The Handmaid's Tale

Previously on The Handmaid's Tale...

I know what they did to you.

I'm so sorry.

Ofglen.

My name is Emily.

What's she doing?

Every Handmaid who followed you into disobedience

will face the consequences, but not you.

You are with child. You are protected.

That is your baby, Mrs. Waterford.

God has created a new soul.

Godspeed, June.

I am taking command of all your units.

The missing Handmaid is with child.

Right now, she is the only priority.

Hey.

Can't get you out of the city.

Someone will come get you.

They have a place you can stay.

So, it's safe to move.

My name is June Osborne.

I am... free.

Is this what freedom looks like?

Even this much is dizzying.

Like an elevator with open sides.

In the upper reaches of the atmosphere, you'd come apart.

You'd vaporize.

There'd be no pressure to hold you together.

We get so comfortable with walls.

It doesn't even take that long.

Wear the red dress, wear the wings,

shut your mouth, be a good girl.

Roll over and spread your legs.

Yes, ma'am.

May the Lord open.

What will happen when I get out?

I probably don't have to worry about it,

because there probably is no out.

"Gilead knows no bounds," Aunt Lydia said.

"Gilead is within you.

Like the spirit of the Lord."

Or the Commander's cock.

Or cancer.

Come on.

Chop, chop.

Place has been empty since before the war.

I come by here once a week,

check the rat traps.

Make sure nothing's leaking too bad.

Here, come on. You wanna give me a hand here? Come on.

Sorry.

Come on. Let's go.

There's water,

and there's power.

But you better just stay inside.

You get me?

You're gonna need that.

Hey!

What's next?

I'm supposed to get you here safe.

You're here safe.

Maybe see you in a few days,

if you're still around?

Under His eye.

After a while, crocodile.

Back to work!

You, too.

You! Go get your tools!

Let us sing unto the Lord.

The Lord is great and He is merciful.

The sinners and the whores are blessed with His grace,

- so great and kind is He. - ...the whores are blessed...

...so great and kind is He.

May He bless us with His mercy forever and ever.

May He bless us with...

Biome is a pretty flexible classification.

It can describe the biosphere of the entire planet,

or the microbial community living on the skin of a spider.

All right, here's where cell biology gets personal.

I want you to smell yourselves.

I'm serious.

Noses in armpits.

Can you smell that?

That is the smell of your microbiome.

Bacteria, fungi, viruses...

Yes, Jenna?

Sorry, but how do the different species of bacteria compete?

I mean, archaea, protists, and all that? Do...

There aren't archaea in the human microbiome.

They're only found in extreme environments, like salt lakes.

Not your armpits.

Actually, archaea have been found in skin,

in the colon and in the nasal cavity.

There've been some recent papers.

I'll send you a reading list, if you like.

Thanks.

Hey, wait up!

Jenna?

You got a minute?

Sure.

You know, you're smart.

You belong here.

Thanks.

Don't let some guy make you feel like your questions aren't valid.

Okay. I'll try.

That stuff gets better, right?

Like in grad school?

God, no.

Just stick with it.

- Is that your baby? - Yeah.

He's ours. Oliver.

He's super cute.

Well, I have to get this. I'll see you Wednesday.

Thank you.

Thanks.

- You want? I didn't know. - I'm good.

I'm supposed to use Stevia.

That's all we have at the house.

How's everything going?

Everything's good.

Good. Great.

So...

So, next semester...

Next semester.

I have some good news, actually.

It looks like we're

gonna be able to get you,

some nice chunk of extra lab time.

That's awesome.

I know how hard it is to carve out research time

when you're teaching so much.

So, good news.

You're giving away one of my classes?

I want you to focus on your mitochondrial lines.

Exclusively.

I'm not teaching next semester.

- At all. - Not this fall, no.

But it won't affect your tenure application.

More lab time. This is exciting.

What the hell, Dan?

This is an opportunity.

You're pulling me from the classroom.

You should think of this as an opportunity.

As opposed to what it is.

What is it?

It's caution.

It's an overabundance of caution, I'm sure.

The new board of regents is concerned

that you're not maintaining a healthy learning environment.

Do you have a picture of Syl and Oliver on your phone?

Of course.

That probably wasn't smart.

But I'm not going to hide my family.

I... I'm not asking you to.

You just did.

Look, things are unstable right now.

After DC, people are afraid.

I think that if we lay low for a little while as a department,

things can settle out.

So, you thought it was time to hide the dykes.

You know,

I took all the pictures of Paul from my office.

I noticed.

I thought you guys had a fight.

We did.

A few.

He says I'm a collaborator.

Paul's a drama queen.

They... They can't scare us back in the closet.

I thought mine was the last generation

that would have to deal with this bullshit.

I thought all of you were all so spoiled.

Not anymore.

I'm teaching next semester.

Sorry.

Welcome to the fight.

It sucks.

Facing forward!

Sorry. That one's still bad.

Yeah.

Just let it get some air tonight

and I'll bandage it up again in the morning.

Thanks, doll.

Best nail place in town.

Give me a good review on Yelp.

Her fever's back.

Yeah.

Oh, God, please.

Claire found some more duck eggs,

traded them for Tylenol.

Don't waste it.

She can't even hold down water.

Maybe some mint tea?

Could settle her stomach.

Get inside.

Come on.

Move, wife.

Find an empty cot.

Blessings to you.

Fucking bitch.