r/TheHandmaidsTale

I realize, of course, that the overarching theme is the oppression of women, with, loosely speaking, The Handmaid’s Tale focusing on adult women and The Testaments on girls.

I think it would be interesting, though, to see something that covers how the sons of Commanders are educated. How are they taught to be leaders in that society? Do they get the “official story” initially or are they exposed to the hypocrisy early on?

I could envision a male character that somewhat parallels Commander Lawrence — he’s raised to support Gilead, but something leads him to realize how awful it is, and begins to work against it.

Again - Has to be the worst sentence or quote ever. Ugh.

I was left confused by Paula who is by Agnes' account an evil stepmother, but is then suddenly nice to her when she gets her period.

The scientific lingo was also interesting.

Are there any signs pointing to her being a scientist in the old days, or a doctor maybe, or just not a very pious woman, who perhaps turned bitter because she now has to play house?

After the deaths Daisy's parents, Daisy seems emotionally disconnected from the context of the situation.

I understand the justifications for this:

- stoned

-possibly in shock

Still, her reactions in these scenes would feel better matched if these were foster parents who she had known for a couple of months or if her parents were killed ~3 months ago. (Inconsistent with the plot points, I know. This is a hypothetical.)

Why not make her react how most people would if their parents were just murdered? If it's for characterization-- like she's someone that emotionally disconnects and gets shit done in intense situations-- then wouldn't she have stayed on the balcony, heavily dissasociating, while the man's arm got cut off? That would be consistent with this characterization.

Speaking of the assembly: she had a stronger reaction in that scene than to her parents dying AND the show made the assembly scene feel more intense with the editing and sound compisition.

But sure, we can blame it on the weed. The writers made these scenes feel tonally inconsistent from the situation because the character is on the dankest kush ever made.

Or, maybe, just maybe the writers were more focused on fan service than on characterizing Daisy in these scenes. They prioritized showing June being a basass and having Daisy instantly trust her because the audience already trusts June.

(If my parents were just murdered and a random lady in the hospital told me my social worker wanted to kill me, that my parents were secret revolutionaries, and that we needed to leave the hospital together, I would not be leaving the hospital with her. I would not go to a remote hotel with her. Could June not have been a family friend at least to make this feel more realistic?? Okay, Daisy's stoned. Then it really weakens these scenes, that Daisy's doing all this tonally inconsistent stuff because she's stoned.)

Grief, especially when it hits suddenly, is a powerful opportunity to provide characterization, but the writers decided to mute Daisy's reactions with "Im really stoned, please answer these questions that the audience is likely thinking." But she cries once, so It's all good. /s

I would like to know if I'm the only on who found Daisy's scenes after her parents' deaths to be unrealistic or at least a strange writing choice. I'm a writing hobbyist and I was shocked by how weak these scenes felt compared to the rest of the show. Fan service can often make a weak scene feel stronger because there's built-in emotional connection.

It feels as though the writers saw that the scenes were weak and they added Daisy being high in the last draft as a crutch to justify the unrealistic progression of the scenes.

Im assuming she paired daisy and Agnes up for a reason ?

I just watched all 3 episodes of the testaments, and even though the show focuses on Agnes, Daisy, and the other plums, I noticed that there was no mention of handmaids and none of the wives shown so far have handmaids.

Does Gilead no longer have them as it seems most of the young wives are fertile or are there just less of them now? Also noticed that the handmaid doll from Agneses dollhouse was missing. Sorry if this is a stupid question lol.

Agnes gets cinnamon toast each night from Rosa. In THT Rita makes stewed apples for June when they think she is pregnant and mentions having to trade a lot of cheese for the cinnamon. So either Commander Mackenzie is way more powerful than Fred was and able to get rare food items, or Gilead has better access to global trade now.

I thought it was an interesting thing to include.

how does tuello know that phrase?

I really think Daisy is >! Nichole. I know the showrunner denied it because of timeline and age issues, but June also said she helped smuggle Daisy out and the literal first baby June ever helped sneak out was Nichole when she gave her to Emily. So I’m confused because if the purpose of not making her Nichole was to make Daisy and Agnes closer in age, why would you do something that would make them farther in age? The showrunner is trying to trick us all because we all know the book spoilers. I think the calendar thing in episode 1 that Agnes was saying she can’t keep track of time properly in Gilead is going to be the explanation they use about the ages. June couldn’t keep track of time due to no calendars etc so she assumed more time passed and thought Hannah was older than she was. !<

I’m noticed the handmaid doll was gone. Did Gilead do away with having Handmaids by the time the Testaments started?

If so, how are they addressing the fertility crisis?

Separate thought:

I think Hannah might be a lot older than she seems especially since she can’t read a calendar. Maybe whatever is causing fertility issues in that universe is also causing women to never get a period or it is delayed.

Episode 3 spoilers:

>!I have now rewatched all of June & Daisy scenes. The scene in the driveway in particular was what sold it to me. June wraps her up close, seems to smell her hair and is about to kiss her cheek then she pulls herself together and steps away.!<

>!I think the showrunner is intentionally messing with us. I hope that's true, I personally don't care about timeline that much, I'd prefer the show to be closer to the book.!<

Something I was thinking about when watching the first three episodes was how well it’s depicting lateral violence and discrimination by women toward women, the show of casual misogyny between all the girls, the feeling of some of them definitely coming off as mean girls (to say the least) especially toward others or behind their back. I just think it did a really good job juxtaposing the colors, brightness, the beautiful setting, while hinting that everything is truly starting to rot underneath.

Also I find it interesting about how bloodthirsty the girls are. We have parallel scenes regarding this in the original show but I was rather surprised by just how much enthusiasm these girls had for someone’s hand to be cut off like that. Like damn I wasn’t expecting the two minute hate.

Overall I’m finding I like it. I also just like the continued worldbuilding of Gilead as it takes on more rituals and creates traditions (who else got culty Masonic vibes at the pool scene?).

What say you?

I've seen the first two episodes of the Testaments. I LOVED seeing Gilead being brought down in Handmaids Tale. The destruction of Gilead made everything better. I was cheering when the plane blew up!

Now seeing that the cancer that is Gilead is still around five years later makes me angry. I'm almost angry enough to not want to watch the rest of the Testaments.

>!I've never read the books, but I know that in the Testaments book Gilead!<

>! is brought down; and that some of this story was used in the final season of HMT.!<

What's the point of the Testaments? I'm not sure if I want to see more women treated horribly by Gilead.

I know it's just a TV show and all, and I will probably keep watching; I'll just be mad that Gilead hasn't been wiped off the planet yet. LOL.

a couple things i noticed that i haven’t seen anyone talk about yet

- i think Becka is going to be a “gender traitor”. she is so obviously in love with Agnes/Hannah and that’s why she doesn’t want a husband. that’s also why she acts so disgusted when hearing about men having hair when all the girls are talking about shirtless men

- the parallel of the bees to the people in Gilead - as Daisy explains how she ends up in Gilead, the pearl girls are beekeeping. they subdue the bees and consume their hard work (honey/wax). just like Gilead does to women, especially handmaids. idk, i’m sick right now but hopefully someone gets me lol

- as a survivor of CSA, the scenes with the grown men lusting over literal 14 year olds is disgusting. even when we see commander judd’s house and how excited penny is to be a wife and head of a household, it’s still juxtaposed by the fact that her husband is probably old enough to be her father. the fact is these children are being forced to marry men old enough to be their father and subject to what is statutory rape…. it’s been a while since i finished THT and i forgot how triggering it can be

I have never read the books so everything is new to me and I have no expectations but I did happen to notice Agnes doesn’t have a handmaid doll in her doll set episode 1…. And I have yet to see a handmaid… any reason? Also could aunt Lydia know something we don’t? Why would she pair daisy with Agnes?

Her character drives me nuts, but her name makes it worse.

Bryce Dallas Howard narrates TT audiobook and I had to go there to make sure I was read/pronouncing it in my head correctl!

[SPOILERS AHEAD] This post discusses major plot points from the series finale of The Handmaid’s Tale, the premiere of The Testaments, and key events/character identities from Margaret Atwood's book The Testaments. If you aren’t caught up on the show or want to go into the new series completely blind, stop reading now! This theory explores how the show might be changing the book's canon to fix the timeline.

We all know the TV show has a major timeline problem if it wants to follow The Testaments exactly. In the book, Daisy/Nichole is about 16, but in the show, Nichole is still a toddler while the world is already moving toward the Testaments era.

My Theory: Daisy is NOT Nichole. She is the first child ever successfully smuggled out of Gilead.

1. The Timeline Fix The show’s premiere mentioned Daisy was smuggled out as a baby. If she’s a teenager now, that means she was taken out right at the very beginning of Gilead’s rise. She isn't June’s baby; she’s the "prototype" for every escape that followed.

2. The Mayday Connection I suspect Daisy’s parents were "nobodies" who managed to steal her back from a Commander/Wife early on. Gilead was new and couldn't afford the PR disaster of a successful escape, so they buried the file. After getting Daisy to safety, her parents didn't just disappear—they founded Mayday. This makes Daisy the "Legacy" of the entire resistance.

3. June’s Role: Mentor vs. Mother In the show, it looks like June will be Daisy’s mentor. June sees in Daisy what Hannah could have been if the escape at the lake had worked. Daisy is the weapon June "sharpened," while Hannah is the prize she is still trying to save.

4. Aunt Lydia’s Master Plan Lydia is a double agent now. The Commanders are obsessed with getting Nichole back as a PR move and to cripple June, but Nichole is way too famous and well-protected in Canada. Trying to steal her would cause more international problems than benefits.

This is where Lydia steps in. She finds the "Cold Case" file on Daisy and presents it to the Commanders as an alternative.

The Pitch: Bringing back a child "stolen" so long ago would be a massive statement of Gilead’s power. Since Daisy is a teenager, they can coerce her into praising the regime—she’s a PR dream.

The Reality: This allows Lydia to position an elite-trained rebel (Daisy) inside Gilead with much less suspicion, where she can team up with Agnes (Hannah) to get the files out.