What I’m Watching: The Handmaid’s Tale

The Handmaid’s Tale: Season 5, Episode 7 “No Man’s Land” (B)

I can definitely appreciate an hour like this that has an intimate focus, especially because of the parallels to June’s solo delivery of Nicole and the way that things used to be in Gilead. But there are also so many other characters, including the leadership in Gilead that might be capable of changing it into something less totalitarian, that I would have liked to see featured in the wake of Nick shooting Warren in the head. But fortunately there are still three episodes left this season and another year after that, and this installment was all about switched roles and revenge. June’s attitude changed entirely when she saw that Serena was in labor, and she didn’t quite buy into Serena’s belief that she was an avenging angel. June has been through childbirth twice before and knows a lot better than Serena what to expect, and she was able to calmly coach her through it. Emphasizing that a child belongs with its mother encouraged her to take Serena to the hospital where she could get the care that she needed, and where June was reunited with Luke, who didn’t have the same enlightenment that June did. Calling immigration police to get her detained and likely deported was something June would have done even a short time ago, and now she really has felt the pain that June and Luke felt of being taken away from their children. I don’t know if June will take up a different cause now that she’s seen and understood this from a new perspective, but those memories of Gilead should remind her that Serena still isn’t a friend and should see justice of some form for what she’s done.