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The Handmaid’s Tale recap: Episode 3, ‘Late’

By Reuben Levine

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It looks like Offred isn’t the only character we’ll be following from now on, with The Handmaid’s Tale.

Episode 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale, ‘Late,’ begins by answering a question that it shouldn’t have. That is the fate of the original Ofglen. Some of the minimalism that we praised in the premiere has given way to a more straightforward structure, and while that’s a shame, it’s not enough to take away from the overall impact of The Handmaid’s Tale. But yes, it would have been more powerful to not have ever learned the specifics of what happened to Ofglen.

With that out of the way, ‘Late’ fires us back into the past, showing us more of the takeover that began piece by piece. In a move that is sure to unnerve just about everyone, June (it’s easier to call her June when talking about her past life) finds her funds have been frozen and neither she nor Moira has any cash.

That’s basically a modern-day nightmare coming true. She is then let go from her job, with armed guards waiting to escort her and her fellow employees from the building. We later learn that all women are no longer to have their own money or hold their own property.

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The Handmaid’s Tale has done an excellent job of showing us the slow build up to the world of Offred. Speaking of Offred, everyone seems to think that she is pregnant, and that leads to her being treated far better than ever before.

The politics of being a woman in this world are not difficult to grasp – they are less than. Even when they are wives of important men, they are still less. Jeanine, who just gave birth, is having a difficult time adjusting. She bit the commander’s wife and has a secret name for the baby. She even thinks that the commander of the house – who is not named – is in love with her.

Shockingly, Offred tells Serena that she fears that she is “losing touch,” and the two have an odd sort of heart-to-heart. This is all predicated on Offred being pregnant, which she is not. Or is she? It’s not entirely clear, and the episode isn’t all that interested in getting to the bottom of it. Instead,  we see Offred being interrogated due to her connection to Ofglen.

This is when we learn that their term for homosexuality is “gender trader.” The scene doesn’t quite come off as seriously as it is meant to, partly because it’s difficult to believe that Offred would be so careless and act so bold. We are told time and time again how dangerous this all is, and Offred herself has said that she intends to survive. This is not how that is done.

The Handmaid’s Tale works best when we are limited to Offred’s point of view, but ‘Late’ makes it clear that she’s not the only character that we’re going to be following. We see Ofglen stand trial for “gender treachery,” for which she is sentenced to “redemption.” It’s not easy to show human suffering and how it feel genuine or earned, and the scenes with Ofglen do not hit home quite as they should. But there must be a special shout out to the hanging over her lover, which is beautifully shot, and horrible.

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After an affecting and mostly silent scene with Nick, we learn that she isn’t pregnant after all. It’s never made clear why everyone thought she was in the first place, and so the reveal that she doesn’t accomplish all that much.

Returning to the topic of the use of music, a remix of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” is used to soundtrack a flashback in which soldiers fire on peaceful protesters. While the remix is interesting in and of itself, we’re going to have to come down on the side of not caring much for the use of pop music in this show. Its purpose is too obvious, and it is, in the end, far too distracting.

It all comes crashing down when Offred reveals to Serena that she got her period; she isn’t pregnant. Now Serena is free to go back to hating her, which not only does she do, she also punishes her as if it were her fault.  In the end, Ofglen wakes up in pain, in a facility, after having been castrated. The big evil here, at least for now, seems to be Aunt Lydia, who has been present for every catastrophe to befall the main characters so far. She is one-dimensionally villainous, and therefore not all that interesting.

It feels like The Handmaid’s Tale is leading to some sort of uprising, and that may or may not work for the show. For now, ‘Late’ is the first misstep. The series is quickly losing its ability to balance its more artful tendencies with its need to show us everything. Hop, fully it can recapture that.

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