‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Recap: ‘Testimony’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 408 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’.
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It is definitely safe to say that anyone that has been truly wronged in this world, yearns for justice. Which is why they are willing to put their mental health and standing on the line by testifying in court, if possible, in the hopes that a jury will understand their plight and find the person that hurt them as guilty as can be, so that justice is indeed finally served. But while that tends to satisfy the majority of those wronged, sometimes when a particular crime is supremely vile and unsettling, court just isn’t enough to properly serve up justice in the minds of the wronged. Which means to those that hold to that mindset, finding a way to inflict pain beyond a trial is only way to enjoy a true sense of justice and it just so happens that this particularly sour concept served as the focus of the next episode of The Handmaid’s Tale.

For ‘Testimony’ saw June Osborne finally take the stand in front of the International Criminal Court, to tell a panel of judges what kinds of horrors she experienced in the Republic of Gilead and that of course… led to some beautiful slaps in the face for Fred and Serena Waterford. Because June stood tall during her testimony and was calm and cool and collected as she recounted the horrific acts they inflicted upon her, ensuring that they had no power over her and that they looked like the disgusting fools that they are. And it was equally as wonderful to see her approach and confront Fred over his lies and remind him that he had no power in this place and that the ICC would be deciding his fate instead of a council of Commanders. But while that was lovely and satisfying to watch and should have signaled a turning point for June and her road to recovery, since facing such monsters should have brought about healing, this act provided June with no sense of justice and understandably so.

After all, this was merely a hearing to determine if Fred Waterford should stand trial for crimes against humanity and as June herself said, so many more of her peers were still in Gilead, suffering. Which left a burning ember smoldering inside of her and that motivated her to look toward other avenues to bring forth justice. And one such way was to antagonize a specific refugee from Gilead. For a strange woman kept trying to talk to Emily during their group therapy sessions, and that woman turned out to be… a former Aunt. The same one who actually ratted out Emily for the love affair that cost her so much both physically and emotionally, and she was trying desperately to contact Emily in the hopes of having absolution for her crimes and well… this was indeed an opportunity to get that darker sense of justice, by way of humiliation and reflection.

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Which is why June marched that former Aunt right into the group and made her inform Emily of her sins in front of everyone. So that she could have watchful eyes upon her and feel the fury and hate from everyone in that group and to see if Emily would succumb to her personal instincts on justice as well and in her own special way, Emily did. For she offered no absolution and that was more than the former Aunt could bear and she took her own life and the sight of that… actually brought Emily joy, and a sense of justice at last. Which is a dark, yet understandable path for this story to take, one that is up to the viewer to decide as to whether or not taking pleasure in the death of others is right or wrong. But for these broken women, little else will satisfy at this point and regardless of whether the audience likes this or not… these ladies had their taste of justice at last and perhaps it was helpful, since it did finally motivate June to open up to Luke about Hannah’s fate. 

Yet while all of this would have carried this episode with minimal fuss, there was an important secondary story to be found in this tale, one that took place in Gilead. For this was another opportunity to see how Lydia and Lawrence were getting along in their revamped roles and well, things weren’t’ going well for Lydia. For she was viewed in a different light by her peers, and that infuriated her and motivated her to take that fury out on Handmaid and peer alike and well… that in turn motivated Lawrence to give her quite the opportunity at closure. For an escaped Handmaid had been captured in the fallout of the Chicago bombing and her fate would be up to Aunt Lydia in effort to heal her angry soul, and as it turns out… that Handmaid was Janine. Who knew she was in a bad place and actually asked for death over reinstatement, an admission that shocked Lydia and softened her stance and while this did little to advance the plot or answer where Lydia’s loyalties lie these days, what matters more is that Janine is alive after all, but sadly is facing an unknown fate.

In the end however, this really was a surprisingly harrowing and bittersweet tale. In large part because of the fact that it put the pain and rage and fury that June and her friends have buried deep down into their souls… on full display and really… that’s not a bad thing. Because they need to feel their feels and address their pain if they ever hope to move forward and dark journey toward that or not… they did indeed do just that here and that is satisfying in its own twisted way, as was discovering that Janine is okay and so was June’s testimony. Because watching Fred and Serena squirm, was just the stuff of dreams. For they truly deserve everything negative that is coming their way but sadly, their journey was the bittersweet part of this episode. Simply because that closing shot of them being cheered on by supporters in Canada, serves to remind us that the fight to topple Gilead is going to be long and brutal… for idiots like Fred and Serena and their deep-rooted and twisted beliefs are hard to quash and it will take a monumental effort to do so and that means June and the world have their work cut out for them. Until next time.  

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