[rating=8.00] “Faithful”
Faithful. Something Offred has not been throughout this part of her life. We learned this week of her first meeting with her husband Luke. It was adorable, but the catch? He was married. The two enter an illicit affair, and yet we know they’re in love. It’s a sticky situation, but as blurred as the lines are, we know this for certain. Offred asks Luke to leave his wife, and he agrees, leading them towards the life we eventually stumbled upon as the series opened.
Flashbacks like this set the tone for the episode, pairing with Mrs. Waterson’s asking Offred to sleep with Nick (the driver) to get her pregnant. Though the Watersons closely follow the rules of their new society, Serena Joy’s fear of losing yet another Handmaid seem to outweigh her hatred for the situation at hand. Again, she’s pretty awful. But at the same time, if Offred doesn’t get pregnant soon she’ll likely be killed. Serena’s fearful for her own life, but she’s still in a great position; she doesn’t have to help Offred.
After last week’s minor victory of lady power, it seems we’ve headed back down the path of the fallen. Whatever solace Offred found in the Commander is gone now. Between his admission of aiding in sending Ofglen away to be mutilated, and his endangering Offred during the ceremony by showing signs of familiarity, he is no longer safe to toy with. It’s tricky, if she continues to meet with Fred outside of their illicit time, he will continue to work the power play. If she doesn’t, she’s more than likely to be killed. So where could she possibly go from here?
Enter the steamy Nick scene. On the one hand, she’s definitely using a power play on him. As the driver of a Commander, Nick will never get his choice of wife. His interest in Offred has been apparent from day one, and she knew it. On the other hand, this is an exquisite moment of freedom for the both of them.
The danger of what they’re doing contains so many layers it’s dizzying. If Serena Joy were to find out she would likely have them both sent off to “the colonies.” If the Commander were to find them, Nick would be killed by the gang of Handmaids, while Offred would be sent off to another family after a severe beating. At any point they could both be killed; passion is unacceptable under his eye.
With Ofglen (Ofsteven) back, Offred is acting careless. She needs answers, but is completely powerless. She’s told to stay away from her former companion, but how can she help it? It is her final reaching out that allows Ofglen/Ofsteven to take the final step in her defiance. “She looked invincible,” Offred comments, and in that moment as she sits behind the wheel, she was.
So at this point, the only person Offred has been able to remain faithful to is Ofglen/Ofsteven. She’s lying to Serena Joy about her interactions with both Fred and Nick. Nick is lying to Serena and the Commander. The Commander is lying to Serena. And Serena is lying to the Commander while more than likely cooking something nefarious up behind Offred’s back. There’s no control over anything. There’s no autonomy for anyone.
We’ve hit a point now where precarious situations are going to be the norm. Until Offred is pregnant, she’s going to have to continue to sleep with both Nick and Fred under Serena’s watchful eye. She has Nick to turn to for the momentary freedom she thought she had with Fred, and she’ll be watching her every move with baited breath as she undoubtedly continues her Scrabble matches.
The finesse of the series impresses with both the handling of Ofglen/Ofsteven’s revolt, and Offred’s seduction of Nick. We’ve been subject to cruelty as this world has been unfolding in front of us, but this contrast between a quiet moment of passionate freedom paired with a loud roar of a caged creature biting back, really hurt. There’s nowhere to go, and nothing to do, but live for these moments. The terror will rise as the series continues, and as Offred walks through landmines in order to continue existing, let’s hope life doesn’t imitate art so closely.
