A new season of the dystopian drama just started on Neon, and it’s good to be back in hell. Tara Ward recaps episode one of season five.
The lines between our real world and the fictional dystopia of Gilead might be blurring by the day, but that doesn’t mean we can’t sit back, relax and enjoy the latest antics of our favourite handmaid. Given we’d already seen June (Elisabeth Moss) escape Gilead, sail to Canada and kill Fred Waterford, season five will have its work cut out to sustain the drama. Don’t panic, this season already has a return to Gilead written all over it, and like Aunt Lydia on a treadmill, I am pumped.
Episode one was, as always, brutal and beautiful. The show’s muted tones and muffled horror picked up where it left off last season, with June returning home after murdering Fred. Elisabeth Moss is a machine, and not only did she direct this episode, she also covered every possible emotion in a tense 54 minutes. There was June’s shock at still having Fred’s blood on her hands, her fear at confessing to the killing, her ecstasy at realising she now has more fingers than Fred ever will. There could only be one winner in the battle of Fred vs June, and she’s currently stuck in a Canadian public toilet wiping the blood off her boots.
Serena is the only one crying over the death of Commander Waterford. She spends her days doing yoga inside Canada’s most luxurious detention centre, but after her husband’s murder, Serena is moved to what appears to be a mid-century ski lodge prison. Serena knows it was June who killed her husband, mostly because June sent Serena his finger, and phalanges in the post always give the game away. If a commander falls in the forest and some handmaids chop his finger off, does he make a sound? No amount of saluting the sun will make Serena feel better about this.
June, however, is ecstatic. She glows in the euphoria that comes from killing a man who never let her win at Scrabble, but who also orchestrated the systematic abuse of innocent women and children. “By her fucking hand,” June tells Moira, before hooning off to find the other ex-handmaids who helped to kill him. They meet in an all-American roadside diner to feast on a breakfast of pancakes and bacon, the sound of Waterford’s terrified squeals echoing in their ears. They eat like they will never be full. “Everything tastes better when Fred’s dead,” they say, but just like us when we’ve polished off a full Valentines buffet dinner, these women want more.
But June’s had her fun, and she’s not keen to return to Gilead to continue her killing spree. The women aren’t happy about it. “He was your monster, and we tore him apart for you,” they tell June, but it’s awkward. How do you tell your new mates that you’ve peaked after one stoning? June visits Emily for advice, but learns she’s gone back to Gilead to find Aunt Lydia, who is probably still jogging on her dystopian treadmill. Run faster, Aunty. Emily’s on her way, and I bet she’s bringing her best Canadian steak knife with her.
Back in Gilead, we get a glimpse of June’s boyfriend Nick’s new married life, after he returns from helping June orchestrate Fred’s ambush. It seems Nick’s wife might be an ally when she refuses to wake the Martha up to make coffee, and she knows about June and Nick’s plan. Meanwhile, Serena insists on leaving the ski lodge to view her husband’s remains. All that time doing the downward dog and yelling about her rights has helped Serena come up with a plan: she’s taking Fred back to Gilead for a proper burial, and she’s getting revenge on June Osbourne.
But there’s only room for one downward dog in this show, and that’s Fred Waterford. June’s euphoria is quickly replaced by guilt, and she confesses the murder to the police. She’s disappointed when the police tell her that because the crime didn’t happen on Canadian soil, they can’t arrest her. “Have a good night,” they say, sending June home for a glass of wine and a cuddle with baby Nichole. June still has Fred’s blood on her fingertips, and is fined $88 for unlawfully transporting a finger across the border. She can pay it online, there’s no hurry on that.
June gets her quiet, happy ending in her quiet, happy home, which never bodes well on The Handmaid’s Tale. June might be free to eat pancakes in a diner with a bunch of assassins, but Serena Joy is gathering the might of dystopia behind her. She’s pregnant, she’s angry, and she’s got Fred’s finger on ice. Gilead won’t stand for a handmaid killing a Commander. This new season is about to send June Osbourne to battle again, and as an angry handmaid standing in a forest with all her fingers would say: bring it on.