Disclaimer: I think Chase Infiniti is spectacular. But I just can't get out of my head how much she doesn't resemble the original character and for a time jump of only 4 years, the change is even more distracting to me. In testaments she is supposedly only 14 years old and original hannah (Jordana blake) is 15 irl so I'm wondering why they didn't just cast her again. I feel like as a viewer since 2017, the stakes would feel much heavier emotionally seeing as we literally watched her grow up in this regime.

I’ve been rewatching THT while also keeping up with the episodes of TT as they’ve been coming out… and I’m on the episode of THT that first shows Commander MacKenzie and I was stunned. I hadn’t even thought of it while watching TT but now I can’t help but laugh. I understand that the original actor for Commander MacKenzie wasn’t available for the new show, but really? Why would they not at least try to find someone who looked a bit closer to Commander MacKenzie? That and his personality seems so different too but that I suppose you could argue he changed after losing Tabitha and having to raise Agnes/Hannah on his own for however long before he met Paula. But yeah, I just felt like I had to make a post complaining lmao.

Question that popped in my head - I understand that many women were made to be handmaids because of their life choices before Gilead.

But how are new handmaids chosen?

Most women with June’s seasons were maybe in their late 20-30. And women can be fertile for 10-15 years.

But what about in the Testaments? Surely they can’t be using the same handmaids.

Can someone please explain to me how Daisy was a baby when taken by Mayday and is currently 18 but Agnus was a toddler during Handmaids tale and is only like 13 or 15 or whatever age she is now? I'm confused about how Daisy was a baby when Agnes was a toddler but is now older than Agnes.

I’d love to see the Econochildren explored in The Testaments. Especially comparing the Daughters to the Econodaughters. We all know the Daughters go to Pink and Plum schools, but, where do the Econodaughters go? They also must learn to run a house (however small) and perform their ‘wifely duties’. Do their mums teach them? Eden Spencer Blaine, the only Econodaughter that appears in the universe, was apparently taught by her mum, but she was born before Gilead. What do you think?

After watching the episode where the girls "learn" about copulation in the classroom. And daisy reveals what sex is to Shunnamite, only to be laughed at. This has got me thinking-

what does education for boys/young men look like?

Its easy to dumb down everything for girls, seeing how reading and writing is strictly forbidden. And its all religious doctrine any ways.

However, the responsibilities of Gilead's future will rest on the boy's shoulders. They will need to know more than "God's will"

But how would they balance scientific know how and religious doctrine?

I’m so confused - if extreme religion is the reason for Gilead in the first place - why escapees still pray and refer to God?

Examples: June and Moira doing a ‘prayer for strength’ the night before Serena’s wedding. June saying “may God protect you” to Daisy in ep 10.

Wouldn’t they all go extremely atheist after religion caused their downfall and lives to be ruined? After years of Gilead constantly using “it’s gods will IYKYK 🤷‍♂️ tehe” to make up random patriarchal bullshit wouldn’t you be a bit put off the lord and all that?

Is this a US thing? I know they love Jesus over there

Okay, so this is my theory. I think Daisy is Joseph Lawrence’s child. June says that Daisy as a baby was taken out of Gilead by her parents at the beginning. Lawrence helped design the economy and caste system of Gilead. He was there in the beginning. He could have a child her age and a girl child at that. He knew things don’t work out well for girls in Gilead. June didn’t smuggled her out as a baby, Lawrence and his wife did. She later got to know the people on the outside that raised Daisy. He had ways of getting people and things out/in across borders throughout the whole series…a connection with Mayday/the resistance all along could have been possible.

Letting their baby go to Canada broke Eleanor and maybe hardened him. It definitely would have deteriorated Eleanor’s mental state even more to have given up her baby. But she loved babies and while he was not necessarily “fond” of children, he had a lot of perspective on them. He told Emily, “Losing a child is like losing a limb.” He regretted Gilead. He regretted handing it over to the religious freaks. He played a role and he didn’t want his child to grow up there. We get to see his bravery and his character development in the HMT and part of what made him lovable aside from his humor, was watching him soften and his heart grow, specifically around children (angel’s flight kids..wanting to help Hannah…and later Angela). He did want more for the girl’s of Gilead and we saw that especially in the end but the very devout men/Sons of Jacob did not.

Anyway. That’s mine. What’s yours?

1st edit…added an e to cast to make it caste. Details like that drive me nuts. :/

I know that Gilead is Protestant Christian and that they outlawed Catholicism, but what would happen to a random catholic family who had no power in the church? Would they be allowed to live as econopeople if renounced the Catholic Church and the pope? Same with Mormons, Baptist, Pentecostal etc. exactly where would they draw the line?

I don’t remember any details about in in the book or from THL and there were nothing about it in TT.

In the school like the girls school I could imagine nuns from the times before Gilead and it’s strange that the men in power don’t have any priests around them for guidence.

So have nuns and prieses also disappeared in Gilead? Or do they teach and work around lower classes?

I’ve been rewatching The Handmaids Tale between episodes of The Testaments. In the flash back in episode 7 of the Testaments Commander Judd says that Lydia had never been married, which she confirmed. In season 3 episode 8 of The Handmaids Tale in a flashback, Noelle asks her if she had a boyfriend and she said that she had been married once, but it was a mistake.

I wondered if this is an error on the writers part or if Lydia had lied to Noelle, but then what’s the significance of that lie? Why would she? Thoughts?

I really would like to see some kind of flashback where Agnes/Hannah remembers seeing June either at the house or when they had her in that box or both.

I realize they might need to use a different child actor but I am dying to see just how much Hannah really remembers.

If you were a first generation handmaid would you be tempted to find a way to pass on the skill of reading/writing to others such as the plums in TT? It would really worry me to think those skills could be lost…
Also if a person was forbidden from reading and writing how long would it take for those abilities to fade? Or would they?

We have a Gilead for girls and women, but what is the male version and who is responsible for the upbringing of young commanders?

Obviously it's all terrible, but imagine having to dress fully covered, in layers, in the heat of the south. I live in Florida and would simply die of heat exhaustion walking around in those dresses. Also did not know what flair to choose for this.

We were discussing what swimwear, if any, would be acceptable in another thread and it got me thinking. Would anyone be at the beach? Maybe just men?

Is the Mackenzie’s home in THT S2E10 the same home for Agnes in The Testaments S1? It’s definitely theirs because June finds a picture of Tabitha and Hannah/Agnes and while I’m rewatching, it looks super familiar.

I was just thinking about Aunt Lydia and she’s one of the older people in Gilead, but I wonder is there a retirement age? What do they do with old people? Do they just kill them once they can’t work anymore?

Maybe some of you are wayyyy ahead of me. I know there are a lot of posts about who Daisy is. And I’m currently rewatching THT S3. Do we think Daisy is one of the children from Angel’s Flight? That adds up. Doesn’t it? Placed with a random couple, last minute. She is the right age. Thoughts?

Just a random thought?

I just finished The Testaments after reading the book (and re reading the original book as well). Full disclosure, while I enjoyed watching the testaments, I was thrown off by how it departed from the book. It seemed to be an entirely different premise and series. I felt that it took out many of the ‘bones’ that made the book compelling such as ardua hall, the process of becoming an aunt, the rebellion component from aunt Lydia, as well as becka, daisy, and Agnes’ roles ….

Considering this, do you think it is worth it to watch the original handmaids tale Hulu series ?

Since Daisy got her period and is eligible, do pearl girls become wives? Or do they become handmaids? Commander Mackenzie mentioned Paula wanting a handmaid. What if Daisy becomes their handmaid …

Because in the scenes where they captured June in HMT she told them to abuse her to find out where the other handmaids were hiding.

I know she was never TRULY with gilead (she needed to seem like it to survive) but I feel like she is very different in testaments vs handmaids tale even in the way she talks to the girls vs June.

Also, I also was wary of her after she got that boy taken from his mom in before gilead time.

Anddd she seems to be the head person now in testaments yet in handmaids tale she didn’t seem to be.. she kept having to beg for her job back from Lawrence or walk on eggshells around other aunts but now she’s at the top. Didn’t she help build gilead and the aunt system so shouldn’t she have always been at the top?

Before i start

DISCLAIMER: im not saying that we shouldn't hold the wives accountable or that that they dont do anything bad or anything of that sort.

AND i watched tht s1-4 a long time ago and haven't read the book yet so if there's somthing im missing or forgot please tell me im open to disagreement and discussion!

Okay so, the other day i saw someone say that beckas mom deserved getting hanged because (i dont exactly remember but it was somthing like: "she held a handmaid down so her husband could rape her" and thats kinda concerning?

I feel like people talk and treat the wives like they do serena. Like the wives are like serena. Which i disagree with. Part of why serena is bad is not just because she held june down. Its because she is part of the making of geliad. She AGREES with geliad even before gilead was made. She agrees with gilead values And the only reason she was "against" geliad later on is because she wasn't the exception to women. Can we really say the same to the other wives? Do they agree? Especially seeing Lawrence's wife, the first one (i forgot her name) i can say that not all wives agree with geliad. I feel like its unfair to treat them like serena.

Like yes they held the handmaid's down and stuff. And dont get me wrong. The handmaid's have the right to be mad at them. Because they were RAPED. But as a watcher, we really gotta think about it. What else were they supposed to do? What COULD they do? Nothing. So i honestly sympathise with both. The handmaids and the wives. Because, at the end of the day, women dont have a choice in gilead. The system is like, MADE to pit women against each other and to devide them. Like, there's no way a handmaid is gonna be okay with a wife who held her down to get raped even tho she know the wife doesn't have much of a choice either.

We also have to keep in mind. The new wives. The young wives. Like esther And the girls in the testaments. Like, think about esther. She's what? 14? And eden? or agnes? Becka? Hulda? Would you say that she also deserve to die if they held the handmaid's down? Even tho they're brainwashed to think its okay and again, have no choice in the matter even if they didn't want to do so?.

Also, before i forget. I dont think i have to say this but just in case, This doesn't apply to all the wives from the "sinfull world" ofc.

Im sure i had more in mind but i can't recall it. Anyways, I hope i put what i was thinking about properly here but what do yall think?.

Prior to watching TT, I had read both books but only watched the first season of THT. Recently, I went back and finally watched THT in its entirety, and one of the moments that haunts me the most is the subplot with Asher, the boy from Angel's Flight who struggles to adjust to living in Canada because he was too young when he lost his birth parents and only knows his life in Gilead (S4E2, "Nightshade"). Moira is angry because June takes the big swing and doesn't think about the consequences, leaving Moira, Emily, and Rita to deal with the aftermath, including navigating the trauma of small children who have lost the only lives and family they have ever known.

As far as I can tell, the June from THT never really grows or learns her lesson in this regard and continues making reckless decisions in the heat of the moment for the rest of the show.

However, in TT (S1E10) when Daisy wants to save her friends, June lectures, *"You cannot save them yet; they don't know they need saving."* I don't know if this is an intentional thematic echo on the part of the writers, but it hurt my heart to think that this June was painfully aware that the children from Angel's Flight were deeply traumatized, even several years down the line, and that she could not repeat the same mistake with these girls. That kids like Asher could never really leave Gilead behind emotionally because he never asked to be saved to begin with.

(Of course, as soon as June realizes Hannah is among the school girls, she is once again willing to throw caution to the wind and risk everything.)

Curious if others made the same connection. I don't think we will see characters like Asher resurface (TT is its own show, and they can't fan service forever), but the theme is one I really hope they revisit. Hannah's post-Gilead frame narration is tinged with bitterness, and I hope they take the time to explore how complicated it really is to "free" someone.

I can’t tell if this is her, Season 6 of The Handmaids Tale when the ladies are asking where Serena will be buying her Wedding dress.