Handmaid’s Tale Episode 5 and 6
The Trapped will Rebel in Episode 5 of “Handmaid’s Tale”
“Does he like me?” Offred asks while perusing her latest trashy magazine gift from her commander. For a moment, Offred forgets this society is cruel. It’s a world in which the trashy magazines just don’t fit, trying to apply the logic of the “Does he like me test” just doesn’t work in Gilead.
It’s not just the handmaid’s that are oppressed, it’s also the women who are the oppressors. After Emily’s FGM, her mistress tries to spare her the ceremony on account of her “flu.” Emily tells her she can’t be sick every month.
Emily has been a beacon of hope for Offred and Emily has been able to keep going because she’s a part of the resistance. She has hope. After her partner is murdered by the eyes and she becomes the victim of FGM, Emily is hopeless. But her final act of defiance, stealing a car and driving around in circles, brutally running over one of her male oppressors offers hope for the others. Offred and the other handmaids are filled with joy watching Emily do the forbidden.
Offred must become pregnant, time is running out for her to prove her value in this society. Mrs. Waterford sets up a trip to visit the chauffeur, Nick. The sex is awful and impersonal, very different from the later ceremony scene — the commander goes off script, sliding his hand up her thigh sensually during their monthly intercourse.
By contrast, the episode provides flashbacks to Luke and June’s elicit courtship. Luke was married, but they fell in love over many secret lunches. Finally, they get a hotel room and consummate their love. When it’s over, June asks Luke to leave his wife. He agrees and they are together.
These glimpses of enthusiastic and consensual partnership offer a stark contrast to the feelings Offred has been developing over scrabble dates with the commander. Does he like her? Does he love her? It doesn’t matter, he’s her oppressor, her monthly rapist, the potential father of her future children, and one of the men who decided to mutilate her friend, Emily.
Offred’s second encounter with Nick is different. She reclaims her name, asking him to call her June. She removes all her clothes and his, they appreciate one another’s bodies. And she gets on top because that’s how she likes to have sex. She orgasms. For a moment, this world is better. It’s a world in which a woman can still own her sexuality. At the close of the episode, there’s a bit of hope.
Gilead has only one thing to trade in Episode 6: Fertility
Offred faces difficult choices in Episode 6. Commander and Mrs. Waterford ask her to be on her best behavior for a delegation from Mexico. The Mexican delegation is heading to Gilead for trade negotiations. The real kicker: the trade delegation is led by a woman, Ambassador Castillo.
Offred is led into the commander’s study. She’s show-and-tell. The commander spins an impressive yarn about how the handmaid’s have nobly chosen to serve the country. The ambassador seems skeptical, questioning Offred about how she’s treated, asking the room about the human rights abuses that they’ve been hearing about in Mexico. Offred lies. In the middle of a room full of commanders and commanders’ wives, she cannot do anything else. The ambassador seems satisfied.
The episode gets interesting when the ambassador questions Mrs. Waterford about her book. Before the ‘revolution’, Mrs. Waterford was a leader in women’s return to conservative values. She was even arrested at a rally. But did she ever expect to live in a world where women would not be allowed to read her works?
The ensuing flashbacks into the Waterford’s past, show a happy and supporting couple. They have passionate sex, praying before ravishing one another. They support each other’s hopes and dreams. Mrs. Waterford pitches ideas for her next book to her husband. He tells her about his travels and meetings. What’s interesting is how they are the perfect couple while collaborating. They sit in a movie theater together, happily eating popcorn, sipping a soda, and laying plans for an uprising. It’s an eerily domestic way to plan a coup.
Mrs. Waterford didn’t get what she signed up for. In her new world, her book is burned as she sets up house. She is forced to watch her husband fuck another woman because that woman might be able to get pregnant. She plays hostess and smiles as her husband negotiates human trafficking. She was an accomplice in creating the world that now oppresses her and many others. She actively participates in the oppression.
When Offred learns of the human trafficking scheme, it’s too much and she finds a moment to confess the truth about Gilead to the Mexican ambassador. Gilead is cruel. They beat women. They poke them with cattle prods, mutilate them. They systematically rape women, who are forced to breed for the continuation of the nation. If you dare to stand up to them, you will hang. The ambassador is surprised, but she must have known the truth right? She just didn’t want to see the injustice. The ambassador is unwilling to do anything to help Offred. In her hometown a baby hasn’t been born alive in six years.
There is however hope at the end of an episode that opened with the Handmaids scrubbing blood off the walls. The ambassador’s assistant offers to help Offred/June get a message to her husband, who is (according to him) still alive. The episode ends on this cliffhanger.
Stray Observations:
- There’s a lot to unpack in this episode, but the most important question for the characters in the show (and I think for viewers as well) is how do we participate in a society of oppression? At what point do we speak up and fight back?
- I’m really glad we got to see the Waterford’s flashbacks! It really helps flesh out their characters. I want Mrs. Waterford to turn for the resistance or for Offred to murder her. One or the other, but I want it to be dramatic.
- It’s extra cruel that the handmaid’s see their children paraded around like trophies. Presumably, they don’t get to interact with them much once the children are past breast feeding?
- How does this guy from the Mexican delegation know about Luke and June? Is he an eye? Is he genuine? Is he a part of the resistance? I must know!
- When are June and Nick going to get it on again? Or is that not going to happen now that June thinks her husband is alive?
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