4x09 Progress

This episode packs so much stuff.

Aunt Lydia loves Janine, perhaps the only person she loves who at least kinda loves her back. Most significantly, it is clear that Janine is the only person capable of cracking Lydia's protective shell, letting us get a glimpse of humanity hiding within. I suspect Lydia sees Janine as a Supplicant, a prospective Aunt. This will become very significant as this series progresses into the timeline of The Testaments.

Poor Luke. This episode illustrates how far June has fallen -- pre-Handmaid June is long dead. June's ice melted the moment she heard Nick's voice. June may love Luke as much as Nick, but the only man who truly understands post-Handmaid June is Nick. This common bond, along with her unconditional love for her children, kept June alive.

The most satisfying is the aftermath of Fred and Serena. Last week's episode, when they were cheered by the Gilead sympathizers, was very disturbing to say the least. On this episode, Gilead has thrown them under the bus by sending thoughts and prayers, and hints of retribution when they return. June and Luke's justified rage notwithstanding, I look forward to Fred and Serena seeking their revenge against the Gilead.

the closing scene: literal goosebumps (and, right after, elisabeth moss appearing as the director: chef’s kiss!). i greatly appreciate the extent to which june’s anger and rage are given space instead of trying to subdue her emotions and mental states. if the show aimed at shaping a meta-narrative by foregrounding morality and forgiveness, it would not only betray its main character (june as june) by validating, at her expense, the very beliefs of christianity that left her traumatized beyond words (june as the handmaid), but it would also ring psychologically untrue to us, the viewers, who, i hope, seek the elusive notion of justice for her—not a justification for the seemingly “good” thing to do. june is hurting. she’s not yet kind. nor should she be. at present, hurt is informing her every action. and it’s okay. it’s what makes her human—not a robotic, subdued object (i.e., a handmaid). as such, the show is not fading her in any way; on the contrary, it showcases her regained, autonomous self with the harshest contours possible to give back the voice of her emotions that, for the longest time, was robbed from her. agency and self-assertion are not “kind” and soft-spoken things: june is screaming—for good reason. to reiterate: her reasons, her actions are not, nor should they be, rooted in the “good” christianity believes in—but in everything she lost (herself, her husband, her child). her scream is, hence, grief. rarely is it pretty. i can’t wait to see the rest of june’s trajectory.