The Handmaid’s Tale wrapped its sixth and final season on a triumphant, if melancholic, note. The ending saw a proper rebellion in a world where the totalitarian, patriarchal government of Gilead is wounded, but not destroyed.
Hulu‘s Emmy-winning series is an adaptation of Margaret Atwood‘s 1985 novel, though it elaborates upon its source material. The story began with Elisabeth Moss‘ June as an imprisoned handmaid for a Gilead commander in a dystopian vision of the United States. Across six seasons, she’s fought to reclaim her identity and her womanhood, all while building community among her fellow captives and trying to reconnect with the family she had before the war.
The Handmaid’s Tale‘s final season saw a revolution come to Gilead, with the abused women of this dystopia rising up to slaughter the patriarchal class and take back the U.S. The penultimate episode saw the tides turning for the rebels, with Joseph Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) sacrificing himself by detonating a bomb on a plane filled with Boston’s Gilead commanders. That, tragically, included Nick (Max Minghella), the father of June’s second child.
So, where does that leave the show’s heroes? Is June able to reunite with her daughters? And can she forgive her former oppressors? Below, we answer those questions and more in our Handmaid’s Tale ending explainer. You can also hear from creator Bruce Miller, who penned the finale, in a postmortem interview conducted with Entertainment Weekly.
Alexis Bledel as Emily and Elisabeth Moss as June in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ series finale. Disney/Steve Wilkie
In Boston? Yes.
Gilead is no longer occupying the city after the rebels rose up and Lawrence took out the commanding officers. Boston, as June declares, is now part of America again. But Gilead is still intact throughout the rest of the country and strategizing to maintain power. In the final episode, the rebel forces are mobilizing to try and take the country back.
Elisabeth Moss as June holds baby Nichole next to Cherry Jones’ Holly. Disney/Steve Wilkie
June reunites with Nichole, her daughter with Nick, when her mother, Holly (Cherry Jones), joins the rebels in Boston. As the series comes to a close, she’s on a mission to find Hannah (Jordana Blake), her daughter with Luke (O-T Fagbenle).
Now living under the name Agnes McKenzie, Hannah has been living with a commander and his wife in Colorado. In the finale, Tuello (Sam Jaeger) tells June that Hannah’s foster father was promoted and will be moving with his family to Washington, D.C., much closer to June’s location in Boston.
“I know that isn’t enough,” says Tuello, “but it’s a kind of progress.”
Luke tells June to be patient, believing that “The way we get Hannah back is we take down Gilead one piece at a time.”
But June is anxious to not just find Hannah, but to save all the young girls held captive in Gilead. Speaking with Holly, she declares, “They’re never going to stop coming for us. And even when we’re gone, they’re gonna come for our children and our grandchildren. Fighting may not get us everything, but we may not have a choice. Because fighting is what got us Gilead in the first place. Gilead does not need to be beaten, it has to be broken.”
We imagine more answers will come in The Testaments, an upcoming sequel series based on Atwood’s own 2019 Handmaid’s Tale follow-up novel. Set 15 years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale, its narrative centers on Hannah and Nichole.
Elisabeth Moss’ June hugs Alexis Bledel’s Emily in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ series finale. Disney/Steve Wilkie
Yes. Alexis Bledel — who won an Emmy for her turn on the series before departing between seasons 4 and 5 — reprised Emily during The Handmaid’s Tale finale.
Emily approaches June as the rebels work to build a home in Boston following last week’s battle, revealing that she’s been in Bridgeport, a “hotspot of rebellion.” While working as a Martha, she was still able to communicate with her family.
As they admire a wall of graffiti celebrating the rebels’ win, they marvel at how far they’ve come. Still, June laments that the forces of Gilead “stole my life,” and mourns the impossibility of things ever returning to the way they once were.
“We’re both alive to see this,” Emily says, gesturing towards the graffiti. “I’m thinking of adjusting my concept of the impossible.”
Shadowy figures drop off Madeline Brewer’s Janine in Boston in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ series finale. Disney/Steve Wilkie
One character whose fate remained up in the air following last week’s episode was Janine (Madeline Brewer), who was still trapped in Gilead along with several other allies. Thankfully, after all she’s been through across six seasons, the one-eyed woman was saved and reunited with her daughter, Charlotte, by an unlikely pair.
June is brought out to the new Gilead border by Tuello, where they see shadowy figures drop off Janine. She’s wounded, but alive. She’s also relieved when two of the series’ most vicious players, Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) and Naomi (Ever Carradine), hand over Charlotte.
Madeline Brewer’s Janine holds her baby in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ series finale. Disney/Steve Wilkie
“Take good care of our Janine, please,” says Lydia, who, despite her role as a Gilead enforcer, grew fond of Janine.
June, who has no love lost for Lydia, thanks her. “Blessed is the woman who does not walk in stride with the wicked,” she offers.
Serena holds her baby in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ series finale. Disney/Steve Wilkie
As with Lydia, June is able to reconcile somewhat with Serena (Yvonne Strahovski), who tormented her as the wife of Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes), June’s first master. By the end of the series, Serena finds herself without a home, but is nevertheless comforted to know she can freely mother her son, Noah.
Speaking with Tuello, Serena acknowledges that she can never return to Gilead, while Canada and the E.U. won’t give her a passport.
“I guess I’m just a nobody,” she says. Serena is put on a train to a U.N. refugee camp, with Tuello telling her that he’ll bring her passports that can help her escape.
Before she leaves, Serena offers a tearful apology to June. “When I recall some of the things that were done to you, the things that I did, that I forced you to do, I’m ashamed,” she admits.
“You should be,” June retorts. Still, she forgives her former foe.
“That was very generous of you,” says Tuello, to which June replies, “You have to start somewhere, right?”
At the refugee center, Serena accepts her uncertain future as she hugs her son, cooing, “You’re all I need. You’re all I ever wanted.”
O-T Fagbenle’s Luke and Elisabeth Moss’ June in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ series finale. Disney/Steve Wilkie
No, June and Luke amicably part ways, each acknowledging how much they’ve changed in the years they’ve been separated.
“We don’t know each other like we did before,” he says, revealing that he plans to help rebel forces in New York.
He encourages her to write her “escape story” down. “It wasn’t all horrors, was it? You had people who helped you. Janine, Emily, Lawrence, Nick. People who loved you. People you loved. They’re all worth remembering.”
Speaking of Nick, the man she grew to love in the post-war years, June acknowledges that he “reaped what he sowed” and that he “lived a violent and dishonest life.”
Still, Serena tells her, “If he ever thought he had a real choice, he would’ve chosen you.”
Elisabeth Moss’ June climbs the steps of the bombed-out Waterford house on ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. Disney/Steve Wilkie
Luke isn’t the only one telling June to turn her experience into a story. Holly, too, believes it’s worth her time. “It’s a story to inspire people,” says Holly, one for those “who may never find their babies… who will never ever give up trying.” She adds, “Write it for your daughters, June. Tell them who their mother was.”
The series ends with June returning to the Waterford house, where we first met her in the show’s first episode. There, walking through the bombed-out remains, she pulls out a tape recorder and speaks some of the first lines we heard her say.
“A chair, a table, a lamp. And a window with white curtains. And the glass is shatterproof. But it isn’t running away they’re afraid of. A handmaid wouldn’t get far. It’s those other escapes, the ones you can open in yourself, given a cutting edge. Or a twisted sheet and a chandelier. I try not to think about those escapes. It’s harder on ceremony days, but thinking can hurt your chances.”
She looks directly into the frame. “My name is Offred.”
Elisabeth Moss’ June with Hannah in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ series finale. Disney/Steve Wilkie
The Handmaid’s Tale is streaming in its entirety on Hulu.
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