‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Recap: ‘Border’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 503 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. To revisit the season five premiere, click here.
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One particularly difficult lesson that we all have to learn in life, is that a singular win regarding something big in our lives… doesn’t mean we’ve finished the journey or won the proverbial war. Because one victory is just that… one. And if we truly want to win the day and find agency and peace, there is a larger battle ahead. But it is difficult to understand that, since the win is always so incredibly intoxicating and powerful and the high it leaves us with lasts for a good long time. But the universe always finds a way of making it clear how reality actually works in these matters and it isn’t long before we are sent crashing back down to earth and learn that lesson. If anything, this is something that is top of mind today, simply because it is put on full display in the next episode of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu.
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For when we catch up with Serena Waterford and June Osborne in ‘Border’, one of them is riding that particular high. Serena, specifically. After all, the funeral of her late husband was a rousing success since it brought forth sympathy to Gilead around the globe and it even allowed for Serena to dine with Commanders Lawrence, MacKenzie, and Blaine to receive praise for her actions. A move that filled her with joy and agency and hope… that at long last she’d done enough to earn her keep in Gilead and could perhaps enact her own plans for the future. In fact, she was even ready to marry Commander Lawrence if it meant she could finally have a seat at the table in any capacity and well, it didn’t take long for a supremely rude awakening to fall into her lap regarding her future and her thoughts on the future for Gilead itself.

Because the council made it clear to her, that she was a woman, and in Gilead… there can be no woman in power, and that no woman that will ever dictate policy and procedure here. She was to obey and if she wanted to serve Gilead and attempt to spread the word, it was to be on foreign soil as an ‘Ambassador’ of sorts, in Toronto no less. A decision that made it clear that a victory in Gilead for a woman, meant nothing and that the war she wants to fight for power, will be as long and as winding as any battle… and she may never win and well… while that may be a humbling lesson for a woman of her ‘stature’ to learn, it was nothing more but a satisfying moment for the audience. Since none of us care for Serena and her twisted machinations and anytime she can be put in her place, is a pleasing moment for certain, and it most certainly was here.

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​However, there was mention that June explored this reality as well and it just so happened… that she was in the thick of the lesson when we caught up with her, here. For seeing Hannah on global television, be touched by her enemy and of course… to see Gilead enjoy the limelight after the message she sent, spoke volumes to how strong a nation it was and how many more victories would need to come into play to dent their reputation and eventually bring them to their knees. Not to mention, she needed to know where her daughter was headed next in life, since her new outfit on television was one, she did not recognize in the hierarchy of Gilead and that motivated her to make contact with Nick to learn about what turned out to be a future grounded in marriage to a Commander.
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But what was equally as important about that discovery, was that June was really able to see how complex and ugly the fight against Gilead truly is. Since in order to make contact with Nick, she had to meet with a rebel group on the border who were in fact… Mayday. That’s right, after all these years, we finally were able to see them in action and see how hard they work and how complex their operation is and that… gave June pause. For it was the final lesson in the fight ahead and spoke to how she will have to savor every small victory since that is how Gilead falls, brick by brick instead of by dropping a top-tier commander, and one has to wonder if by chance… this encounter means June has finally found her army, since she was admired for her work. But time will tell regarding that, especially since there are bigger fish for her to fry, since she made a point to greet Serena upon her return to Toronto.

If anything, this was… the perfect transitional episode. Since we are indeed moving into a new chapter in everyone’s life with Fred gone and with Serena working to make herself known to all, and it was nice to see lessons be learned and see the characters grow as always and what’s amazing, is that this shift into what we might consider the endgame, since season six will be the finale, featured a fascinating moment in Gilead as well. One where Aunt Lydia had a different outlook for the first time ever after praying over and eventually seeing Janine return from her coma. Leaving all of us to wonder if the groundwork for the sequel series, The Testaments, occurred in this tale and well… the only way to find out and the only way to see what comes next after these lessons, is to wait impatiently for next week’s tale, to continue this harrowing and incredible journey. Until then.   

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