'The Handmaid's Tale' 3x08 Review: 'Mean Girls', Gilead Edition (Spoilers)

June has long since lost all pretense of being of the "good girl" in order to stay alive. She's ruthless to Ofmichael in this episode, her walking partner that admitted to being a spy for Aunt Lydia, snitching on June and Hannah's Martha, and getting June's daughter moved to an unknown location. Yes, Ofmichael might have deserved June's outburst, but June's been taking way too many leaves out of Serena Joy's book in her efforts for revenge. June has become the unofficial ringleader of sorts in her local group of Handmaids, whom are shunning Ofmichael on her behalf in this episode. Aunt Lydia notices, as she usually does, and takes the Handmaids back to the Red Center for a special "Testifying" session, in which one Handmaid sits in the middle of a circle while the surrounding women shame her. This was shown all too brutally in the very first episode of Season one where Janine testifies to being gang-raped, and the rest of the Handmaids condemn the rape as being her fault.

June takes her shaming very nonchalantly, with an expression that conveys all too well that she doesn't give a fuck anymore about punishment. She then raises her hand and "confesses" to Aunt Lydia in a falsely concerned voice that Ofmichael doesn't want her baby. After seeing all the Handmaids pointing at Ofmichael, screaming out of real contempt toward her, that she's a "crybaby," I was convinced that June was enjoying this way too much. Normally, June shows an alarming amount of compassion, even to the people that really do not deserve it. Last season, after Serena Joy and Fred Waterford brutally rape a pregnant June under the guise of inducing labor, June's taken to meet with her daughter, Hannah, in the Mackenzie's mansion for ten minutes. Nick's unexpectedly taken by two other Guardians, and June's trapped in the mansion. During a desperate attempt to leave the mansion and Gilead all together, she hides away from Fred and Serena while they have a fight in the foyer. June aims the shotgun she found at them from a balcony, but Serena Joy starts crying as Fred throws her against the wall. June, even though she has every right to dispose of these criminals that mean to steal away her unborn child, lowers the gun.

Revenge is not always the first and foremost action to take in such a predicament. June's plight has always been to survive, and to get both of her daughters out of Gilead. But now she's out of reasons to stay alive, since she has no leads to where Hannah has been taken. Her daughter, Holly, is in Canada with Luke and Moira, whom she thought would be safe. But since 3x06, when she was forced to become a poster child for Gilead during the Waterfords' publicized plea for "Nichole's" return, she's realizing that staying idle, and allowing herself to become a puppet for the regime is going to end up backfiring for her. So, Ofmichael's assault in the market at the end of 3x08 has pulled the pin out of the grenade for June. The next week promos show far more risky acts of rebellion, and I can't wait/I'm fucking scared for June, because Gilead's not gonna be an easy adversary by a long shot.

This episode was not solely about June's revenge though. Season three has been lapse in flashbacks, considering Seasons one and two were chock full of them. The only flashback we've had so far is in 3x04 when June recalled baptizing her daughter in a Catholic church with Luke and Moira, to the slight annoyance of her overbearing feminist, secularist mother. This episode illuminates a character we're all we impatiently waiting to learn more about—the ambiguously, yet dangerously, hardlined Aunt Lydia. Just in case you were hoping that she would turn toward the resistance during her recovery from her stabbing... no, that's not happening. If anything, it's strengthened her resolve to be as contemptuous and unlikable as she can be. But Ann Dowd's remarkable performance of this character is what captivates the audience. I've definitely said this before, but it is a true mark of an actor's skill when they can make the audience absolutely despise them, yet also display moments of humanity that scare them. Before she became an Aunt of Gilead, she was still Aunt Lydia, albeit in a different context.

Lydia Clements was a fourth grade teacher that doted on her students and her faith. She shares a Bible verse with the principal while they are both waiting for a parent to pick up their child. Lydia wants to take the child home with her while the proper services are being called when the student's mother arrives, three hours late. Noelle is a single mother that works as a cocktail waitress. Lydia is already ill disposed toward her for being so late to pick up her child, showing that she had certain ideologies before Gilead's reign. It's unknown whether Lydia or the principal were explicitly a part of the Sons of Jacob, though it's assumed they were a part of a more lax Protestant sect. Lydia invites Noelle and her son to join her for some homemade chili.

We learn more about Lydia's morals pre-Gilead. She silently balks at the notion of having a "boyfriend or girlfriend," displaying that she has prejudices toward homosexuality. Noelle also talks about how she was talking to her manager after slapping a customer for "grabbing her rear," which was why she was so late. And this is a clever detail to include, because the audience is also judging this woman, whether or not they want to admit it. We're thinking, "Nah, there's no way that takes three hours." We are the ones silently judging her just like Aunt Lydia, which means we are, momentarily, agreeing with Aunt Lydia. Yikes.

The flashback returns with a time-skip to Christmas. I'd hazard a guess that the Republic of Gilead outlawed the celebration of pre-Gilead holidays, which is why we haven't seen any Christmases within the nation over the span of the two and a half seasons. So, it's a bit alarming to see Christmas lights and decorations. Noelle and her son now call Lydia "Aunt Lydia" affectionately, and they exchange presents. Noelle talks about her new job and how she's in a relationship... with a married man. Again, we're judging her because... yeah, it is kind of a shitty thing to do to go out with someone else's husband. The same thing was pointed out in Season two when Annie was hounding June during her (Annie's) and Luke's separation. We hear the message Luke leaves on Annie's voicemail, and it's horribly abusive, considering we don't know why exactly their marriage fell apart. This is a show that doesn't paint anyone as "just a victim" or "just a villain." Everyone has their good parts, and everyone has their bad parts. Aunt Lydia's good parts are her sympathy for children and compassion... it's just a case of "right idea, really fucking wrong execution."

Lydia and the principal also develop a romantic relationship, and we are somewhat charmed by their rom-com date at the club when he ropes her up on stage for some karaoke. What was not charming was the resulting make-out session. It's just weird to imagine Aunt Lydia getting it on... this version of her pre-Gilead oddly enough reminds me of my own mother in some respects. Yes, my childhood was quite miserable, thanks for asking. It didn't even end in failure—her suitor just wanted to wait and he expressed interested in seeing her again. But she's angry at herself for different reasons and displaces her anger onto Noelle for "leading her into temptation."

Fundamentalist Christian "purity" culture is astonishingly damaging to the self-esteem. Young girls and adults alike are taught that pre-marital sex ruins a marriage before it even begins. It's incredibly sexist to hold so much stock in a person's sexual history to where it ultimately defines how a marriage will work. Lydia has obviously bought into this moral dilemma, and believes herself to be in sin for both consenting to pre-marital sexual displays of affection, and possibly out of shame for being a divorcee and carrying on with a divorced man. So, instead of working to absolve herself of her "sin," she projects her blame onto a promiscuous mother. By all means, Noelle's son was being neglected—he had unhealthy packed lunches, he showed signs of being unbathed for days, his mother left him at school for hours after the school day finished without calling. But Lydia had him taken away under the pretense that Noelle was a "corrupting influence," and out of personal revenge. The principal is none too pleased with her mercilessness, and we are led to believe this was the end of their blossoming relationship.

Aunt Lydia's role in Gilead is inspired by her prejudices of promiscuous mothers. She values children's welfare over the lives of women in her care, to her detriment. She's been snowed into thinking she's doing a Godly service, but really she's as much of a misogynistic dictator as the rest. She thinks she's rescuing babies from a lifetime of neglect, but as shown in Season two with baby Angela/Charlotte, children in Gilead are little more than trophies for some families. She's ripping babies away from mothers who would truly love them to place them in arms of women and men who would value them as reputation fodder. The fact that she was so adamant in getting Noelle's son taken from her for neglect, but perfectly fine with giving Angela/Charlotte back to the Putnams displays how far her personal indoctrination has gone. She's as deluded as the Wives, cruel as the Commanders, and unforgivable as Gilead itself.

So, the action is finally ramping up for these last few episode of Season three, and we can only hope at least one of these villains gets what they deserve. The previews of 3x09 display June holding a scalpel behind her back while coaxing Serena Joy over to her. It's weird, this show doesn't even make me want the enemies to die. I want villains like Serena Joy and Fred Waterford to suffer, not die. I want there to be a revolution where they both see Gilead crashing around them, I want them dragged before an international court, I want them to be humiliated before the rest of the world for their heinous war crimes and crimes against humanity. But as June said herself, "Or may they both get hit by a fucking truck, I'm down for either."