why establish a romantic sub-plot in the first place?
I joined The Handmaid’s Tale train pretty late (as in binging it all this month) so a lot of material from the earlier seasons was fresh on my mind while watching the last one. And it just. Baffled me? Not only did they completely undermine all of Nick’s development from 5.5 seasons, they also undermined June’s as well. It’s so hard to believe she “used” him when all she did throughout the show was reciprocate that love. From expressing her wish not to lose him to visibly relaxing every time she saw him or heard his voice. Or confiding in him her traumatic experiences to comforting him after Eden was executed. Obviously, Nick loved her, if risking his life multiple times doesn’t say anything, but they put an equal amount of effort into showing that she loved him too.
The real June understood that change didn’t occur through purely “moral” action but required a level of sacrifice, that unintended losses were an inevitable consequence of that. Why else would she and other handmaids risk their lives to bring 86 stolen children to Canada? She would also understand Nick’s reasons for leaking Mayday’s plans to Wharton because of that, even if she couldn’t immediately forgive him.
Maybe it’s delusional, but I refuse to accept how they characterized them both in the end. I refuse to believe that June suddenly turned into an inconsiderate, self-righteous person and Nick a man thirsty for power. It was a disservice to the entire show’s-worth of development invested into them and their relationship, and I’d rather appreciate it as originally written than a gross distortion for the sole purpose of shock value.