|
Post by matthewsee on Aug 18, 2017 2:31:19 GMT -5
I decided to get into The Handmaid’s Tale TV series based on the book of the same name by Margaret Atwood after reading a recommendation that viewers who like The 100 (which I watch) will also like The Handmaid’s Tale.
Offred: Series opener. A very startling beginning when a woman with her family flees from the authorities but gets captured by them. The woman’s husband gets killed and gets separated from her daughter. The woman who has been given the name Offred by her captors becomes a Handmaid the function of which is to provide children to influential figures whose own wives are barren. A truly disturbing world that is explored here and haunting as we hear Offred’s thought throughout the narrative.
|
|
|
Post by matthewsee on Aug 27, 2017 5:37:11 GMT -5
Birth Day: Season 1, Episode 2. The episode title is not about a birthday but a birth day as it is refers to the day of birth of a new baby and the first birthday is not the day that one is born but exactly a year afterwards. Quite intriguing flashback when June gave birth to daughter Hannah and what happened shortly afterwards. Despite Offred regarding the Commander as her adversary it was quite a nice little scene when they play a game of scrabble together. Offred sure got a shock at the end when she meets a different Ofglen.
|
|
|
Post by matthewsee on Aug 31, 2017 22:51:32 GMT -5
Late: Season 1, Episode 3. Fascinating flashbacks detailing the rise of Gilead beginning with that rude guy at the coffee shop and all women getting lay off from their jobs just for being women. Gruelling that interrogation on Offred. Horrifying when Ofglen witnesses Martha’s hanging execution while Ofglen is not executed as she is still useful to the authorities.
|
|
|
Post by matthewsee on Sept 7, 2017 0:27:33 GMT -5
The Handmaid’s Tale (movie): Long before the current TV series, The Handmaid’s Tale was adapted as a 1990 movie. It stars Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall, Aidan Quinn and Elizabeth McGovern with the screenplay by Harold Pinter. Given it was released it looked comparatively simplistic, due to era that movie was released in, to the much darker atmosphere of the later TV series, but it is still dark nevertheless. The movie does well to present the dark atmosphere of its premise. Natasha Richardson did very well in carrying the film as the lead character Kate/Offred. Certainly a lot of what is presented was unsettlingly due to the plot’s atmosphere. The ending made room for a sequel but not one that the book’s author Margaret Atwood had gotten around doing. However she did indicate a sequel earlier this year 2017, decades after the publication of The Handmaid’s Tale.
|
|
|
Post by matthewsee on Sept 7, 2017 2:26:43 GMT -5
Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum: Season 1, Episode 4. Quite tense in a flashsback when June and Moira were in the subway after their escape when June got asked a question. Unfortunately this results in June staying behind while Moira was able to make her escape in the train. Quite unfortunate on what became of the previous Offred.
|
|
|
Post by matthewsee on Sept 13, 2017 3:15:32 GMT -5
Faithful: Season 1, Episode 5. The thrilling highlight of this was when the former Ofglen now called Ofsteven stole a guard’s car and made an attempt to getaway and running over and killing a guard along the way. Too bad this ended with her getting caught and placed in a van.
|
|
|
Post by matthewsee on Sept 20, 2017 7:40:14 GMT -5
A Woman’s Place:
Season 1, Episode 6.
The episode title refers to the name of the book that Serena Joy wrote in the old world.
Interesting look at what life was like for Serena and the Commander in the old world.
The party was interesting to see.
What a revelation at the end.
|
|
|
Post by matthewsee on Sept 27, 2017 6:31:47 GMT -5
The Other Side: Season 1, Episode 7. This episode came on May 24 2017 and The Other Side is also the name of the antepenultimate episode of The 100 season 4, which came exactly two weeks earlier on May 10. In fact I started The Handmaid’s Tale after I read a recommendation for viewers who also like The 100 as both series presents a post-apocalyptic world. Fascinating episode on what was happening with Luke and what he had to go through on his own and who he meets along the way.
|
|
|
Post by matthewsee on Oct 4, 2017 10:43:49 GMT -5
Jezebels: Antepenultimate episode of season 1. Nice to see Offred in a dress as the Commander takes her on a night out. It was at a party that Offred reunites with Moira as Moira has been recaptured. Quite a determination from Offred not to be like her predecessor who had committed suicide. Eerie the episode closes with Offred’s etching of “You are not alone”.
|
|
|
Post by matthewsee on Oct 12, 2017 5:36:47 GMT -5
The Bridge:
Penultimate episode of season 1.
Quite awkward when Waterford presented Moira to Offred in the bedroom.
The said bridge is where Ofwarren has taken her baby daughter to and getting ready to jump in the water.
The bridge was very very tense and powerfully delivered.
Offred talks to Ofwarren to get her and her daughter off the bridge.
Technically Offred succeeded in doing both because while the baby was given to Offred to hold, Ofwarren jumps into the bridge. Thankfully and luckily she survived.
Coincidentally I have finished seeing High-Rise which had featured Elisabeth Moss (Offred).
|
|
|
Post by matthewsee on Oct 24, 2017 6:38:00 GMT -5
Night: Season 1 finale. Quite distressing for Offred that she sees her daughter Hannah but Serena Joy refuses to let Offred hold Hannah. That is a lot of profanity all at once as Offred unleashes her tirade on Serena Joy. Quite a tense moment when the Handmaid were ordered to stone Janine/Ofdaniel to death but luckily for her they refuse to obey the order. Quite a moment that ends the season with Offred walking out on Fred and Serena Joy.
|
|
|
Post by matthewsee on Apr 21, 2018 0:27:10 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by matthewsee on Apr 28, 2018 4:41:34 GMT -5
June: Season 2 opener. Fascinating beginning to the second season with Offred being spared a punishment due to a certain condition she was in. Intriguing flashbacks of the news story of what happened at the Capitol Building and the White House. What a declaration June made at the end.
Unwomen: Season 2, Episode 2. The episode title is sure a reminder of women being reverted back to their original status and especially shown in the flashbacks with Emily. Within the narrative Unwomen refers to Handmaids including Emily who are a colony doing some digging. Fascinating said flashbacks with Emily especially the circumstances in which she lost her teaching job.
|
|
|
Post by matthewsee on May 5, 2018 0:58:26 GMT -5
Baggage: Season 2, Episode 3. June steps in front of a van in order to be taken. If I had that kind of courage my life would have looked very differently now. Interesting flashbacks of the nature of June’s relationship with her mother.
Meanwhile The Handmaid’s Tale has been renewed for a third season.
|
|
|
Post by matthewsee on May 13, 2018 7:41:28 GMT -5
Other Women: Season 2, Episode 4. Quite unnerving on seeing the hanged man. Quite creepy the change of attitude for Offred at the end.
|
|