Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Story has now formally ended, after six seasons of rigidity, terror and really intense shut ups. It ended proper the place it started, with June sitting in Offred’s room within the previous Waterford home in Boston, the place every part has modified and but every part stays the identical, laying the groundwork for The Testaments, which is able to choose up the place this present left off. With this in thoughts, did season six give us what we wished? Listed here are my high moments from season 6, and there will probably be spoilers. Oh sure.
I had a quite simple set of needs for season six, a few of which had been primarily based on clues from The Testaments. We knew that June wouldn’t get Hannah again as she’s a central character within the sequel, however The Testaments additionally guarantees Insurgent Aunt Lydia. Oh how I wished to see Insurgent Aunt Lydia. I additionally wished Crew Jurena to burn all of it down, and for nothing unhealthy to occur to Janine.
Primarily based on these parameters, season six delivered. Ultimately. It additionally gave us lots of different treats alongside the way in which.
1: The Return of Holly
I cried massive fats completely satisfied tears when June and Nicole arrived in Alaska and had been reunited with June’s mum. Though Holly was relegated to babysitting for many of the season whereas June went on her missions to Gilead, we’ll all the time have that wonderful second the place she referred to as Nick a Nazi. Blessed be the powerful love.
2: Jurena Scenes Ceaselessly
Serena has an uncanny capability to fall on her toes, partly as a result of she looks like she must be the boss in any state of affairs and folks simply…let her. June is the one one who constantly calls her out on her BS. Though we didn’t get a full season of Jurena, the scenes with them collectively are a number of the greatest within the present. The sniping! Serena’s fixed lack of knowledge! Lovely. After June pushes Serena and Noah off the practice to save lots of them from an indignant mob, Serena finds shelter with a non secular commune of types, earlier than being recruited by Lawrence to steer the PR marketing campaign for New Bethlehem, aka Make Gilead Appear Good Once more. As soon as there, she falls in love with Commander Wharton, Nick’s father-in-law. In her newest rise to energy, she appears genuinely like she desires to make issues higher, however higher all the time appears to imply she’s in cost and doesn’t need to really feel unhealthy about something. What she actually desires is June’s forgiveness, and he or she works onerous for this, first sheltering June when she will get trapped after a mission, after which offering essential data to her in order that the following mission can go forward. She chooses June and what’s proper over her husband and energy. It helps that her husband is terrible, to be honest. However she nonetheless made the fitting alternative.
In the long run, June forgives her to be form, and Serena is final seen in refugee lodging with Noah. She has no energy, no standing, no belongings, simply her longed-for baby. Oh sure, Serena is now totally in Boy Mother mode. Think about how terrifying she will probably be as a mother-in-law…
3: Janine Will get A Glad Ending — Ultimately
A whole lot of very unhealthy issues occurred to Janine, however she’s received 9 lives too, and there would have been a riot if she didn’t get a cheerful ending. Poor Janine was despatched to Jezebels with a lot of different ‘retired Handmaids’, the place she was preyed upon by some sadistic jerk Commanders. When the People determine their subsequent massive mission is to kill off the Excessive Commanders, Jezebels turns into a great place to entry them, and June and Moira determine to steer the cost to verify Janine is rescued. Their mission is betrayed by Nick (BOOOOO) and the entire ladies are executed, besides Janine, who’s Sadistic Jerk Commander Bell’s favorite woman. After this, she is freed, captured and freed once more, however she lastly will get the nicest completely satisfied ending of all of the characters: reunited along with her daughter, and within the land of the free.
4: Aunt Lydia Will get Mad
She’s so mad, y’all. She believed within the trigger, not like actually everybody else concerned who was in it for the ability and used the trigger as an excuse. When she finds out her ‘treasured women’ aren’t handled with respect as soon as they’ve served their time, she is furious. She lobbies Lawrence and Serena to attempt to make issues higher. She sniffs out the Massive Handmaid Plot as a result of she’s good, however when confronted along with her function in what has occurred to her ‘women’ she stands down and lets them go. When she’s taken out for her execution, there’s a nod and a decent smile for June. Her scaffold speech in regards to the evils of ‘godless males’ is among the greatest moments of the entire present; she is saved by the arrival of troops, and he or she has one way or the other managed to remain in her put up, however she is a modified lady. Her final act within the present was getting Naomi to present Janine her daughter again. She’s not going to burn all of it down any time quickly, as a result of she nonetheless believes within the trigger; it’s the ‘godless males’ in cost which can be the issue for her. It’s a begin although. All of the awards for Ann Dowd, please.
5: Commander Lawrence Does The Proper Factor
Doing a greater job of burning all of it down is Lawrence. He’s nonetheless a misanthrope however he’s the ‘father of a daughter’ now, and nervous in regards to the ‘extremist Commanders’ within the ranks. (Cough, that’s all of them, cough.) When it’s clear that his reform plans are happening like a lead balloon, he strikes a take care of the People to take all of them out, earlier than he finally ends up on the Wall himself. When Plan A and Plan B don’t pan out, he takes the briefcase bomb onto the aircraft himself, with a smile and a nod again to June. Farewell, Lawrence, Nick, Wharton and diverse different horrors.
6: Handmaid Justice Is Served
The jerks on the aircraft had been the one Commanders left in Boston after Plan B aka Handmaid Justice worn out everybody else. June and Moira infiltrate the Pink Heart with the assistance of Insurgent Aunt Phoebe (D’Arcy Carden), and when the Pink Heart handmaids meet up with the posted handmaids for Serena’s marriage ceremony, they go out knives to them. Rita medicine the marriage cake in order that the Commanders and the Wives fall right into a deep sleep after they get house. Then the posted handmaids get stabby with it. June goes to Commander Bell’s home, stabs him within the eye and rescues Janine. Lots of them get caught attempting to flee and they’re rounded up for an enormous execution, however don’t fear, America’s coming!
7: America Strikes Again
The massive hitters are all on Crew America. Aunt Phoebe is absolutely Ava, a former CIA operative who kicks some butt. (That is the best way to be a spy, Nick!) Luke and Rita infiltrate the group with grenades and weapons. With the command ranges worn out, America takes Boston in a matter of days, after which there are three stars on the flag. Tuello is now Commander Tuello, which isn’t ominous in any respect, as a result of Mr Chin Dimple is reassuringly scorching, strutting about being heroic and never a crushing disappointment anymore. Luke will get the ability again on. June can stroll across the metropolis now, and we’re handled to a reunion with Emily exterior the previous ice-cream store once more. Lifeless guardians have been displayed on the Wall and that’s additionally not ominous in any respect. We additionally get a dream reunion with our departed former mates who received squished by the practice.
Luke and June are planning for his or her subsequent steps; Gilead is wounded however not gone, and the combating will proceed on new fronts. Commander Mackenzie has been promoted and is transferring from Colorado to DC together with his household, so Hannah will probably be nearer, but it surely’s nonetheless going to be a mission to get her again.
June’s go to to the previous Waterford home turns into her second to reckon along with her previous, to replicate and to look forward. She will’t make peace and forgive everybody, however she will see it for what it’s, know that it’s over and discover a renewed goal going ahead. Holly goes to maintain Nicole for some time, in order that June and Luke can preserve combating, not a lot collectively as on parallel missions. June’s story of her handmaid years is over, however her combat goes on.
That’s the rub, although, isn’t it? The combat goes on. Gilead persists; extra Commanders will exchange those killed off by Handmaid Justice, and they’re all going to be terrible too. Our heroes are therapeutic, however they aren’t driving off into the sundown to Fortunately Ever After Land both. I’ve seen some laments that the finale was each too tacky in tying issues up and holding again on resolutions in different areas, and I can see that, however I feel it’s a superb balancing act between the way in which the e-book ends and what we wish as viewers. My wishlist is checked off, and now I’m off to re-read The Testaments as a result of I’m nonetheless a sucker for all this, and watching Ann Dowd’s Aunt Lydia develop into Subversive No 1 goes to be well worth the wait.