The Handmaid's Tale: Surprise (6x06)

Oh noooooo.

Cons:

Okay... I'm... trying to reserve judgment here. What I'm worried about is that June will never forgive Nick and Nick will redeem himself for this betrayal someway with his life, and that Nick will be dead before the season is over in order to ensure June and Holly etc. are free. That's my fear. That, to me, is a more boring version of this story than I want them to tell. I want June to understand that her cavalier insistence that Nick can take care of her problems led him into a corner where his very life was at risk. He kept her safe, while betraying Mayday's plan to blow up a bunch of Commanders. Sure, we wish Nick could have been braver and stronger or more clever in some way. But this isn't a straightforward situation and I hope that the show will acknowledge that in a more direct way.

Does it seem like June was actually entertaining Nick's offer there at the end, too? Because that's bananas. Even if June would maybe dip out on Luke for Nick's sake, she wouldn't dip out on Hannah, or the other Handmaids. I don't like the suggestion that she was actually being swayed, honestly.

This episode had a couple of moments that just felt a little clunky and on-the-nose, like of course Naomi had to wake up and almost catch Joseph in the basement with Moira and June... and that moment where Joseph is preemptively gloating about the Mayday plan by telling Naomi that none of it will matter in the future... it's like, dude, be quiet. Be smarter than this. The same lack of subtlety showed when June picks up Serena's writing and sees her writing about the Handmaids and how essential they were... like, it just feels a bit too contrived.

Pros:

This show still shines for me on the strength of the performances, more so than on the strength of the individual scripts or scenes, and this episode was no different. So many juicy moments that stressed me out and/or made me feel so much.

To start, I love thinking about the interaction between June and Lawrence from Moira's point of view. They've really got such a complicated history between them, and I loved Moira trying to thank him for saving them and June's like "don't thank him!" all belligerent. She's kind of stupid, not playing nice with the people who hold her life in their hands, but I also love the idea of these two just boiling over with all these layers of resentment and the reluctant sense of trust between them. The fact is, Lawrence didn't know that June might be able to help him with his problem, when he got her and Moira out of danger. The fact is, he could have used them for political leverage and he chose not to. It's a lot!

Janine and Lydia's scene was also so complicated. I feel just absolutely zero sympathy for Aunt Lydia, like, holy shit, get your act together. How can you expect Janine or any of these women to ever forgive you? There's something so chilling about the way she still infantalizes them. "My girls" and bringing them cookies... and then she lashes out and slaps Janine in the face, then blubbers and apologizes... that scene was working for me on so many levels because at the same time that I was marveling at Lydia's delusions and heart-sore for Janine, I was worried that Janine might get a bit too volatile and let something slip about the big plan.

On that note, Janine's really become great at surviving in this world. That little scene with Nick was maybe my favorite small moment in the episode. "May, April, something like that..." as a way to ask "is June safe" and give Nick a safe way to answer her! I love how all these people who don't have a personal connection, nevertheless create this web of conspiracy and care around June. Nick and Janine, and then later when Nick sends June to Serena... it's so wild!

The same way I don't have sympathy for Lydia, I don't have sympathy for Serena! The delusion on this woman, to wonder why June won't forgive her! Girl, you serially raped her and tortured her and forced her to have sex with Nick and then tried to steal her baby, all while already having been instrumental in the kidnapping of her other daughter! Get a grip. But I do like watching Serena as this interesting example of the lies we tell ourselves. She can convince herself that this time Gilead is getting it right, she can convince herself that this marriage is a good idea. But June is right when she says that this is just a different version of Gilead that's better for Serena specifically. It's not real liberation, it's not real freedom.

Serena's got all the trappings of being truly penitent and changed. Symbolically, there's something very powerful about her sitting down to breakfast with Rita and June, her former Martha and Handmaid, around a breakfast that Serena prepared. But that symbol isn't actually enough to erase the reality, and all these women know it, deep down. I liked that June tried to rope Rita in, and she bowed out. She's trying to keep her head down and protect her family. And it's hard to blame her, I feel like I might be too scared to do anything more.

So.... Nick. I'm scared of where this is going. I feel like that flashback scene with June and Nick was a real sign that his character is going to be redeemed only by an ultimate sacrifice and that will bum me out in a major way! But still, I'm glad we got to see the two of them in that past moment, as peaceful as it was possible for them to be, fantasizing about being a couple in the normal world. And then him showing up and pulling her into that kiss, asking her to run with him to Paris... wow. Swoon.

It's potentially hokey, but that final shot of June in the closet, with the light spilling through the cut-outs in the door... like a penitent giving confession... while Nick disappears into the shadows right beside her... oof. I'm heartbroken for both of them honestly. And now Joseph is in big big danger, and June is trapped in Gilead, and Jezebel's has been shut down, which means what for Janine and the other women there? I truly have no idea what's going to happen from here! There are just four more episodes to wrap everything up.

This episode had some disappointing elements to it, to be sure. But I was still utterly captivated by the dynamic performances on the screen, and I'm excited to see the big conclusion!

7.5/10