The More Things Change...
The Avengers 2.14 "Dead On Course"
Even by the standards of this show, the pun in the title is pretty...bad. Steed and King are investigating a plane crash, and a convent is involved. So, conveniently, Steed has no female assistance. It would have made this too easy.
It involves money. It involves fake nuns. I can't vouch for the authenticity of the crash investigation, but is there anything Steed can't do? Don't answer that. It's spy fi. They can, yes, do absolutely everything.
Including flying a strange plane they aren't licensed for. Ahem, Steed, ahem! Naughty!
How flying has changed since the 1960s, too...and not all of it for the better.
The Handmaid's Tale 5.1 "Morning"
June turns herself in to the Canadian authorities for killing Fred. Except it didn't happen in Canada. It happened in...well. Gilead and Canada could both claim it. Truth is that the people making the decision understood why she did it.
Serena Joy is now terrified of June...but she has her own supporters. She intends to return to Gilead with Fred's body, where she will be, at least she thinks, safe from June.
The question is, is June safe? And Gilead would love to kidnap Nichole. This is all about consequences, and the consequences are starting to build up with two seasons left...
The Handmaid's Tale 5.1 "Ballet"
There is, yes, literally a bit of ballet in this episode. June and Luke attend one as June deals with the continuing fallout of her actions...and her PTSD. She can't even look a Scrabble set in the tiles right now.
In Gilead, Esther snaps and poisons herself and Janine. And Joseph helps Serena talk the Commanders into a state funeral for Fred.
Then, in a very petty move, arranges for Hannah to play a key ceremonial role. Assuming it's deliberate, but it is totally a Serena thing to do.
Are Janine and Esther dead? We don't know yet. But is this going to be a breaking point for Lydia?
The Avengers 2.15 "Intercrime."
Ah, spy-fi organization names. Highly original spy-fi organization names. Cathy infiltrates Intercrime, pretending to be somebody they broke out of jail, and has to defend a guy in kangaroo court.
Oh, and kill somebody, which of course she's trying to stall on. Then the real bad girl shows up.
That's pretty much the plot, although one has to feel sorry for the guy who probably didn't embezzle the crime lords. Probably.
A fairly straightforward episode. Also, why is their fight choreography so bad. I know. It's the 1960s.
The Handmaid's Tale 5.3 "Border"
Serena wants to stay in Gilead. It's her home. She flirts with Commander Lawrence in a very Gilead manner. He turns her down...honestly, it wouldn't be a terrible arrangement for him as I doubt she wanted intimacy, just somebody she likes to raise her kid.
Instead, she's exiled back to Canada to act as an unofficial ambassador...which she absolutely sees for exactly what it is.
Janine is alive and recovering, and Lydia is...well...can that woman break any more? I think she can't at this point.
She cares about the Handmaids in her own way, even as she infantilizes them.
June discovers that the purple Hannah/Agnes is wearing is the uniform of Wife School, because there is, of course, Wife School. Eww and can we say eww?