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Every encounter between June and Serena on The Handmaid’s Tale is dramatically rich, not just because Elisabeth Moss and Yvonne Strahovski are at the top of their game, but because the balance of power is always so violently in favor of either one or the other. In Gilead, Serena enslaved June; in No-Man’s Land, June had the power of life and death over Serena. Now in season six, they’re finally on an even footing because they’re in the same boat (okay, train). Will they be stronger together or is this a doomed union?
Commander and Mrs Naomi Lawrence
Speaking of unlikely pairings, the season five finale gave us the wedding of Commander Lawrence and Naomi Putnam. Not the actual wedding (nobody needs to see Nazis kissing), but everything around it: the frou-frou preparations, sitting for the household portrait, and of course, the violent seizure and muzzling of a treasonous Handmaid and Martha.
How will the Joseph/Naomi marriage work in season six? Will they be a power couple in public but strangers in private (we saw him flinch at her touch when posing for the photo), or will Naomi try to change her man? Ever Carradine’s character put up with a lot of humiliation from her former husband, the rapist Commander Putnam, but will that mean she’ll bow to Joseph’s every command, or draw a line in the sand and stand up for herself? They both know this union is based on political optics and not love, but Naomi is a dramatic wildcard. Could this model Gilead wife have more to her than meets the eye?
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Nick’s Deal With Mark Tuello
On the subject of Eyes… the finale saw Nick Blaine sign a secret contract to become a US government spy in Gilead. Having refused Mark Tuello’s offer earlier in the season, Nick changed his mind when Gilead almost succeeded in assassinating June and so bartered his cooperation for her protection. In a sad scene, Nick established himself as this show’s romantic hero by telling Tuello that he had no aspirations to a future with June, but showed himself willing to risk his safety to help her nonetheless.
Nick’s was no small sacrifice – Nick’s wife Rose is expecting their baby, her father High Commander Wharton is a powerful man, and Commander McKenzie is already suspicious of Nick’s loyalties. Punching Lawrence in retaliation for the SUV attack on June landed him in a jail cell as well as in Rose’s bad books. We know that Gilead’s justice system favours trials in a defendant’s absence followed by what is essentially a summary execution, but Nick’s narrative armour suggests that he’ll have more to do in season six yet. And remember, this is Gilead. Is it likely that a Wife – even the daughter of a powerful Commander – has the right to leave her husband?
Luke’s Arrest
Nick wasn’t the only one who sacrificed himself for June and Nichole in ‘Safe’. Luke was finally able to fulfill his desire to protect his wife, and to right what he (but nobody else) sees as his wrongs of the past.
