June is the first episode of the second season of The Handmaid's Tale.
Synopsis[]
Offred reckons with the consequences of a dangerous decision while haunted by memories from her past and the violent beginnings of Gilead.
Plot[]
Offred, along with other handmaids who defied Aunt Lydia in refusing to stone Janine to death, is taken to an abandoned baseball field, quickly revealed to be a deserted, run-down, but very much still recognizable Fenway Park. There are scaffolds erected with nooses. Each handmaid is given a noose, which causes one of the Handmaids to become so terrified she urinates on herself. Instead of dropping down completely and breaking their necks or strangling to death, the platform only drops a few feet. It was all just a scare tactic devised by Aunt Lydia in order to give them a lesson that they'd remember.
In a flashback, June is still living with her husband and daughter. She asks Luke to sign a form so that she can pick up her birth control prescription. As she's leaving, she suggests that she doesn't pick it up and surprisingly, Luke agrees. They kiss before June leaves to take Hannah to school.
The handmaids are all forced to sit in the rain with their hands extended while each holds a rock. Aunt Lydia walks around electrocuting them but stops when she is informed of Offred's pregnancy. Offred is removed from the exercise and taken inside to get dry. Aunt Lydia, excited about the prospect of a new child, goes and rings the bell.
Aunt Lydia offers Offred a bowl of soup but she says she isn't hungry. She tells her that they are going to take care of her while she's pregnant just as long as she's a "good girl." Janine is mentioned and Aunt Lydia tells Offred that she was sent to The Colonies. To show her what will happen if she continues to be defiant, Aunt Lydia takes her to see another pregnant handmaid, Ofwyatt, who is chained to a small living space. Offred decides that she is hungry after all and is taken back to the cafeteria. There the other handmaids file in soaking wet and are forced to form two straight lines. Aunt Lydia takes them one by one and chains them to the stove. She burns their hands as punishment for their defiance while Offred quietly eats her soup.
In a flashback, June is called away from work to go pick up Hannah, who was running a fever, from the hospital. There she is asked a series of questions about her capacity as a parent.
Offred is taken to be examined by a doctor. Fred and Serena Waterford are there with her. They are shown their child on an ultrasound monitor. Serena kisses Offred's forehead in thanks. Offred is left alone and begins to put her shoes on when a key falls out from her boot. The key gets her into the stairwell and she follows red marks that lead her down into a long tunnel beneath the facility. At the end, there is a refrigerated truck loaded with slaughtered hogs waiting for her to take her away from this place.
Serena eavesdrops on her husband as he tries to find Offred. She goes up to Offred's old room and sits on her window sill.
In a flashback, June has taken Hannah home from the hospital. Luke is waiting for them and they learn that there was an act of terrorism at the national Capitol. There was also an explosion at the White House and martial law has been declared.
When the truck stops again, a butcher leads her into an empty corporate building and asks her to stay until someone comes for her. Nick is there waiting. He tells her to get out of her clothes and to cut her hair. She takes off her clothes and burns them along with the locks of hair that she cut off. She uses the scissors to remove the tag from her ear. She is finally free.
Transcript of the TV News (Flashback)[]
... Sources are saying this is likely the deadliest attack - on American soil since 9/11 ... The Department of Homeland Security has yet to weigh in on who might be responsible for this devastating act of terrorism. We are still awaiting for comment from the NSA and FBI... There are still no claimants of responsibility... Breaking news from the Pentagon. Martial law has been declared. ... As soon as we learn more - from the security forces, ... and from eye witnesses on the ground and around the Capitol. ... We're getting word now from army officials - that National Guard is being deployed ... National Guard has been called in from Detroit, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, Baton Rouge, Nevada, Oklahoma City - Wait. We're just getting word Yes? There has been - There has been an explosion ... We can confirm that an explosive has been detonated ...
Notes[]
- The presence of the butcher (who already revealed himself to June as Mayday member (in "The Bridge") at June's escape confirms Nick's contacts to the resistance (which had been speculated about[1]).
- The U.S. government before Gilead has started to restrict birth control, here by demanding third-person approvals for prescriptions, which June doesn't seem to see as encroaching on her (corporal) self-determination. The government had already banned vasectomies ("The Other Side"). (Fertility Crisis) (Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Law/Privacy and Self-Determination)
Cast[]
Starring
- Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne
- Joseph Fiennes as Fred Waterford
- Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Waterford
- Ann Dowd as "Aunt" Lydia Clements
- O-T Fagbenle as Luke Bankole
- Max Minghella as Nick Blaine
Guest Starring
Additional Cast
- Ryan Turner as Uniformed Eye #1
- Daniel Chaudhry as Uniformed Eye #2
- David Snelgrove as Eye Commander
- Dave Lapsley as Executioner
- Edie Inksetter as Aunt Elizabeth
- Jordana Blake as Hannah Bankole
- Peggy Bree Tam as Punished Handmaid #1
- Tasha Attey as Punished Handmaid #2
- Brianne Tucker as Punished Handmaid #3
- Natalie Dale as Punished Handmaid #4
- Ipsita Paul as Aunt Kimberly
- Alana Pancyr as Ofwyatt
- Jonathan Malen as Quinn
- Christina Collins as School Worker
- Sam Asante as Ultrasound Tech
- Paul Beer as Doctor #2
- Joel Rinzler as Butcher
Quotes[]
“You will love the lord, thy god, with all your heart. You shall walk with him and fear him. Cleave onto Him. And you shall obey his word, and the word of his servants here on Earth. Or you shall feel the pain of his judgement .For that, is love. Let this be a lesson to you.” — Aunt Lydia
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Episode 1.9, The Bridge
| Season 1 | Offred | Birth Day | Late | Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum | Faithful | A Woman's Place The Other Side | Jezebels | The Bridge | Night |
| June | Unwomen | Baggage | Other Women | Seeds | First Blood | After | Women's Work Smart Power | The Last Ceremony | Holly | Postpartum | The Word | |
| Night | Mary and Martha | Useful | God Bless the Child | Unknown Caller Household | Under His Eye | Unfit | Heroic | Witness | Liars | Sacrifice | Mayday | |
| Pigs | Nightshade | The Crossing | Milk | Chicago | Vows | Home | Testimony Progress | The Wilderness | |
| Morning | Ballet | Border | Dear Offred | Fairytale | Together | No Man's Land | Motherland | Allegiance | Safe | |