What an ending! I love how they remain faithful to the book even when making all those changes. You can tell they've been respectful with the source material. Having all the Handmaids begin to rebel as well as Aunt Lydia's face when she realises she hasn't crushed their spirit as much as she though she had was such an incredible addition and it speaks volumes for future seasons by showing the tiniest cracks beginning to appear in the regime. I know Aunt Lydia a sadistic w(b)itch but I can't help but loving her and I think her love for the Handmaid's is genuine - in a f*ck e d up kind of way.
The scene between Luke and Moira was really touching - her reaction when she found out he considers her family broke my heart as did when the refugee worker was flippantly giving her money and insurance and she was just absolutely speechless. I can't wait for her to gather her thoughts and become bad a s s again in Season 2. Moira and Luke are going to be a formidable team.
Things I'm hoping to see more of are in Season Two are: Little America and the refugees, especially escaped Handmaid's and Marthas. I also love the references to the Martha's being organised throughout the series - I don't for a second think that Rita isn't part of that, especially after she revealed her son had died during the Gilead War and her eagerness to grab the letters when Offered was taken away. In the book there's a reference that the story take place entirely in Harvard Square and the rest of the city is carrying on as normal. Men going to work, woman staying at home, not even aware of what's going on with the Hanmaids. I'd love to see public life and the fear they're all living with as well as their reaction to just how bad the Gilead regime is when they realise every woman is going to be eventually to sorted into some sort of submissive role.
I really hope we get to see the Econowives in Season Two. I reckon they are so resentful of the regime since they are expected to act as Martha, Handmaid and Wife that they'd be keen to grind down the regime as well in their own organised way. I was interested in them from the tiny glimpses we saw in the books. It would be really interesting to see a character give us her point of view of being in the middle of the Gilead hierarchy, not exactly a powerful wife but not exactly a powerless Handmaid.
I'm glad we'll finally get to see the colonies, as the show runner confirmed in various interviews. It's been confirmed Offred's mother makes an appearance in Season 2 so I bet Offred gets sent to the colonies and reunites her with her mother. Any ideas on who could play Offerd's mother?
I wish we could have seen a softer side to Serena Joy. The book makes her almost likeable but the TV show just has her a cold, heartless, you-know-what. I really rooted for her earlier in the series, I even compared her to Cersai Lannister, but she became very 2 dimensional as the series progressed. I know there were glimmers of her softer side, like giving Offred the music box, but it didn't ring true and it after she had locked Offred up for two weeks. I think Serena Joy has been a missed opportunity.