Late

Late
Season 1
Episode 3
Air date	26 April 2017
Directed by	Reed Morano
Teleplay by	Bruce Miller
Episodes
Previous	Birth Day
Next	Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum

Late is the third episode of the first season of The Handmaid's Tale.

Synopsis

After the former Ofglen is taken into custody, Offred is left wondering about her fate while having to deal with her successor. Meanwhile, we are given glimpses into the rise of Gilead.

Plot

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In flashbacks, the rise of Gilead is detailed. June, along with all the women at her office, are fired because of a new law prohibiting women from holding jobs. June and Moira also learn that the government has frozen all women's bank accounts and they cannot use any of their credit cards.

In the present, Serena takes June to see Janine and the baby. Janine claims that Commander Putnam is in love with her and that they're going to run away. She's also given her daughter a different name, "Charlotte", but June fears that Janine is delusional and comments on her behavior to Serena.

We should have driven away
 (Relationships/Nick and June)

Nick drives June home and notices a black Ford van waiting for June. June is questioned by an Eye and Aunt Lydia about her knowledge of Ofglen. She eventually reveals she knew Ofglen was gay and is beaten by Lydia with a cattle prod. Serena intervenes, yelling at them to stop because Offred is 'pregnant' (Serena believes June could be pregnant based on the fact that June has not yet asked for any menstrual products that month). Nick goes to see June in her room to check up on her and they share an intimate moment. June later reveals to Serena that she's not pregnant. Serena becomes furious and drags Offred her to her room and orders her not to come out.

In a flashback, June and Moira attend a protest against Gilead and its anti-women laws, and to their horror, several protesters are gunned down by treacherous guardians blocking them and they run and hide. In the present, Ofglen and the woman she's in a relationship with are charged with "gender treachery" violating Romans 1:26 as a result, with Ofglen receiving a lesser sentence called 'redemption'. The other woman is hanged at a makeshift construction site as Ofglen tearfully witnesses the execution. She tries to scream but has been muzzled. Later, Ofglen, whose real name is revealed to be Emily, wakes up in a clinic and has been undergone an operation for a cliterodectomy — in plain English, female genital mutilation. As explained by Aunt Lydia, she can still have children but now she won't want "what she cannot have", i.e. sexual pleasure.

Trivia

While the Martha receives a death sentence, the Handmaid is sentenced to a penal mutilation. The judge confirms the court is "bound" to this distinction.  (Laws in Gilead/Discriminatory Legal Practice)  See also: Social Classes

Ofglen and the Martha aren't allowed to speak out on their charges before the court. (Audi alteram partem)

Cast

Starring

• Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne/Offred
• Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Waterford
• Alexis Bledel as Emily Malek/Ofglen
• Madeline Brewer as Janine Lindo/Ofwarren
• Ann Dowd as "Aunt" Lydia Clements
• O-T Fagbenle as Luke Bankole
• Max Minghella as Nick Blaine
• Samira Wiley as Moira Strand

Guest Starring

• Amanda Brugel as Rita Blue
• Ever Carradine as Naomi Putnam
• Jim Cummings as Burke
• Tattiawna Jones as Lillie Fuller/Ofglen

Additional Cast

• Daniel Beirne as Barista
• Nicole Stamp as Lenore
• Michael Caruana as Roger
• Yvonne Gaudry as Female Worker #1
• Toni Ellwand as Female Worker #2
• Caeden Lawrence as Guardian #1
• Jennie Raymond as Caroline
• Angela Vint as Leah
• Birgitte Solem as Putnam Martha
• Alex Frankson as Courthouse Tall Eye
• Thomas Hauff as Judge
• Michael Wacholtz as Gambel
• Laura Wilson as Martha
• Paul De La Rosa as Guardian Captain

Music

• "Heart of Glass" (Crabtree Remix) — Blondie, protest flashback. †
• "Waiting for Something" — Jay Reartard, closing credits.

† original version, not in episode.