The Handmaid’s Tale season 5 episode 7 sees June and Serena stuck in a dire situation that results in an unlikely birth of a new relationship with them.
Recap
The Handmaid’s Tale picks up after the tense moments of June and Serena’s escape from their near-impossible situations at the end of season 5 episode 6.
In the abrupt chaos of it all and with a gun pointed at her by a labouring Serena, June wants to know what the former Gilead ambassador’s plan moving forward.
Serena is too deep into her contractions now to think straight, much less articulate a plan. She just knows that she can’t go to Gilead, or to Canada.
Amid the high-stakes escapade and fear for her husband, June finally pumps the brake and gets out of the car. Serena asks her not to stop and help her, but June walks off.
Soon enough, though, she’s stopped in her path when Serena crashes the car. June reaches the car and sees Serena wailing in her labour pains.
June decides to help her, taking her to a nearby shed. She tries to help her with the delivery but the super anxious and disoriented Serena freaks out, upsetting June again who flees from the shed in anger.
However, soon enough she returns, after reminiscing about the days she spent in Gilead, witnessing failed births and pregnancy deaths.
Said memories compel June to return to the shed and help Serena out with her delivery. After a great deal of pain and labour, the baby boy comes through.
Later, Serena asks June why she didn’t kill her at the protest. June says that she didn’t want to. Serena apologizes to June but it means little to her.
Meanwhile, Serena names her baby Noah, saying he’ll be the saviour of humanity, to June’s scoffs.
Serena then asks June to take her baby with her and raise him, since she doesn’t have much of a future now. June agrees at first, taking the baby with her, only to stop after a few steps.
It dawns on her that this is similar to what the wives at Gilead did to the handmaids like her. June doesn’t want to be a vessel for anyone like Serena claims herself to be.
June claims she’ll save not just the baby but both of them and she’ll do it for the baby. The infant will need his mother, June claims before driving both of them to a hospital and getting them admitted.
The baby is taken to the ICU for jaundice symptoms while Serena is kept in another room, with her fever also coming down, as she thanks June.
Luke arrives at the hospital, to the surprise and delight of June. As they reunite, some Canadian officials also barge into the hospital and reprimand Serena, informing her she’s been detained and will be taken to a detainment centre.
Serena freaks out and asks what will become of her baby; the officials tell her that Child Protection will take care of the baby for the time being.
As she screams and begs June for help, Luke delights in the sight. He’s the one who called the officials and deems it justice for all Serena’s done.
June stands beside Luke, looking at Serena with a blank stare and with conflicted feelings, before The Handmaid’s Tale season 5 episode 7 comes to an end.
Review
- The Handmaid’s Tale etches out the parallel between Serena and June’s experiences further until it reaches its conclusion.
- Enemies until now, the two women come together and amid a dire situation and increased stakes, they reconcile a little bit.
- It’s not like June has forgiven Serena (she’d find that an impossible task to do given all Serena put her through), but she does admit she couldn’t bring herself to kill her.
- That admission, helping Serena with her delivery, and taking her and the baby to the hospital are all things June does because she doesn’t want to be like Serena and the other wives in Gilead.
- The Handmaid’s Tale ends on another cliffhanger with ‘No Man’s Land’ as the future of Serena and her baby hangs in balance.
- It’s clear June is conflicted at the end about Serena’s detainment and separation from her newborn baby. It’s too similar to the fate she suffered.
- What will she do next and what resistance will she face from Luke are some of the pressing questions ‘No Man’s Land’ leaves the viewers with.
The Handmaid's Tale season 5 episode 7
Director: Natalia Leite
Date Created: 2022-10-19 09:30
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