'The Handmaid's Tale' Recap: 'June'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

I have to admit, that shortly after the season one finale of The Handmaid’s Tale, a big question was looming in the back of my mind in that…where on earth was this show headed next? After all, the first season of this magnificent series in essence ends where the novel did, with June’s fate left hanging in the air upon the apparent discovery that she is working for Mayday. Meaning that a second season of this series would be heading into undiscovered country when it came to this disturbing world and with the possibilities being endless as to where this story could go, that question continued to hang in my mind.
 
Thankfully, that all important question was answered last night since the season two premiere of this series, ‘June’, wasted no time in showing what comes next for June Osborne and well...it’s clear that this season’s story arc is going to be savage and unrestrained in how it tells its story and for proof, look no further than the opening of this episode. Wherein June and every single Handmaid that took part in that moment of insurrection at the end of season one were subjected to some downright disgusting psychological torture from Aunt Lydia in order to bring them back in line, reminding the audience and those poor women just how much power Gilead can exert over its citizens and terrifyingly enough, the story was just getting started in hammering that point home.
 
Because after that harrowing opening, the punishment continued…but not for June. No, as it turns out, not only is her secret regarding Mayday safe, she also received special treatment thanks to her pregnancy, and she quickly saw this as an opportunity to rise up and defy Gilead further. But Lydia was quick to point out that while pregnancy will get June all kinds of perks, further disobedience will not be tolerated and in the event she chooses to push back against her superiors, she will suffer the same fate as the Handmaid locked up in the training center and well, between that awful image, and the continued physical torture of the Handmaids that resisted, it truly seemed as though season two of this series was going to be one without hope in the slightest…
 
However, this was nothing more than brilliant deflection, because while June worked to resign herself to a return to the Waterford household and more months of isolation and suffering, a true miracle fell into her lap. Someone from Mayday was present during a health screening at the doctor’s office, and they left June a key, and that key got her into the bowels of the medical complex where a truck was waiting to whisk her away from all of this madness, and as an added bonus, Nick was there was to greet her on the other side and inform her that she’s headed for safety and eventually, she’ll be transported out of Gilead and in a beautiful and brutal sequence at the end of this episode, June said farewell to all the trappings of this awful world and declared herself…free at last.
 
So, yeah, wow…this was quite the powerhouse episode, and my thanks go out to Bruce Miller, the writer of this episode for putting together a tale that not only re-established the horrible place that is Gilead, since there was so much sheer brutality in this one, but for also giving us a ray of sunshine for a change since June is free and man, what a wonderful plot twist that turned out to be. Because she really deserves better and, in all honesty, I rather like that this premiere cast aside any social commentary or deeper moments to simply resolve that cliffhanger, because now the story can move forward and take us further into uncharted and terrifying territory in brilliant and thoughtful fashion and I cannot wait to see where season two takes us, now that June is released from the horrors of being a Handmaid. Until next time. 

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