Getting ready to binge all of the Season 3 episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale, I decided to introduce my husband to the series and invited him to watch with me starting at the beginning. He said he’d give a couple of episodes so see if it was able to capture his attention.

The biggest surprise to him was that it didn’t take place in the 1600s. No, I said, it’s the dystopian future … so, in 3 years by the looks of the political scene currently unfolding before our helpless eyes.

We watched episodes 1 and 2. He wasn’t necessarily ‘hooked’ but definitely intrigued enough to continue watching. He asked very few clarifying questions and didn’t read the book so I was concerned he might be missing some of the more subtle tools of submission used by the controlling patriarch that were explained more thoroughly in the book.

The main tool, not explained very well in the show, is how the handmaids are named. Ofglen and Offred and all the other handmaids’ names are to show to whom they are now a possession. One is of Glen and the other is of Fred. Infuriating, to say the least but fitting in this new, terrifyingly achievable America where women have been stripped of all rights and are, essentially, treated as property.

I asked him what my name would be in Giliad. He easily and too quickly answered: Of[his name]. I’ll admit that was the answer I was already hearing in my head but actually hearing the sound leave his lips released my inner Gloria Steinem. I yelled “NO! It would still be Adriana!”

Guess who will be watching the WHOLE series, like it or not…

Also, he said the punch to his chest was surprisingly hard.