The end of The Handmaid’s Tale season 5 brought June and Serena back together. How would it all play out on the train in The Handmaid’s Tale season 6?
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 premiere.
I always worry about an episode that takes place over the course of just a few hours. That’s something The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 premiere brings us, with an episode mostly on the train from Toronto to Alaska. How is it possible to create drama for the entire hour? It’s not, and there are some quite moments throughout the premiere episode.
Not everything happens on the train, though. We do head back to Toronto, where Moira is trying to find a way to get Luke out of trouble. There’s also some time in Gilead, as we learn what Nick’s fate is after finding himself imprisoned at the end of The Handmaid’s Tale season 5.
Overall, the episode was well done, and you could feel the emotions from various characters. Let’s get into the breakdown as this final season gets started.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend in The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 premiere
I feel so bad for June throughout this episode. I swear there’s an element of Stockholm Syndrome with her, as she attempts to protect Serena Joy throughout this episode. At the same time, she’s a woman who sees that people have multiple layers. That doesn’t make the two of them friends, even for now, but it does mean that June wants to try to do the right thing.
Ever since Charmed, I’ve learned that the wrong things done for the right reason are still the wrong things. That doesn’t mean we stop ourselves from doing those wrong things, and I don’t blame the former handmaids in this episode, but I can see where June is coming from.
It all starts with June struggling with how to feel now that Serena is back in her life. She’ll do what she can to protect June’s son, but the whole “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” is on a “case-by-case basis.” For now, they can be allies, but that doesn’t mean they will be braiding each other’s hair any time soon.
I just have to wonder if Serena even hears herself as she speaks. She berates June for not getting over the things that happened to her. Honestly, she’s lucky that she had June by her side throughout this episode. When the doctor realizes that Serena is the wife of the late Commander Waterford, he calls for the authorities. The women around them gather in an attempt to take down Serena, but the doctor doesn’t want that. He just wants Serena apprehended when they get to Alaska and tried as a criminal of the state.
It looks like it could calm down a little when the cop on the train turns up, but then he says that the papers are in good order. As he explains that his wife and child were taken from him in the Gilead regime, it’s clear what he is doing. He knows exactly who Serena is, and he knows how much the women on the train hate her. He gives the doctor and some of the women chance to leave if they don’t want to be a part of this, but he’s more than happy for vigilante justice.
Honestly, the emotions from these women certainly make this part of the episode heavy. Serena continues to be completely oblivious to the pain that she caused people, even saying that they were bad mothers. It’s like she wants to be attacked. All I wanted to see was June get Nichole and Noah out of the carriage and leave the rest of the women to do whatever they wanted to Serena. It’s clear in this episode that she is completely void of remorse. There is no redemption. All her actions serve herself, and she doesn’t believe that she did anything wrong in creating Gilead. A woman like this is dangerous, and yet, June stands by her.
June isn’t the only one who thinks the vigilante justice is wrong. The doctor was against it as well, so it’s clear that there are some people who want justice to play out in the way it’s set out by law. However, when you make people monsters, they become those monsters, and I can’t say which side of this attack I’d be on without being there. As a mother, I would probably want to hurt anyone who took my daughters away from me, especially within a regime like Gilead, and it’s hard to say I would be able to be the person June is.
I’m even surprised June is that person. However, I think her motivation is more to protect Noah than Serena. Although, pushing Serena off the train with Noah is an extremely stupid thing to do. Of course, Serena should have just gotten off the train when it had stopped!
Moira looks for a way to get Luke free in The Handmaid’s Tale
While June is dealing with her situation with Serena, Moira is trying to save Luke. I love the way that Luke and Moira have stood by each other throughout their time as refugees in The Handmaid's Tale. I still get chills when Luke got word that Moira was safe — she was on his list and she never once expected that — and now Moira isn’t going to let Luke rot because he was protecting his wife.
However, Mark Tuello isn’t feeling all that optimistic about the changes of getting Luke out of jail. She attacked a Canadian on Canadian soil, and the Canadians don’t like the refugees in their country any more. I wish I could say that Canada wouldn’t do this, but the world I see today, I can say they would. And sadly, there would be supporters of Gilead, and they wouldn’t see a problem with sending people back there. It’s a scary world we live in.
Mark isn’t completely giving up, though. As he and Moira look at the new maps that are coming out — with the continental United States now drawn as Gilead — he decides to bring up a glimmer of hope. There is always May Day.
If Mark is now on the side of May Day, then we know things are getting extremely bad for the United States. Moira wanting to join him in this fight isn’t that surprising. With everything happening to June and the refugees, she was always going to end up going back to fight. She is a warrior, and this has me worried about how the series is going to end for her.
Nick’s transgressions are forgiven, sort of
Meanwhile in Gilead, we get to see what happened to Nick. He’s out of prison, and he gets to live in New Bethlehem with his wife. Things aren’t great between the two of them, though. After all, Rose knows that Nick’s heart lies with June, and that makes him a threat to Gilead and their life together.
Rose’s father, Commander Warton, also clearly sees that this is a problem, so it’s not surprising that he is going to stick around for a while. He says that it’s for his daughter, but this is to keep an eye on Nick. Our Eye-turned-Commander is not going to have an easy life, and he’s going to have to make a choice. When it comes to survival, I wouldn’t blame him for choosing what he thinks is the right side of history, and it’s going to be the right side of history for a while.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood tells us that Gilead eventually falls, but it’s not for a fair few decades. Nick is sure to be old and even potentially dead by the time Gilead falls, so for him, choosing Gilead is likely the best choice. As much as we would love to see him fight for what’s right, people don’t always stand up for what’s right. Just look at World War II and Nazi Europe!
Of course, I want to see that Nick is willing to play the long game. He could, but right now, he doesn’t want to be back in prison and he needs to figure out how to survive.
The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 premiere ends with a haunting reminder of the world they’re in
The very end of the episode sees June make it to Alaska. I’m not sure why everyone on the train thought they were going to Vancouver and were shocked to find out that Vancouver wouldn’t take them in either. I could have sworn June was told the train was going to Alaska. I always thought the push was to get everyone to one of the two remaining states — although, I think Hawaii would be a much better destination, personally!
And yes, there are only two remaining states. We get that stark reminder at the end of the episode. As June gets off the train, she looks up at the flag flying. It’s the stars and stripes flag, but it’s changed in a haunting way that still sends shivers down my spine after watching it. The flag only has two stars to denote Alaska and Hawaii.
The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 does end up with a little bit of hope. Did anyone else know immediately who the nurse was walking around the camp to check on all the refugees? For five seasons so far, we’ve wondered what happened to June’s mom. Sure, there was a photo of her in the Colonies, but this is TV. People are not dead until you show their deaths or their bodies after their deaths, so I didn’t believe for a second that Holly was dead.
The end of the episode confirms that. As Holly looks down at the list, she screams out June’s name. Mother, daughter, and granddaughter are all united, and it is the most shockingly beautiful way to end such a haunting episode.
The Handmaid’s Tale airs on Tuesdays on Hulu.