Where are my fellow The Handmaid's Tale fans at? I think we all need to come together and support one another as we recover from that penultimate episode! The Handmaid's Tale season 6 episode 9, "Execution," premiered on Hulu today, and it also serves as the second to last episode of the series overall as this is the final season of the dystopian drama. And wow, did it deliver. SPOILERS BELOW.
What happened in The Handmaid's Tale season 6 episode 9
Since the start of season 6, we've seen our main protagonist, June, motivated to help Mayday and lead the rebellion against Gilead. It's no easy feat, and she almost gets herself killed many times. Just in this episode, she was literally hanged before Rita was able to bring her down and the rest of Mayday caused a distraction with bombs. Thankfully she, the other handmaids, Aunt Lydia, and undercover CIA agent Aunt Ava, were able to get away.
So the title of the episode relates to that, it can relate to the execution of their plan, and then there's those final moments of the episode where it really comes into play. To put a stop to the rebellion and ask for help, the surviving commanders who weren't killed in season 6 episode 8 after the Serena and Wharton wedding decide to fly to Washington D.C. to speak with the High Council. Lawrence is working with Mayday and tasked with placing a bomb on the plane to take the commanders out.
The initial plan was for him to put it on the plane and leave, but of course those pesky commanders arrive early. In a heartbreaking turn of events, he has no choice but to get on the plane with them, making this a suicide mission. Ugh, looking at his face and touching his heart as he looks at June for the last time and saying goodbye silently. I can't. The tears are still welling up in my eyes.
Then, Nick also shows up to go to D.C., having made his choice in who he's going to be loyal to. But still, he can't help but ask Lawrence about June and whether she's alright. He then tells his fellow commander that June told him many times to leave Gilead behind to join her, and he didn't listen. Lawrence's final words are to Nick, telling him she should have listened to his love before the plane explodes with him, Nick, Wharton, and the other commanders now gone. And that is the biggest win for the rebellion so far.
Even Wharton's death has left me reeling because he's such a powerful man and I wasn't completely expecting them to get this win after so many losses. But that means Lawrence's sacrifice was not made in vain.
Commander Lawrence's redemption arc comes full circle
Ugh you guys. There's so many mixed feelings here. Let's start with Lawrence. He's the architect of Gilead and really it exists thanks to him. However as the seasons of The Handmaid's Tale went on, he slowly started to redeem himself and realized the huge mistake he made. Even in season 6 he still had a bit of a "savior complex" as actor Bradley Whitford mentions to The Hollywood Reporter.
Though that last moment and sacrifice when he gets on the plane is proof of him changing. It's so heartbreaking, but it is a fitting end to his character and what he's done. Now, he'll be remembered a hero. I felt like when he said goodbye to Angela, it foreshadowed his death. Here's what the actor told the news outlet:
"It was basically my fantasy of his trajectory. Because, it can’t come too easy. This is not a show that needs a male savior (laughs). Lawrence is one of these intellectual guys and he was so excited about this idea of New Bethlehem that it sort of happened again where he got seduced by power and flattery. Even though he has contempt for these guys [the other High Commanders], his savior complex blinds him to what is a pretty obvious possibility, that those guys were gonna turn on him [which is why he decided to help Mayday]."
June and Nick were not meant to be in this life
Next is Mr. Nick. Look, I know he's not the best morally and there's some toxic traits to him. But we still shipped June and Nick over here, ok. Their moments together, their love for each other, and Nick's love for their daughter Nichole/Holly is all real. Though unfortunately, he also let his allegiance to Gilead and perhaps that lack of a self-esteem in himself make him loyal to the republic as well.
Rose and their newly born son also got mixed into the picture, and once he got on that plane we knew where his loyalties were going to lie going forward if he didn't die in the explosion too.. This was sort of coming after he revealed Mayday's plan to his father-in-law. Here's what actor Max Minghella had to say to THR:
"Nick was under tremendous pressure and when people are under pressure, they don’t always think rationally. I think [when Nick told Wharton about the Jezebel’s coup] that he assumed Wharton knew the answers already, and that it was a test more than an actual interrogation. I think Nick genuinely didn’t anticipate what the consequences of that conversation were going to be, and I don’t think he would have given those answers if he had known the implications."
You could argue that June and Nick were probably doomed from the start. Their relationship was always going to have complications, especially because he didn't choose to come with her. Perhaps in another life, the two could have gone to Paris together with their daughter and Nick would have made the right choice. Though in this life, the two were not meant to be and Nick chose the wrong side. Here's what Moss said to the news outlet:
"I feel like Nick was not the person June fell in love with. So as much as she can mourn the loss of the person she fell in love with, it won’t trump the loss of the women [who were killed] at Jezebel’s. But there is pain there, too. I’m not going to say there wasn’t complexity to seeing him at that wedding and June not knowing what was going to happen to him next. Of course, there’s a lot of complexity [seeing him step onto the plane].
"I do think Nick really loved Nichole [who is now going by her real name, Holly]. I think June will tell [her and Nick’s daughter] all of the good things about her father. She’ll tell him how much she loved him and how much he loved her. She’ll tell him how much her parents loved each other and that ultimately, I think he would have done the right thing if he had gotten the chance to do it again."
It breaks our hearts, though he too got the fitting ending based on his actions Both his and June's daughter, and now his son with Rose, won't know their dad. In a world like Gilead, there's going to be hard choices to make, and that included June letting Lawrence do what he needed to do, and not stopping Nick from getting on the plane. Both June and Nick made their choices and allegiances clear, and unfortunately they were on opposite sides. Sigh. Excuse me while I continue to wipe away my tears now.
The Handmaid's Tale season 6 finale, and series finale, premieres Tuesday, May 27, 2025 on Hulu.