What I’m Watching: The Handmaid’s Tale

The Handmaid’s Tale: Season 2, Episode 12 “Postpartum” (B+)

This show has never been a thriller about handmaids trying to escape their circumstances, and I think that’s why there wasn’t even much of a transition from Offred giving birth in the woods all alone to her being back in Gilead, once again rescued by the Waterford family to make sure that their newly born child is safe and sound. Offred does appear to be getting more assertive, though part of that is that Serena wouldn’t let the baby anywhere near her, even going so far as to try to breastfeed when she isn’t nursing, a clear signal of the delusion that this world creates. This was a particularly brutal episode for Nick, who saw Eden returned with Isaac in tow and the two of them executed for their adultery in a purposely public ceremony after refusing to atone and instead choosing happiness over life. When even true believers can’t survive this system, you know there’s a serious problem. Emily, who’s probably the most resistant handmaid we’ve made after Offred, if not more, found herself in a very intriguing new home with a commander who doesn’t speak the way others do. Treating Emily as a person was disarming to her, though it’s also evident that Lawrence, the architect of the revolution, is a calculating mastermind, one who carefully dropped the many things he knows about Emily to catch her off guard. I wonder what will become of that relationship since it’s very much unlike anything we’ve seen in Gilead so far.