It was a bittersweet ending to season three of the Handmaid's Tale. June miraculously pulled off her plan of smuggling 52 children out of Gilead, but the look on Luke’s face when he realises that his girls Hannah and June are not onboard that plane will haunt my dreams forever.
It’s a rollercoaster of an episode. At one point, Commander Lawrence, who is getting cold feet over the escape plan tells June, “You’re still in my house, young lady” (LOL) after she's told him a hard truth: “Men. F*cking pathological. You’re not in charge. I am.” It’s a boss move but then we see June potentially losing the plot and pulling a gun on one of the children, Rebecca. Come on, June, please get your sh*t together and get those kids out of there.
But poor sweet Rebecca’s potential trauma all goes away the moment she is reunited with her father in Canada. Oh my god, the tears. (And poor Luke, desperately looking for Hannah among those pink-clad girls descending from the plane).
After last year’s finale (where June gets off the truck, opting to stay in Gilead and send baby Nichole to Canada with Emily) this season’s ending was far more satisfying – even though our heroine once again remains in Gilead. Here are some more highlights:
Fred’s sabotage of Serena’s immunity deal
From his Toronto prison cell/Ikea showroom, Fred has decided to deal one last blow to Serena – telling Mark Tuello that she was responsible for Nick and June conceiving Nichole when Fred couldn’t. Tuello charges her with “crimes against humanity, sexual slavery, [and] the rape of June Osborne,” as baby Nichole is taken from her clutches. But we know that Nichole was created from love, so once again Serena is sitting on that fence between villain and victim.
The Marthas and Handmaids leading the children to the airport
Gosh this scene was nail-biting. Honestly Gilead’s Eyes need to be better at their jobs – how they managed to not see or hear a cohort of 52 children and Marthas and Handmaids crunching through leaves is beyond me. But I guess these kids have been trained to be very quiet.
June taking on the Eye in the woods
Once again, June sacrifices her escape so she can free more children from Gilead. As she creates a diversion so the children can make a mad dash for the plane, the following scene as June and the Handmaids and Marthas pelt rocks at the guard is a poignant one. When June is shot and thrown to the ground, she still manages to pull a gun on the Eye, telling him to radio his unit that it’s “all clear”. Then she finally gets to fire that gun she’s been waving around, shooting the Eye in the head, just as the plane flies above her.
Luke meeting Rita
The moment when Rita gets off the plane is a hopeful one. She embraces Emily who then introduces her to Luke. When Rita tells Luke, “June did this”, it gives him the hope that his girl is still fighting, and all hope is not lost.
But we're still left with one question: where is Nick?
All episodes of the Handmaid's Tale are available to stream on SBS On Demand. Listen to the award-winning Handmaid's Tale podcast 'Eyes on Gilead' here.
