The Handmaid’s Tale: 5 key moments from episode 4

The Handmaid’s Tale — “Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum” Episode 104 — Punished by Serena Joy, Offred begins to unravel and reflects on her time with Moira at the Red Center. A complication during the Ceremony threatens Offred’s survival with the Commander and Serena Joy. Offred (Elisabeth Moss), shown. (Photo by: George Kraychyk/Hulu)

4 – Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum

Or, the Scrabble Game: Round 2. Offred takes heart from her memories of Moira and decides she’d rather play the game as best she can than languish in her room forever. And this newfound courage makes her about as bold and brassy as a handmaiden in Gilead has room to be under the power of a Commander, as she toys with gentle flirtation and is rewarded with response in the form of an answer to the Latin riddle — a crude schoolboy joke turned message of defiance.

But while that message will set up the episode’s ending shot, what’s more interesting here is the turn in Offred, who now seems dedicated to playing the game herself to get the things she wants. She manipulates her way into freedom from her room, ensures the Scrabble games will continue, and gleans tidbits of information from the Commander that may prove useful later, including the realization that somewhere, buried deep under all that misogyny, cruelty, acceptance of this god-awful system, and general evil, there is still a tiny conscience in Waterford that doesn’t want Offred to be quite as miserable as she could be.

Clearly an exploitable weakness.