I've been saying this since the beginning of the season and caught a lot of shit for it. Those lingering shots, long silences, intense face acting etc... Isn't so much as an artistic choice as much as it is them not having shit to do with June. It's why there's been a gradual uptick in focus on Serena Joy. I'm hoping they'll structure the next season in such a way that they'll decrease a teeny-tiny bit of June's focus to let characters like Janine and Emily shine a bit more. Their time in the colonies was incredibly engaging, then their focus dropped. That's not to say season 2 hasn't been great, I just think a few better choices in terms of character focus could have been made mostly.

On another note, I'd like to toot my own horn about a theory I dropped awhile back. Fred suggesting Offred could stay around, that the rules could be bent; sure does seem like a precursor to them 'holying' up the Handmaid program in the form of spiritual marriages; which is ABSOLUTELY a thing that has been done and is still in practice in SOME Muslim countries. I can't stress that enough, after just having come out of the racist fuckfest that is /r/news, but I digress. But yeah, I think the attack on Aunt Lydia could be a precursor to that as well. She's not a stupid woman. She knows when the stick has been used disproportionately to the candy, and isn't so proud to adjust that to keep control over the women. If the writers are smart, and aren't deadset on another season full of face acting; season 2 could be the Iron Man 2 of the franchise. The payoff could be immense.