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[glasskey]

Season 6 Chaos Theory Sample Mix

So we’ve finally received some S6 tasters in the form of trailers and press releases and having read and seen these I feel like a good old fashioned rant is in order. I’ll stick mostly to the Nick, June and Luke thing, because well that’s what most of you came for. Be warned, this will be absolutely brutal. If you haven’t seen the press releases or read The Testaments then just note there are spoilers in here. The first thing I want people to remember is that while the writers of this show have done a great job of setting up the transition to The Testaments, but in my time I have seen writers take a LOT of license with their source material. In this particular case, the show has been consulting closely with the author so that might lend some hope to the fact that it’s been respected. Atwood’s been a little intentionally obscure in parts of both texts, and it’s given the writers the ability to get creative. The Testaments DOES make mention of Nick and June (we CAN assume this regardless of the lack of names, as they’re referred to as the actual parents of baby Nicole), and one passage in particular where Elijah says to Daisy about her parents “They’re still alive. Or they were yesterday”. So either Elijah saw them both the day before TOGETHER, or he’s been running back and forth over the border. However, later on Nick’s referred to as maybe still being in Gilead, so yeah confusing. Apparently both of Daisy’s parents are “lucky to be alive” in The Testaments so I’m going to go out on a limb and say Nick escapes by the skin of his teeth. Having said that I didn’t like that sneaky “our baby” shit Luke pulled at the end of last season and writers may try to use it as some kind of weird assed loophole.

The end note in The Testaments does include him so it would be a huge violation to the actual text to kill him off. It all seems out of step with all the other elements that have been carefully laid out true to text as well. It IS mentioned in The Handmaids Tale that Nick was associated with Mayday and the trailers for previous seasons included him in the whole “we are Mayday” section, so I’m disappointed to see that show runners / writers SEEM to have back tracked here. Just be mindful that from day one we’ve seen Mayday agents, drivers and guards die; the manifestations of Nick in his many forms through the seasons. Characters often end up embodying the fates that they warn others of; Beth warned him that involving himself with a handmaid was a good way to end up on the wall (and we all know what happened to Beth). Nick told June TWICE that she could and WOULD die in Gilead. So maybe a few chants in the prayer circle for our young commander couldn’t hurt. Lets be crystal clear ALL of this is just speculation because well, as of yet just like everyone else, I haven't seen a single episode. The whole “shadow of death” phrase accompanied with a shot of Nick gives pause for thought. He’s been kicking around Gilead as the resident angel of Death for some time and make no mistake this particular shot was included to symbolize the threat of death, in particular to the rebellion. Once again, disappointing.

The press releases have stated that Blaine betrays June at some point this season but I have to say in terms of viewer acceptance, this is risky. It’s a HUGE vault to take from a character with moral grain with a deep emotional connection to the protagonist; to one that’s decided to throw all in against her, with a fascist regime he’s hated serving. These types of character transitions if not delivered properly are deadly to any sort of audience connection. If they don’t believe they are POSSIBLE, then their disbelief spreads to ALL of the surrounding characters and the entire storyline by default. If they want to 180 this character from “a good man in Gilead” to Voldemort, they currently lack the goods with which to back it up, and they don’t have much time to construct them. Seems like a fairly swift deconstruction of a character, from one who ran to June’s bedside and punched Lawrence in a room full of commanders, to one that would actually betray her. With a press release citing that without the love goggles, June now sees Nick for who he is and what he’s capable of, audiences NEED to understand that in the context of any love story, it’s hard, if not impossible to come back from that. After show runners have almost guaranteed the entire obliteration of his character in her eyes, their relationship may end up as nothing but a smoking wreck. One can only hope that love does truly keep no record of wrongs.

As always watch for character placement on screen, Blaine’s usually positioned to her right side to indicate worship, succession and the sharing of power. When he starts shifting, you’ll know the dynamics are starting to change. Minghella cited his relationship with Rose as a factor in his waning patience with June, and as somewhat of an innocent I can see her being sacrificed, to incite Blaine’s rage in the context of the story line. But the idea that he’d somehow be transformed into a cold dead eyed monster defies belief. Is this the SAME Blaine that smuggled letters? That cried over a dead handmaid? That brought her Fred? That ran to her bedside? Too often audiences simply swallow content they’re fed without question, well this season I’ll be expecting some plausible explanations. I have to wonder about the timing of daddy dearest showing up IMMEDIATLEY after Blaine’s relationship fell apart with Rose. No doubt Rose would have told him that it was Osborne who came between them and daddy may have decided to sever the two once and for all. It is true that Nick’s impressionable and I can see Wharton being cast as the evil presence who tries to break apart the two lovers by exploiting Nick’s desire for guidance. As Blaine once said “some men need to be led.” June is depicted in a red gown striding amongst an army of handmaids, the implication here being that she too is a commander and as such this season will see Nick and June go head to head, with Wharton at the leash. Will Gilead succeed in breaking them apart? Apparently Tuello ends up with only Lawrence as his ally which kind of pisses me off that he’s being rewarded with a redemption arc of kinds while Nick gets cast into the cold. We’ll have to wait and see but that WOULD be a very big fuck you very much, for all the struggles he’s endured to remain moralistically intact in the Hell hole of Lawrence’s making.

Now way, way, way up the back of The Testaments is mention of a handful of plots by commanders to off a bunch of the elite commanders that triggers the purges, and it looks like that’s where we’re going this season. I do think that a sizeable amount of handmaid’s will pay with their lives as a consequence. No revolution comes without sacrifice, it’s just historical fact so get ready for the carnage. It appears they’ve decided to paint Luke as a hero and Nick as a villain this season very possibly to show their ultimate true faces. I can't help but wonder how fair these journeys comparatively EVER were. If Nick was always doomed to fall by spending literally YEARS in the dark prison of Gilead, then how easy is it for Luke to shine having spent all of his time on the couch in a free country? To quote June herself “Gilead turns you into a bit of a cunt.” How fair has this comparison EVER been when one came from poverty and the other lived a comfortable life? While Nick has been damned for his choice to join the SOJ, the choices that Luke’s life initially afforded him, certainly made all the difference. I do wonder how fair it is to paint the vulnerable, targeted poor as ultimately villainous? Now Blaine lives in a large house surrounded by all the comforts that Gilead has ensnared him with, if he throws his lot in with Mayday, he burns his whole life down. In comparison the now transient Luke has literally nothing to lose and everything to gain by joining the Rebellion. Is the destruction of Nick nothing more than a demonstration of the corruptive society he has lived in for so long? By painting him as a villain are we acknowledging his trauma or even the rigged game that spawned him? If their plans are to send her back into the arms of her, up until very recently, sheltered and complacent hubby, I’ll want answers. Revolution can be a comparatively easy act when you don’t live under a regime for over a decade, when the fist doesn’t tighten constantly or corrupt you in increments. To Luke it would seem natural to kick against it, unfortunately for Nick he’s been “groomed” since day one with the final stranglehold of a Gilead wife and kiddy to keep him in line.

After seasons of representing Luke as a homebody who practically had to be extricated from his house in the burbs, even after someone ran over his wife right in front of it, they’ve now decided that Luke has actually been full of gun toting moxy all along. Yep, he’s suddenly going to run rampant all over Gilead with hand grenades and a machine gun….ridiculous. Last season we saw him go from “lets file paperwork” to Mr gimme a gun, in the space of ONE SINGLE episode, simply because Serena gave him some shit about Nick. Had the guy stayed in Canada and rallied with Tuello, I would have believed his character arc, but THIS is a bridge too far. I would have absolutely bought Luke as a Mayday strategist, neck deep in the paperwork he thrives on. I have to say, I am not loving this journey for him at all.

I’ve never before experienced a show try to persistently foist a character on audiences as they have done Luke. Most of the audience didn’t like him, the feedback on social media was pretty loud and the shows response seems to have been to simply include more content with the hopes that sooner or later audiences would relent and embrace him with open arms. Despite their best efforts, to quote the classic “Mean Girls”; “Fetch just isn’t going to happen.” and I don’t think it ever has. To be honest they not only haven’t been able to really endear Luke to the majority of fans, but they’ve had to work flat out over the last season to even remotely level the scores between these two men, basically by marrying Nick off and knocking up his wife. Comparative to Nick and June’s fiery romance, moments of intimacy between Luke and June felt like oatmeal through a feeding tube. Perhaps there’s a reason for this, maybe it’s intentional, like Miller said; June sees their relationship as “work”. Much in the same way they’ve intentionally built Nick and June to be far more romantic in nature, but as we keep being told again and again; it’s not exactly practical. At this point in the journey I don't know how many people are too concerned with practicalities; they've been dangling a bucket of candy in front the audience for seasons now, so the kiddies can hardly be blamed for wanting to stuff their faces.

I guess Nick’s character annihilation would make sense plot wise, because well, Luke’s so fucking boring that SOMETHING had to be done to sabotage Nick’s appeal. Ultimately their solution has been to virtually turn Luke into Nick with Luke sporting Nicks trademark black coats, ala season 1, (like we wouldn’t notice) and roiding him up with a gun and a few hand grenades. Similarly Nicks now in New Bethlehem in some cushy digs with a wife and kiddy on the way. But to quote Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale itself: “They cannot be exchanged, one for the other. They cannot replace each other. Nick for Luke, Luke for Nick.” June wasn't going for it then, and I'm not either.

There’s also the small matter of June’s right to choose. Death or betrayal in a love triangle is actually a violation of the element of choice by our protagonist. It reeks of sabotage. These outcomes subvert any ability by the protagonist to actually CHOOSE and instead determines, at least in part, the outcome for her. Unimpressed. It also calls into question writer intent. What exactly is the message here after 5 seasons of him “trying to stay out of trouble” and then finally growing the spine to stand up to Gilead? Is it to keep your head down and shut up while the fascist regime takes hold? If he betrays her, what’s the lesson here? Never trust anyone? Love is a lie? Evil triumphs in the human spirit? Redemption is impossible? Are audiences to be dragged through 5 and half seasons of heartbreak, just to have their hearts crushed once again? It seems particularly heartless to rope audiences fully back into this “Nick and June” love triangle only to cut it off at the knees. The fact that they’re resurrecting it, simply to butcher it completely speaks to a whole new level of cruelty. It’s all looking a bit Star Wars with Nick as the young Vader, right down to shots where he seems to emanate a red glow (please see below) to symbolize danger. But I do wonder, have they honestly waited until now to visit upon audiences a full demonstration of Gilead’s corruptive influences?

The press releases seem to have made a point several times of mentioning that he was a commander, while that’s true I do wonder how a “why thanks but no thanks” would have gone down when it was originally presented to him. There’s no debating that Nick signed up in the beginning for SOJ, but scripts showed that he was vulnerable, targeted and quickly disgusted by its machinations. So if this ENTIRE plot was designed to be a tragic cautionary tale of a lambs slaughter at the hands of a regime, I’ll be horrified at the lengths to which they’ve drawn it out. These maneuverings all seem so incredibly cruel that an audience could not be blamed for switching off and never coming back for any other trips on the long, slow pain train spin offs. Why would they? The pain of attaching to beloved characters only to have them utterly decimated is not something viewers tend to wish to revisit. Last seasons are tricky, there’s a lot of expectation wrapped up in them as writers attempt to bookend characters and yet leave their journeys open for a possible revisit. A good last episode on a good last season is an even rarer thing, and if the endings not done right, audiences are loathe to even start the journey. A bad last episode is like poison, and the thing that content creators don’t seem to understand is that and audiences don’t actually NEED an amazing battle with explosions and 3 separate endings….they just need good. An ending that can live beyond itself, just an act of redemption, throw in a hint of tomorrow and you’re all good. Seriously, it’s all we want.

GOT had a notorious fiery trash bag of a last episode and it’s not the only one. Films now run 3 hours long and it seems that somewhere along the way the editor either fell asleep or just went home. In the effort to always be better, bigger, louder and larger, creators will often shoot too high or go too obscure. Go too big and you can fall really hard, go too small and it can feel unfinished, do whatever you want despite audience feedback and they will fucking hate you and avoid any of your future offerings. With the Testaments in play that last one is a particularly bad idea, certainly writer integrity is important but audience engagement is key. It’s interesting to think of Nick and June, at the end of the day, being reduced to dollars and cents. Their audience participation has simply become so large that an unhappy ending between the two will literally cost the studio and streaming services a gazillion dollarinos.

It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen a couple dictate the direction of a series, determine its success or failure and consequently, the size of a studios profits. It's not unusual to see spinoffs and seasons get cancelled because a deep character connection has been dissolved and the audience has followed suit. I hate to think of one single plot twist poisoning the well of a beautiful and epic 5 season long love story. After watching seasons of painful goodbyes I really don’t have the stomach for another one and I grow weary of season finales that leave audiences hollow and despondent like a depressing 1970’s movie. It's worth keeping in mind that just maybe these show runners and writers NEVER anticipated the type of enthusiasm that they received for the connection between these two characters and they've consequently had to roll with it. Seasons later we have a PR machine cranking overtime, they drop a bit of controversy about this love triangle and sure enough everyone takes the bait. Let's face it, people have lost their ever lovin minds and the folks at PR central must be LOVING it. Nick and June’s romance all seems to have been a bit of a mish mash of Casablanca and Romeo and Juliet from the get go, and both of those ended up in a whole big bunch of fuck you to any hope of real happiness. Casablanca holds its place after 80 years as one of the most timeless tales of love and sacrifice for the greater good, and if these two see any sort of conclusion that doesn’t involve a blade or noose, I suspect that’s what they might be going for here. The fact that it was released around the time of the German invasion shouldn’t be lost on audiences either. It had a lot to say about sacrifice and courage in the face of adversity during war, specifically fascism. Regardless of the life lessons that writers and show runners are attempting to teach, after 6 seasons of drawn out heartbreak, this one is going to feel really, really unkind.

To be brutally honest I’d prefer to watch Blaine die serving Mayday than see him betray June and have their love corrupted. After all the sacrifices he’s made, I’m horrified they couldn’t even afford him that small dignity, and I fucking swear if I have to watch him turn to poison and then die in the dirt, I will burn my TV (season 3 of Severance be damned). Then again, if this is all just a set up for the Battle Royale for his soul, I’ll be absolutely gagging to see June fight for it tooth and nail.

[glasskey]

Nick & June's Mixtape Vol. 6

It’s officially our last Nick & June Mixtape until season 6, but never fear as we’re finishing up with some revenge, victory and a kiss fit for a fairytale. Osblaine’s would always love a bit more, but with a hated foe finally dead and a long awaited bargain struck for freedom, let’s not get greedy.

Thank you

Season 4 gave us some great Nick and June fodder and 4 10 was a banger. “What the Fuck is this?!” Fred stammers astonished as June unapologetically grabs a face full of Nick right in front of him. Honestly was Fred really THAT stupid? I mean he was conceited, self-obsessed, but not dumb AF. He HAD to know there was something going on between these two.

Perhaps as a narcissist, Fred had dismissed his suspicions throughout the seasons as pure impossibility, or Serena’s claims as manipulative lies. But I doubted it. There were simply too many clues that he flat out knew or at least suspected these two were at it when his back was turned. As we saw in S2 he promptly arranged a child bride for Nick, after the slightest insinuation from Serena that he’d been paying June a little too much attention.

Fred didn’t even flinch when Serena told him that Nick was the father of June’s baby, he just seemed surprised to learn that they hated him. Then there was the litany of digs he had at Nick throughout the seasons about June and Nicole. He knew, or at least was highly suspicious when Blaine rocked up in S3 Ep 6 to visit his girlfriend, and when Fred ended up in that pitch black forest alone with the two of them, he DEFINITELY knew he was fucked.

Fred had already been rightfully scared when Blaine marched him in and slapped him around, he’d even started begging when he first saw Osborn. But when he saw them kiss fearlessly in front of him, he knew for sure he was a dead man. The connection between these two had always been a closely guarded secret, it was one that they weren’t hiding from him anymore and Fred knew he was never leaving that forest with it alive.

This kiss turned Fred into the figurative hostage who’d seen his kidnappers face and could no longer be released lest he open his yap. This could potentially cost Nick his life, and as Fred could tell from June’s look of adoration, that was something she would simply never allow.

I wish the world would go just go away

In 5 09 we finally saw Tuello spill the beans to June; Nick could get immunity if he becomes his inside man. But somethings wrong, Nick’s said no. Lawrence has been alluding to the fact that he’s been grooming Nick, exactly what’s been going on in June’s absence? Here June got a rude awakening of what Nick has become under Lawrence’s influence. Separated from her for what we can assume is almost a year, he’s become the figurative fist Lawrence uses to squash dissent amongst the commanders, all for the purpose of his new found vision: New Bethlehem.

In Gilead, Blaine has been encouraged to settle in, and in his attempt to “stay out of trouble” he’s had to make some compromises. He’s had to get a wife, and in order to avoid a Handmaid, he’s had to impregnate her……it’s Gilead law. Regardless of her intimate understanding of the inner workings of Gilead’s strict conventions, as he tells her, June’s face crumbles with the heartbreaking loss of a distant dream. “I have to protect my family, same as you” he says, but underneath, Blaine appears abandoned and wounded that June now has a family he isn’t part of. To him Osborne is everything, a never ending obsessive love that constantly fills his waking mind, but for all he now knows, to her he is “nothing”. Unlike his marriage of convenience with Rose, Nick is vividly aware that a part of June has always loved Luke. In her freedom and her new life with Luke, Nick assumes he has become no more than a half forgotten memory….and he’s hurt.

He’s wrong. The reality is, June’s been trying to shoe horn herself back into a life that she no longer wants. Her disbelief that he wouldn’t grab the chance at being reunited with her and Holly for good, in part stems from her own desire. She’s been burning time without him. There’s a glimpse of the distance that time and Lawrence had created between them, but as they draw closer it melts away.

The entire sequence appears like a slide show, littered with camera angles, gestures and exchanges that echo their relationship like precious mementos. As the two of them are inextricably drawn to one another, the dappled sunlight, green trees and framing are all so reminiscent of the scene in S2 when the two young lovers dreamt of being a family together in Hawaii.

“I wish the world would just go away, just for a little bit” June says tears welling in her eyes. The tragedy of Nick and June has always lain in the sweet simplicity of “in an ideal world” and here it is once more; Romeo and Juliet are getting shafted by the entire world yet again. Blaine’s no dummy, he can clearly see the news of his new family has gutted Osborne and in clear, simple and absolute tones, he reassures her that he loves her. It’s a statement that resonates with a sense of timelessness. He did, he has, he will. Her face collapses with the heartbreaking futility of it. It’s no use, the powers that be will always conspire to keep them apart no matter how hard they try.

We now know from 5 10 that Blaine never let her go, so when he doesn’t kiss her here, it all makes perfect sense. June seemed almost crushed to have waited so long, come so close and then not touch him at last. I was reminded of the “ice scene” when Nick came within a breath of her, touching her hand for the first time, then leaving her startled and winded. Was this an ending or actually the suggestion of a new beginning? All the exchanges between these two in S5 are about their responsibilities and commitments and never their desires. It’s intentionally done to illustrate their unhappiness without one another despite their best efforts to the contrary.

In season 2, in a rare moment of vulnerability, Blaine had confessed; “I think about us…..I think about it all the time” “Well don’t” June replied “OK I’ll stop” he quipped, illustrating the ridiculous futility of it. Here Blaine echoes his own words about his daughter a sign that as we head towards the Testaments, the focus shifts to their children. “Children look to their fathers. Set an example” Osborne calls as he leaves; his choice of loyalties lies just beyond the threshold, and their attempt to bury their hearts will soon prove just as pointless as it always was.

I'm Nothing

5 10 was like a binge fest for the Osblaine’s. There was a kiss straight from a story book, moments of revelation, a good old fashioned throw down and a long awaited crossing. Nick’s walk across the bridge in that misty moonlight really was a memorable season 5 moment, his physical crossing indicated a complete changing of loyalties and a declaration of devotion; he would simply never let Osborne go. Hearing that June had been seriously wounded, Nick still draped in designer swag, hightailed it from Lawrence’s wedding, to June’s bedside.

Regret and sorrow oozes out of him as he watches her silently and in a purely Shakespearean moment he leans in to deliver her a kiss. In a nod to the death scene from Romeo and Juliet, June rouses before Nick notices. I suddenly became uneasy that his deal with Tuello may have sealed his fate, was it his metaphorical poison? Given references to Nick in the Testaments, I prayed that the writers weren’t going to take the liberty of erasing him. I hoped that it was merely a reflection of her kiss on the bridge in S4.

“Every love story is a tragedy if you wait long enough” Fred had lamented to June, he’d deceived and bound Serena, her potential achievements cut off mercilessly much like her finger. He’d rejected her attempts for affection, demanding sex be reserved for purely functional purposes whilst he pursued other physical attachments. Their relationship had rotted and sure enough he’d ended up on the slab, leaving Serena somewhat teary but mainly terrified. I’d always thought of Nick and June as the anti Waterfords. Nick had sacrificed and set her free, he’d loved her entirely and respected her autonomy; I prayed that this meant something more promising than a trip to the morgue for the young commander. Tuello was of course happy to deal, he’d needed someone to fill Fred’s place for some time; and Nick stepped up, as he had done in so many ways throughout the seasons. However, this moment, where Blaine at long last signed on for his eventual immunity on that dark misty bridge, seemed more loaded with foreboding than hope. Perhaps given the dark twisted skewing of these repetitions and reflections, it was Tuello who should have been concerned for his own safety. Gilead is coming and in encroaching regimes, he is just the type of gentle voice of truth, to be silenced first. As usual, Nick didn’t actually give a shit about his own self-preservation, when confronted with the reality of June’s demise. Presented with a contract he didn’t even pause to read the terms and conditions, he just signed it.

Like a puzzle box, Blaine had previously remained surreptitiously precise and infuriatingly elusive. But after the gift of a moment of privacy with Osborne, and the promise for her safety by Tuello, the box at last snapped open. By bringing him to June, Tuello had automatically ranked up to some sort of platinum level trust in Blaine’s eyes, and instead of trademark stoicism, Tuello was granted a rare moment of complete candor. He asked the question that so many of us had been DYING to know the answer to; Why hadn’t Nick run away with June when he had the chance? Blaine fixed Tuello with that trademark stare, precisely assessing all aspects of the man in front of him, and then after 5 seasons, we finally got our answer. Apart from “Everybody Breaks”, “I’m Nothing” was probably one of Blaine’s most memorable lines for all of the seasons. While each of these phrases are only two words, they both reveal a significant fragment of his carefully hidden core.

We were all Tuello in that moment on the bridge, stunned by Blaine’s confession. Tuello, the father figure Blaine had searched for so desperately, gently reassured him that he was wrong. Until now we had assumed that Blaine had remained in Gilead out of some sense of loyalty or because he was trapped. Not once had we considered that he hadn’t made a break for the border, because he thought he was nothing but an errand boy, who’s existence would not only be pointless, but an inconvenience in June’s life. “I don’t know anything about you, I don’t know who you are” June had remarked in Season 1, astonished at Blaine’s resolute obscuration. He had no history, untethered, he may as well have been nameless. In offering nothing of himself, he had given nothing to her, and she demanded more. Up until then, Nick’s sole purpose had been service and for the first time, someone wanted “to know him”.

Tuello had sensed that something persisted between the two despite her homecoming. They were still meeting in secret and trying to make deals for each-others safety. Nick’s presence in Canada would have undoubtedly signaled absolute disaster to any hopes of June rebuilding her marriage, yet in 5 09 she encouraged him to make a deal none the less. Her request was nothing short of utter marital sabotage for the both of them, and deep down she would have known it.

Tuello certainly knew, and he made his business to point it out to Blaine. At every bid for her freedom, Blaine had dissolved into the shadows, offering himself as the veritable sacrificial lamb to be eaten up by Gilead’s darkness. Service and sacrifice overshadowing all sense of value or desire. Consequently it all amounted to these two being so far, so very very fucked.

This time he covertly stole into her hospital room, bargained for her safety and snuck away ala classic Blaine…..only Tuello knew, but just you wait till June finds out. ....Bring on season 6.

[glasskey]

Nick & June's Mixtape Vol. 5

Yep we’ve reached THAT part of our collective mix tapes where it’s time for the tears. Season 4 saw June’s homecoming and Nick’s attempt to “let her go”. Brace yourself people, even the Nick haters found 4 09 hard to take.

I should have run away with you when I had the chance

Oh boy the legendary 4 09, a moment in THT history that’s notorious for unleashing a tsunami of tears. Nick and June meet for the first time in months, at an isolated icy location, but as he steps from the shadows behind her and calls her name, her face visibly melts. Turning to face him, the sun literally breaks through the clouds.

A wide shot depicts the initial distance between them, but as always it’s quickly overcome and they gather inside, huddling together in a warm and glowing light with their child “like a real family”. Unfortunately, like all their moments of happiness, it’s tinged with the sorrow and heartache of their inevitable separation. June has come to ask Nick for some help in the unending quest to retrieve Hannah, and he’s already 10 steps ahead of her, having compiled a treasure trove of photographs and information about her daughter. “You did all this for me?” June seems stunned at Nick’s willingness to stick his neck out to help her, the ensuing look on his face speaks volumes.

If you ever have to wonder why Blaine might be willing to stick his neck in the noose for just one chance to bask in June’s literal glow, consider how cold and isolated Blaine must feel in Gilead without her. Regret pours out of Blaine “I should have run away with you when I had the chance”, but he’s deeply mistaken. Gilead and their own peaceful existence as a family cannot occur simultaneously; Nick and June are our figurative Romeo and Juliet, invented as the perfect construct to illustrate what can be lost or broken by these types of regimes, and exactly why it’s necessary to fight.

The window and the hazy golden light is a call back to S2 when Nick and June stood in Waterford’s kitchen, named their baby and dreamt of a life together. In both scenes Nick makes an affectionate quip about their daughter being like her mother, there’s an overwhelming sense of love for June as the mother of his child in these moments. This scene also contains one of the most beautiful kisses you’ll ever see on THT. Blaine pauses ever so briefly, scans her face, senses his inevitable cue and dives in. There’s a sense of uncontainable longing, passion and as they break away…..so much heartache. Gilead continuously rips these two away from one another, but the irony is had it never transpired neither would Nick and June and neither would Holly.

I’d managed to hold it together up until this point but it was the doll that finally did me in. As he danced it front of her and laughed for the first time EVER, my heart tore open like a cheap paper bag, and I swore I heard the sound of a thousand Osblaine’s hearts breaking all at once. The cruelty of Gilead feels truly visceral in this moment. As The Nature of Daylight, a composition about war tearing families apart, plays in the background, we saw a snippet of what their family could truly be….the actual price they pay every day.

Eric Tuchman gave audiences something very special with 4 09, he didn’t just write a beautiful reunion between two of our favorite characters, he drove a deep and painful point home. For every “Gilead” there are thousands and thousands of Nick and June’s; families all desperate to be reunited and finally hold their children once again.

Try to be happy

Following on from our last track, 4 09 gave us yet another classic. Sitting there bleary eyed from the buckets of tears I’d already shed, I wondered exactly how much more of the heartbreaking anguish we were expected to take? Then Nick went and upped the ante and told June to “Try and be happy” without him, and slipped THAT ring on his finger. I was so horrified, I could have set my television on fire. We had to wait until the next season to actually meet Rose, she seemed fairly innocuous, almost intentionally unthreatening.

“Would I like her?” asks June, well yes definitely, the woman had exactly zero chemistry with Blaine. Watching Nick and Rose together was like witnessing an arranged marriage in which the agreed parties were courteous and appropriately affectionate but never passionate. Nick seemed determined to be kinder to Rose than he had been to Eden, however the only evidence that anything other than a polite handshake had actually taken place was the baby in her belly. “Try to be happy” June echoes Nicks words back to him through her tears in Season 5, and it’s then for the first time since S1 that we see inside Blaine’s mind’s eye. It’s filled with the two of them alone, kissing, flooded in a blinding light.

The moment is slowed down to emphasize the depth of his desire and obsession. It’s a memory turned fantasy that tortures him constantly. The light is so bright it almost burns and as he silently hangs up the phone, we see him standing alone backlit, underscoring not only the vividness of his memory of June but also his solitariness. This was inserted to impress the intimacy of his pain at being separated from Osborne, and it mirrors perfectly June’s memory of kissing Luke in S1. As always these reflections are somewhat skewed, Here we see June cry as she feels the pain that Luke endured as he stood on that icy bridge in S3, and listened to her tape. There’s a difference here though; Nick doesn’t love Rose, and he never did.

[glasskey]

Nick & June's Mix tape Vol. 3

With volume 3 comes the battle for Holly, separation and the unveiling of painful secrets. Season 3 was notoriously poor to our 2 lovers with June becoming seriously twitchy without Nick, Hannah or Holly. Gilead is Hell.

What Are You Good For?

Love in Gilead is less than ideal. One day you’re dreaming about a beautiful beach with your beloved and the next he’s been promoted to Top Boy at the local horror show. Granted he looks great in the suit but Nick doesn’t seem to like the new tie, grabbing at it like the tightening noose that it actually is. Fred was obviously pissed about the baby snatching and his “reward” for Nick was to arrange a promotion complete with a quick trip to the front, undoubtedly to die.

I’ve often said that Nick sometimes DOES listen to his better angels and sometimes he takes the easy way out. Granted it’s difficult he’s stuck between a rock and a hard place, but when June asks him to take the high road, hightailing it with her and Hannah for the border, and he doesn’t, it earns him a brutal verbal slap.

“What are you good for?” she demands and I was instantly reminded of S1 when June confronted him with his lowly aspirations: “Is this it? You’re just gonna polish his car and once in a while get a Handmaid pregnant?” In both of these moments Blaine looks deeply shamed, June has shown him that while she loves him she’s also acutely aware of his shortcomings.

It’s a justified blow to his ego, particularly given his newly acquired power and his reluctance to use it for good. As she demonstrates her willingness to risk so much more for freedom, he’s left feeling like a small and suitably chided man, instead of the patriarchal Gilead’s new Big Commander. “You’ll get killed” June says with a cold finality as he tells her that he’s been sent to the front, confronting him with the reality that his unquestioning loyalty to Gilead will now surely cost him his life. It’s madness.

This is one of the only scenes where Nick and June are not depicted in a glowing light, it’s difficult to ignore that Nick is now almost swallowed by the shadows. Over the last 2 seasons, they’ve become one another’s beacon of joy and hope and there’s a palpable air of desolation and sorrow here, as these two bid each other goodbye, possibly forever. The camera reveals Nick and June divided by a wall, Nick unwilling to leave her, his back literally pinned to the wall by the heavy weight of Gilead.

June opens the door, gently reaches around, sensing him waiting, somehow their hands finding one another and she leads him out of the dark hallway and back into her room. Doors often represent entrances to other worlds and here we see June reach across the divide to return him to her side, once again. The lock snaps shut signalling an almost unheard of privacy. There’s a sense of finality in it too, as though it may be the last time these two see sanctuary for a long time, if ever again. It’s no more than 10 seconds of screen time and yet it encapsulates their relationship so perfectly. Nick constantly waiting in the shadows, bound by duty, and June always reaching across the divide to bring him in from the cold.

Nice Girl Like You in A Place Like This

The DC episode ranks right up there with the Boston Globe episode as one of the most important and insightful for this entire series. In Ep 6 June witnesses for the first time the absolute devastation this dictatorship has unleashed on her countries seat of power. Fittingly Fred has selected new wave DC as the location to construct his own personal piece of propaganda in an attempt to force the Canadians to hand Nicole back. June’s depicted glowering with vast angel wings, a monolith of power and holy vengeance. In the middle of Fred’s little directorial debut, Nick strolls in and June does the trademark jaw drop. Fred wants to know what he’s doing there, after all he had arranged for him to be shipped off to the front after the whole holding him at gun point / baby napping thing. Despite Fred’s best efforts though, it seems that not only does Blaine continue to breath, but he’s also shown up to visit his girlfriend.

Now if you thought Blaine looked good in a suit, wait till you see him draped in long, dark, tailor made, hotness. It’s obvious there’s a new kind of swagger to him and as he steps up next to June he brushes her hand and drops the line “Nice girl like you doing in a place like this?” It’s a line lifted from a Scorsese film of the same name and Blaine’s used it to flirtatiously lighten the intensely grim mood. He knows DC is Hell but he also knows June is anything but a “Nice Girl”, she blushes barely containing a smile and he smirks.

Fred and Serena can’t help but notice it and Fred’s seething with jealousy. There’s a close shot of Serena’s false finger clenching, a sign of the love lost between her and Fred, that contrasts directly against Nick and June’s hand brushing. Exchanges between Fred and Nick reek of power and control. Fred directs Nick to do his bidding, maneuvering him across the stage and verbally leashing him by calling him son, once again reducing him to a subordinate. Fred makes June kneel down for the camera, and Blaine looks away unable to watch. Unbeknownst to Fred, this will be the last time he ever exercises this type of control over Blaine.

This is Your One Chance

Here we got our epic movie moment for the series, It was like Gone with the Wind and Dr Zhivago all rolled up into one big romantic snow globe. June runs out to meet Nick her hair and cape fluttering behind her freely, a stark contrast to the DC handmaids brutally silenced. It demonstrates the freedom she feels he brings her. Nick, however seems to want nothing to do with June’s gamble on the Swiss that involves him laying his neck on the line and entwining himself in yet another Governments manoeuvrings for power. I, for one could hardly blame him; the last time he got involved with politics he ended up in the bottomless pit that is Gilead and he’s been unsuccessfully digging his way out ever since.

Add to this the fact that the last time he tried to help June, a multitude of people risked their lives and most certainly died, and you have one understandably reluctant Commander. But he’s helpless, she forces him to look in her eyes, tears streaming down her face and tells him that it’ll be his one opportunity to truly show his love and fealty for his daughter.

Now while some may doubt that Blaine ever showed up to speak with the Swiss, I can guarantee that this little exchange ensured that he did. The fact is, Blaine is a sucker for the loyalty card and once June played it, it was a done deal. Scenes are cut and included for a reason and as we know, in The Handmaid’s Tale, even the smallest scene is there for a reason. Show runners went to the effort of showing Blaine at the embassy being called to give information; he showed up, albeit reluctantly, and despite the fact that it all went sideways, writers still wanted you to know that. Unfortunately the reality is, he just couldn’t face her after it did all go to shit, and as a result he beat a hasty and somewhat cowardly exit to the front.

He knew the Swiss would soon tell her he’d been part of the Sons of Jacob who’d been integral to the inception of Gilead, something he’d kept hidden from her for some time now, and she’d be suitably mortified. June IS devastated, she looks out on the glowing playroom once filled with happy children that lies noticeably empty and silent. It reflects her isolation and sense of abandonment; perhaps the family she envisioned with Blaine was just a fantasy.

DC was an episode designed to illustrate the total destruction of all of our personal and societal freedoms under Gilead. To properly demonstrate this writers pulled the rip cord on any emotional support June may have previously had, this included breaking her and Serena up and having Nick leave her somewhat high and dry. It was essential to illustrate Nick was manipulated and part of the Gilead machine from the beginning. It was difficult to watch, given his devotion, but from the moment I saw him cloaked from head to foot in black, practically swallowed by his uniform, I knew it was inevitable that at least for now, Gilead pulled the strings.

In our next 2 Nick and June Mix tapes I’ll be covering Season 4, which was somewhat kinder to the Osblaine fans. Back soon.

[glasskey]

I’m Gonna Cut Your F#cking Heart Out - The June Osborne Hit List Pt 4

Season 4 and 5 saw June’s homecoming and departure and it was bumpy to say the least. When she wasn’t dodging explosions, stray bullets and Mad Max wannabe’s, she was up to her old tricks of hooking up with Mayday and offing commanders. Even amongst all of this she still managed a bit of Nick and Luke to and fro….Busy girl.

You want me to meet up with Nick?

I am fascinated by this scene, the subtext is limitless and OT’s acting was nothing short of fucking masterful. There’s an incredible delicacy to his delivery here that displays a whole new thinly veiled facet of Luke. It’s purposeful, precise, surprisingly cunning and at the end of the day, not that pretty. The room is utterly silent apart from the patter of rain against the windows, it’s night time and it should be soothing but the air is heavy. June and Luke sit on opposite sides of the table and behind Luke is a picture frame in the shape of a circle, symbolizing a wedding ring.

Behind June there are windows and a glowing light; an avenue to hope. There’s something about the aura of this scene and it’s in the way Luke MEASURES June, OT plays the uncomfortable silences perfectly, shifting and reorienting to match Moss flawlessly. There’s more said in this one scene about their relationship than in a multitude of others combined. Luke tries to casually suggest that June go and meet up with Nick to acquire new information about Hannah, instead it lands like a bomb. She’s astonished. Now if you think that Luke is just some sort of ignorant idiot who doesn’t know that his wife is in love with another man, think again. He fucking knows. She’s told him as much, and he can tell from her general reaction whenever Blaine is even remotely alluded to, that she is. The fact is, he’s under the illusion that it’s not real. It’s some kind of fantasy she cooked up in her melon out of desperation, because the guy helped her out of a tight spot. He knows, he’s thought about it and he’s willing to risk it. June is heartbroken.

When June tells Luke that she thinks Nick would do anything for her and his daughter, it visibly stings. It tells him something that he really didn’t want to hear; she has an abiding faith that this man will come through for her. It’s something he’s felt like he’s fallen considerably short of, and as we later learn, so has she. He can also tell from her hushed careful tone, that she’s still deeply in love with him, it IS real and it’s a truth she’s tried to save him from. It would be easy enough to mistake this as a mere moment of Luke’s male ego turned blind, stubborn or stupid enough to play chicken with the truth about Nick and June’s relationship, but you’d be wrong. He’s got plans.

This was not only Luke trying a new avenue for information about Hannah, it was also his “subtle” way to test June, to feel her out and see exactly how much Nick meant to her because essentially, its currency. I’d known that Luke was still harboring some pain over this relationship, however it was at the point that he proposed they dangle Nicole, in front of Nick; that I became less understanding. He also knew that Blaine wanted his family, and badly, as much as he wanted his own and knowing that gave him exactly what he wanted; the ability to use that love to access his own daughter. I’d liked Luke until now, if nothing else he was caring and gentle, but this seemed opportunistic. I could hardly blame him for his absolute desperation and granted Nick did seem a viable avenue, but Luke knew the pain of being a father separated from his family, and he weaponized it. It was an act of cunning from him, I’ll admit completely blindsided me.

Run

Fred was horrible and thankfully now he’s dead. He was a nasty little bully with an unearned sense of self-entitlement that extended to rape, murder, kidnapping, torture and imprisonment. As an absolute killer track in this mix we have “Run”, don’t worry if you don’t know the lyrics because most of it’s just Fred screaming anyway. “I know you can’t shoot me” Fred says to June as he’s offered the gun or the whistle, once again Fred is assuming what June is and is not capable of. Unfortunately for him, he’s underestimated her badly and things are about to get a whole lot worse than a mercifully quick death. She shrugs her shoulders, either way Fred dies tonight, and admittedly that whistle does provide a lot more entertainment than the gun ever could. Ignorant as always, Fred just seems to make matters worse by pleading for his life with the words “I have a son”. Stating that he’s actually got a male child just waiting to be born, in which he can instill his special brand of toxic masculinity, is not a great way to plead his case to his sexual assault survivor. What can I say? Fred was an idiot.

As the Handmaids gather and his terror becomes real, June instructs Fred to run…but why bother, he’s so clearly fucked. I can only assume, it’s because the hunt will be more fun that way. This is no average television death, this is pure Old Testament karmic retribution. This is a frenzied murder by a pack of emotionally scarred sexual assault survivors, taking a literal pound of flesh by hunting an abuser down and ripping him apart. I’m still struck by its brutality, June’s look of ferocious rage and unrestrained joy as she savored her kill was utterly savage and fucking delicious.

There’s something intensely primal inside June Osborne, it’s an appetite that remains barely contained when she puts on her “happy housewife” garb, and it’s free to run whenever she sheds these shackles. In the midst of her hunt she leans in and bites Fred until he screams and the blood flows through her teeth. This is the manifestation of June in her truest, most undiluted form. It’s intoxicating. We’re given a peek at her wilder tendencies and savage appetite when June bites Nick at the Boston Globe.

Blaine is the complimentary counterpart of her rebellious self and this instant of uninhibited passion entwined with her rage and frustration, highlights her desires. These moments both mark a sense of liberty, one through an unrestrained display of physical love, the other via a cleansing death of a hated foe.

Fucking Nothing

“Are you going to do the same thing you’ve done for the last 7 years. Fucking Nothing?” June yells…….Ouch. This was the verbal back hand from June to Luke that we’d been expecting for the last season and a half. For a good portion of the audience, Luke’s complacency for the past 5 seasons was a deal breaker and this was long overdue. Luke’s reaction was somewhat surprising but in other respects not.

“We’re never going to be enough for you are we?” he smiled wryly and it was suddenly clear that Luke had always expected and feared this moment and now finally it had arrived. Here it was, the final realization that his wife would no longer ever be satisfied with him and the peaceful life he’d tried to reconstruct from the rubble in Canada. That it was no longer enough for her to play housewife and ignore the collective suffering outside her door. It vividly brought into focus that his inaction had resulted in a divide so great, it may be impossible for him to ever reach her again. It’s a little unfair to say that Luke had done “nothing” but let’s be clear; the actual crux of this moment of raw emotional truth lay in June’s rage and frustration that Luke had been absent while both she and their daughter languished in Gilead, that he had essentially, left them behind. This point is highlighted by her desperate attempts to vocalize her sense of failure at having left Hannah in Gilead to fend for herself. She's angry at herself, frantic for a solution and furious that Luke does not truly understand her desperation.

Junes’ search for her daughter hides something larger, it’s a quest for reclamation of what is rightfully hers, a part of her body. June’s children are a symbol of Junes’ “wholeness” and in some respects her physical autonomy. With this in mind, how Nick and Luke address the issue of them are essential to their underlying attitudes to her physical self. They reflect their attitudes, to women and their bodily autonomy, their growing understanding and their willingness to act. Luke refuses point blank to take Nicole to New Bethlehem, but the fact is she’s not his daughter and this decision is entirely up to June. He’s been entrusted with her care, in the same way that June trusted him with her physical self, it demonstrates the line between loving protectiveness and self-entitlement.

It was at this point that I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Boston Globe episode, when June demanded Nick and her retrieve Hannah against all odds…..and he let her choose to stay or go. He even gave her his fucking gun.

America wasn’t Gilead until it was

Atwood’s text wasn’t meant to be prophetic but sadly it has proven to be more and more the case. In recent times we’ve seen turns of events that reflect all too closely, the deepening divide that inched and then suddenly exploded across the America June knew and loved. Throughout S5 Gilead starts to rise, bleeding across the border in actual corporeal form. It manifests in civil unrest, the presence of Gilead dignitaries now moving freely within Canada’s borders, assassination attempts and a plot to lure citizens away from democracy by constructing a more palatable version of its former self. June’s no fool, she’s seen this lurking shadow of doom before and last time she listened to Luke….and she waited. Sure enough once again Luke seems oblivious and happy to hang around, under the illusion that everything will be just hunky dory. Fuck. That. Shit. She’ll be damned if she hands over her other daughter to Gilead and sticks around to be shackled and shipped back off to a breeding farm. She lays it out to a complacent Luke, they’re leaving and they’re leaving NOW, if they don’t it will be too late.

Nick had known June was well overdue to leave, Lawrence told him point blank there was going to be a war and she would not be spared. Less than half an hour later she was run down in the street, Luke was beating the driver to death and Nick was bolting for the border. Nick’s kiss as she lay sleeping in a hospital bed, was a call to action from her previous complacency and sure enough when she returned home, she laid down the law to Luke.

Nick had been complacent too, swallowed by domesticity and servitude for the last season, and a knife to the throat of his beloved June was just the tonic he needed to finally dig himself out of the Gilead mire and turn snitch. Tuello immediately made good on his deal with Nick to get June and his daughter the fuck out of dodge, and rushed her off to the train station. But yet again, Luke’s not going anywhere, he’s taking the proverbial bullet so that June and Nicole can flee, and giving himself up.

He’s a fairly stagnant character, essentially there to provide contrast, so this seemed all on brand. However sudden demonstrations of violence and grand gestures did not. Suddenly there were proclamations of undying love, desperate pleas for them to be reunited and Luke referring to Nicole as “their baby”. Wut?

Nevermind…..the loathe of her life, Serena is already on the train. How? Dunno. Tuello? Maybe. Needless to say she knew Gilead was coming, just like she knew long before anyone the first time. Only this time she’s running and lo and behold, she’s already hitting June up for a favour.

[glasskey]

THT True Love and Double Trouble Remix Part 3

Welcome to the 3rd and final part of this remix. In the context of this love triangle Luke is the equivalent to the “home body” or the “boy next door”. For years and years now, in classic love triangle scenarios these slouchers have been “getting the girl” based on the lame-assed rule of “first dibs”. However our heroine isn’t beholden to anyone, SHE makes the rules, and as the infamous Dawson / Pacey / Joey love triangle taught us; the so called “diamond in the rough” is the everyday man’s worst fucking nightmare.

LUKE

Because Luke is the everyday man he presents a perfect vehicle for demonstrating the casual chauvinism experienced by women as a normal daily occurrence. Luke is a homebody with a desire for a wife and an idyllic family, and with this comes all the dynamics of it’s traditionalist ideals. Luke represents the average middle class male persona; educated but self-entitled and somewhat willingly complacent in his efforts to change his or societies attitudes to gender roles and dynamics. As such, the infringements of June’s initial freedoms are concerning rather than alarming and certainly not enough to motivate him into direct action. In Atwoods text Luke actually enjoys some of these restrictions of June’s former freedoms, as they allow him to assert his dominance, thus bolstering his own sense of self confidence. This character aspect has been somewhat downplayed in the series, but we do still see signs of it.

In Atwood’s text, Luke taunts Holly making light of her action against the patriarchy, in the series we see echoes of the two at loggerheads when Holly voices her disapproval of June and Luke’s marriage. Holly’s perception of Luke is as a trap of conventional traditionalism, a direct obstacle between June and her independence. Holly embodies the fight against a patriarchal society and the definitive independent woman. As such she is captured, enslaved and most likely killed off during the inception of Gilead. Moira also voices concerns that Luke will leave her if she cannot produce the child he so desperately desires, leaving June wondering; what if he sees her as primarily a walking womb? June’s insecurity at his faithfulness and her own abilities to provide a child cause her to continuously apologize, and minimize her own anxieties. Ultimately it allows him to take control, determining when they run and enabling his passivity to leave her trapped.

When June returns home she is far from the affectionate, compliant wife he once knew. She is distinctly uncomfortable in a world that somewhat acquiesces to Gilead’s will. She is enraged, vengeful and hypervigilant. After waiting many years for her return, Luke seems determined to “love whoever she turns out to be”, it seems almost defeatist to “let her go” after all this time. However he’s constantly challenged by the person who’s returned to him, and while there are moments of connection they’re tenuous and it’s doubtful that pre Gilead, he would have ever chosen to marry the woman he now knows.

Prior to Gilead’s inception the nature of the physical connection between Luke and June ranged from flirtatious to affectionate. Upon returning from Gilead, physical contact between Luke and June ranges from cautious to violent and finally settles back into a friendly affection. In contrast scenes of unrestrained climactic sex seems to have been reserved almost exclusively for Nick Blaine, drawing a sharp line between the two. In S5 we witness a spontaneously passionate sex scene between Luke and June, but the lighting and positioning hurtles you back to Nick and June’s heated, passionate exchange at the Boston Globe. As June turns away from Luke, it’s difficult not to conclude that June is reliving a distant precious memory. It’s a moment of passion triggered by their mutual hatred of Serena rather than any loving desire for intimacy. In the fading cold light he lies exposed as she remains covered, his attempt to reach her has failed once again.

I truly sympathize with Luke, to me it makes perfect sense that he would TRY and reconnect with June. That he would hope against hope that despite many years of separation and her obvious love for another man, that he might be able to salvage his marriage somehow. Throughout season 4 and 5 we witnessed a man clinging to the past, the moments he connected with June were when he spied the remnants of the woman he once knew, or when hopes of Hannah returning were raised. Maybe, just MAYBE, he hopes, he might be able to get back the family he lost on that icy road so many years ago. Throughout S4 and 5 Luke showed a deepening awareness of June’s altered perception of both him and their relationship. He expressed regret that he’d failed her as a partner and made ill-conceived attempts to redeem his short comings, he tried desperately to hold onto her and the dream of his family…..but it all seemed for naught.

As June bade him farewell at the train station we saw her pivoting from Ep 9 where she told him to let her go, to telling him to come find her. But the borderline disconnection of the last 2 seasons made it seem either like a sentimental goodbye, or an unrealistic attempt to suddenly reconnect these two characters fully. I was moved by the “goodbye’s”, but the “I love you’s” and “come find me’s” left me confused. Had I missed something? Had some immense edit had taken place to save air time?

Both Luke and Nick are cautionary tales but in decisively different ways. Luke is privileged and well educated, he works in a white collar job and he chose a passive role, doing little or nothing to act, at the inception of Gilead. He represents the willful ignorance and complacency of men who assume that power comes at no personal cost. He is a demonstration of men’s responsibility to, not only change their own gender biased beliefs, but be pro-active about changing those around them. In contrast Nick is poor, unemployed, with no higher education and he chose an active role. His position has a great deal to say about the ease of manipulation by the wealthy ruling class. His servile and initially diminutive role of action turns the larger wheels of power for Gilead, as Serena said: “we wouldn’t be here without him”. Both Luke and Nick illustrate the incredible destruction caused to ALL, by both the active practice and social complacency of gender bias. Both challenge our perceptions of guilt and innocence. The Handmaid’s Tale is known for its painfully accurate social commentary, and the inescapable truth is that whether passive or active, both of these roles can be equally devastating.

In S5 we see Serena confronting Luke with the reality of his inaction, provoking a rage filled response. Luke is seething with hatred for Gilead, but there is also an undercurrent of immense guilt and self-loathing for his own apathy.

Luke said nothing, did nothing, ran too late, lost his wife, lost his daughter…….there are consequences. Nick joined the Sons of Jacob, he took part in a right wing regime and he lost his country, his freedom, his daughter and the woman he loves……..there are SO many consequences.

Both of these men signify a journey that male attitudes and society at large must take in order to unstack the deck. Throughout the seasons we’ve seen both Nick and Luke’s painful personal journey of enlightenment, regret and their ultimate choice to change. It’s no coincidence that they BOTH now reside in the “purgatorial” Big House…..it’s time to show true sacrifice and pay the piper.

There seems to be a tendency to attribute a mantel of innocence to Luke for his passivity during the inception of Gilead, furthermore the idea that he’s EARNED some sort of expected devotion through the role of husband and provider. Ironically this attitude reflects the very archaic traditionalism that The Handmaid’s Tale kicks against time and time again. As Holly said, “now’s not the time for settling down, now’s the time to fight.” so when push comes to shove, if either of these boys want to tag along with our rebel, they’d better get ready to gear up and go underground. Rebellion waits for no man.

In story telling great lovers have something that for lack of a better term, could be referred to as “calling cards”. They act like talismans of their deep connection, and Nick and June have a LOT: their hand brushing, foreheads touching, ever present glowing lights, when Nick calls her name, her gasp and eyelash flutter at the mere mention of his name, and the touching of June’s neck. These “calling cards” seem so very conspicuously absent in Luke and June’s relationship, and as the seasons roll on, this is harder and harder to ignore.

The end result is that watching Nick and June fall in love, is like watching two people GENUINELY fall in love for the first time. Regardless of whether this portrayal is the result of June’s overly romanticized narration is irrelevant, the fact remains that Nick Blaine is quite literally being visually described as “the love of her life". In comparison the audience is fed somewhat ordinary glimpses of her life with Luke. The Handmaid’s Tale moves in circles, depicting the turning of seasons and as such June swings back and forth between these men. The end of the shows seasons always somehow cruelly reuniting and yet separating her from Nick. The rule of chances state that the wheel of fortune must finally turn differently this time. But I don’t trust these writers, I never have, they’re erratic and brilliant and you can never trust genius to be predictable. Whether Nick and June end in tragedy, sacrifice or victory is yet to be seen.

[glasskey]

Nick & Lawrence Mixtape

Ever since June wreaked havoc in Lawrence’s household in season 3, he’s been hanging with our boy Nick. Welcome one and all to the season 4 and 5 Gilead Boss mix

Thank you for your service to Gilead.

Thanks to June’s shenanigans, Lawrence is now due to be executed, Gilead has politely sent Nick Blaine to say “Thanks ever so” before the final curtain call, but unwittingly they’ve also sent Lawrence his exit strategy. Nick may be crafty, but Lawrence is a true strategist. He’s a brilliant psychoanalyst, who took all of 3 seconds to realize Blaine was in love with Osborne and that there was no way on God’s green earth, that baby was Fred’s.

Nick had the audacity to hook up with a Handmaid, is sporting a rebellious streak a mile wide and yet SOMEHOW he’s still alive. It’s obvious to Lawrence that Blaine’s extremely cunning and very, very useful. Lawrence is a cynical and astute political animal, soaked in Teflon, with more lives than a cat. He’s the quick witted, dodgy “friend” who talks you into all manner of shit. While he conceived Gilead he’s not really responsible for the ritualistic bullshit that seems to have been constructed out of his theories. As a result he greets any of it with utter disdain, and it is this same hatred for the religious ceremony of Gilead that Lawrence can sense in Nick Blaine.

At first Nick appears compliant and servile but when nudged in his June Osborne Achilles Heel, Lawrence is surprised to find how malleable and resourceful the young commander can be. Blaine turns up touting not only a free ticket out of death row for Lawrence, but also a chance to regain his previous powers.

Lawrence realizes immediately what June always knew; Blaine is an invaluable ally masquerading as nothing more than the resident “fetch and carry”. These two immediately set up an enchanting marriage of convenience in which much political back scratching may take place. For the next 2 seasons we remained glued to our screens as we watched Lawrence use Blaine’s deadly abilities to precisely maneuver pieces across the board, pulling himself out of the noose and all the way back up to the top.

She is never coming back to you.

“You’re getting very comfortable here” Nick says to Lawrence, it’s not just his house that he’s referring to, it’s also his somewhat apathetic acquiescence with the powers that be. “She changed you, she changed me” Nick says reminding Lawrence of the newfound purpose that June brought them both. Here we see a bit of a battle of wits with Lawrence trying to convince Nick, June has lost her value now and Nick not so subtly threatening to kick Lawrence out of his house and possibly back to the chopping block, if he doesn’t save her life. While Lawrence thinks it’s “nice to want things”, Blaine isn’t playing; he wants what he wants and he fully intends to get it. “You owe me”, Blaine states not once but twice, refusing to be denied.

Here in the dim light, Lawrence and Nick strike a deal that echoes throughout season 4 and 5. Lawrence has already realized he simply needs to push the June Osborne button and the resourceful young commander will do exactly as he’s bid. Conceding to Blaine’s demands to merely keep June alive, is a small price to pay for what he knows is Nicks lasting loyalty.

“She is NEVER coming back to you, why would she?” Lawrence says. There’s a deep connection between Nick and June of liberty and rebellion and here Lawrence tries to convince Nick that freedom has forgotten him and it’ll be better for everyone if he just gets comfy right where he is. Let’s give credit where credit is due, throughout season 4 and 5 Lawrence almost gets away with it. As intelligent as Nick may be, he is consistently emotionally vulnerable and it makes him easy prey. There’s part of me that wants to believe that Lawrence isn’t entirely opportunistic, he’s been uncomfortably close to the noose because of June and there’s no doubting he’s kind of got a soft spot for Nick, at least enough to want better than a sharp drop at the end of a rope for the young commander. As a result Lawrence suggests he move on, and Nick having lost hope, gets married. Lawrence may have the best of intentions, and his observation that June’s love “fucks people up” is not entirely wrong, but let’s face it ultimately he has got to go.

In Fred’s absence Nick is sorely missing the father figure he constantly craves and without June he’s feeling somewhat lost. Conveniently Lawrence has become a tad lonely ever since June departed his gloomy abode, and consequently he takes Nick under his wing like some kind of cuddly Darth Vader. Despite the illusion of a buddy comedy gone Gilead, the reality was that this relationship signified Nick’s deepening commitment to Gilead and the widening chasm between himself and June. Lawrence, the Architect of Gilead encourages Blaine to set up a new life complete with a house in the burbs, a compliant Gilead wifey who lives to knit and make coffee, and a leg up in government. It’s the peaceful home Blaine always wanted, always searched for and yet, there’s something not quite right. It’s nothing but a cheap illusion, a mere shadow at best, and despite his best efforts to assimilate, he aches for his true family.

I’m constantly watching Blaine cling to a compromise, ANY answer no matter how painful, that doesn’t involve inconveniencing June’s life. Here we see him try and inevitably fail once again.

Would your heart glow?

Here they’ve come straight from a meeting where Lawrence did his darndest to secure a cease fire and get some aid to the border, naturally he was shocked to find that Nick didn’t help him out with that one. Lawrence is a touch miffed, and as a consequence it earns Nick a nice dry as fuck pay out to let him know that he’s been a wee bit cold blooded, and maybe, just maybe he’s not as smart as he thinks he is. Lawrence’s cute, cutting quip also made light of Nicks deep affection for June, casting it instead as nothing more than a school boy crush. As usual Laurence is being a bit mouthy here and he definitely knows that’s not the case, but his point is valid: The Eyes don’t see everything.

If Nick thinks that he’s got a beat on June’s whereabouts by simply relying on them as a source, Lawrence is here to tell him he’s sadly mistaken; his devotion to her is not some sort of psychic GPS. “Very funny” Nick replies with some well-earned derision, but as we all know he’s constantly making mental notes and he promptly follows up by checking with his Mayday contacts. She’s in Chicago and he didn’t have a fucking clue, worse still is that in no time at all Lawrence has made a deal that involves Nick having to bomb it, with no guarantees she or ANY of the refugees seeking aid will actually survive. Nick does his best to side step this one but it’s to no avail, and he’s left looking like he’s about to return his breakfast to the desk in front of him. It’s Commander Putnam in particular who sticks the boot in here, forcing him to get a wriggle on and bomb his girlfriend and a bunch of innocent civilians. Blaine’s chillingly precise look and almost audible mental note, made me wonder if it was primarily this that earnt Putnam that bullet in later episodes.

At least part of Nicks journey involves being a military commander and this was done precisely to demonstrate the progression from simple recruit to an aggressive higher power that can be manipulated for the purposes of war and accumulation of power. Throughout the seasons we see Nick fulfill his commitments to Gilead with increasing reluctance, as he begins his journey from Gilead stooge to rebel fighter. It’s an awesome and complex journey that highlights personal growth and the desire to change in the face of great adversity. The bombing of Chicago is one of those moments that’s meant to illustrate Nick’s personal loss amongst the civilian casualties of war. “It’s the cost of doing business” Lawrence says to a sickened and cornered Blaine; the sacrifice of others for the greater good, or at least Lawrence’s version of it….even if it’s June.

I've been grooming Nick.

Technically a Lawrence and June moment but I’d like to take a moment and embellish on exactly what Lawrence had been up to. “I’ve been grooming Nick. Not sexually of course.” Lawrence says to a gob smacked June.

No shit. He’s convinced him to marry a nice girl in the burbs, back up his plot for New Bethlehem and be his personal assassin to get it done. Lawrence is a master manipulator, he wants what he wants, and Nick is simply no match for his human puppetry. As a reward for his continuing compliance, Lawrence assures Nick that he and June will be together again. Lawrence intends to get New Bethlehem completed, he likes to cover his bets and he knows that his best chips in this game are Nick and June. If he can get the young commander to back him he’s sure to have June getting cozy in New Bethlehem in no time. I’m sad to say that in S5 we nearly lost Blaine to the forces of Gilead, he simply lost hope when he “tried to let go” of June. In the dark he clings to the smallest ray of light, Lawrence’s dream for a better version of Gilead, some semblance of freedom.

I was never more conflicted about Lawrence than I was in S5, the moments of sheer manipulation of these two for his ultimate goal made me absolutely livid, but I also applauded his attempts to at least try to improve the cesspool that was Gilead. He was determined to “wrestle a better future from an unchangeable past”, but New Bethlehem wasn’t ENTIRELY just Lawrence attempt to make amends, it was also his best effort to “Kill off America once and for all” as Tuello astutely observed.

Audiences wondered why Nick would ask June to go along with Lawrence’s plan and actually go to New Bethlehem, the truth is he was fucking clueless. By this point he was so far under Lawrence’s sway, he couldn’t see the wood for the trees. He’d managed to convince him that it was some sort of Gilead version 2.0 that the UN would immediately embrace with open arms, in which Blaine could live happily ever after with the love of his life. June was devastated, but let’s face it how could she have known that Lawrence had turned Nick from “a puppy” into his lapdog over the last year. Lawrence had already admitted to June that he’d used religious nut jobs as a delivery system to save humanity, so it should have come as no surprise that he would use the two lovers to bring New Bethlehem to fruition. Many years ago Nick Blaine dug himself a hole and sadly he just kept digging. You want to “stay out of trouble” in Gilead, you’d best pick up a shovel. The way he saw it; June had a family who loved her, a family to return to, so he let her go and got settled in the pit. Nick and June’s meeting in 5 09 was one of those moments that made it painfully clear, not only how much Blaine loves her, but how desperately he needs her.

You could have killed her.

“It wasn’t my decision” Lawrence yelps at Nick as he takes a vicious right hook from the young commander. Personally I’m not sure if I believe him or not, suffice to say he knew about it, he did nothing to stop it, he purposefully hid it from Blaine, and MOST importantly, he should have known better. June has left a trail of dead commanders in her wake and it was only 10 episodes prior that she and Blaine dragged Fred into a forest to die. Usually I’d be giving Lawrence snaps for his intelligence but it was just one episode prior that June had officially “broken up” with Lawrence, with the understanding that they were “Never ever ever, getting back together”. This was a massive blunder. We’re 5 seasons in, because the plot demands it June’s basically unkillable and the word on the street is always, ALWAYS keep your fucking hands off June Osborn. It tends to make Blaine a tad bit grumpy.

Nick Blaine is, for all intents and purposes, a trained assassin obsessively in love with the mother of his child. Lawrence knew this, he’d just spent the better part of the last 2 seasons pushing Nick’s patented Osborne key whenever he wanted him to comply. Why the actual fuck did he think he’d get away with it? At the start of 5 10 we saw a massive red flag, a verbal tussle between the two about Osborne, it was clear; she was the rock that would break them apart. Up until that point he’d been compliant but now Blaine was starting to get that look in his eyes; deadly, detached, focused.

Stupidly Lawrence had recruited a bagman and assumed it would make him immune from getting very, very dead. Lawrence spent the entirety of S4 and 5 trying to set up a cushy life for Blaine, it even looked like he might be able to lure his precious June back for him, but it was all for naught. As Lawrence so eloquently put it “Gilead’s gonna Gilead” and despite his best efforts, ultimately it did. In Ep10 S5, Blaine strides unresponsive past his pregnant wife, striking his mentor on his wedding day in a room full of commanders, protesting June Osborn’s assassination attempt. This singular act is a violent and decisive rejection of Gilead’s guiding hand, its binding social contract, its hierarchy and its influence. It is one massively definitive statement, all condensed into the space of 10 seconds. This scene transported me all the way back to S1 when June cried incredulously to Nick that she couldn’t believe she told the Ambassador she was happy. “You’re being too hard on yourself, you were in a room full of commanders” he replies. June’s first act of rebellion is to share her true name with the other Handmaid’s and it is at that point that she share’s it with Blaine. It is here he takes his first small step as a rebel when he chooses to keep her secret and never use her slave name again.

This blow and his march across the border marks the final step in his journey to true rebellion. Where previously his loyalties had been somewhat divided, he now belongs completely and utterly to June and Mayday. Throughout the seasons Blaine has constantly displayed a need for guidance from a father figure and it’s been interesting to note how the personality of this father figure changes over time as his loyalties shift and he regains his freedom. Waterford is cold and brutal, conditioning Blaine to be servile and militant. Lawrence is a cunning, political animal, who tutors Blaine in the Machiavellian like maneuverings of the Gilead upper echelons. Ultimately though it is Tuello, the gentle diplomat who will teach Nick his individual worth and offer him sanctuary. Season 6, I can guarantee, the Nick / Lawrence bromance will officially be well and truly over.

Next time we'll be looking at our love triangle and character themes. See you then.

[glasskey]

I’m Gonna Cut Your F#cking Heart Out - The June Osborne Hit List Pt 3.

With Season 6 in the making and its release just a few months away, I have been hammering out a few more of these to vent my frustration and calm my nerves, as I quietly climb the walls. Today I’m kicking off with a quote I failed to mention from S2, and oh boy it was a good one.

Thank you for bringing me that.

I neglected to include this one in last seasons Hit list and I’m sorry, I’m truly sorry. Nick returns from Canada, delivering a message from June’s family and friends. She’s not seen them in years, by now Blaine’s neck deep in love with Osborne and this is the most precious thing he could possibly give her. At first she greets him enthusiastically, she’s missed him, but somethings not quite right. During his recent jaunt to Canada Blaine suddenly became aware of his ultimate impermanence, and is now slightly distant. “I met your husband” he says and immediately her face drops. Moss plays this scene beautifully, there’s a litany of emotions that pass over her, as she learns about Luke and Moira. She’s deeply concerned and yet so overjoyed her eyes fill with tears.

“Thank you for bringing me that” she says through her tears, it’s an incredible gift and Osborne is aware it’s come at a cost. Blaine is in love with her, this was painful, not to mention incredibly dangerous. In later episodes Fred arranges for June to see Hannah as “an act of kindness”, but it’s just 5 minutes, only to have her daughter ripped from her once again, leaving Nick holding a distraught June. This was not a gift, this was a painful reminder of what it was like to lose her daughter and it drew a sharp line between the two men, and their innate sense of kindness and compassion.

As Blaine watches an elated June swept up in the news and memories of her family and friends, he acknowledges with simple clarity his newfound understanding; “I should go” Blaine says. He intends to extricate himself from her emotionally and return her to her family, but before he leaves the room he tells her he loves her. Why? Nick Blaine regardless of his position wants June to know that while she cannot be with her family in Canada, there is someone here who loves her. She is pregnant, she is vulnerable, but she is not alone. His character was criticized for the timing of this statement, but this message from her family and his confession was one of greatest acts of tenderness we ever saw from Blaine.

Meeting Luke was an uncomfortable revelation that she indeed had another life, that she was stolen from a happy family. In S5 Ep 10 Nicks words “I’m nothing” brought this moment back so vividly, his meeting with Luke painfully revealing his value as merely a placeholder for a loving family…”Just a driver.” In S5 Ep10, Blaine silently sits at her bedside, watching, never waking her…..”I should go” he’d said to her…….”It’s probably better if she doesn’t know I was here” he echoes to Tuello. She stirs as he leaves the room. He never knew she nearly woke. She never knew he was there. “Thank you for bringing me that” June says to him and as Blaine almost limps out of the room, the weight of his pain is almost visible. He’s utterly heartbroken. Her joy had cost him, but when it came to paying the price, ultimately Blaine never gave a fuck.

You will never be free of me

It’s the infamous Serena and June break up scene and I am here for it. June’s angry and hurt. Serena has betrayed her, Nick has abandoned her and her country has been destroyed by these fascist fucks. Time to lay it all out and give Serena a dose of reality. Nicole and Hannah are HER daughters, and June’s here to tell her that anything Serena may have cooked up to the contrary in her twisted little psyche, is an absolute fantasy.

She was never a baby momma, and nothing she does is going to fill the giant vacant black hole inside her; not a vast evil empire and definitely not June’s stolen daughter. June HATES her, and what’s worse is she’s determined to haunt her every step, either through her actual physical self or the insurmountable guilt of her collective acts, until both her daughters are free. As June lays it out, calling Serena cold and empty, her words echo around the cold empty pavilion.

Serena starts to feel a bit sorry for herself here, her eyes fill with tears and as June talks she looks like she’s about to crumble. But why would she care? Serena’s the resident ice queen and she’s been nothing but hostile and cold blooded to June since she arrived, with a few exceptions. Well it’s worth remembering that Serena doesn’t really have any friends, she’s just surrounded by fellow back-stabbing, pearl-clutching Gilead wives and creepy old Fred. As fancy as the Waterford’s may be, Serena Waterford is anything but a typical compliant Gilead wifey; she’s written books, she’s an academic, she’s smart, articulate and time and time again we see her attempt to establish some semblance of power equal to her male counterparts.

Serena constantly struggles between what she sees as the virtue of female servitude, and her desire to have the freedom that comes with gender equality. The fact is Serena admires June, her strength, her resourcefulness, her power, her ability to garner devotion and inspire true love. June is the embodiment of everything Serena wants and she gave it all up for shitty old Fred who doesn’t love her, and cut off her finger. “I should have put a ring in your mouth” Serena seethes, wishing she could silence the constant voice of liberty from tempting her. “I should have let you burn when I had the chance” says June, regretting she didn’t see the formation of Gilead coming, and destroy or at least escape it in time.

Technically Serena’s won this one, she makes her kneel in front of a legion of handmaids, but for the next season and a half she’ll be sporting that trademark June sized hole in her icy black heart.

Bad Luck

June has just been dragged into Gilead torture central, they’ve water boarded her, locked her in a box and pushed her friends off a roof. None of it worked. She’s not talking and something must be done. Nick’s been busy plotting and twisting arms behind the scenes, and lo and behold here comes Lawrence to try and talk some sense into her about giving up the Handmaid’s. During their friendly chat, Lawrence lets slip a bunch of commanders have become a tad unwell from being poisoned at a Jezebels June just happened to be in the local vicinity of. Oops.

“It’s bad luck” gloats June casually, they both know who’s responsible here. Lawrence has had the full measure of June before, the reckless sacrifice she is willing to make in order to get shit done, be it a plane load of kids, or a bunch of dead commanders. It’s not the first time she’s killed one and it certainly won’t be the last, in fact apart from Nick and Lawrence, there’s nary a commander alive that she wouldn’t slaughter given half the chance. Unfortunately she’s forgotten who else is at stake here; her own daughter. June has been running amuck confident in the knowledge that while Gilead would happily see her swing, it would never lay a pinky on a child. After all isn’t that what all this old timey fuss and bother is all about?

Apparently not, Lawrence informs her, as with any good regime it’s all about power and in Gilead’s case, children are the currency. Sadly this includes Hannah. At first she doesn’t believe him but unfortunately Lawrence is not in the habit of lying; Gilead have their own methods of illustrating their point no matter how painful. The next scene is one of the most heartbreaking and difficult scenes I’ve ever had to watch on this show. June is taken to see Hannah trapped in clear glass box under unyielding lights.

She scurries away from June, petrified by the sight of this shackled woman she barely recognizes. June’s at first startled. Shocked by the realization that her own child is terrified of her, and then gently she tries to pacify her, inching towards her and speaking softly. It’s like watching someone trying to soothe a scared animal.

Hannah looks at June with those huge, familiar, brown eyes, whimpering, cornered. And just like that, Gilead broke her.

Do You Understand Me?

This one is a call back to Season 1 when Serena went from 0 to 100 in the space of 10 seconds slamming June to the floor in a fit of rage because she hadn’t managed to get knocked up. Personally I think this was a culminative reaction, it’s not simply her losing shit over the absence of a baby. Serena loathes the ceremony, you can tell from her icy request for June to get the fuck out after Fred was done with her. Consider for a moment that June is not the first handmaid that has dwelt under the Waterford’s roof, and you may begin to understand EXACTLY how many times Serena has participated in this horrific ordeal. The fact is, she’s overjoyed she won’t have to go through one more incidence of watching her own husband trying to impregnate another woman. It’s absolutely grueling. In later episodes there’s a reference to the fact that Fred had previously inflicted extra-curricular activities on his former handmaid, activities that Serena had been aware of. When June arrives at the house Serena is quick to advise June that Fred is HER husband, unfortunately Fred wastes no time in dissolving the illusion that they are actually in love and proceeds to get handsy with June.

As Serena hurtles June to the floor and screams in her face there’s a bitter sense of not only rage but frustration. When will she be free of this nightmare? What ensues is a battle of wills and wits that June eventually wins. No matter, Serena never forgets….back to the plotting corner. In Season 4 June learns that Serena’s in Canada. Fucking Serena. Can’t even move countries without tripping over her it seems. Not only that but she IS in fact preggers and lo and behold it’s Fred’s. June is seething; had she endured all this shit for nothing? Locked in a room for weeks, raped, electrocuted, beaten, threatened. Time to pay Serena a visit. June, like everyone else has realized there’s nothing quite like bathing in Serena tears, it’s deliciously therapeutic. As June strolls into her cushy little “prison”, Serena is stupid enough to tell June that she “prayed for this”, assuming that simply asking for forgiveness will guarantee it. It doesn’t.

June’s come to deliver a message and she won’t be giving Serena anything, in fact she intends to take a proverbial pound of flesh while she’s at it. She’s seething with rage and in a display of biblical wrath, she lays down a good old fashioned curse on Serena’s unborn progeny. Serena deteriorates into a sobbing mess, the whole incident signaling the Handmaid Lite role that Serena was to undertake in season 5.

This phrase shows up again in season 5, this time with an almost forgiving tone after Noah is born. “Do you understand me?” binds these women together as their relationship shifts and grows throughout the seasons. June and Serena are almost mirror images and as such this asks not only if they understand one another, but also if they understand themselves.