The tensest moments in season 1 took place inside the confines of the,where June/Offred was forced toon a regular basis in order to fulfill her duty as a handmaid. And, oddly enough, , she’s been relatively sheltered in that household. The horrors that are characteristic of Gilead have thus far been mostly implied, alluded to in flashbacks to June’s time at the Red Center, where she was trained, and through a whisper network of enslaved women, warning of what’s going on in other parts of the country. But in season 2, June is finally taking action. She’s bucking the system, and as a result, she’s experiencing its cruelty firsthand. The mock hanging was punishment in response to the handmaids’ refusal to stone one of their members to death. Later, made aware of Offred’s pregnancy, Aunt Lydia (Ann Down) shows her how Gilead deals with expectant mothers who rebel: They are chained to a bed until they give birth, and then executed— a brutal approach for a society that claims to value fertile women as “sacred vessels.”