‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Recap: ‘Household’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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When it comes to reaching just about any goal in life, one can expect some serious setbacks to pop up along the way. Because getting what we want in life is never an easy task, and the world never quite cooperates the way we would like it to, and sometimes that’s due in large part to the fact that people who are paramount to the success of our respective goal, have their own agenda and thoughts on what we want and can find a way to muddle things up. And while we know that our next step when a setback occurs is to regroup and try a new plan of attack, in the moment, when it happens, it truly feels like the end of the world and this is on my mind today, simply because setbacks just so happened to be the focal point of this week’s episode of The Handmaid’s Tale.
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For ‘Household’ is a story that quite frankly, found a way to frustrate all of us, thanks to Commander Fred Waterford’s grandiose plan to bring June to Washington D.C., now the capitol of Gilead, in order to film all kinds of prayer propaganda videos in the hopes of getting Nichole back onto their soil and well, he made progress in this endeavor, enough to at least get the Swiss involved in negotiations and that’s where the setbacks came into play. Because as the course of the hour played out, we saw Serena, someone we once had hope for, revert to her selfish and evil ways and we even saw Nick betray his daughter and his love by refusing to give up information to the Swiss, leaving June on an island, without any hope of stirring revolution at this point and well, that’s quite the stunning change of events in a season where hope has been abundant.

Which means, as a viewer and a fan, I should feel angry and betrayed, yet oddly enough, I don’t this time around. Simply because, the trip to Washington exposed quite a few things character wise, since it more or less explained why Gilead is successful and why people who despise it, yet back it on a moment’s notice continue to feed it, when they know it’s something terrible, and that’s really due to the fact that everyone we’ve met in Gilead, has found a purpose and a place, and they love that. Granted, the show has always hinted at this, but seeing Nick be saluted on the way to Chicago, and seeing Fred receive praise from the newly introduced Commander Winslow, and for that matter, seeing Serena embrace her ability to impact change by staying the course and feeding Fred’s cause, cements this notion and speaks to how marginalized these people were in the United States of America.

They were ghosts before Gilead, and Serena’s moment in the sun that we saw a while back speaks to how the world kept them out of sight when they did try to make their voices heard. But now, they’re somebody, they’re powerful, they’re respected, and who gives a crap who they hurt or destroy because their egos are finally fed, and seeing this on display is the first time that Gilead has truly seemed vulnerable because people like that, can be brought to their knees when you hit the right nerve. And while that doesn’t sound like the recipe for a fiery revolution that would see Gilead collapse, it’s a starting point, something that June demonstrated by challenging Aunt Lydia’s role in earnest fashion, something that elicited humanity and kindness from one of the show’s cruelest characters and it was furthermore put on display by way of the verbal smackdown she provided Serena with, since that appeared to rattle Mrs. Waterford in ways we’ve never seen.

If anything, all I can feel for the leaders of Gilead, is pity. Because they’re awful and weak people who have nothing of substance to offer the world, since they are as June put it, ‘empty’. But, all setbacks and fiery moments aside, really, one big question hangs over this episode in that, where do we go from here? And honestly, I haven’t a clue. But I have faith that June will figure something out, because she is motivated to make change, and there are others who are with her on that, and a spark is indeed all a revolution needs. So, at this point, all I can gather, is that revolution is going to come in the most unique way possible on this show and well, the sooner the better, since this tale also reminded us of how things are getting darker in Gilead, since the High Commanders in Washington are good with clamping shut the mouths of Handmaids to try and maintain further control, and well, this madness has to end, plain and simple, and I really cannot wait to see how June will recover from this setback, so she can lead the fight for freedom. Until next time. 

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