“This could go boom.”— Erin in reply to Moira's regret over the package containing letters instead of explosive[1]
Mentions in the Storyline[]
The Bridge[]
Offred (June) reaches out to Alma to become a part of "Mayday" and contribute to the resistance movement. Alma resists at first but ultimately accepts Offred's offer and gives her her first assignment - get a mystery package from a "Rachel at the bar" in the Jezebel's club and hold on to it until further notice. [2]
Offred isn't able to retrieve the package when she's at the club. She asks Moira to get Rachel's Package for her, which she refuses, claiming not to know Rachel. The next day, Offred is in the supermarket where she orders some meat. The butcher slyly gives her the secret package that she was supposed to retrieve at Jezebel's, with a note from Moira attached. [2]
Night[]
"Whoever is getting this, please don't forget me".
Offred returns home from grocery shopping and hides the package in her bathroom. It contains a pile of letters from various displaced women looking for children and family members, detailing atrocities happening to them in Gilead and begging the world not to forget them. Offred reads them all in horror, and falls asleep surrounded by them[3]. The content read in voice-overs says:
My name is Maria Navarro.
I was captured on December 2nd at a checkpoint outside of Hartford. They took my son Spencer. He was five.
He has a red birthmark on his right arm, just below the elbow. I don't know where he is.
My name is Greer Ladestro. I was a Handmaid at three different houses. I was a third-year medical student at the University of Michigan. I'm in Boston, I think. Help me, for God's sake. Help me.
My name is Alison. I have two daughters. I don't know where they are.
I have a sister, Julia, in London.
Whoever is getting this, please don't forget me.
Please don't forget us all.
We are prisoners.
They rape us.
They treat us like animals.
You have to tell people what's happening here.
Please, God.
My eight-year-old got taken away.
My son.
My name is Riley.
Her name is Caroline.
My name is Aubrey.
My name is Gabriela.
First Blood[]
At night, Offred starts burning the letters from Rachel's package in the kitchen sink and is interrupted by Nick, who takes the remaining letters to himself[4].
Women's Work[]
Nick comes home to Eden and finds that she's organized the house. He sees the stack of letters Offred was burning on the nightstand and asks her if she read them. She says no and he forbids her from ever touching his things again[5].
Smart Power[]
Nick and the Waterfords arrive at their hotel in Toronto, the entrance is surrounded by a throng of protestors. Luke confronts Commander Fred. He's taken away by the police but not before Serena and Nick realize that he's Offred's husband. Nick goes looking for Luke and finds him in a bar. Nick gives Luke the stack of letters June gave him and tells him to get them out somehow.
Luke, Moira and Erin read one of the letters, where a woman named Eun Jung Park reveals that she had a mother and two sisters, used to work at Forever 21 and is currently serving as a Martha now.
Moira is not convinced that Gilead would "go boom" over it. Erin, however, believes it would be the start of something and the letters are released online, causing extreme public outrage and forcing the Waterfords to leave immediately as they are no longer welcome in Canada[1].
Documented Fates[]
Quotes and Voiceovers[]
Biographies from Letter Props[6][]
- In particular, the letter props shown in the gallery below should be transliterated and moved to separate character pages
Kelcie Rouland, CA
Kelcie Rouland, captured when trying to escape California. She was taken to a Red Center and later assigned to a 60-yo Commander. Her brother was shot dead by Guardians after rejecting approaches by the Sons of Jacob.
Sherry Thomas, 24, has been reassigned to 3 households within 9 months, had one eye removed and her back scorched before being sent to Jezebel's
Aubrey, originally from North Dakota, caught in Boston along with her cousin Sylvia. She has been in Jezebel's for 2 years, documenting drug abuse and fellow detainees who were taken from there with unknown fate.
Fran Sears, 30, from Ohio. She was taken September 30th, which she refers to as "Night of the Raids", along with several neighbors. Her family was shot dead. She witnessed how several fellow detainees in the Red Center were mutilated on eyes and limbs. She is currently assigned as Handmaid.
Theresa Strain, 28, from Roanoke.
Theresa Strain, 28, from Roanoke. She was abducted and drugged to make her complacent, then taken to the Red Center and later assigned as Handmaid. She documents additional sexual abuse by Commanders, apart from the ritualized rape.
Catherine Gilchrist, from Canada, moved to upstate New York in 2008. She was captured on the run and taken to a Red Center in a city unfamiliar to her, and later assigned to households.
Jessica Terry was captured at a checkpoint outside of Cambridge, after being alerted when she was at work and trying to run after her 'friend family' Jill and Theresa, whose fate remains unknown to her.
Ashley Alcock, 8 children
Ashley Alcock, 8 children, was able to hide in her home with stockpiles for several weeks after missing the opportunity to leave. Eventually caught following a house search, she was taken to a Red Centre and later assigned to six Commanders. Her children were taken to 'nasty, undeserving' families.
Nancy DiSilva, 30, Handmaid for 2 years. She was relocated to Jezebel's after successfully giving birth and failing to escape with the baby. At Jezebel's, she was forcibly drugged to ensure complacency.
Kait Dubblestyne, abducted and assigned as Handmaid after a forced fertility test.
Robin Cook was captured at the office and forced into a 'clinic van' to perform 'fertility testing', then taken to a Red Center.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Episode 2.9, Smart Power
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Episode 9, "The Bridge"
- ↑ Episode 1.10, "Night"
- ↑ Episode 2.5, "Seeds"
- ↑ Episode 2.8, "Women's Work"
- ↑ Excerpts from illustrations in: The Art and Making of the Handmaid's Tale (Official companion). Andrea Robinson et al., Titan Books, London, ISBN 978-1-78909-054-3