‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ (5×10): the end of season 5, explained

Spoilers for the season 5 finale of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ below

Are you ready to say goodbye to ‘The Handmaid’s Tale? Of course, with the recent events in Gilead and Canada, what we want to know is what will happen next: The end of season 5 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ has left the main characters of the story at different and important turning points, with their destinies hanging by a thread on both sides of the border. That is the price that must be paid for the revolution: if the stories of June, Luke, Nick, Janine, Serena and Aunt Lydia at the end of this season have anything in common, it is undoubtedly the need to rebel against the system or the circumstances that surround them.

R.We review everything that has happened in the 5×10 episode of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’which closes a remarkable season that is already among the best series on HBO Spain in 2022.

Canada revolts against refugees

At the end of the ninth episode of the season it becomes clear to us that the situation of American refugees on Canadian soil is untenable. The movements against their presence in the country are growing more and more virulent (and violent), which explodes when, during a memorial for the fallen soldiers, a man starts shooting into the crowd. in the final episode it is confirmed that this man was merely a fan, and not an attempt by Gilead to get rid of June. Now, that does not mean that they are not going to try sooner rather than later, since the protagonist continues to be a great threat to her survival.

In the episode we will see how tensions between Canadians and Americans reach a point of no return. In a cool shot that rotates on its axis, Elisabeth Moss (who directs the episode) shows us how the neighborhood is in the process of decay: ‘For Sale’ signs, trucks picking up moving boxes, a sense of a ghost neighborhood. .. And it is at that moment where we will live one of the most tense and decisive moments of the episode.

June suffers a stroke that changes everything

After saying goodbye to Mark Tuello, who had visited them to update them on the incident at the memorial, June suffers a new attack, this time unmistakably directed at her person: she is run over by a car in front of her. from his house, and gets to pass the wheels over his arm. Luckily that’s all he gets to do, because Luke comes to his wife’s defense. From the perspective of June, who is writhing in pain on the floor, we see that the man was armed, and Luke gives him a good beating. This, justified or not, will bring consequences.

Immediately afterwards we see June in the ambulance, which takes her to the hospital. Other than the damage to her arm and general scratches on her, she’s fine. Luke has to go to the police station to give a statement about what happened. We also learn that the attacker is in the ICU, and later we will discover that he has died as a result of the injuries caused by Luke.. Meanwhile, the news of this attack reaches Gilead, and more specifically to the ears of Nick, who does not hesitate to take a car and cross the border to visit June in the hospital.

Nick, high treason for love

In fact, in case we hadn’t already noticed, Nick is still deeply in love with June and he’s not going to let anything bad happen to her. That passion, in this final episode, plays a trick on him and puts him in a very dangerous situation.. As we pointed out, upon learning of the attack, Nick travels to Canada to visit June, who is unconscious in the hospital and will not find out that the Commander has come to pay her a visit. Now, to get that brief moment with her, Nick has had to sign a contract with Mark Tuello. What are the terms of that contract? Will Nick become a spy for the US government, an infiltrator within the Gilead power system? At the moment we do not know the details of that agreement.

And, although we don’t know if it’s part of the plan or not, Nick doesn’t look like he’s going to be in much of a position to gain information or climb the ranks in Gilead.. When he returns from his Canadian visit, he heads straight to Commander Lawrence’s house, where celebrations for his wedding to the former Mrs. Putnam, Naomi, are taking place. And he only needs a minute to storm into his office and punch him in front of all the other commanders. He reproaches her for the attack on June, but without saying her name. Lawrence replies that he hasn’t had anything to do with it, also in vague terms. Did Nick just dig his own grave? Later we see him in a cell, where he receives a visit from his wife Rose his. Disappointed, the woman (who, let’s remember, is pregnant) reproaches him for having faked her love for her (although Nick insists that he is real) and that he always comes to June’s call. It seems that their separation is a reality. But the question is: what will happen to Nick? Does this have something to do with his agreement with Tuello? Is he in danger of being punished by Gilead?

Janine trades submission for rebellion

While June was able to escape at the end of the fourth season of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, Janine was forced to return to Gilead and don the red robes of a maid once more.. However, this time her treatment of her has been quite different, since she has the protection (and love, by the way) of Aunt Lydia, who seems determined to change her maid system. Not to abolish it, which would be his thing, but to modify it so that attacks like the one suffered by Esther in previous episodes can be avoided. Janine seemed grateful for this protection, but a near-death experience and the possibility of being raped again on a monthly basis change her perspective.

In this final episode of Season 5, Aunt Lydia tells Janine that she has found an ideal solution: that she become the maid of the new Lawrence couple, something that will allow her to live under the same roof as her daughter Angela. The maid does not accept the news well at first, although she later accepts it. Well, that is until a Martha approaches him at the Lawrences’ and tells him about the attack on June. “My June?” She answers, concerned. And worry turns to anger when a friendly Naomi tells her that she’s on probation to be her maid, don’t even think of referring to Angela as her daughter, and to top it off, she calls her ‘Ofjoseph’. ‘. Janine blurts out that they are not friends with her and that she is, in fact, one of the worst people she has ever met. As a result, she is sent back to the maids’ center, from where she is seized by guards over Aunt Lydia’s protests. The last thing we see of her is that they put her in a van along with the Martha who told her about June, and she disappears from our sight, leaving Lydia between her sadness and her anger.

Luke is arrested at the station.

When it is confirmed that June’s attacker has died in the hospital, a countdown begins for the protagonists. Given the social and political climate in Canada, the killing of a Canadian by an American refugee is not going to be without consequence, regardless of the circumstances in which the incident occurred. Luke downplays the matter, but June is clear: “This country is changing…America wasn’t Gilead until it was, and by then it was too late”. The couple decides that they have to flee.

Tuello informs them that the authorities are already waiting for them at the airport, and recommends that they take a train to Vancouver, as hundreds of other American refugees are doing at that very moment, to fly to Hawaii from there. The escalation of tension, of course, is affecting everyone. With Nichole, June and Luke arrive at the station and move slowly along with a crowd, but tickets and IDs are being checked under a magnifying glass at the entrance to the train.. At a certain point they even walk around the photo of Luke, asking those present if they have seen him. It is clear that he will not be able to board the train, but June will. And she does so. Thus, Luke is arrested by the police when he makes himself known among the people. What will happen to him now? And where the hell is Moira?

June and Serena, reunited again…and where to?

The final twist of the season comes on board the train, in the last scene of the tenth episode. Leaving Luke in a compromising situation, a distraught June makes her way through the train carriages with Nichole in the trolley looking for a place to sit. Suddenly, she hears the cry of another baby. He looks forward and at the bottom of the vehicle is none other than Serena Waterford and her baby Noah. If we remember, the last time we saw her was in the previous episode, fleeing from the control of the Wheeler couple.

Those who were mortal enemies, but who shared a rapprochement during Serena’s delivery and her subsequent arrest in the middle of this season, now meet for the first time on the same path and following the same direction. Is this the first step for a true friendship to grow between them? Will June really be able to forgive everything Serena has done in the past, including beatings, molestation, and rape? Can we? Has the redemption that you have experienced this season been enough? Only the next season will tell. At the moment, both look intensely at the last moments of season 5, Serena with a smile and June… with an unreadable expression.

This is how Elisabeth Moss herself explains it in The Hollywood Reporter: “The other thing I wanted to do that wasn’t necessarily in the script, but that I did as an actress and a director, and that Yvonne fully embraced, was this idea that Serena is offering the peace pipe with the line ‘Do you have a diaper?” She’s almost joking because her baby is obviously a different size than June’s baby, so she knows diapers aren’t going to fit him. He’s offering it as this kind of peace offering, and what he wanted to do in response to that was duplicate the smile that Serena gives June at the end of episode two. When Serena looks at June from the screen and smiles, she wanted to make the same smile on June to come full circle.“. With this smile, or rather grimace, season 5 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ ends. The next one will be the last and we already count the minutes until its premiere.