Spoiler Warning: The Handmaid’s Tale Seasons 4 and 5
The Handmaid’s Taleseason five has so far focused on a rivalry and mutual hatred between its two main characters. For regular viewers of the series, it’s no secret that June Osborn (Elisabeth Moss) isn’t a big fan of Serena Joy Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski), with very good reason. June was brutalized by Serena Joy for years in her role as a handmaid, suffering humiliation and subjugation on an immeasurable scale.
June got her payback by brutally murdering Serena Joy’s husband, Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes), in the closing moments of season four, surrounded by an enraged group of women his creation of Gilead tormented both emotionally and physically.
In return, Serena Joy used June’s long-lost daughter Hannah as a prop in the worldwide broadcast ofFred’s funeralat the end of S5 E2, offering a smirk to June while the camera came in for a close-up. They’re going tit-for-tat, though June is definitely in the lead. June’s entire objective so far this season has been to get her daughter back. Her guilt for fleeing Gilead without Hannah has been a central theme of the series since June crossed into Canada in season four. We see her coming closer and closer to a return trip to Gilead for this seemingly impossible task.
The Aftermath of the Funeral Broadcast
The episode opens with June learning of a network of refugees adept at getting messages into Gilead. Desperate to learn more about Hannah, June decides to take the risk of meeting the group, described as “traumatized refugees,” along the border of Canada and Gilead. June has been flirting with the idea of crossing back into the hostile nation to bring back her daughter, and this meeting brings her physically closer to that action. Reentering Gilead to extricate Hannah is an end, and June just keeps inching toward the means.
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June arrives at the encampment of this branch of the network, which she soon finds out is an arm of Mayday, the until then mythicalrebel organization fightingto take back the United States and enslaved women from Gilead. The camp is adorned with a tattered upside American flag, as the inside of the main cabin is covered with photos of liberated women. On the adjoining wall are those that didn’t make it out, a grim reminder of the seemingly interminable fight with Gilead. “Here’s who we’ve lost over the years,” says Lily, a Mayday leader, pointing to the board of those who didn’t make it. It’s here that June learns that “Mayday is everywhere.”
Mayday’s northern presence is described as a series of cells, even as small as families, along the Canadian border. It’s not even loosely connected; individual outposts only know there are others, and that’s all. It’s decentralized and extremely covert, likening them to freedom fighters for the good guys and terrorists to Gilead. June also witnesses the work of Mayday firsthand when a young Gilead enforcer aids a girl about Hannah’s age in crossing to Canada.
Aunt Lydia’s Struggle Between Her Duty and Humanity
The story also revisits the narrative of “training” handmaids, as Esther (Mckenna Grace) seemingly committed a murder-suicide in episode two, taking Janine (Madeline Brewer) with her. She chose this route over thefate of a handmaid, leaving her alive but seemingly brain-dead alongside Janine.
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A brutal scene is shown of Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) slapping the comatose Esther as she lay in her hospital bed, followed by Lydia distressingly praying to God to spare Janine and vowing to change. Lydia keeps watch over Janine and later awakens to find her awake and aware, seemingly an answer to her prayers. Could this set up Aunt Lydia to question the cruel inner workings of Gilead?
Serena Joy and Gilead
Serena Joy is still on shaky ground in Gilead. She was a guest of the Canadians for most of season four as her late husband wriggled and cajoled his way into a deal that would see them shipped overseas to safety. Gilead is not a terribly forgiving place, so precarious is an understatement forSerena Joy’s situation. This is compounded by uneasy meetings with top Gilead brass, including Commander McKenzie, played by Jason Butler Harner (Ozark). He laments the actions of June, describing her as a cancer while also expressing his fear she will come for him and his wife since they have taken in Hannah.
The focus also turns to Nick (Max Minghella) and his torn affection for June in the face of his recent marriage. you may’t quite tell if it’s mutual or if June is using him to get to Hannah. She secretly walks an extremely fine line of loyalty toher husband Luke(O-T Fagbenle) and her feelings for Nick.
Serena Joy is later summoned by the council of ghouls, er, top commanders, to let her know she is being appointed as an ambassador of Gilead, effectively ousting her from the country to which she desperately wants to return. They patronize her all the way through with kind words but blatant intentions.
The episode ends with a tense jump scare scene with June threatening Serena Joy to stay away from Hannah. This scene signals that the back and forth between the two will continue to be the dominant theme of season 5.
