coping

like i get disagreeing with certain adaptational changes. god knows i have my own list of criticisms and complaints that i will gladly vent about when an opportunity presents itself. and that's fine. that's normal, because no work of fiction is ever perfect and above criticism, because perfection is inherently unattainable.

but i'm thinking on all the interviews we have with all the members of the cast and crew who have ever publicly talked about their experience of working on the show, and the one thing they all have in common is the praise for the environment of collaboration and creativity that rolin has fostered over the years and his openness to everybody's input at every stage of the production. that recent interview with the editors (shout-out to autumn for doing long interviews with the crew this time around btw, can't overstate how hyped i am for that peak behind the curtain) really highlighted how these people fucking LOVE this show and working on this show. that's not something you can take for granted in this day and age (or ever tbh).

like i feel that that's important actually. no matter how much you disagree with any specific artistic choices made on the show or with rolin's interpretation of any specific characters or events, he's still the one mainly responsible for creating this space for his team where creatives can just. practice their creativity freely and craft a beautiful thing together.

That people are craving slower stories which take the viewers intelligence seriously

That period dramas do not need a huge budget to attract viewers

People keep discussing the kiss as if it happened in our world, where a kiss between two girls might not carry the same weight. But this isn't our world.

In Gilead, being queer isn't merely frowned upon. It's dangerous.

That's why I find the "it was just a comfort kiss" interpretation interesting. Because even if that's true, it's still a kiss. In a society built around controlling women's bodies, relationships, and sexuality, that kind of intimacy means something.

I'm not even saying the scene proves they're destined to be together. What I'm saying is that the choice itself matters.

The writers could have given them a hug or a conversation. Instead, they chose a reciprocated kiss in the final stretch of the season finale.

Whether the moment was romantic, symbolic, or something in between, I think it's meant to have consequences. Otherwise, why choose a kiss at all?

If Agnes were a boy, fans would be going absolutely wild. Why is it that when a man kisses a woman (or vice versa), the moment is almost immediately framed as passionate or romantic?

Fans would already be rooting for them to run away together and start a new life far away from Gilead if this were a guy/girl pairing. Honestly, even if they were both boys, the fandom reaction would probably be very different.

“ Oh, it was just a comfort/pity kiss.”

I love my friends dearly, but NEVER in my life have I kissed a friend just to comfort them.

I understand the argument people are making, but if I were Becka, I would absolutely feel some type of way after that moment. Maybe for her, this truly is a closing of their 'relationship', but is risking that level of emotional and physical vulnerability really worth it if the relationship is meant to stay strictly platonic?

And honestly… if the kiss is never brought up again in season 2, was it even worth including at all instead of a conversation or a simple hug?

People keep discussing the kiss as if it happened in our world, where a kiss between two girls might not carry the same weight. But this isn't our world.

In Gilead, being queer isn't merely frowned upon. It's dangerous.

That's why I find the "it was just a comfort kiss" interpretation interesting. Because even if that's true, it's still a kiss. In a society built around controlling women's bodies, relationships, and sexuality, that kind of intimacy means something.

I'm not even saying the scene proves they're destined to be together. What I'm saying is that the choice itself matters.

The writers could have given them a hug or a conversation. Instead, they chose a reciprocated kiss in the final stretch of the season finale.

Whether the moment was romantic, symbolic, or something in between, I think it's meant to have consequences. Otherwise, why choose a kiss at all?

If Agnes were a boy, fans would be going absolutely wild. Why is it that when a man kisses a woman (or vice versa), the moment is almost immediately framed as passionate or romantic?

Fans would already be rooting for them to run away together and start a new life far away from Gilead if this were a guy/girl pairing. Honestly, even if they were both boys, the fandom reaction would probably be very different.

“ Oh, it was just a comfort/pity kiss.”

I love my friends dearly, but NEVER in my life have I kissed a friend just to comfort them.

I understand the argument people are making, but if I were Becka, I would absolutely feel some type of way after that moment. Maybe for her, this truly is a closing of their 'relationship', but is risking that level of emotional and physical vulnerability really worth it if the relationship is meant to stay strictly platonic?

And honestly… if the kiss is never brought up again in season 2, was it even worth including at all instead of a conversation or a simple hug?

If you think that Beckagnes is one sided go back and watch the kiss scene.

The kiss lasted a while and was NOT a peck.

As someone who had doubts abt where the show writers were going to take their relationship and if it was going to stay platonic, i’m glad they kissed.

It cleared the blurry lines that their relationship had of bsf or gf territory.

It still could be misleading or it could be they haven’t made up their minds about it yet but the way the showrunner calls it a moment of “sisterhood” and that it’s Agnes’s “gift” to Becka, Agnes “allows” Becka to kiss her. I was just pissed off because idk to me it takes away agency and it takes away their sexuality from young women which is antithetical to the show’s messaging???!! I need someone to tell me I’m wrong and maybe I’m exaggerating but two girls kissing rarely happens on tv so that representation being retroactively taken away… did not sit right with me ig.

https://people.com/how-chase-infiniti-mattea-conforti-interpreted-kiss-testaments-finale-exclusive-exclusive-11984237

I believe the subtext of The Testaments foreshadows Agnes being in love with Becka too. And the 2 eventually escaping Gilead together.

My only trepidation with this is that the show’s writing isn’t very consistent? I’m not saying it’s bad but the romance between Garth and Agnes doesn’t even make sense? It makes sense for Agnes to desire a man closer to her age and be confused by it because Gilead teaches girls that women are not supposed to have those kinds of feelings. They exist to be a tool of reproduction and are supposed to strictly obey their husbands. But I don’t know, that romance has been pushed a lot without any motive that I can see. So it feels like it can come to fruition without any real development too (which is a problem with hetero romances in a lot of media imo but that’s a topic for another day) Like why do they stare at each other longingly? Garth hasn’t even had a proper conversation with her. Maybe it’s my pessimism taking over and not seeing the possibility but then again I also did not see a kiss happening between the two and definitely not Agnes reciprocating the kiss. And she DOES reciprocate. So who knows? Maybe finally the world has realized we don’t need the leading couple of EVERY show to be heterosexual EVERY SINGLE TIME! (Also this isn’t even a romance centric show and neither should it be and IMO a sapphic relationship in a society build on reproduction and purity is…grand)

One last thing, by making Becka marry Garth they have permanently tied together Agnes’ feelings for the two. The show cannot move forward with a romance between Garth and Agnes while ignoring the possiblity of Agnes and Becka, in a meaningful way. Which is what I feared was about to happen when the eyes caught Becka (punish/bury your gays and all that fun stuff).

Bottom line is I’ve waited long for a lead character with comphet to go off into the sunset with their lover and until season 2 comes out Agnes is in love with Becka to me.