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Birth Day

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Birth Day is the 2nd episode of the first season of The Handmaid's Tale.

Synopsis[]

As the relationship between Offred and Ofglen develops, Janine undergoes the birthing ceremony for Angela, prompting Offred to reminisce about Hannah's birth.

Plot[]

Offred and Ofglen go shopping and they reveal more personal information about themselves to each other. Ofglen tells Offred she's part of the resistance against the government and asks her to join.

Late that day, Nick, Commander Waterford's driver, tells Offred that the Commander wants to see her alone, which is forbidden. Nick also warns her, "you need to be careful [...] with her — Ofglen" and "don't get too close to [Ofglen], it's dangerous."


Flashback: Hannah's attempted abduction
 (Fertility Crisis)

Offred and other Handmaids go to the Putnams to witness the birth of Janine's child. In flashbacks, Offred remembers her own daughter's birth. During this time, healthy births were rare and in the flashback, we see a woman try to steal Offred's daughter shortly after she was born.


Offred in her Commander's study
 (Relationships/Fred and Offred)

Offred goes to the Commander's office unsure of what's going to happen, but he just wants to play a game: Scrabble.[1] She later goes back to her room and laughs with relief. The next day, Offred is excited to tell Ofglen about what happened that night, but when she goes to the meeting point, she finds it's a different woman who introduces herself as Ofglen.

Cast[]

Additional Cast

Trivia[]

During a game of Scrabble between the Commander and Offred, one of the solved words is "zygote" (an egg that has been fertilized by sperm), which is befitting of the peculiar nature of their relationship.

When Offred and the Commander play Scrabble for the first time, the first two tiles they turn over are the letters "M" and "A,". They are the initials of the author of the show's source novel.

Quotes[]

Offred: Has Ofglen been transferred to a new post so soon?

Ofglen #2: I am Ofglen.

Offred: [Voiceover] Fuck.

  • Offred: [voiceover] I can't stop thinking about the girl in the horror movie, that goes down to the basement when the light is out. The girl who thinks her boyfriend with the perfect hair is just playing a sexy prank. "Justin? Are you there?" And then she descends with a stupid smile to her bloody end. The girl's a fucking moron.
  • [she knocks on The Commander's study door]
  • Fred Waterford: [from inside] Come in.
  • Offred: [voiceover] Please God, don't let me be a fucking moron.
    • Offred: [first lines; she is in the middle of The Ceremony] Blue. I let it take me. Blue Moon. Rhapsody in Blue. Tangled Up in Blue. Blue Oyster Cult. Blue Monday.
Ofglen. I can tell her that The Commander is going to Washington. Will she be surprised by the Scrabble game? She'll be glad I let him win - I know that much. She'll be proud of me for that.

—Offred

Gallery[]

Music[]

References[]

  1. ↑ In the novel, it is explained that Scrabble, once "the game of old men and women", became desirable for Offred due to it being forbidden for women to play. Atwood 1998, pp. 178–79
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