Shattered

Shattered
Season 6
Episode 7
Air date	May 6, 2025
Directed by	Daina Reid
Written by	Katherine Collins
Episodes
Previous	Surprise
Next	Exodus

Shattered is the 7th episode of the sixth season of The Handmaid's Tale. It aired on May 6, 2025.

Synopsis

After a shocking revelation, June spirals. Serena plans for a prestigious future.

Plot

The episode opens with Nick and June still hiding in Serena's closet, June staring at Nick in horror after she overhears High Commander Wharton telling Serena that Jezebel's is being raided and that Nick had informed him of the Mayday plan to liberate the prostituted women there and kill the Commanders that frequent the place. Nick is plainly ashamed and can only stare at the floor.

At Jezebel's, Guardians burst into the dressing room and roughly move all women into the shower stalls of the adjacent bathroom. Janine is separated from the group and watches in horror as they're all lined up and mercilessly executed.

When Serena and Wharton leave for a walk with Noah, Nick assures June that he didn't blame the women in the brothel for the plot, nor did he think that Wharton would kill them. Nick drives June back to the border, she demands to be let out of the car before they reach their destination. Nick pursues her on foot, trying to explain himself. He recalls the recent events in No Man's Land, and reminds her that senseless bloodshed - like the young Guardian he shot there - never bothered her when it was serving her purpose. Before leaving him behind, June tells him he's just like all the men in Gilead, giving up others in order to save himself. Nick calls after her asking what it makes her when she loves him.

Aunt Lydia arrives at Jezebel’s, weeping as she surveys the shattered dressing room. Unaware that Janine was saved, she holds Angela's drawing to her chest. When she returns to the Red Center, Aunt Phoebe informs her that Janine was spared and re-posted as a Handmaid to Commander Bell, upon his specific request.

June returns to Mayday headquarters, where she admits the attack went wrong because she told Nick and Nick told them. An incensed Luke reminds June that Nick as a regime operative never wanted the resistance to win, he only cared about June. Calling her out for still having feelings for him, he concludes it's no good to "be in love with a fucking Nazi". June later concedes to Moira that she did forget who Nick was. Moira reminds her that he never gave her any reason not to trust him, and he helped not only June survive, but also Moira and Luke. In another private minute, June tells Luke she doesn't want him to stay with her out of pity or obligation, wondering if Hannah is the only reason they’re still together. Luke thinks for a minute before shaking his head, and gently reaches for her hand.

Rita visits Nick in his office and finds him drowning his sorrows in a bottle, he confirms June made it safely out of Gilead. Recognizing he's not in a good state, she encourages him to be a good person and do the right thing, but he declines her request to help her get her family out: they had never been friends because in Gilead, you can only count on yourself.

A bridal shower is held for Serena. A pleasant but wary conversation turns to politics when some of the wives deem New Bethlehem as godless, mocking its liberal policies for refugees. However, they are uneasy to envision Gilead’s future when Serena asks them. They also challenge Serena's idea of ex-handmaids working as attendants at the fertility center that she intends to open, Naomi sees the competence for the Handmaids' retirement at the Commanders.

Serena later complains to Gabriel Wharton about the Wives' disdain, suggesting that a proper wedding would do a lot to prove them wrong, so they make plans for a "grand celebration" that invites the whole community, including Handmaids.

Aunt Lydia brings new robes for Janine to the Bells' 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. She's quickly escorted away from the window by Bell's wife.

Mark Tuello arrives with Commander Lawrence at Mayday headquarters, with the latter asking Mayday to help devise a new plan to eliminate the other Commanders. June is reluctant to participate, as she is heading back to Alaska to be with her mom and baby Nichole. In trying to convince her to stay, Lawrence unfavorably compares her to Serena, mentioning her upcoming wedding, and tells her Janine is alive and posted at Bell's, which changes June's mind.

In the following huddle meeting with Ellen they devise a plan to attack Serena's wedding through the Handmaids expected to attend the ceremony. Luke mentions that the bombs for the foiled attack on the brothel are still in place, and June and Moira will help smuggle additional weapons in. Lawrence suggests Tuello to have the American military ready to invade as soon as a chaos breaks out.

Back in Gilead at the Red Center, Lawrence tells Aunt Lydia he has arranged her a trip to D.C. to present the fertility clinic proposal. She asks for a rescheduling, as she wants to attend Serena's wedding, but he says she must go right that minute. Outside, Aunt Phoebe has the Guardian on duty check out a small hole in the fence surrounding the Red Center. As he steps away, she opens the trunk of Lawrence's car to find June and Moira crouched inside, saluting them to "Let the revolution begin". Phoebe then sneaks June and Moira inside the building and harbors them in the basement, where she briefs them that Handmaids and Marthas are on board, and that Janine doesn’t know because Bell won’t let her out of the house. June says she will take care of it.

As Phoebe arrives upstairs, she unexpectedly runs into Aunt Lydia. Lydia is suspicious of the younger Aunt, who hastily mutters an excuse and bids her a safe trip to D.C..

Downstairs, a shaken Moira asks June to say something "leaderish", so she recites the 23rd Psalm, adding at the end: “And please, dear God, give us the strength to murder those g-ddamn motherf—kers."

Quotes

“She'll invite everyone important. She'll put on a huge show. And she's going to choreograph every move. She will micromanage every detail. Where people sit. What they experience. No one there is going to see anything that she doesn't want them to see. And while she is planning her perfect wedding, we will be planning too.”  — June proposes an audacious plan

“We will use all of our friends. Everyone. And anyone who hates Gilead. Anyone who has ever been fucked over by that place. Serena will make sure all eyes stay on her. Her narcissism brought down one nation and is about to bring down another. Because those Commanders and those Wives are gonna be so busy eating and dancing and having the time of their fucking lives that they will never see us coming!”  — June

“Blessed be the fruit. Let the revolution begin.”  — Aunt Phoebe

Cast

Starring

• Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne
• Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy Waterford
• Madeline Brewer as Janine Lindo
• Amanda Brugel as Rita Blue
• Ever Carradine as Naomi Putnam
• Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia Clements
• O-T Fagbenle as Luke Bankole
• Sam Jaeger as Mark Tuello
• Max Minghella as Nick Blaine
• Samira Wiley as Moira Strand
• Bradley Whitford as Joseph Lawrence

Guest Starring

• Josh Charles as Commander Gabriel Wharton
• Timothy Simons as Commander Bell
• D'Arcy Carden as Aunt Phoebe
• Athena Karkanis as Ellen
• Sebastian MacLean as Lead Guardian
• Kyle Gatehouse as Enforcer Guardian
• Liudmyla Koblytska as Nick's Martha
• Angela Vint as Leah
• Vanessa Burns as Mrs. Calhoun
• Diana Bentley as Mrs. Bell
• Melissa Cossey as Wife #1
• Christina Song as Wife #2
• Robin Schisler as Wife #3
• Bryce Wynter as Gate Guardian

Music

• "Barracuda" by Heart