The Handmaid’s Tale Series-Finale Recap: Epilogue

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In the final episode of “The Handmaid’s Tale“, June embarks on a lengthy journey. This path takes her through locations both factual and fantastical, temporal and elusive, familiar and vanished. For the most part, she treads the empty streets of post-liberation Boston, USA, following the moments after the city broke free from Gilead’s oppressive rule. Along her journey, she passes by painfully vivid recollections of her early motherhood and beyond the whispers of fleeting encounters with her deceased lover. In her mind, she envisions joyful karaoke sessions with the women who endured hell with her – Rita, Moira, Emily, Brianna, Janine, and Alma – in a Boston that never came to be.

Ultimately, at last, June made her way to the charred remains of a modest bedroom she had once known intimately – a space that altered the trajectory of her life significantly. Settling on a window seat, June struggled to recollect every detail from what seemed to her like the start of her journey.

In the captivating series The Handmaid’s Tale, June is frequently put through hardships. We’ve grown accustomed to her struggling, yelling, weeping, pleading, and strategizing. Last week, during “Execution,” we witnessed her struggle against the sky as her hands grappled with the noose constricting her neck. One might wonder if the show’s creators ever contemplated allowing her to hang – stretching six seasons of June’s life of suffering to its tragic, logical conclusion. To some, death could appear a fitting end. It’s simpler for me to envision resilient June deceased than it is to visualize her taking Holly to swimming lessons. A series finale that commemorates various characters reminiscing about June seems almost prewritten. Perhaps her mother would share a tale from June’s childhood stubbornness, which, in retrospect, foreshadows every foolishly heroic act that followed. All would swear that June Osborne won’t die in vain.

I’m grateful that the series, rather than taking a loud or extravagant route out of Gilead, chose a more ambitious and subdued path. There was no need for an epic finale because the season leading up to it was so meticulously paced and heart-wrenchingly tragic. The episode titled “The Handmaid’s Tale” this week marks a significant shift as it is the first to be entirely set in America, offering June the freedom to reflect and contemplate. When her mind isn’t preoccupied with the struggles of survival, memories of Hannah surface. I recall the moments we shared under the vibrant lights of a carnival, both of us bathed in a rainbow glow. When I found Hannah near the carousel after momentarily losing sight of her, I held her tight and whispered, “Mommies always come back.” This is the same comforting phrase I murmured into baby Noah’s ear earlier this season—a promise I believed in even before I read “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum” etched inside a closet.

In the narration, June explains that Boston, not Boston falls, but rather rises, 19 days following Mayday’s assault – implying this event ended before Marines arrived in Southie. The series frequently emphasizes geographical details; later, we witness June standing alongside the massive Boston Globe sign. However, the snow-covered streets she traverses throughout the episode seem devoid of character. As if erased by Gilead authorities, these areas would have lost their unique identity in other cities such as New York, Ohio, and Kansas – places June mentions are now reclaimed as America.

As a film enthusiast, I can’t help but feel elated seeing Moira, Rita, and particularly Luke, finding delight in pushing back against Gilead from Boston. The city sparkles with bonfires and jubilant celebrations. Flags are burned, and, more somberly, former Guardians are hung up. Eager to maintain his revolutionary zeal, Luke turns his attention to the next task on his list: scouting out Mayday’s New York Headquarters. I must admit, despite my awareness that June Osborne should no longer be underestimated, it’s hard not to notice how excited he seems to be using real-life military lingo.

As June gazes into the fires of the burning Gilead flags, it’s not the potential futures she finds there, but rather the past that she’s lost. Her recollections of Hannah remain frozen in time – her daughter small and light enough to be lifted aloft. June thinks back on Nick – a man who was so resolute in his will to live that he ultimately gave his life for a cause he didn’t truly embrace. The detachment she feels from her peers offers narrative benefits, as within an hour, June bounces between almost everyone she holds dear, with the exceptions being Hannah, who we discover is relocating to Washington DC due to her father’s swift promotion in the depleted Commander hierarchy, and Moira, whose storyline takes a backseat in this episode.

After several encounters, June solidifies her future strategies. Later, she comes to know that U.S. Commander Mark Tuello, who shares an unfortunate similarity in names, is the father of a boy residing safely in Hawaii. He views his efforts to rejuvenate America as work done for his son from afar. This is how one becomes a father from across the world.

It’s Mark who provides June with a backstage pass that allows her free movement throughout Boston, now under a different military’s control. As she strolls past an empty storefront in her old neighborhood, she encounters Emily – the same Emily who was June’s walking partner and later became Fred and Serena’s Handmaid. This unexpected encounter takes place in front of a closed ice cream parlor, reminding June of when Emily shared that the salted caramel was better than sex in the first season. For a moment, June is taken aback, questioning if this is a ghost, hallucination, or perhaps an undead visit from Nick or Joseph. However, it’s real-life Emily who has been working undercover as a Martha in Connecticut since she left her wife and son in Canada to rejoin Mayday after season four. Emily informs June that, like Mark, she too has been fighting for her family from afar.

Emily’s purpose here goes beyond entertaining Emily’s fans, if such a group exists. Instead, she serves to stimulate discussions about responsible parenting during times of authoritarian rule. Questions like whether there are situations where child abandonment could be morally acceptable or even mandatory are raised. The interactions between June and Emily are thought-provoking but don’t necessarily demand much from June. I found the conversations that began and ended, the goodbyes that June couldn’t say in one breath, more compelling. The most challenging issue “The Handmaid’s Tale” had to address was what to do about Serena. Given her role in overthrowing the U.S. government, it feels unjust to let her live here with America’s makeshift army; she would likely face execution in Gilead. No country is willing to grant her asylum through a passport. Mark organizes for mother and son to be transferred to a United Nations refugee camp and guarantees their safety—a promise I find myself questioning, given the seeming romantic intent behind his eyes during their interactions. These encounters always leave me feeling uneasy.

Apart from Noah (apparently Mark) and possibly June, it seems that only June may hold the torch for Serena Joy’s concerns regarding Serena. Interestingly, Serena also feels deeply for June, showing this by being the first to recognize that she is grieving over Nick. It’s unlikely they could ever be friends, but even amidst her uncertain and dreadful life, Serena displays compassion, attentiveness, and wisdom – qualities which, in a completely different world, might have earned June’s friendship.

In my perspective, Serena finds herself in a unique position as she departs from Gilead as a refugee rather than a fugitive, yet she expresses her concerns aloud that she’s essentially worthless now. June empathetically responds, “You’re his mother,” offering comfort with a gentle tone. Later on, we witness Serena consoling Noah in a shared camp dormitory and softly whispering to him that he was everything she ever desired. It’s challenging to accept the sincerity of this statement given Serena’s past attempts at control over the course of six seasons. However, perhaps – similar to June’s assertion that mothers always return – it serves more as a declaration of intent than a factual statement. If Serena can recall her initial yearning for motherhood which ignited her political activism, then she may find some peace in realizing she is now a mother, even amidst the chaos and collapse of her world.

Before Serena and Noah hopped on a bus heading towards a short-term residence where she’d be informed of another potential relocation tomorrow, Serena tried one more time to express her apologies to June, stressing her deep sense of shame and regret. At long last, June chose to grant her forgiveness. Perhaps it was because June had reached the conclusion of her forgiving journey. Maybe it was simpler to forgive the past when there’s a glimmer of hope for the future. In America, one can start letting go.

In the story “Execution,” Janine and Lydia managed to avoid the gallows, but were later re-captured by the Eyes. Interestingly, Lydia is now back at her post in the Red Center, a situation that seems improbable, but for those who have read The Testaments, it’s not entirely unexpected. Throughout the series, June has been a character with a protective “plot armor,” necessary for the show to continue and remain engaging. However, Lydia’s case appears to be an instance where the plot armor from another series seems to be shielding her from the Wall. As a woman with no allies and hardly any supporters, this seems quite unlikely.

It’s reassuring that Naomi is there to assist Mark in bringing Janine back to America safely. While I had faith in the series to rescue Janine, I didn’t expect Naomi Lawrence to appear at the border exchange with Charlotte. In truth, I needed her. I longed for a mother to reunite with her child. I needed someone to ensure June gets a happy ending. “Stay safe,” Naomi tells the girl she’s nurtured since birth before allowing her to run to Janine. Admittedly, I doubt Charlotte would feel so instantly at ease in her biological mother’s arms after years apart. Yet, when I saw Charlotte feeling at peace in her mother’s embrace after all those years, I shed tears of joy and relief – twice, when I watched it.

After seeing Holly reunited with June once more, I cried again, and then witnessed the identical tender affection shared between June and her own mother. Thanks to Luke’s efforts to restore power, baby Holly and her grandmother were able to travel domestically from Alaska to Logan Airport. However, it feels like they’ve only been together for a short while when June tells her youngest daughter that their time together will soon come to an end. June has realized that her duty is to protect all the young girls in Gilead, so as the episode concludes, Holly must return to her grandmother’s care, and June prepares to venture back into danger. I don’t like it, but what other choice do I have? Is June going to organize school events while Hannah, far away, finishes her training to become a Wife? Like Mark and Emily, she chooses to leave her child behind in order to save the world for her own children. It’s the same decision she’s made before, but it feels different in America because, in America, fighting is optional.

Motherhood serves as a shield in “The Handmaid’s Tale”; it empowers you with courage, determination, and resilience. June tells her mother that their passive resistance is what led to Gilead’s creation, and she questions why it always has to be her daughter – the child she used to playfully throw into the air – who volunteers to dismantle the system. Holly promises to recount June’s incredible tale daily to her baby, but then implies that it is June’s duty to share it. June feels compelled to document everything for her daughters and for the mothers who will never reconnect with their children in Gilead. She also wants to provide hope for the future generations growing up in Gilead, questioning if their real parents ever fought for them. The reality is that, in Gilead, most mothers do not return. However, there may be solace for everyone in knowing how arduously the mothers strove.

In simpler terms, Holly’s idea for June to write a memoir seemed forced to me because we rarely observe June engaged in reading or writing, or sharing personal experiences. It also felt awkward that Luke repeated the suggestion so quickly, especially within the same conversation where they were portraying an unusually harmonious split – one that feels more realistic and emotional than their frequent attempts to salvage their troubled marriage on “The Handmaid’s Tale”. In the series finale, June and Luke don’t end up together, but both believe that fate will guide them towards Hannah. Their agreement for a potential reunion in DC elicits excited responses. In America, parting ways doesn’t have to be devastating – goodbyes don’t always have to cause pain. That was my take on the scene.

As a movie enthusiast, I’ve been pondering over the path June keeps treading. Instead of leading to her old home or Luke’s apartment, it guides her towards the Waterfords’ residence – a place that echoes with ceremony nights, secret meetings with Nick behind the garage, and the enigmatic phrase “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.” June’s life took a drastic turn when she lost Hannah, only to be reborn, strangely enough, in Gilead. Touching your daughter from such an impossible distance… How does one manage that? June retrieves a recorder and begins to meticulously document the items in this room, just as she did on the day she became Offred. This act serves as a bookend to the series premiere, where June sat in this very window, donning Offred’s red cloak, and methodically listing the same chair, table, lamp, window, white curtains, and shatterproof glass. If you revisit the series premiere, you can still hear the recorder’s distinct click.

Instead of being drawn back by the recurring trail of breadcrumbs, I choose to revisit that scene after witnessing June lose Hannah again, an experience more frightening and painful than I had remembered. In my mind, I envision June and her mother as portrayed in “The Handmaid’s Tale” – their faces pressed against the aquarium glass, smiling at each other through the cool, clear barrier, with the tranquil blue water behind them creating a serene and calming backdrop. In my mind, June remains sitting on this bench amidst the half-destroyed bedroom, aware that her red cloak is fueling celebratory fires in the city center. I choose to conclude “The Handmaid’s Tale” as the episode does – with a final enigmatic glance from a woman who endured the depths of hell only to discover that she was meant for those torments. This is because her daughter resides in hell, and mothers always return to their children.

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2025-05-27 08:55