To catch up on all our The Handmaid's Tale recaps, and the moments and clues you missed, check out Mamamia's recaps here and visit our
The Handmaid's Tale hub page.
June's having a nice dream about Serena.
And by nice, I mean the kind of dream that will reiterate her desire to kill her, probably.
She buries her gun in the backyard and stands like a superhero.
We can't see it but her hands are definitely on her hips, and her underwear is definitely on the outside. Image: SBS.
Serena and Tuello are on a plane to Gilead, ready to give dead ol' Waterford the send off he deserves (hopefully, just by opening the plane's cargo hold mid-flight and sending him straight into the depths of hell!)
Ah, bugger. They land and what's left of his body, in a comically large cardboard box, is safe and sound.
Nick and Joseph meet them at the airport, and BOY OH BOY do I enjoy their smug, fake pleasantries.
"We'd never leave a brother out in the cold," Joseph says. An instantly iconic line.
Serena says Fred treated Nick like a father and lol, remember when Fred was desperately screaming "SON" at him when he realised he was about to be killed by a pack of former slaves? Good times, good times.
She asks to see the church they have selected for Fred's funeral and it is... small. Tiny. Hilarious. Still more than Fred deserves.
Joseph says it's "tasteful". Every season, I battle over how I root for this man, who had such a hand in creating this hellhole, but then he says shit like this and it all just feels right.
Serena yells about the state of Fred's body, and tries her hand at blackmail because June must have had help from Commanders to pull this off... including maybe one who is a long-time June ally, and another who has nice eyebrows.
Just three lads, hanging out in an embarassingly small church. Image: SBS.
Oh my god. The only person happier than June about Fred's fate is Aunt Lydia, who is at the Red Centre yelling about the opportunity it's afforded the innocent sex slaves she tortures! Cool!
Janine is... tending to them, especially Esther, who is certainly not wearing Wife teal anymore.
I'm sorry but I am FURIOUS THAT WE HAVE TO WATCH ANOTHER SEASON OF HANDMAID JANINE. I NEED HER TO BE ON A TROPICAL ISLAND WITH BABY ANGELA, FREE FROM ALL THIS SHIT.
Speaking of baby Angela, Aunt Lydia is allowing Janine to attend the wake at the Putnam's house as Esther's "mentor".
Oh no. The wake is... extravagant. There are figs, which I know damn well don't grow in freezing cold Boston. What country is trading figs with Gilead?
Tuello is sat on a seat in the naughty corner, and Joseph tells Serena that Fred's funeral is going to stay pathetic, soz, cause she's a woman and she really should've seen that coming!
In Canada, June, Luke, Moira and Rita (HI RITA!) are having a games night. It should be all wholesome and fun but... well, the June Osborne of it all.
June rants to Rita about Emily going back across the border and gets all vengeful, talking about torturing and hurting Serena.
Rita and Moira are PISSED because sometimes they just want to play Scrabble and drink wine without being reminded of the lifelong trauma they endured at the hands of an evil totalitarian patriarchal, theocratic state, ya know?
Aunt Lydia, flanked by her slaves, arrives at the wake and readily sends her newest into the lion's den, ready to pimp her out to a frankly repulsive Commander Putnam.
🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢 Image: SBS.
The scene between him and Esther is so stomach-churning I may not ever eat chocolate again.
The only glimmer of joy in this goddamn house is Angela, running to HER REAL MOTHER, JANINE, to give her a hug.
It is very rare we get to say this, so I'm taking my opportunity: THIS IS SO PURE. Image: SBS.
I'm getting a smidge of rebellion vibes from Naomi Putnam. I'd want to f*** sh*t up if I had to live with Warren too.
After her ruined games night, June informs Luke that Serena definitely knows she killed Fred, on account of that message under his hanging body and the... finger she sent in the mail.
She has her Lady Olenna Tyrell moment of "I wanted her to know it was me" and I love it immensely.
Luke, once again, proves that he is the best - and perhaps the only - good man in this world, telling her kindly that he needs her to focus less on Serena and more on her life, in Toronto, with him and Nichole and their joint plan to get Hannah back.
I mean, she's absolutely not going to 'let go' of Serena, but the sentiment is nice?
It's clear that Serena has forgotten that she has precisely zero power in Gilead. It's equal parts pathetic and... kind of funny. She visits the Commanders to petition them for a large, patriotic funeral that the whole world (but especially that lil group of Canadians) can see.
They basically laugh her and her womanly hysteria out the door, especially because of "her condition" (the whole 'nation' is built on the need to breed, and yet they mock those carrying the kids. Blessed be the fruit indeed!)
Eventually, Joseph and Nick jump in with some damn good manipulation tactics to persuade them. Because, well, penis.
Under the cover of darkness, Nick and his eyebrows meet Tuello. Tuello offers him protection and opportunities to see Nichole if he plays double agent to which Nick says... he'll think about it?
Is this my first 'under his eyebrows' of the season? It won't be the last, I promise. Image: SBS.
Janine tells Esther the only protection in Gilead is pregnancy. Esther hates this advice, of course. And she feels betrayed by it.
Esther just can't understand that Janine has had far too many foiled escapes and watched far too many friends die. Rather than fighting, she's just trying to survive.
Back at the Red Centre, she offers Janine chocolate truffles she took from the Putnam house. She tells Janine she feels used, and that she hates her.
Rude.
And then they start spluttering blood.
JESUS F***ING CHRIST HOW DID SHE SMUGGLE POISON IN THERE????
Aunt Lydia runs into the gruesome scene, and surely they're not... dead. If Janine survived four seasons of crap only to be taken out by a chocolate truffle, we'd riot.
CAN WE NOT JUST GIVE JANINE ONE MINUTE OF PEACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Image: SBS.
In Toronto, it's date night. In Gilead, it's funeral time.
The scenes play out in contrast to each other: June is dressed in white. Serena, in mourning black, of course.
June and Luke are going to the ballet. Serena to a dance of her own kind, at a funeral beamed around the world.
The funeral is... very much giving fascism. I get it's meant to look powerful, but if the Commanders wish is to show they mourn with respect so the international community 'accepts them', then the Nazi-invoking symbolism is probably not the greatest way to do that???
Serena is essentially the ballerina: they're both performing, both putting on a show, both hyper-aware of the audience watching their every move.
At the end of her march, Aunt Lydia escorts a group of pre-teen Gilead girls in purple and... NO. NO NO NO.
HANNAH IS ONE OF THEM.
Unaware, and looking content for once in their lives, June and Luke drink coffee and just... talk. Almost like a normal couple.
As they walk through Toronto, they kiss and seem genuinely happy AND THEN IT JUST HAS TO GO AND BE RUINED, DOESN'T IT.
June looks up and sees that giant screens showing the news coverage of Fred's funeral. Serena's plan has worked - and it's about to get worse.
Serena gets her angel wings moment.
Remember this from season three?
One of the show's best ever symbolic moments! Image: SBS.
Well, they've gone and given Serena a similar framing.
Does it represent a switch in power rankings? That Serena, in that moment, sees herself as the victor?
NOT SURE. BUT I HATE IT.
Standing right next to her, perfectly orchestrated, of course, is Hannah.
F*** OFFFFFFF. Image: SBS.
I'm screaming at my screen: GET!!!!!!! AWAY!!!!!!! FROM!!!!!! HER!!!!!!!
June and Luke watch in horror from across the border.
And Serena simply smiles.
The Handmaid's Tale symbolism is insane.
Surely it's no coincidence that episode one ended with June cradling Nichole in her arms, and episode two ends with the complete opposite: her looking through a screen at Hannah, stuck in Gilead, the farthest thing from her grasp.
We're used to vengeful June at this point. But I have a feeling she's about to take things to a whole other level.
Read more:
Chelsea McLaughlin is Mamamia's Senior Entertainment Writer and co-host of The Spill. For more pop culture takes, recommendations and sarcasm, you can follow her on Instagram.
Feature image: SBS/Mamamia.
Love watching TV and movies? Take our survey now to go in the running to win a $100 gift voucher.
Top Comments