Warlocks, Really?
The Handmaid's Tale 5.4 "Dear Offred"
June is terrified that Serena's outreach will work and Gilead values will spread into Canada. She even goes as far as to pull a gun on Serena, but can't touch the trigger...perhaps because she doesn't want to hurt the baby.
Our girl needs therapy. Or something. She does get some satisfaction from burning a bunch of Gilead-related stuff, including a hugely petty move from Serena - sending her an invitation to the opening of the Gilead Information Center addressed to Offred. Seriously, that doesn't warrant getting shot, but it does warrant getting...shut down by the fire marshall. This is obviously only going to slow Serena down.
Meanwhile, in Gilead, Lydia is turning Janine into a mini-Aunt...as part of an attempt to fix the Handmaid system. She tries to go further, but Lawrence shuts her down. Has she changed?
The Handmaid's Tale 5.5 "Fairytale"
It's about time for things to get really, really dark.
June and Luke go into No Man's Land to talk to a young eye who can explain to them what Wife School is all about.
Hint: It's not good.
Oh, and Hannah is twelve...and considered ready for marriage. Note, they didn't do that in Medieval times, people, despite anything you might have heard. "And too soon marred are those so early made."
Unfortunately, their new contact is injured by a mine and now they're in hostile hands.
And so is Serena, who is slowly realizing her safehouse is a prison. Also, anything a man makes you take in front of him...you pretend to swallow. You're smarter than that, Serena Joy!
The Avengers 2.16 "Immortal Clay"
So, apparently there's an unbreakable ceramic. That would be really valuable, and make people millionaires. (Boy does that date this show).
Of course, the bad guys want it too. Cathy pretends to be writing a book about pottery to investigate.
This really is one of those episodes where Cathy does all the work and Steed kind of steps in to take the credit. It's not always like that, mind...sometimes it's the other way around.
But yeah. Millionaires. And I do have to say I love the punny title on this one.
The Avengers 2.17 "Box of Tricks"
I watched these for the first time when very young. I do, though, have a very clear memory of the point in this episode where Venus goes into the magicians' cabinet and Steed comes out ;).
A magician's assistant is murdered mid trick, while Steed pursues classified documents. Once more, we get a thin excuse to have Venus sing. (Once more, she doesn't hugely impress me). But obviously Venus, not Cathy, had to be in this episode.
There's also quack medical science. Alas, people fall for that kind of thing IRL all the time...
The Avengers 2.18 "Warlock"
If I'd remembered more about this episode, then I might have skipped it. Things that stood out: Racism, that's not what a warlock is, and worse racism. The bad guy being racist was probably intentional.
Gale being racist was, well...
It's ambiguous as to whether the magic is real or whether the warlock is just a mesmerist, and that fits.
Also, it's about a formula for rocket fuel. Again.
I had to remind myself many times that this was first shown in 1963. But...is that really an excuse for going on about African witch doctors?