The Handmaid’s Tale, Season 6 Episode 606 Review

Episode 606 – Surprise   

“June hides in an unexpected place.”

Writer: Aly Monroe

Director: Natalia Leite

In the trunk of Commander Lawrence’s car, June and Moira discuss the potential consequences and fallout of what just happened inside Jezebel’s. The map that is needed for the mission and the letters from the women are locked inside a safe in one of the rooms, but what if a guardian finds them? They pull over, and after letting them out of the trunk Lawrence begins to argue with them. June and Lawrence both blame each other for failing to intervene: Lawrence for not stopping Gilead from shooting down the American planes trying to rescue Hannah, and June for not saving his wife Eleanor whom she watched die after taking a lethal dose of pills. Touche, Joseph. After telling her that the other commanders want Lawrence dead on the wall, June reveals the plan to kill the commanders which would make him “the most powerful commander in Boston”.

They arrive at Lawrence’s house to hide June and Moira in the basement, a hiding place many actual Marthas knew well. After a close call with Naomi, June tries to convince Lawrence to take them back to Jezebels to get the map and letters. With it being under lockdown, June predictably asks to make a phone call to Nick who of course agrees to help. He tells her to have Lawrence take Moira back across the border, and to wait for him to bring the map and letters.

Nick arrives at Jezebel’s and retrieves the map and letters. But finds a bloody tooth left behind from the brutal fight with the guardian. In the hall, he runs into Commander Bell and Janine. Nick covertly lets Janine know that June made it out of Jezebels safely. He meets June in Lawrence’s basement to deliver the map and letters. With Rose and Commander Wharton on their way to DC, Nick suggests she stay with him until morning when he can get her back across the border safely. Oh Nick, always looking for an opportunity for some alone time, and June immediately agrees. June flashes back to lying in bed with Nick in his apartment at the Waterford house. We never saw this conversation in season one, but it presumably takes place during that time. June muses that she’s always wanted to go to Paris, and Nick wishes he could take her. They start to ask questions pretending they’re on their first date, and Nick reflects that he did not have much of a life before Gilead.

In the Jezebels dressing room, Aunt Lydia is waiting for Janine with cookies and an offer: she has submitted a proposal to the High Council that retired handmaids are to become attendants at a new fertility center in New Bethlehem, just as Serena Joy suggested. Lydia sees this as an opportunity for the women to be “free” (still in Gilead, mind you). Janine is right to be skeptical and insists that she is better off at Jezebels and that she knows that Gilead will eventually crumble. She asks Lydia how she can be so blind to reality, when Lydia slaps her, but immediately regrets it and apologizes. Janine seizes an opportunity and says, “if you want my forgiveness, ok? Bring me my child.” Lydia thinks she is always fighting for what is best for the handmaids, but Janine rightfully yells at her that she is the one that stole Charlotte from her when she was at the Putnams’ house. She then forces her out of the dressing room, releases some anger by throwing things around the room, before calmly walking out.

Nick arrives at his house with June, to find that Wharton is still there, forcing June to hide in the car. Nick mentions that she can hide at Serena’s house if need be. Once inside, Wharton sits down to have a chat with him. Wharton learned that Nick was at Jezebels and begins to question him about it, laying the guilt on thick. Nick maintains that his business there is confidential. Wharton drops the bomb that he knows what happened to the two guardians in No Man’s Land that Nick shot. Since we first met Wharton, he has always kept a calm, quiet demeanor. But he snaps and screams at Nick, demanding to know what he was doing at Jezebels. After quickly composing himself, he lets Nick know that he will end up on the wall unless he is honest. Will Nick reveal what he was really up to? Or protect June at all costs, as he always has? And now I know that I have been right about Wharton; he has given off dangerous, unpredictable vibes from the start.

Outside, June is waiting in the car until she decides to give up and head down the street to Serena’s house. Serena is shocked to find June knocking on her door, but takes her in. June lies and says she is there to see if Nick wants to go back to Alaska with her, but he said no. June starts to apologize for what happened back on the train, but Serena insists June saved them from the mob of angry refugees. June just needs a place to hide until she can get back across the border in the morning.

After getting June set up with a guest room and some clean clothes, Serena announces she is marrying Commander Wharton. June hilariously points out, “Doesn’t that make you Nick’s mother-in-law?” She does not necessarily congratulate her, and Serena claims Wharton is not like Fred. And June asks, “Was Fred like Fred, in the beginning?” Serena insists that she and Wharton intend to reform Gilead together, but June reminds her that “you are still subjugating yourself to another powerful man.” After claiming that New Bethlehem is very different from Gilead proper, June maintains that “it is just another version of Gilead that is better for you.” Serena is getting everything she ever wanted in New Bethlehem: her child, a husband that “respects her”, she is able to read and write, and she is furthering her mission of improving fertility for women in Gilead. But, as June says, it is still Gilead. Serena is once again proving that she is okay with the atrocities in Gilead so long as they do not directly affect her. Sound familiar to a certain demographic of American voters, anyone?

Getting increasingly frustrated, Serena laments that she has repeatedly tried to make amends with June, but she just will not let her. June reminds her that umm, hello! She saved her life! Twice, even! Serena yells that June still won’t forgive her, and June says, “I CAN’T forgive you. You don’t think I wish I could?? If I could, then I’d finally get rid of you.” Serena finally gives in and lets her get to sleep.

In the morning, Serena has made breakfast for June. When June heads to the kitchen, Rita is there waiting for her. In a strange reversal, Serena is serving June and Rita breakfast. June is surprised to find out that Rita has decided to live in New Bethlehem and that Serena has gotten her a job at the bakery. She asks if Rita would make her wedding cake. June interrupts and says that Rita does not have to. Rita says exactly what I’m thinking; “I don’t need you to speak for me.” Serena heads upstairs to take care of Noah, leaving them to talk. June suggests that Rita could help them with their plan, but Rita does not want to do anything except take care of her family, finally. June expresses how happy she is for Rita, saying “you deserve peace.”

Lawrence is comically teaching little Angela/Charlotte how to play chess in his study. Naomi comes in and says it will put ideas in here head that will reflect “poorly” on them. He says she won’t need to worry about it because soon it won’t matter anymore. She doesn’t understand what that means, but Lawrence takes out the king with a knight, knocking it over and says, “you’ll see”. He believes the Mayday plan will work, or that the commanders will have him on the wall soon.

While June waits for Nick at Serena’s house, she finds the journal that Serena has been writing in. Nick bursts in, breathlessly telling June to forget Mayday and go with him to Paris. Has he lost his mind?! He claims he has all the paperwork and passports they need. He must have been busy since his chat with his father-in-law. They kiss for the first time in a couple of seasons. June is being rational and pointing out that she can’t just leave everyone. He suggests that June’s mom brings Holly to meet them there. She asks about his own family, and he believes he is no good to them. And in one of the most cringy lines he has ever said, declares “it’s always been you.” HUGE EYEROLL.  She seems to really be considering it when there is a knock at the door. Uh oh, Wharton is there. Serena pushes June and Nick to hide in the closet.

Serena tries to get Wharton out of the house by suggesting they take Noah for a walk. Wharton tells Serena that he shut down Jezebels, eliciting a look of alarm from June in the closet. He drops the bomb that he learned about the Mayday plan to kill all the commanders. June stares Nick down, who can’t even look at her. Wharton says aloud that he learned it from Nick. I KNEW IT. I knew Nick was never to be fully trustworthy. He claimed that June is the only good thing in his life, but he has always been complicit in Gilead’s theocracy ever since he was first hired by the Sons of Jacob before Gilead took power. June had always thought that she could always rely on Nick, no matter what, but he has completely shattered that in this explosive moment of betrayal. And on top of that, tried to cover it up by convincing her to run away with him, leaving Hannah and Luke behind. Wharton says that Nick “has proven his loyalty.” Yeah, he has proven WHO his loyalty is to: only Nick, and whatever benefits him in the given moment. “It was Nick who told me everything.” Nick and June lock eyes, and the gravity of the betrayal hits June and about knocks the wind out of her. The last shot of the episode is of June’s profile alone in the frame, with the light streaming into the closet on her. Throughout this season, she keeps saying she doesn’t want to be alone, but here she is.