The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 Episode 2 Nightshade Recap
Get ready for The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 Episode 2 Nightshade. Last we left the handmaids made it to a farm and the Waterford’s still suck.
Its early morning and the handmaids are freaking out. There is a car out front. It is a cop. The cop comes in and asks around for the escaped handmaids. Our serial killer Wife says naw I haven’t seen them. Later she asks June what it all means. June says she has to leave. The handmaids discuss where she/they are going to go.
In Canada Luke and Rita are talking to a group of donors. We are now calling the mass child exodus The Angel Flight. Rita gets emotional when talking about June. They pretty much think she is dead. Her husband is running what looks like a large and successful non profit for escapees from Gilead.
Moira and Rita talk about Rita’s adjustment. They are worried about June. Rita rocks.
June is busy breaking into some sort of commanders compound. She is hiding in a delivery truck. The driver stops in the compound and gets out. It is not a compound it is a brothel and we are surrounded by Jezebels. Lots of rich and powerful commanders floating around. June heads into the greenhouse and there is a hooded woman. The woman tells her about a safe house. June wants her to kill the commanders. They have some words.
Serena Waterford is getting some sort of physical that is documenting her abuse. Her lawyers want to get into it. The CIA agent tries to convince her to do the right thing. She demands to see her baby.
Moira and Emily discuss finding families for the kids in the Angel Flight. Moira’s girlfriend comes in for romantic conversation. After her girlfriend leaves we see Emily and Moira talk. There is some chemistry between the two. Some real sparks.
How to kill commanders
June wants to kill some commanders (who doesn’t if I am being honest). The handmaids try and talk her out of it. The wife comes in and things get heated. She is worried about the guardians who have been sniffing about. June tells her they are leaving and mistress begs to go with them. June relents. It feels a little false. Holy shit the mistress has been poisoning her husband. That old fucking dickhead. June wants to learn how and the wife obliges.
In a very Dexter esque moment the mistress shows June how to make the poison while discussing why she made it. She only gives him a little. Just enough that he isn’t a bother. June remarks GIlead makes it hard to be good.
The Waterford’s are boring as fuck but we get a bit of their palace intrigue. Mrs. Waterford tries to get Fred to do the right thing. He tells her he can’t be manipulated. That her daughter is not really hers. Fred tells her she is delusional. She is a little dense. Thinking that getting Fred out of Gilead would solve his issues seems shortsighted to say the least. He made Gilead. So of course he ain’t changing.
Moira goes over to Asher’s house (Asher is one of the Angel Flight kids and is having a rough time transitioning back). Mom seems a bit overwhelmed. Asher is a picky eater and does not seem to be adjusting well. He wants to go back to Gilead. We learn he has been returned to his biological parents and it is a rough go.
Moira is a problem solver
Moira vents to Emily. June doesn’t always plan things out and leaves other people holding the bag. Foreshadowing here.
Moira brings Rita over to Asher’s house. They can spend time together and reflect on Gilead. She can also cook some recipes from there. Asher opens up a bit.
June is at the brothel and the woman from earlier trade revolutionary platitudes as the commanders drink all the poison they can handle.
Serena Waterford is preggars and the CIA agent does not appear super happy about it. Our exit music is Suffragette City. Everyone man in the brothel is drinking that poison up. Cue the Ralph Wiggum Simpson’s meme, “Yum it tastes so good but it makes my belly feel funny.”
June is back home and something is wrong. Big time wrong. June tells the van driver to stop. They get out and she tells him to go. He says he is not going to leave her. They walk towards the gate and towards the barn. Dude gets shot and a whole bunch of laser scopes end up on June. Nick is there and wants to know where the handmaids are. He whispers to her before she gets arrested “I am trying to keep you alive”.
Where We Are and Where We are Going
- Who doesn’t love David Bowie. A great choice as the music tends to be one of the best parts of the show.
- So nightshades are an entire classification of vegetables and they include vegetables we eat a lot of. Tomatoes and eggplants are good examples. However nightshade vegetables can be quite toxic to those that are allergic or eat the wrong types. There is probably an allusion the women that poison the brothel or the wife or something else IDK.
- I don’t get Nick’s game here. Yea I get he is in love with June but he hasn’t done shit to solve the underlying issues here so I am little over his angsty bullshit.
- Pour one out for the stable hand who deserved better but got done dirty.
- So what the heck remains wrong with June. Like I know she got shot but This episode is not great at establishing passage of time so I have no clue exactly what that deal is.
Tyler has been the editor in chief of Signal Horizon since its conception. He is also the Director of Monsters 101 at Truman State University a class that pairs horror movie criticism with survival skills to help middle and high school students learn critical thinking. When he is not watching, teaching or thinking about horror he is the Director of Debate and Forensics at a high school in Kansas City, Missouri.