'The Handmaid's Tale' Recap: 'Holly'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

​Okay, admittedly, I was pretty harsh and salty and when it comes to last week’s episode of The Handmaid’s Tale, something I rarely do in recaps. But, the fact of the matter is, this show is a harsh one to say the least, and well…I am quite invested in this story and seeing it to its logical conclusion, and that combination allows for some serious emotions to sneak out when dark episodes like that one come around. But, I do need to apologize to you dear reader for letting that salty side shine through because there are plenty of other ways to be critical without sounding like a fanboy. 
 
With that in mind, it’s time to take a more objective look at this week’s episode, ‘Holly’, which definitely had some eye brow raising moments to say the last because this one, picked up immediately after last week’s rough ride, with June alone and in the early stages of labor in the middle of nowhere and well, for a moment there I thought we were going to spend the hour reflecting on June’s past as she worked toward a decision as to whether or not she should high tail it back to the Waterford’s, which honestly would have been fine, since Elisabeth Moss put on an acting clinic in this one, but the plot had other goodies waiting for us.
 
Because in a surprise twist, the Waterford’s came looking for June, and in a stunning set of moments, we saw Fred and Serena as a couple and not the monsters they are as they took pot shots at one another over the decision to let June out in the open like this and this is where that first eyebrow raising moment arrived because June found a rifle in the house, and she had an opportunity to blast them both and I think it’s safe to say, we were all rooting for her to do it, but she didn’t and it makes sense as to why. After all, the death of two high ranking officials would have made June a priority on Gilead’s radar, and well…June is just a flat out better person than that.
 
So instead, she finally decided to make a run for it, and escape this awful place at last, and after a wonderful vocal cameo from the legendary Oprah Winfrey, where we learned more about how the world is working to undermine Gilead (yay!), that second eyebrow raising moment arrived in that…there was no freaking escape for June in this situation. Not even the advantage of having a car in the garage at this house helped her run from Gilead, simply because nothing worked in that damn garage, not even the manual release and to complicate matters further, the baby was flat out on its way and that led June to make her toughest decision of the night, to fire off that rifle, and stay in Gilead.
 
But she didn’t do any of this because she gave up. She did it, because her health was in jeopardy, since she lost a lot of blood giving birth and also because, her baby needs proper care right out of the gate, the kind of care that sadly only Gilead can provide at the moment and really, this episode was about sacrifice and it served as a reminder as to what kind of person June truly is and well, I really did enjoy this one when all is said and done. It was powerful and poignant and, in many ways, a lovely respite from the horrors of Gilead and while it’s obvious that June is headed back to the Waterford home yet again, I wonder if things will be different there, now that it’s clear that this once unified household, is rattled and divided. Until next time. 

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