The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4, Episode 8 recap: Testimony

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 allows June (Elisabeth Moss) to finally let out all her pent-up rage and anger towards Gilead. Well, not all, but quite a bit of it. Moreso, she spent a considerable amount of her time trying to convince former Gileadeans into bringing out their rage too.

So many of them have suppressed it, but now that June has arrived in Canada, things won’t stay quiet for too long. I think it’s just the type of person June is or has become, and the torture she endured in Gilead was far too much for anyone to bear.

In this week’s episode, she finally gives her testimony against Fred (Joseph Fiennes) and Serena (Yvonne Strahovski), and it’s quite a glorious moment indeed. And I say glorious in the sense that she is reaching a level of vindication. But hearing her recall all the heinous things the Waterfords did to her is a trip down memory lane no one wanted to take.

As viewers, we’ve all waited a very long time for the story to reach this point. But will it be the ultimate payoff? Or will the Waterfords and Gilead once again come out on top? Let’s discuss this and more in this week’s episode recap of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4!

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4, Episode 8 recap: An unwanted “family” reunion

Every week, a group of women that endured trauma in Gilead gets together. Moira (Samira Wiley) usually leads them, and now that June is there, she’s been attending them as well. However, they don’t go as productively for her as they should.

Instead, June spends a lot of time trying to pull out the rage from the other women. She doesn’t understand why they’re so complacent with everything. There is so much to be angry about, but these women aren’t reacting appropriately, at least according to June.

During one of the sessions, Emily (Alexis Bledel) shows up flustered, with a woman following closely behind her. This woman wants desperately to talk to Emily, but Moira and June intercept. As Emily later reveals, she knew this woman as Aunt Irene back in Gilead. Yes, that’s right, she was an aunt. So it makes sense that Emily wants absolutely nothing to do with her.

Before leaving, Irene leaves her contact info for Emily, just in case she decides to get in touch with her later. Emily has no intentions of contacting Irene, but June begins to push her and convince her that she needs to let everything out. We don’t often see Emily get annoyed or confrontational, so when she passive-aggressively tells June they can’t all be like her–it’s unexpected.

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4, Episode 8 recap: The testimony

Ahead of the testimony, June learns that Luke (O-T Fagbenle) told Mark Tuello (Sam Jaeger) about her meeting with Hannah at the lake house. She wasn’t ready to tell him about it and is livid that Luke spilled the beans already.

Things have been off to a rough start for Luke and June who can’t find their way back to each other. That is to be expected, but while June has her anger, Luke has nothing, not even hope. He confides in Moira that he doesn’t know how to be around June, and half the time it feels like she is a stranger.

The thing is, Luke doesn’t know what Gilead does to a person and Moira reminds him that the recovery from the trauma is a long, long road. Despite June telling him not to, Luke shows up the next day in court to watch her testimony against the Waterfords.

To taunt her, Serena dons her teal outfit, and I have to say, it certainly strikes a nerve. Nonetheless, June perseveres, gets sworn in, and recalls every excruciating detail of her time in Gilead. We’ve seen these events over the course of the series but something about June describing them gave me goosebumps. It’s not the type of thing you want to remember, but Moss’s delivery at that moment is some of her best work to date. How she managed to do that along with direct this episode is beyond me!

June concludes the testimony by pleading to the court to put Fred on trial and give him the most severe punishment possible. Fred’s lawyer questions June, and attacks her character by bringing up how she and Luke met, and how their relationship started off when Luke was still married to someone else. June is at her wit’s end and doesn’t care much about anything and leaves the court declaring, “I am done.”

June’s testimony might have been incredibly inspiring and brave, but the entire thing is moot when we see what is waiting outside. A GROUP OF PROTESTORS ROOTING FOR SERENA AND FRED!! Yes, there is legitimately a group of people cheering the Waterfords on, and it’s something we had hoped we would never see again. Sigh.

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4, Episode 8 recap: Handmaids, assemble

Aunt Irene makes a return at the next support group meeting, and this time around, June ushers her right in. She wants to know what it is that Irene is so desperate to get. Turns out it’s Emily’s forgiveness because what Irene did to her back in Gilead is unspeakable and unimaginable.

It was Irene that outed the Martha that Emily was in love with, and the reason why that Martha was eventually hung. That led to Emily being mutilated, which is a moment I never want to think about again. It’s not a shocker that Irene is desperate for Emily’s forgiveness, but she doesn’t get what she’s looking for.

Later on, however, Moira convinces Emily to reach out to Irene, and potentially convince her to testify. If it’s forgiveness that she’s looking for, this is the best way to get it. Unfortunately, she’s too late because as Emily pulls up to the spot she was going to meet Irene, she sees her hanging from the tree.

Emily tells the group what happened, and instead of feeling a little remorse, she defiantly and confidently says she is happy that Irene is dead. Honestly, I’m not sure we can blame her!

With Emily opening up about this, the rest of the members begin sharing how they’d like to murder their former Commanders and their wives. Moira isn’t really jumping on board with it and tries to get them to veer away from such talk, but June chimes in to stop her. Not only does she prevent Moira from splitting the group up, but June offers to stick around so they can all talk some more.

Yikes, this is going to get bad.

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4, Episode 8 recap: Janine

It broke my heart to see that we finally learn the fate of Janine (Madeline Brewer). She’s not dead, but rather, she ended up right back in Gilead, under the clutches of Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd). But she seems to be in high spirits when Aunt Lydia reveals that June made it to Canada. She is actually quite happy to learn that happened, and there’s not an ounce of bitterness in her.

But there is one that does have her distraught, and that’s the thought of becoming a Handmaid again. She pleads with Aunt Lydia to give her another posting, and in tears, Lydia gives her a hug. So, is that a yes?

So, is Gilead coming to Canada?

What did you think of this week’s episode of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4? Tell us in the comments below!