The Handmaid's Tale Recap: The Plan To Destroy Gilead Is Back On!
Most people drown their post-breakup heartache in booze, ice cream and/or a rebound fling. In this week's The Handmaid's Tale, June Osborne soothes her broken heart by devising a plan to topple the patriarchy.
To be fair, that plan only comes together in the latest episode's last act. June spends much of the hour spiraling. To be even more fair, her trust in Nick singlehandedly got lots of women killed and tanked Mayday's biggest operation yet. So, yeah, some time in the hurt locker is warranted.
But our girl always rallies, and MAN what a rally she comes up with this time. Read on for the highlights of "Shattered."
THE JEZEBEL'S MASSACRE | While June and Nick, still trapped in the closet, marinate in his betrayal, the women of Jezebel's are startled by guardians busting into their dressing room and roughly moving them into the corner of the space that doubles as a bathroom. At the last minute, one of the guardians singles Janine out and has her separated from the group. As the rest of the women are corralled into the shower stalls and killed by a machine gun at close range, Janine is hauled away, screaming in horror.
Serena eventually succeeds in getting High Commander Wharton to go on a walk with her and Noah, leaving the house empty. "Your friend was taken, but I'll find out where," he says of Janine. "He wanted the whole place gone," he continues, adding that he never said the girls had anything to do with the plot. When June asks if all of the women are dead, all Nick can say is "I didn't think he would do that."
He takes her back to the brothel; along the way, she suddenly opens the car door and demands to get out. Friends, it appears we've reached the Nick's Misplaced Righteous Indigation stage of the tour! "You never cared what I did unless it helped you," he calls as he hustles to catch up to her. "I killed those two guardians to protect you and your friend and your husband. And those men were just doing those job. One of them was 19 years old." She points out that he's just like all the men in Gilead, giving up others in order to save himself. "And you love me," he counters, "so what does that make you?" Ouch.
The minute it's out of his mouth, he knows it's too much. He calls her name, but she says, "Don't," and keeps walking. He doesn't follow.
At some point after the massacre, Aunt Lydia arrives at Jezebel's. She weeps as she surveys the shattered dressing room, holding Charlotte's drawing to her chest.
JUNE, WHAT DID YOU DO? | June returns to Mayday headquarters, where Luke & Co. are trying to find out what went wrong. "Nick told them," she says, and it's not long before Luke realizes who told Nick. "He doesn't give a s—t about the resistance," he says, getting angry. "He doesn't want us to win!" He says the only thing Nick ever cared about was June, "and because of that, you're going to run around like he's some hero, like he's a f—kin savior that you've been pining for ever since you got back?" Oh man, this is ugly, and, given the look on June's face as she tries not to break down in sobs, true — at least, in part. She gasps out that she doesn't know what to do. "Don't be in love with a f—king Nazi," Luke yells, also on the verge of crying. "How about that?" Then he walks back to the rest of the Mayday gang, who pretend (badly) that they weren't eavesdropping the whole time.
"I trusted him for so long, I forgot who he was," June tells Moira, who finds her later. "He never gave you any reason not to trust him," Moira reasons. "And he was kind to you. He helped you survive. I mean, you'd be dead if it weren't for him. S—t, we'd all be."
But can Luke? When June gets a minute alone with her husband, things are still real rough. She makes it clear that she loves him — "I want you to be happy, and I want you to be with someone that deserves you" — but that she doesn't want him to stay with her out of pity or obligation. "I should want to leave you," he admits, "but I can't." She wonders if Hannah is the only reason they're still together, and Luke thinks for a minute but then shakes his head no, and gently reaches for her hand.
NICK'S VILLAIN ORIGIN STORY COMPLETE? | When Rita finds Nick later to ask if June got out OK, she waves away his assertion that June thinks he's a monster. After all, she reasons, they were friends long before June arrived at the Waterfords. He's drinking and sad, so he gruffly says they weren't friends; they were afraid of each other and would've crossed each other to save themselves. "Yeah, maybe," she says, "but not now." He continues to be mean and dismissive, and she gets upset as she realizes that he isn't going to be the help she needs in getting her family out. "This is Gilead," he tells her coldly. "The only person you should count on is yourself."
SERENA AS BRIDEZILLA | The commanders' wives throw Serena a bridal shower that doubles as a teal-dressed interrogation: They're sure that New Bethlehem is godless, and they want Serena to give them the scoop. No, that's not exactly true: They want Serena to say things that will make them feel superior and righteous. She doesn't give it to them. As the wives parrot their husbands' thoughts on the settlement, Serena interrupts: "What do you say? What are your thoughts and dreams for Gilead's future?" Unsurprisingly, they have none — or, at least, none that they feel safe to share.
Serena moves on, bringing up her work with the fertility center and how it will employ handmaids. As the wives scoff and speak demeaningly of the women they've helped their husbands rape for years, Serena finds herself in a position to which she is unaccustomed: handmaid advocate. "Where would you suggest that they spend their retirement?" she asks. Naomi foists that responsibility onto the commanders, then steers the conversation elsewhere.
At home, Serena grouses to High Commander Wharton that the wives don't respect her, then she suggests that a proper wedding would do a lot toward proving them wrong. They make plans for a "grand celebration" that invites the whole community — including handmaids. "Yes, I suppose you're right," she says flatly. Aw, there's our girl: talking a big, inclusive game one minute, angry that the red cloaks are going to interfere with her Big Day of Pretty the next.
TO BELL IN A HANDBASKET | Aunt Lydia returns to the Red Center bereft, and she has no time for Aunt Phoebe (played by D'Arcy Carden, The Good Place). But that doesn't change Phoebe's sunny attitude about the good news she has to share: Commander Bell and his wife want a handmade, and he wants it to be Janine, whom he "rescued" from the Jezebel's killings. The news that Janine is alive nearly brings Lydia to her knees in relief. "Oh, praise be!" she cries, sobbing and collapsing against Phoebe. "Praise be!"
Her joy is short-lived, though; when she brings Janine's new robes to the Bell house, Commander Bell refers to Janine as a "firecracker" and won't let Aunt Lydia see her. He also says she won't be at the wedding, because she's not suitable for "public view." As Lydia leaves, she sees a beaten and bruised Janine waving from an upstairs window.
THE NEW (REALLY AMBITIOUS) PLAN | June is on the verge of having a very private, very major breakdown when a car carrying Lawrence and Tuello pulls up to Mayday's base. "I always thought you were an idiot for trusting him," Lawrence tells her, but remember: He's surlier than normal because the commanders he thought were going to be gone by now are still in play and seriously hate him. "I want you to get these people to find another way to kill those commanders, like you promised," he says.
June says she can't help him, but her interest is piqued when he mentions Serena's wedding — and the handmaids that will be there. Still, she says she's done... until he mentions one fact: "Janine's not dead. She probably wishes she were. That pervert, Bell, made him her handmaid." June quickly spits out, "I hope she kills him in his sleep." And then you can almost SEE the idea form over June's weary head.
She and Lawrence outline it for Ellen, the Mayday leader, and Luke: While Serena is busy micromanaging every detail of her wedding, and while the commanders are busy resting on their laurels for the Jezebel's massacre, it'll be the perfect situation for an attack LED BY THE HANDMAIDS. Hell yeah. The bones of a plan are barely out of June's mouth, and Moira is on board to return with her.
June and Moira will smuggle weapons in. And also? "The bombs are still in place. Would be a shame not to use them," Luke offers. And when the chaos breaks out all over the city, Lawrence posits, Tuello can have the American military invade.
As June voiceovers about how they're going to use "all of our friends" in the plan, we see Lawrence get a case from Tuello, then hand it off to Rita: Inside are vials of white powder. And guess what? Rita IS making the cake for Serena's wedding, after all! "They will never see us coming," a reenergized June says.
OLD STOMPING GROUNDS, NEW FRIENDS | For his part, Lawrence has Aunt Lydia sent to Washington, D.C., for the day, ostensibly to talk to higher-ups about handmaids' roles in the New Bethlehem fertility center. She tries to postpone, because she doesn't want to miss the wedding, but he says she must go right that minute.
Outside, Aunt Phoebe has a guardian check out a small hole in the fence surrounding the Red Center. And when he's stepped away, she opens the trunk of Lawrence's car to find June crouched inside. "Blessed be the fruit," she whispers. "Let the revolution begin."
Phoebe sneaks June and Moira inside the building and briefs them: The handmaids and Marthas are on board, and Janine doesn't know what's going on, because Bell won't let her out of the house. "I'll take care of it," June says quickly. Phoebe stashes them in the basement, then unexpectedly runs into Aunt Lydia just as she arrives upstairs. Lydia is suspicious of the younger aunt, who bids her a safe trip to D.C. and bustles along her way.
Downstairs, Moira is a little more shaken than she expected, and she asks June to say something "leaderish." So June recites the 23rd Psalm, adding at the end: "And please, dear God, give us the strength to murder those g-ddamn mother—kers." Moira is bolstered. "A-f—king-men," she replies.
Now it's your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!