5x09 Allegiance

So, the US raid to get the girls out of the wives-school goes up in flames because Gilead's better prepared and lured them in. With Lawrence's knowledge which leads to a spectacular blow-up over the telephone. Lawrence reminds me of that president of district 13 who, while trying to get rid of the capital herself has tyrannical tendencies up to and including reinstalling the Hunger Games... she might have been a leader in the revolution but she's no leader in a transition after a revolution. She had to go. And Lawrence turns out to be quite similar. Granted, he might have helped the handmaids, the Marthas, may-day and getting the children out of Gilead. But he definitely doesn't want to overthrow the system, to get rid of oppression. He just wants to put another spin on it. And now, he's essentially taking Putnam's place, marrying Naomi. Mackenzie's in his ear about June etc. I love Whitford, and I love that he's made Lawrence so ambiguous a character. But I think he's finally gone off the deep end, Lawrence that is, not Whitford whose acting remains as brilliant as always.

I wonder, though, why he never offered June the trade: her moving to New Bethlehem for Hannah's freedom. I think she'd have gone for that in a heartbeat. I think he miscalculated there. And he also misjudged Nick's attachment to June in his illusions of grandeur. Speaking of Hannah... in season 2 she didn't remember June, in season 4 she was afraid of June (and didn't know her name) - and now she's writing it down? Where did she learn to write? She's 12 years old, Luke's been in Toronto for 7 years, the revolution took place before that, so who taught her to write?

Serena manipulates Wheeler into letting her out of the house... and of course, no one's there to keep an eye on her. Right.

I've had an issue with the portrayal of Canada since the beginning of this show. If the writers got into the Canadian situation in some way, meaning that supporting the US refugees lets their economy take a dive or anything like that, I'd in some way understand the upheaval. But honestly, why are there raids against the refugees? They don't spread the gospel (unlike Gilead proper), they share the same culture, they share the same language, they're not living on the streets or making Toronto feel unsafe. It just feels as though TPTB decided that they had to add a refugee crisis and hatred against refugees etc into the mix without taking the time to develop the situation. I mean if there had been any inkling that those protesters against the US/Gilead-refugees are in any way manipulated by Gilead, then that plotthread would have come together (essentially Lawrence making June that offer and making it impossible for her to stay in Canada at the same time). But like this? This is poorly done in every way possible.

In the end we have the memorial... and another little girl being instrumentalized to make a point in having her recite the pledge of allegiance. Is that so much better than what happens in Gilead, I wonder? This little girl never knew the US, she doesn't understand what that pledge means.