The Handmaid's Tale: Progress (4x09)

Wellllll.... shit.

Cons:

I've got to say, I'm just not thrilled with watching Janine have to play the part and get sucked back into the whole Gilead lifestyle thing. Poor Esther got caught up in it as well. This doesn't bode well for my continued enjoyment of the show, but I really must say that my attention starts to wander every time we're back in Gilead. I want all that juicy Canadian drama, please and thanks.

The scene where Luke says that June should go and meet Nick was... really weird? It was framed almost sinister, like Luke was blackmailing June into doing something she didn't want to do. And June was clearly very shaken by the thought of seeing Nick again, I get that, but it did feel weird that she wouldn't have brought it up herself.

Pros:

I was so mad when the episode ended and I learned that Fred Waterford was going to go free, in exchange for information on Gilead. So mad that my blood boiled. In other words, it was very effectively done. I like that we see Fred's growing frustrations as he realizes his fellow Commanders in Gilead have forsaken him. Then we just get the news dropped very casually, and Moira and Luke react with anger while June is seemingly pissed but mostly calm. Then she snaps, screaming about how Fred is a rapist. It was the perfect buildup and execution, and the idea of Fred walking around, free... it's chilling to contemplate. What's going to happen?

Also, despite the weirdness of the framing, I did greatly enjoy the whole concept of June going to Nick, of Luke bringing it up and saying that of course it's not what he wants, but it's what's best for Hannah. And Nick getting to see Nichole... gah. Honestly of course I'm a little mad at June for kissing Nick and just generally being uncommunicative with Luke about where she's at vis a vis their marriage... but at the same time, I feel like I'm not in a position to judge any of it. Luke and June just... don't really vibe well together, in my opinion. But also... Luke is doing his goddamn best and honestly he's a good person who doesn't deserve to be cheated on? But also... Nick doesn't deserve for any of this to be happening to him, either! I don't know, man!

The whole scene with Nick and June was just... lightness and joy and a happy family and June was smiling and cracking jokes... god, it hurt to see her like that, but in the very best possible way. I loved when Nick said he should have run away with her. And the fact that he was working on getting intel on Hannah hoping that some day he'd be able to get it to her? Gah. It's romance, y'all. I'm more deeply invested than maybe the show even wants me to be. I really don't know how this is all going to shake out!

While I felt way less enthused about the Gilead storyline in this one, I will say that June and Lawrence's phone call was a real shot in the arm. Commander Lawrence is complex and compelling to me in a way I think the writers want Serena to be complex and compelling to me. Both creators of a system that later damaged them greatly or whatever. But the writing makes a more convincing case for Commander Lawrence's humanity underneath all of it, and hearing him talk to June, giving her the information he could about Janine, advising her to be happy... man, they went through so much together, it's insane to think about. For the rest of their lives, even if they never speak again, they have this intrinsic connection.

That's true about so many of these characters. The depth of the trauma they've shared is inconceivable. We've only got the finale left and the season is over, and as I think of all that's happened, I feel exhilarated in some ways, and stymied in others. I want to know what happens, I want progress, I want Janine to be okay, I want June to recover, I want Fred to die, tbh. This show has done such a good job of keeping me on the edge of my seat, even when I don't always enjoy every development.

8/10