Spoiler Warning: The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5
The Handmaid’s Taleseason 5 closed out with episode 10, “Safe,” marking the end of a campaign that went big, bold, and unpredictable. Rivalries flared, then fizzled, and we saw characters go off on paths we could never have predicted. The season was painfully shorton the showdownsit initially teased, instead leaving the heroes and villains to (hopefully) fight it out in the upcoming final season.
“Safe” and the season as a whole explore the concept of never being able to escape, no matter how far you run. Your past can slowly creep up on you and feed into new dangers you didn’t initially notice. You can fight or flee, and June Osborne chooses the fight almostto the bitter end.
Luke Takes Action Following June’s Shooting
The episode opens with June standing over the bare patch of dirt that was once her garden, almost like she’s mourning at a grave. A delivery truck drops a package containing a bulletproof vest acquired after the attempt on her life that ended the previous episode. June is still determined to be a public figure in the fight against Gilead.
We cut to Gilead as Nick confronts Commander Lawrence with a punch in the face, convinced Lawrence ordered the hit on June. Back in the Center, Janine and in-training handmaids are scrubbing away at the floors, walls, and windows as Janine quietly breaks into “It’s the Hard-Knock Life.” The entire room joins in as Aunt Lydia approaches, grinning at the ensemble’s take on a likely forbidden tune. She makesJanine an offer; she can be close to her child again if she agrees to be the handmaid for Commander Lawrence and his new wife Naomi, the widow of Commander Putnam, who was executed by Nick.
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Back in Toronto, Mark Tuello informs June that the gunman has been caught. It wasn’t Gilead or any kind of high-level assassination attempt, “just some angry man with a gun.” Seeing Tuello out, a truck starts up in the background, out of focus. It slowly tails June before running her down and then driving over her exposed arm. As the driver backs up to finish her off, we catch a glimpse of a bumper sticker with the Gilead emblem over the Canadian flag. Before the driver can reach June, Luke jumps and beats him down to the ground as a rifle clatters to the pavement.
Nick Makes a Deal and Janine’s Arrest May Prompt Change
We see Nick crossing the border bridge into Canada to meet Tuello, finally accepting the deal offered earlier in the season. He goes to the hospital to see June and implores Tuello to keep her and his child safe in the face of the ever-growing hostility of anti-refugee sentiment and Gilead.
At Commander Lawrence’s home, Naomi explains the parameters of their arrangement to Janine, describing it as a trial run. If she proves she can be an obedient handmaid, she can spend time with her child. Later, Janine bristles at Naomi, addressing her as “Ofjoseph,” and angrily tells her off, immediately torpedoing her chance with her daughter.
June is awakened by an intense conversation downstairs; the man in the truck is dead, and an arrest warrant for Luke is looming. June wants to run, the failure to reunite with Hannah and the swell of Canadian hate bearing down on her. Tickets booked to eventually land in Hawaii or Alaska; the couple is intercepted by Tuello, who informs them that their tickets have been flagged. A refugee train headed west is their best chance to get away. Luke and June agree to take it.
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In Gilead, the Eyes come for Janine at Commander Lawrence’s behest. Janine is cuffed and tossed into a windowless van amid the protests of Aunt Lydia. Lydia has been pulled back and forth by her loyalty to Gilead and her ever-loudening conscience. Could Janine’s arrest be the nudge to the latter that sees Lydiaturn on Gilead?
June and Serena Make Their Escape
June and Luke arrive at a train station overflowing with refugees. They’re given their passes by Tuello and make their way through the crowded terminal in an extremely tense, slow walk to their platform. Just as they arrive at their train, they learn that police are looking for Luke. Separated so June can board with Nichole, Luke calls June to say his goodbye. As the train moves, Luke gives a faint whistle toward the patrolling police, who promptly arrest him. “Come find me” are June’s final words to him. We briefly see Nick incarcerated for the shot he took at Lawrence, visited by his wife, who leaves him over his feelings for June.
Aboard the shoulder-to-shoulder train, Nichole begins to cry. June carries her in her one good arm and tells her they’re going on an adventure. Another baby starts to cry toward the end of the car. Heading in that direction, it’s revealed to be Serena and Noah. The episode and season end with an intense but not hostile stare-down between June and Serena as the train carries them down the tracks.
In a seasonof wholesale cliffhangers, it ends on yet another one. Where will June and Serena end up, and what will June do to get back for the final round with Gilead? Will Luke get off for the very justified action he took against his wife’s attacker? What will happen to Nick and Janine? “Safe” is a solid and dramatic send-off forThe Handmaid’s Taleheading into its sixth and final season.
