Warning: Spoilers ahead for the series finale of The Handmaid’s Tale
It’s hard to believe it, but one of television’s most eerily prescient and challenging series has come to an end. Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, based on the novel by Margaret Atwood, stars Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne, a woman enslaved as a Handmaid in an alternative America taken over by Gilead, a totalitarian theocracy. The show’s themes around women’s rights and bodily autonomy became distressingly more timely with each passing season, and while anecdotally it felt so bleak as to become unwatchable for many, it continued to set viewership records throughout its eight-year run. But for those who found the show too painful to continue, rest assured that the sixth and final season was markedly less tragic—though not without some heart-shattering moments. The final season focuses largely on the rebellion movement, and June and company’s efforts in taking Gilead down for good.
Admittedly, the most explosive moments of The Handmaid’s Tale come in the two episodes before the finale. In Episode 8, “Exodus,” the Handmaids lead a massive rebellion during the wedding of Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) and Commander Wharton (Josh Charles), killing dozens of Commanders and creating a massive vulnerability in Gilead. And Serena’s marriage ends as soon as it begins, when she gets home and discovers Wharton has enlisted the services of a Handmaid, despite Serena’s fertility.
In Episode 9, “Execution,” Gilead retaliates, capturing June and dozens of other Handmaids, attempting to hang them in the gallows in a public execution. But the rebellion emerges again, led by the rebel group Mayday, as they free the Handmaids and kill more commanders and many members of Gilead’s army in the process. After she’s freed, June works with Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) to kill the most powerful remaining commanders with a bomb that blows up their plane. June and the Handmaids have finally won.
Still, the finale of The Handmaid’s Tale has plenty of revelations and reveals as it wraps the series on a surprisingly hopeful note. Here’s where each of the series’ key characters stands after the series finale.
Commander Joseph Lawrence
Commander Joseph played a vital part in establishing Gilead as a major force, becoming the prime architect of the economy. But throughout the series, he became increasingly repulsed by these actions, which included enslaving thousands of women. In Season 6, he works with Mayday to take down Gilead from the inside. He’s tasked with planting a bomb on a plane full of high-level commanders, and leaving before they get on the plane. It winds up being a suicide mission; the other commanders see Joseph before he can leave. Joseph sacrifices himself in an effort to undo the horror he helped bring onto the world.
Commander Nick Walker
Nick (Max Minghella) had quite the journey in the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale, balancing his love for June with his life as a father and high-level commander in Gilead. He sells out June’s plan to take out a group of commanders at Jezebel’s, which shatters her trust in him. Nick’s dedication to the commanders proves to be his undoing. At the encouragement of his wife Rose (Carey Cox), he gets on the plane with the other commanders—the same one Lawrence has planted a bomb on. He dies alongside Joseph and the other commanders.
Rita
A Martha (an infertile woman who works as a domestic servant) who befriended the Handmaids, Rita (Amanda Brugel) played a significant role in the Mayday rebellion. Despite escaping to Canada, Rita returned to New Bethlehem for the chance to reunite with her sister. Mercifully, the two are brought back together after years apart. In New Bethlehem, Rita bakes the cake for Serena’s wedding to Commander Wharton. She laces the cake with a sedative, which leads to the Handmaids killing 37 commanders in one evening, turning the tide against Gilead. She saves June from the gallows, shooting the crane operator who attempted to hang her. Rita was a symbol of quiet valor throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, and without her, the liberation of Boston would have never happened.
Emily
The most shocking appearance in this season of The Handmaid’s Tale goes to Emily (Alexis Bledel), a former series regular who left the show after Season 4. We last heard of Emily in Season 5, when her wife Sylvia (Clea DuVall) told June that she’d returned to Gilead (after escaping to Canada) to fight with Mayday.
Emily finds June in a now-liberated Boston, where the former reveals that she was in Bridgeport, Conn., working as a Martha for a Commander for seven months. But he was a friend, allowing Emily to keep in touch with Sylvia and her son Oliver. “So you weren’t just gone?” June asks her. “Of course not, they’re the reason I’m fighting,” Emily responds.
Moira
Moira (Samira Wiley) was one of June’s best friends before the Gilead takeover, and remained a close ally through their time in Gilead. Moira escaped to Canada in Season 4 and has worked with June’s husband, Luke (O-T Fagbenle), to help secure homes for Gilead refugees. In Season 6, she fights against Gilead as part of Mayday with June and Luke. Though she’s absent from the finale (flashbacks excluded), she continues to work for Mayday in the quest for liberation of America under Gilead.
Janine
One of the biggest question marks in the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale was the fate of Janine (Madeline Brewer). Few endured more than Janine, who remained in Gilead through the entire series, while seeing many of her friends escape for a better life. Janine has been separated from her daughter Charlotte, and forced into sex work as a Jezebel. She then becomes a handmaid again under Commander Bell (Timothy Simons), who is extremely abusive and controlling. She plays a role in the rebellion, and she luckily escapes death by hanging, but unfortunately, in the ensuing firefight, she is taken by Gilead once again, and her status is unknown.
But in the finale, her extreme suffering finally comes to an end. Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd), who has been determined to save Janine, finally comes to her senses about Gilead. Alongside Naomi (Ever Carradine), who was raising Janine’s daughter, Lydia frees Janine, handing her off to June. In an extremely welcome surprise, Naomi gives Charlotte back to Janine, finally giving Janine the long-awaited happy ending she so richly deserves.
Serena
Serena’s (Yvonne Strahovski) life is left in flux after the liberation of Massachusetts. After being a key member of New Bethlehem, she’s been stripped of her passport and has been refused entry by Canada and the European Union. Now a refugee, Mark (Sam Jaeger) gets her a temporary place in a UN settlement. She’s last seen with her son in the refugee camp, holding him close and telling him he’s all she’s ever wanted. But it’s hard to shake the feeling that it’s just something Serena is telling herself to make peace with her new, uncertain life.
Before she leaves for the refugee camp, she does get the opportunity to properly apologize to June for everything she’s put her through. June sincerely forgives her, which comes as a relief to a woman who’s gone through a significant evolution throughout The Handmaid’s Tale. They were forced to work together numerous times this season, and you get the sense that if circumstances were different, the two may have been friends.
June
After leading the Mayday rebellion in Boston, June has successfully liberated the city of Boston and the state of Massachusetts. The Handmaid’s Tale truly puts June through the wringer at every opportunity, yet she comes out victorious, obliterating the Gilead that once controlled her and so many other women. She’s reunited with her mother and daughter, Holly, and she’s fought alongside Luke with Mayday throughout the season. While they may not be together anymore, they still care deeply for one another, and they’re united by their shared goal: to get their daughter Hannah back. Though audiences wanted nothing more than to see June find Hannah, the mission to get her back is still ongoing. She leaves her family behind and continues to fight to get Hannah.
Both her mother and Luke suggest that June write a book about her experiences. She’s hesitant at first, but at the end of the finale, she takes a long walk through what was once Gilead. She returns to the Waterfords’ home, where she once served as Handmaid Offred, the beginning of her horrific, life-altering experience. She begins to record, making note of her experiences. It’s the same dialogue from the very first episode. In close-up, she looks at the camera and smiles, cutting to black and ending the series.
While the finale of The Handmaid’s Tale is largely a celebration of the rebellion’s success, the fact that June and Hannah are yet to reunite is a reminder of how far they have to go. Massachusetts may be free, but most of America still lies under Gilead’s rule. For now. With the show’s sequel series, The Testaments, now in production, and set 15 years in the future, we know there’s more to Gilead’s story to unfold on-screen in the years to come.
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