The Handmaid's Tale: Testimony (4x08)

Well, there's certainly a lot to talk about, isn't there?

Cons:

Now that we've got June out of Gilead, I find myself fundamentally much less interested in anything still going on there. Yes, I find Commander Lawrence and Aunt Lydia both to be fascinating characters in their own right, but it's just the same ol' same ol' circling the drain with these two. I'm happy Janine is alive, but, again, what is going to be different about this from every other time a Handmaid has escaped and been apprehended, brought back into the fold? We've got the opportunity for so many fresh stories over in Canada, that the Gilead stuff just isn't as urgent for me as it should be.

Pros:

But honestly, that subplot took up so little time, and the rest of the episode kicked ass. Let's start with the Waterfords.

The moment when Fred speaks out at the hearing was so intriguing to me, because at first I was like "wow, what a dumbass" but then seeing those protesters cheering on the Waterfords at the end? Truly a chilling experience. Here I was thinking that Fred was behaving rashly, but he actually has a lot more political and social savvy than people give him credit for. I don't know that he really believes any of the religious stuff, but he's certainly using it to his advantage in this situation. It was literally hard to watch the people screaming and cheering and holding up signs praising Serena and Fred. It made me sick to my stomach! I would hope that counter-protesters would also be there on June's behalf, but we didn't get to see that this time around.

And for Serena specifically... look, I don't feel sympathy for her, as I continue to state. But that moment when she grabs Fred's hand and they march in triumph towards the car... I'm just thinking about the moment during June's testimony when she pointed out that Fred was complicit in her finger getting cut off, all for the crime of reading from the Bible. When she sees people cheering, knowing full well those people know the story, know the abuses she suffered as well... how does that make her feel? Fully triumphant? Or is she less confident in the righteousness of her actions than she once was?

Then you've got June's testimony. Excellent performance from Moss as always. I like that she didn't push it too far, and gave actually a pretty understated performance. All one take, just focused on her face, as she read out what had happened to her in a matter-of-fact manner. It was super effective, and also read as completely honest. She didn't share every single detail, of course, but focused on the Fred-related abuses she had suffered, skimming over the rest. I didn't hear this and think "manipulative" or "misleading" at all. Everything she said was completely factually accurate and baldly true. She even threw in the part about attacking Fred back, which she could have left out. I loved how emotionally resonant the speech was, but also how strategically sound, in that she managed to throw Serena a "sympathy" moment by talking about her losing her finger, thus potentially driving a wedge between Fred and Serena on their united front strategy. I want to see Fred's whole trial play out onscreen, I really do. I'm a sucker for that kind of drama.

Then there's poor Luke, who's doing the damn best he can. There's a part of me that's frustrated with him, like, stop making this all about you!! But honestly, how can I be mad? How can I blame him for his confusion and fear? He wants to help June, and he wants to find in June the wife he remembers. That's never going to happen, or at least not in the way he fantasizes about. I feel like this episode was a potential good step for Luke and June as a couple, though. What with June trying to deflect with sex again, Luke putting a stop to it and breaking down, and then June finally being ready to share with Luke the story of the last time she was able to see Hannah. All big milestones.

And then there's the support group. Oof. Moira. Emily. Lots going on here. We see that Moira is leading this group of Gilead escapees. All of them, I believe, are former Handmaids. They talk a lot about forgiveness and peace and moving on, and June just cannot relate. Everything changes when a former Aunt, one who was in charge of Emily at her first posting, appears and tries to apologize for her treatment of Emily. The beatings, yes, but more specifically: she was the one who outed Emily and the woman she was seeing, and thus Emily's girlfriend was hanged.

There is so much going on here. June has this natural tendency to take over and take charge no matter where she goes, so there's the push-pull between June and Moira as these meetings progress. Moira is all for acknowledging and processing anger and then healing, whereas June seems to want to foster that anger. It seems to be "working" for her as a coping strategy, seeing as we've watched her reach cathartic moments each time she lets her violent anger rise to the surface. Having sex for the first time with Luke after yelling at Serena. Being honest with Luke about Hannah, after taking over the therapy group and getting everyone to share their violent fantasies.

But that moment, of Emily saying she feels great that her old Aunt is dead, and hopes she had something to do with it... yikes! I mean, I don't blame any of these women for the way they process what's happened to them, but we're seeing the danger in such attitudes just as we're seeing the cathartic benefits. The tension between Moira and June is an interesting one, because I don't think either is wrong in how they try and steer group healing. Moira has had longer to process than June has. And they're just different people, aren't they?

That's where I'll leave off for now. Lots of messy stuff happening, and I'm excited to see how it shakes out. I just want a courtroom drama now, please!

9/10