Episode Summary: The Selection and a Survivor's Origin Story
Aunt Lydia's voiceover guides the episode, documenting the day the aunts select "contenders" for the next round of marriages. The process narrows the field to two or three suitors per Plum. The episode proceeds through house visits and weddings, before culminating in what Becka describes as "prison for the rest of our lives."
"The process narrows the field to two or three suitors per Plum."
A Flashback to Before Gilead
The episode includes a flashback to Lydia's life before Gilead's takeover. She was a teacher at a school where class is canceled for the fourth time due to the new regime. Armed men arrive at the school and kill the male administrator who tries to stop them from taking female employees.
Lydia and her female colleagues are taken to a tennis stadium with hundreds of other women. "It quickly became clear there had been a coup," Lydia says. Detainees wait in the stands; others are blindfolded, bound, and marched onto the court. They are declared "sinners," and shot in the head.
"It quickly became clear there had been a coup."
Witnessing the Horrors
Aunt Vidala, a fellow teacher, is with Lydia as they witness the horrors. Days pass; women are fed water and white bread. Some are dragged away. Lydia wakes one morning to find Vidala gone.
Later, Lydia is taken inside the stadium, past piles of personal belongings, and brought before Commander Judd, who oversees "the women's sphere" and will decide where survivors are placed.