This 'Handmaid's Tale' moment featuring 'Friends' is slowly driving me insane
The Handmaid's Tale is a lot of things – calamitous, empowering, a shout into the void – but the remarkable series made surprise move that left me totally flummoxed.
In episode 202, "Unwomen," away from the immediate threat of Gilead guards, June is hiding out in an old office building and waiting for her next move. After having lots of great sex with Nick, we catch up with her while she's relaxing...sipping coffee and watching Friends.
Specifically, she is watching Friends Season 4 episode 1, "The One With Phoebe's Uterus," and the infamous scene in which Monica explains female erogenous zones to Chandler and then has an extremely good time telling him which ones to focus on and in what order.
At first, my mind went straight to Netflix, which I hardly expected Gilead to have. If they didn't get rid of the internet altogether (likely), they would've scrubbed out a lot of content (I doubt this iteration of Netflix would have any Orange is the New Black or G.L.O.W.).
As it turns out, this is just the dusty DVD June found in the office earlier in the episode. DVDS FO LYF. This is nothing if not vindication for my decision to buy and hoard DVDs to this day because they will survive an authoritarian takeover even if I don't.
It's just such a dissonant image: Elisabeth Moss as our bruised, brazen protagonist, sitting amidst the hazy, low-lit backdrop of Gilead, watching Friends on a laptop. Is there really nothing more pressing? Where the heck is Nick, out buying popcorn? I'm confused!!
But then I started to come around. I know Gilead is the dystopic funhouse mirror version of our own world, but it never occurred to me that these characters would be familiar with Friends, indeed that they would turn to it in these dark times as a source of comfort. Comfort TV is very real! Rewatching our favorite episodes, particularly in times of stress, provides a soft safety blanket against the outside world – maybe even a world as harsh as Gilead.
With that in mind, we'll let this one slide. You've earned a little TV break, June. I've seen next week's episode and trust me, you need this.
The Handmaid's Tale streams Wednesdays on Hulu.
Proma Khosla is a Senior Entertainment Reporter writing about all things TV, from ranking Bridgerton crushes to composer interviews and leading Mashable's stateside coverage of Bollywood and South Asian representation. You might also catch her hosting video explainers or on Mashable's TikTok and Reels, or tweeting silly thoughts from @promawhatup.
