After publicly beating Janine, Lydia excuses herself from the company of the commanders, their wives and all the other witnesses in attendance. Alone in a quiet corner of the Putnam household, Lydia cries to herself, overwhelmed with the enormity of her own actions.
An ashamed and embarrassed Lydia smashed her mirror, crying to herself. She decided to report Noelle to the authorities, citing Ryan's unhealthy diet and his unwashed clothes. She also voiced her disapproval over Noelle's dating life, and the fact that she was not religious.
Dong, dong, dong. Three bells, that is a death knell in The Handmaid's Tale (Channel 4). There is to be an execution today, or a “salvaging”, as they call it in Gilead. The handmaids gather in the snow, and kneel when instructed to by Aunt Lydia (so good by Ann Dowd).
Lydia's tears insinuate that she feels pressured by her belief in God's will to complete this awful task. Thankfully, rebellious Handmaids put an end to this atrocity before it can start, sparing Aunt Lydia the pain of having to accept that she is at the heart of the girl's continued harm.
Aunt Lydia thought that such women brought certain things upon themselves. In a memory of Offred's from the Rachel and Leah Center, as Aunt Lydia began to explain something about men and women lying out in public, she began to cry.
Wives are allowed to use lotion, but lotion is forbidden for Handmaids. They are supposed to take good care of themselves when it comes to maintaining their sexual health, but they are not supposed to be pleasing to the eye. Smooth skin is seen as a provocation, an opportunity to awaken a man's lust.
It drives her to report Noelle to authorities for being an unfit mother—a decision that spurs Ryan to be separated from her. Dowd, though, doesn't think Lydia herself understands that her sexual rejection and her sudden desire to shield Ryan from Noelle might be connected. “She just thinks, I gave her too many chances.
The childbirth scene is primal and intimate and prompts the women to confess their secrets: June tells Serena that she didn't kill her when she had the chance because she simply didn't want to, and Serena realizes she has been forced into essentially being a handmaid in the Wheelers house and begs June to take her baby ...
Despite seeming to be a true believer at the start of the story (at least in June's eyes, indicating that she might not always be a reliable narrator), Lydia is actually a part of Mayday, working against Gilead in the long game.
June shares the good news with Luke and Moira, excitedly telling them the U.S. Is planning a raid, and Hannah's going to be rescued and returned to them. While they hug, jump, laugh, and cry in celebration, the scene switches to Hannah, who's on the grounds of her school.
Wives sit at the head of the bed with the Handmaid between their legs, holding their hands as a means of spiritual connection between the Commander, their 'vessel', and herself.
“Under His Eye” refers to the Christian God, as God is supposedly always watching the Handmaids and their every move, since the Republic of Gilead, the extremist religious society they live in, is “blessed.” The phrase also refers to the powers that be, the very human elements of Gilead's society.
The former is easy; they simply remove them in private in order to eat. As for Ofgeorge, I notice the rings were somewhat large, which would give her the ability to part her lips slightly to take in a liquid diet.
The fact that June has been willing to overlook all of these past transgressions and forge a friendship with Serena speaks far more about her own state of mind than it does that of Mrs Waterford: she is clearly a victim of Stockholm Syndrome.
Aunt Lydia's asserts that Handmaids should always use the front door as befits their honored status. This subtly indoctrinates the Handmaids into thinking their lives are better and more worthwhile than before, one of many examples of Aunt Lydia's master manipulation.
Janine Lindo (Madeline Brewer) is one of the Handmaids taken to the Red Center at the same time as June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss), although initially, Janine is a little more rebellious. As punishment for acting out, the Aunts remove Janine's right eye, causing her to undergo a psychological breakdown.
Historical Notes. According to Professor Pieixoto, Nick's motivation cannot be understood fully; he reveals that Nick was a member both of the Eyes and of Mayday, and that the men he called were sent to rescue Offred.
But it's Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) — an “Aunt” whose role it is to keep Handmaids subservient — who crystallizes one of the show's most trenchant observations: the ways women, particularly white women, are complicit in patriarchal structures in order to hold onto what little power they're afforded.
Mayday is a secret resistance group that operates a clandestine cell system that works to oppose and bring down Gilead from the inside. It is unknown how many members there are, though anyone can be allowed to join.
Williams and Alexis Ohanian shared their pregnancy publicly at the Met Gala. Serena Williams announced her second pregnancy publicly at the 2023 Met Gala. Now, she is sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how she and her husband Alexis Ohanian told their daughter, Olympia.
Their sex life wasn't particularly active, so the child was presumably conceived in The Handmaid's Tale season 3, episode 11, "Liars," when Serena and Fred had intercourse while staying at a bed and breakfast.
Noah Waterford is a character in The Handmaid's Tale. He is the son of Serena Waterford and Fred Waterford.
Before Gilead
The two make out, and when Lydia tries to have sex with Jim, he refuses, claiming it's too soon since his wife's death three years past.
Lydia proceeds to call her a "degenerate" and says that it's like she had cut out Emily's tongue. Clearly triggered, Emily snaps and stabs Lydia violently in the back, pushing her down a flight of stairs and repeatedly kicking her, à la John Wick.
As one of three narrators in the novel, Aunt Lydia records the story of her rise to power in a manuscript known as “The Ardua Hall Holograph.” Despite claiming that she joined Gilead mainly in order to survive and subvert the regime, Aunt Lydia by no means presents herself as a saint.