The Testaments 1.06
Apr. 30th, 2026 10:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakBlessed be! The Aunt Lydia narrated episode has arrived!
And Anne Dowd shines in it. I was especially curious what the show would keep of the book backstory, given that it is different from what I had osmosed the later seasons Handmaid’s Tale show gave to Lydia. (Remember, I only watched the first season, the one based on Atwood’s novel, so maybe osmosis exaggareted.) Turns out the only major change they had to make to keep consistence in their show(s) canon was Lydia’s pre Gilead profession; in the book, she was a Judge, in the show(s), she was a teacher, and with that change there’s also one in the reason why she was originally rounded up in the military coup; in the book, it was because she was a Judge, i.e. a woman in a position of authority, in the show, it was because she had an abortion, which Gilead retroactively classifies as a deathsentence worthy crime.
Anyway: the episode gives us the key parts of Lydia’s backstory, of her transformation into Aunt Lydia, and the scene in which Lydia when ordered to shoot a friend in the arena goes from being horrified at the mere prospect to deciding she’ll do it, she’ll do anything to survive, is a masterclass of silent, facial acting by Anne Dowd. She doesn’t say a single word, and yet you can see it all happening in her face, in her eyes. The only comparable thing I can think of right now was Derek Jacobi transforming from Professor Yana into the Master in season 3 of New Who, also conveying the difference just by his expression and eyes, no special effects necessary.
I’m somewhat relieved though slightly puzzled because of the age factor that Commander Judd is the Commander from Lydia’s backstory, because that is important to how the plot of The Testament continues. But shouldn’t he be older by now? Then again, Show!Gilead hasn’t been around as long as book!Gilead, I guess, so maybe it still works within show canon. (In the books, there are fifteen years between the end of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and the start of “The Testaments”, in the shows, it’s only been a few years.)
The actress playing Vidala/Vivian also deserves extra applause for her work this week, going through a similar transformation through the flashbacks and present day scenes. And of course her present day actions such as ordering Hulda to hold Shulamite when Shulamite gets beaten take on another layer when having seen what Judd did to her and Lydia. It’s the “do it to Julia!” Moment (tm George Orwell in “1984”), isn’t it: the worst way an authoritarian regime breaks you is by making you betray your most important relationship so you can survive, by making you the tool to hurt someone you care about.
Because this is the Lydia narrated episode, there is minimum content for Agnes and Daisy this week, but what there is includes the heartbreaking scene where Agnes tells Becca she’s in love with Garth (btw, this is show-only canon; there is a Garth in the book, but he’s only in the Canada scenes of the early Daisy section of the book, not in Gilead, and I am very curious where they’re going with this) and Aunt Este telling Daisy she, too, is not originally from Gilead and was the very first Pearl Girl. (This too is show exclusive and has me wildly curious.)
In conclusion: great episode, great adaptation, can’t wait for next week!
And Anne Dowd shines in it. I was especially curious what the show would keep of the book backstory, given that it is different from what I had osmosed the later seasons Handmaid’s Tale show gave to Lydia. (Remember, I only watched the first season, the one based on Atwood’s novel, so maybe osmosis exaggareted.) Turns out the only major change they had to make to keep consistence in their show(s) canon was Lydia’s pre Gilead profession; in the book, she was a Judge, in the show(s), she was a teacher, and with that change there’s also one in the reason why she was originally rounded up in the military coup; in the book, it was because she was a Judge, i.e. a woman in a position of authority, in the show, it was because she had an abortion, which Gilead retroactively classifies as a deathsentence worthy crime.
Anyway: the episode gives us the key parts of Lydia’s backstory, of her transformation into Aunt Lydia, and the scene in which Lydia when ordered to shoot a friend in the arena goes from being horrified at the mere prospect to deciding she’ll do it, she’ll do anything to survive, is a masterclass of silent, facial acting by Anne Dowd. She doesn’t say a single word, and yet you can see it all happening in her face, in her eyes. The only comparable thing I can think of right now was Derek Jacobi transforming from Professor Yana into the Master in season 3 of New Who, also conveying the difference just by his expression and eyes, no special effects necessary.
I’m somewhat relieved though slightly puzzled because of the age factor that Commander Judd is the Commander from Lydia’s backstory, because that is important to how the plot of The Testament continues. But shouldn’t he be older by now? Then again, Show!Gilead hasn’t been around as long as book!Gilead, I guess, so maybe it still works within show canon. (In the books, there are fifteen years between the end of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and the start of “The Testaments”, in the shows, it’s only been a few years.)
The actress playing Vidala/Vivian also deserves extra applause for her work this week, going through a similar transformation through the flashbacks and present day scenes. And of course her present day actions such as ordering Hulda to hold Shulamite when Shulamite gets beaten take on another layer when having seen what Judd did to her and Lydia. It’s the “do it to Julia!” Moment (tm George Orwell in “1984”), isn’t it: the worst way an authoritarian regime breaks you is by making you betray your most important relationship so you can survive, by making you the tool to hurt someone you care about.
Because this is the Lydia narrated episode, there is minimum content for Agnes and Daisy this week, but what there is includes the heartbreaking scene where Agnes tells Becca she’s in love with Garth (btw, this is show-only canon; there is a Garth in the book, but he’s only in the Canada scenes of the early Daisy section of the book, not in Gilead, and I am very curious where they’re going with this) and Aunt Este telling Daisy she, too, is not originally from Gilead and was the very first Pearl Girl. (This too is show exclusive and has me wildly curious.)
In conclusion: great episode, great adaptation, can’t wait for next week!
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Date: 2026-04-30 12:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-04-30 01:32 pm (UTC)