremony involves attaching weights to the legs of two young people and shoving them in a pool to be drowned. Yikes. Everything about this scene is tense and horrific. I like how non-ceremonial it was, in some ways. For the most part, the crowd gathered to watch was just there as an audience. It wasn't a large crowd, just the Waterford household and a few others, including Eden's mother and little sister. They just sat there and watched as Eden refused to repent of her sin. She and Isaac are drowned, and it's really hard to watch.

Not just for me, the viewer, but for the watching crowd. Serena is horrified. Eden's mother and sister are obviously crushed. June is heartbroken. Nick is numb. It's a surreal moment, and it seems to be a tipping-point moment for Serena. Of course, she's had similar moments before. I'm not sure if this one will stick. But at some point, something's got to give. Serena has a daughter now - I wonder if the thought of her own girl growing up and never learning to read, never being able to go to school or think for herself, is going to influence her. Seeing a poor fifteen-year-old brainwashed into the ways of Gilead end up dead for failing to toe the line... that would mess anybody up.

I just want to go through some of my favorite scenes and moments in this episode, because there were a lot of them.

Nick and June fantasizing about running away - this was a great moment because it reinforced how trapped they truly are in their own circumstances. I liked June telling Nick that she wants to name their daughter Holly, after her mother, and Nick accepting that as the child's true name. There's such a power in names, and this show is constantly finding new ways to reinforce that. This scene also gave us a glimpse of how much Nick truly cares for June, as well as creating a wonderful parallel to what happens to Eden and Isaac. They don't fantasize - they take action. It goes about as wrong as it could possibly go, but they actually made strides towards freedom. Nick and June, on the flip side, have never been able to make that happen.

Another great scene comes a bit later, between Nick and Eden, when Eden has been found and returned. Nick begs her to repent and throw Isaac under the bus to save herself, but Eden is firm in her commitment. She is quite matter-of-fact when she says that she doesn't want to have Nick's babies. She even apologizes to Nick for it. Nick, of course, blames himself for this whole mess. He was dismissive of Eden, and while his aversion to being in a relationship with a child bride is completely logical, it's also true that the situation wasn't Eden's fault. Nick could have tried harder to be a friend and ally to her, and in this moment of despair he realizes that. I like the fact that while Eden really does believe in Gilead and in the doctrine she's been taught, she's not a mindless automaton. June tells her earlier in the episode to grab at any hint of love she can find in this dark world, and I think Eden believes she made the right choice by doing so.

So, the other big thing going on in this episode is the stuff with baby Nichole/Holly. At first, June is kept out of the household, pumping milk for Serena to feed to her baby. But June isn't producing - one thing that would really help with this would be if she were actually allowed to see the baby and even nurse her. Serena is opposed, but eventually she consents to have June in the house, as long as there's no contact between June and Nichole. I mentioned above that I'm slightly worried about repetition when it comes to Serena and June, and their twisted relationship. However, I do like the fact that Serena has now seen the most extreme ramification of her actions. Maybe she can distance herself from all the horrible things June has gone through, because June has been defiant and made Serena's life difficult. But Eden? Eden is a child. A child who totally believed in the system. It seems that this might be the thing that pushes Serena over the edge.

In an episode full of moving moments, one of the most moving is when Serena tries to breastfeed her baby, and then apologizes for failing in that duty. She invites June to breastfeed later in the episode, and watches with love and awe as her child drinks from June. It's a powerful moment of coming together, even if it might be temporary, like so many other moments have been.

Another scene I want to mention: June and the Commander have a great moment where June manages to come out on top. The Commander asks June where she was hiding in the house when the Waterfords came to find her. June tells the truth, but brushes off Fred's concerns that she may have heard the Waterfords' argument. I like that June tells the truth - she says she was scared, and maybe she wanted to spend a little more time with her unborn child before being separated from her. Obviously June wanted to escape, and although she doesn't say so explicitly to the Commander, she makes it clear how much she despises her current situation. The twisted part is that the Commander seems to want praise and thanks for allowing June to see Hannah. He talks about how glad he is that he was able to do that for her, and asks her if there's anything else she needs. June's response? Well, she sure would like to play scrabble with him sometime. This response is brilliant - it reminds Fred of his past indiscretions, and becomes this weird threat mixed with general defiance.

Next week is the finale. I really have no idea where everyone is going to be by the end of this final hour of the season. Will Serena finally snap? Will June try to run again? Will we get to check in with the folks in Canada? I'm nervous and excited.

8/10