“Gilead only has one thing to trade that anyone wants. They want to trade us. They want to trade for Handmaids.”
Alma is a recurring character in the The Handmaid's Tale. She was trained at the Red Center as a Handmaid with June, Moira and Janine. She was also involved with Mayday and acts as one of June's contact with the resistance group. She was assigned to Commander Robert Ellis;[2] her patronym is Ofrobert.[3]
In the TV series[]
She mocks her Commander saying he can't even perform the Ceremony[2], and also has a "big mouth".[1]
As Alma, under her assigned name Ofrobert, learns from her Commander, Mexican delegates visit the Waterfords' home in an effort to create partnerships in trade and see the effects of the Gilead cultural movement. The Handmaids are then taken to a party to honor Gilead and show the foreign delegates their success, including presenting the children of Gilead. Alma remarks to June that the delegates are interested in fertile women as a commodity to be traded between the two nations [1].
June reaches out to Alma to become a part of Mayday and contribute to the resistance movement. Alma resists at first but ultimately accepts her offer and gives her her first assignment - get a mystery package from a "Rachel at the bar" at Jezebel's and hold on to it until further notice [4].
Alma is the third Handmaid, after Ofglen #2 and June, who refuses to stone Janine; she repeats June, saying "I'm sorry, Aunt Lydia".[5]
After refusing to stone Janine, she is taken to an abandoned baseball field, quickly revealed to be a deserted, run-down, but very much still recognizable Fenway Park. There there are scaffolds erected with nooses. Each handmaid is given a noose and just before the lever is pulled it shows Alma with the bottom half of her uniform soaked. Instead of dropping down completely and breaking their necks, the platform only drops a few inches. It was instead a mock execution, set up by Aunt Lydia and used as a scare tactic in order to give them a lesson that they'd remember.[3]
The handmaids are then all forced to sit in the rain with their hands extended while holding a rock. Aunt Lydia walks around electrocuting them but stops when she is informed of June's pregnancy. June is removed from the exercise and taken inside to get dry. Later the other handmaids are brought in soaking wet and forced to form two straight lines. Aunt Lydia takes them one by one and chains them to the stove. She individually burns their wrists as punishment for their insubordinate behavior.[3]
When some fellow handmaids arrive to the baby shower party at the Waterfords, Alma briefly informs June that Mayday has gone silent and is "done helping Handmaids". She adds that Ofglen #2 had her tongue cut out, which is the part that was not June's fault, pointing on her scarred wrist.[6]
Serena invites four handmaids (Alma, Ofglen #2, Oferic and Ofsamuel) for a surprise lunch with Offred.[7]
She was later with June, Emily, and Janine when they walked to the Wall to see deceased bodies of Eden and Isaac hanging below them.
Season 4[]
"Pigs"[]
The Marthas' Network helps Alma and the other Handmaids escape after the liberation of 86 children. They are brought to a farm and are welcomed by Esther Keyes, a teenage Wife who is a Mayday contact. While June recovers from sepsis, Alma and the others become Marthas at the Keyes farm. Alma welcomes June after her recovery.
When June later confronts Alma about Esther being abused by Commander Keyes, Alma says she could not do anything as the Keyes household was their only chance at survival. She attends a party in the barn where Marthas and the male laborers are dancing.
When Guardian Johnny Pogue arrives at the farm, Alma is one of those who beats him for his previous rape of Esther. She is present when June and Esther begin a mock Salvaging where Pogue is killed for his crimes.[8]
"Nightshade"[]
After Guardians visit the Keyes household, June moves to a nearby Jezebel's. When she returns, she tells Alma that they can move to the western border and help as rebels. Alma instead wants to leave, and has heard that Texas is allowing a number of refugees from Gilead.
June tells everyone at the Keyes household about the plan to move to the next safehouse. Although Alma, Brianna, Janine, Ellie, and Sara escape, June and Esther are caught and arrested by Gilead.[9]
"The Crossing"[]
The five escaped Handmaids live as Marthas at the next safehouse. June is forced to reveal their position after a long interrogation when she is threatened with Hannah's possible torture. Alma and the others are re-captured and sentenced to be sent to a breeding Colony. However, their driver pauses at a train crossing to use the restroom. They escape the van they are being driven in, but the Guardian returns and starts shooting at them, hitting Sara and Ellie. The Handmaids run past the train tracks to escape, but Alma and Brianna do not make it in time and are killed by the train.[10]
Appearances[]
Season One[]
- “Offred”
- “Birth Day”
- “Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum”
- “Faithful”
- “A Woman's Place”
- “The Bridge”
- “Night”
Season Two[]
- “June”
- “Other Women”
- “First Blood”
- “After”
- “Women's Work”
- “The Last Ceremony”
- “Holly”
Season Three[]
- “Mary and Martha”
- “Useful”
- “God Bless the Child”
- “Under His Eye”
- “Unfit”
- “Heroic”
- “Witness”
- “Sacrifice”
- “Mayday”
Season Four[]
- “Pigs”
- “Nightshade”
- “The Crossing”
Season Five[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Episode 1×6, "A_Woman's_Place"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Episode 1×1, "Offred"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Episode 2×1, "June"
- ↑ Episode 1×9, "The_Bridge"
- ↑ Episode 1×10, "Night"
- ↑ Episode 2×4, "Other Women"
- ↑ Episode 2×6, "First Blood"
- ↑ Episode 4×1, "Pigs"
- ↑ Episode 4×2, "Nightshade"
- ↑ Episode 4×3, "The Crossing"