The grand execution, part 1 of 2.
The Handmaid’s tale’s critical analysis of the sixth season. Plot holes and bad writing.
I’ve been into The Handmaid’s Tale since 2017, and even though three years passed between Season 5 and 6, it didn’t really matter to me — I kept rewatching the show. The dark world of Gilead, so intense and cinematic, contrasted with the inner strength of the heroine and her fight for freedom — both of body and spirit. That’s what fascinated me. The first season, faithful to Margaret Atwood’s book, and even the few seasons after, were layered. Love — for children, a man, friends, even strangers — was shown as an act of resistance, as something Gilead couldn’t take away. Every nuance was portrayed consistently. The show didn’t moralize. It let me empathize, get angry, or enjoy moments of happiness along with June.
Season 6 felt different. Now the characters literally told me how I should feel about them and the events. It felt like the showrunners didn’t want me to think for myself anymore. And because I really did remember what I’d seen before, this “new meaning” just pushed me away. In interviews — so many interviews, honestly kind of annoying — the creators insisted I’d been watching the show “wrong.” Yahlin Chang even said, almost word for word, that “we haven’t shown a lot, so it was convenient to forget.” Convenient for me to forget what I never saw?
I’m going to share some thoughts on the contradictions I noticed. In this first part, I’ll stick to plot holes and bad writing. The second part, coming later, will focus on the characters — especially June and Nick.
The final season wasn’t made for viewers who appreciated the show’s complexity. The script got sloppy. The narrative stopped following the storylines built up over five seasons. And instead of carrying the message from Atwood’s Booker-nominated novel, the ending felt more like the showrunners preaching their personal views.
The show left a lot of scenes hanging. Here are a few I still think about:
In s6ep06 at 24:00, June tells Serena, “I wanted to see if Nick wanted to come to Alaska with me… He said no. He’s staying with Rose.” But then in s6ep10 at 14:45, Serena says to June, “If he ever thought he had a real choice, he would’ve chosen you.” Does Serena have amnesia?
Why is the first thing Serena says when she sees the handmaid Wharton brought, “But I’m fertile” (s6ep08 22:30)? What if she wasn’t? Would she still rape women for a baby?
In the Season 5 finale, Nick punches Lawrence in front of ALL the Commanders. Then, one day later — because that’s how much time passed — Nick’s like, “Sorry, I overreacted”. Makes no sense.
Why Nick’s hands still handcuffed (s6ep01 15:50) when he gets out of the car?
Nick should’ve been hosting foreign dignitaries in New Bethlehem. He suddenly disappeared, was gone for a whole day—risking his life to save June’s husband and her friend—and returned in the dead of night. Wharton doesn’t even try to find out?
Why doesn't Nick know the answer to Wharton's question (s6ep02 at 29:30), “Do you know why we call ourselves Sons of Jacob?”?
Why wasn’t Rita arrested at the wedding? It was in Boston — Gilead’s stronghold — and she’s a runaway Martha.
Why is June wandering around alone at the wedding and nobody stops her?
Why do the handmaids trust each other like they’ve known each other forever?
Why didn’t anyone notice they weren’t eating the cake?
Could Lawrence make out what the Commanders were talking about in the next room? The Jezebels used that hole to peep, not to eavesdrop on those who weren’t even nearby the wall.
Wasn’t it a plot’s mercy that helped June and Moira in s6ep05 at 40:25 to be in the parking lot at the very minute when Lawrence was about to leave Jezebel?
Why were there almost no Guardians at the execution? Back in s2ep01, they brought tons of Guardians just to scare the handmaids.
Why does June preach to Wharton about God and love — even though he ordered the Jezebels shooting — but then gives Nick zero support? Nick wouldn’t have even talked to Wharton if he hadn’t rushed in to save her AGAIN.
Why does Aunt Lydia keep her position after the execution? Wharton’s alive at that point — she should’ve been arrested.
Why aren’t the handmaids wearing mouth masks at the execution? Oh, right… because June needed to give an inspiring speech.
When did Luke and Rita become combat pros, breaking up executions?
Why were Luke and Rita waiting around before the attack? Were they waiting for June’s speech?
In s6ep03 at 02:30, Tuello says Luke and Moira just had to “pick up a bag, wait for the ride home.” So why did the military care so much? And Tuello literally says in s6ep02–03 that he doesn’t care much about Mayday volunteers. So why waste resources on Luke and Moira? They even flew June from Alaska, then sent Tuello as their personal driver to Nick, and he waits all day for them. Why?
Why doesn’t June suffocate when she’s lifted off the ground?
Why isn’t she even hurt after hanging and falling? Not even a sore throat?
Why does Lawrence tell June she can’t trust Nick? They both know she can.
Why does June go to the airport with Lawrence? He was supposed to drop off the bomb and come back. Why did he need her with him?
How did Lawrence get through airport security with June in the car? How did June get back in after the explosion?
Why is June surprised when Nick shows up at the airport? Did she forget he’s a Commander?
Why did Lawrence choose to die? Nick could have killed Wharton and the others.
Why didn’t Lawrence pull Nick off the plane instead of letting him die?
Who are the “winners”? How do six people “win” over thirty-seven dead?
And where exactly - timecode, episode - June tells Nick "many times" to give up. Even the one time June suggested Lawrence to give up was shown (s3ep10, 43:00). But June never told that to Nick, even once. She needed him to stay in the Gilead.
VIOLATION OF AGREEMENT ON REALISM
Since the first episode, the show set a high bar for realism. The audience got enough background to really immerse themselves in the story — the setting, the timeline, the connections between events. The camera showed everything honestly, even scenes where characters performed hygiene routines, had sex, and so on. Cities and dates were named, even geographical maps shown. Gilead felt almost tangible. It felt real.
But as the series neared its end, it moved away from that realism. Time, distance, even the threat of Gilead — all distorted. Now, characters move between Alaska, Toronto, and Boston like it’s no big deal. The basic logic of how dangerous Gilead is — and how hard it is to survive there — was just thrown out. Apparently, all it takes now to leave Gilead is crossing some random, unguarded bridge. TIME started working differently in Season 6, just to fit the plot. Characters travel between places in timeframes that don’t match real distances at all. SPACE got so distorted that even the location of a whole city — New Bethlehem — seems is different in Season 6 from what we knew in Season 5.
At the beginning of the show, it was easy to track time thanks to June’s and Janine’s pregnancies. In s1ep09, when Janine jumped off the bridge, her daughter was a newborn. In the very next episode, June found out she was pregnant. So, the age difference between the two girls should be about a year. But in Season 6 Angela (Charlotte) suddenly looks way older, while Nicole (Holly) is still a toddler. (In s5ep10 at 45:30, June says Nicole is “21 months.” So Angela should be around 33 months — but the actress looks way older than that.)
A perfect example of cliché writing in Season 6 is how the plot conveniently provides a train for June and Nicole (Holly) to arrive in Alaska — just when they need it. Just to recap — June and Luke were supposed to escape from Canada by flying to Anchorage (Alaska, USA). But Tuello told them this wasn’t possible because the police were looking for Luke. At s5ep10, around 41:55, right before June boards the train, Tuello says, “From Vancouver, you should be able to get a boat to the States.” Nothing in that line suggests that this train goes to Alaska — or that June could transfer somewhere and still get there… But when Season 6 starts, suddenly that’s exactly what happens. (There has never been a railway connection between Canada and Alaska, so without some serious script magic, June definitely wouldn’t have gotten to Alaska by train.)
Continuing with the geography talk, let’s bring up the map shown in s2ep13 — see below. Yeah, the maps part might sound boring, but the way Season 6 so deliberately casually messes with locations deserves a few paragraphs.
The green zones are the Colonies (which, by the way, were barely mentioned after Season 2). The red area marks No Man’s Land — a zone that belongs to neither Gilead nor Canada. Since there’s no clear authority there, it’s supposed to be super dangerous. In s5ep05, June and Luke went into No Man’s Land looking for info about Hannah — and it showed how desperate they were. But in Season 6 June, Tuello, and Nick stroll around like it’s nothing. No same tension, no same risk.
Also, look at the black dots on the map — those are Gilead’s military bases. We’ll come back to them later.
New Bethlehem is supposed to be “near” Boston. In s5ep08 at 04:00, Lawrence says, “New Bethlehem is a modernized, liberal island. Imagine that this is our Hong Kong — one country, two systems.” And in s5ep09 at 12:45, he tells June, “New Bethlehem is a new island settlement…”
By the way, what Lawrence says about Hong Kong perfectly shows the difference in how the script was written back then. In Season 5, the writers still seemed to respect the viewers’ intelligence. (Quick history lesson: In 1842, after losing the war, China officially ceded Hong Kong Island to the United Kingdom. In 1997, Britain gave it back to China, and Hong Kong became a special administrative region. It got broad autonomy over internal matters — laws, courts, currency — but defense and foreign policy stayed with China. That’s how the whole “one country, two systems” thing started, and it’s still a thing today.)
Seems Season 6 intentionally allows viewers to think New Bethlehem is near the Canadian border. This is untrue. Crystal Beach, Fort Erie, Ontario, is often mentioned “as” New Bethlehem but it’s the location of filming.
In s6ep04, Rita arrives on the ISLAND by… bus. It’s a plot hole. A bridge cannot exist — it contradicts the purpose of New Bethlehem. The city should be a safe haven for refugees. The island should be isolated. (Elle, 2025, confirmed, “As for where it can be found geographically, New Bethlehem is located on an island which is isolated and enclosed.”)
Logically, New Bethlehem must be somewhere on the Boston Harbor Islands or maybe in coastal areas like Cape Cod, Nantucket, or Martha’s Vineyard. I’d bet on Boston Harbor — it’s “near” Boston and most of the islands in the harbor can only be reached by ferry. (Cape Cod is a peninsula, and the islands Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard are not “near” Boston. Quick reminder: An island is completely surrounded by water with no land connection. A peninsula is connected to land on one side.)
In s6ep05 at 03:45, Wharton says to Nick, “Those people expect to be safe here [in New Bethlehem], son, as they were promised… What about the incident in No Man’s Land, so close to the border [of New Bethlehem]? Two Guardians shot, left for dead. That was an alarming breach of security, son. On your watch.” — Season 6 attempt to confuse viewers. According to the most generous lets, No Man’s Land’s border is three hours by car from Boston.
And now that I remember where New Bethlehem SHOULD BE located, I’m at a loss when I analyze TIME in the context of s6ep03. At the beginning of the episode, Tuello tells June, “Today is Nick’s big day because foreign dignitaries are arriving in New Bethlehem.” Then we see Lawrence telling Nick, “Foreign dignitaries are all arrived.” Then a man gives Nick a message: “June Osborn is at Mile Marker 17.” This is an encrypted indication of a location in No Man’s Land — almost certainly somewhere near the border — and Nick meets June there in the following frames. And here’s the discrepancy: it takes about 6 hours to get from Boston to the Canadian border. But Nick isn’t in Boston — he’s in New Bethlehem — so he’d need even more time. However… Nick and June meet in the woods, then arrive at the water park, but the tour for foreign dignitaries in New Bethlehem is JUST beginning…
The same episode and the very previous (s6ep02–03) make one more plot hole. A double hole, if it could be called. Depends on flying. In order for June to meet Nick, she first needs to get from Alaska to Mayday camp. In s6ep02 at 39:40, June says, “The American embassy’s gonna fly me out.” June’s journey starts at 49:00. It’s simultaneous Serena’s. Although June was going to fly, the plane doesn’t shown. Instead, June used two cars. June sets off at dusk, then it gets light, she is in the camp. June’s journey didn’t even take a day. However, it would have taken at least three and a quarter days to travel across Canada by car.
If June did use The American embassy’s Airline, and it wasn’t shown, it’s still a plot hole. In s6ep03 at 02:50, Tuello says, “He [Lawrence] even found Serena. Brought her back to help sell the place.” June says, “Is she okay? And Noah?”. Tuello answers, “Both fine, apparently. Treated like royalty. And today is Nick’s big day because foreign dignitaries are arriving in New Bethlehem.” Next, Lawrence and Serena talking. Serena’s completely settled in. Naomi even asked Lawrence to bring for her a plant. Then a tour for dignitaries starts. Why does Tuello already know about Serena and Noah? June and Serena’s journeys were simultaneous, but June significantly behind Serena in time.
To conclude the conversation about how the show violated the AGREEMENT ON REALISM, I should mention the infamous ending of episode 09. I apologize to those for whom it’s still painful.
Thirty-seven commanders have just died because of the mutiny. And those who survived are going to fly to D.C. The plane is in an empty hangar. There are no Guardians present. There is no one from the staff. Instead, June and Lawrence get out of the car and chat right there in the open space. When Wharton and the others arrive, June hides not BEHIND the car, but to the SIDE of the car. But none of the commanders notices her.
When the plane begins to maneuver, there is still no one from the airport staff, no one is trying to drive Lawrence’s car to a safe distance.
The plane takes off and explodes after a while. June literally goes out onto the runway, it’s quite far from the hangar, in an open space. But no one notices her. Probably because there’s no one else at the airport but her.
Google says, “A lot of people are involved in making the plane take off: the flight crew (pilots, flight attendants), and ground staff (dispatchers, technicians, engineers, airport workers, etc.) In general, dozens and hundreds of people participate in each takeoff of the aircraft.”
There are shots from the earlier seasons — just to remind you how many Guardians used to be in the frame. As opposed to… “not a single Guardian to protect the last six surviving commanders.” The dead have become COMMON. They were hanging on the Wall. And they hung on trees, past which the living strolled. In s2ep07, the Guardians shot a Martha right in the middle of the street when she hesitated to show her pass. The real Gilead was the place where, in s1ep01 at 10:20, June said, “Offglen is not my friend. We’ve barely exchanged a dozen words in the two months that I’ve been living here.”
SLOPPY HANDLING OF CHARACTERS
Characters are important to the narrative, and a consistent narrative follows the characters. FOLLOWS THEM. Characters, as a rule, do not appear out of nowhere and do not disappear into the void. However, the sixth season does just that: the characters leave the narrative for no reason. For example, the MacKenzie family. During Season 5, the MacKenzie family was important to the plot, they had a backstory, the audience also knew about them in the present tense and… they disappeared. In the show’s timeline, only ONE DAY has passed between the seasons.
Esther is a significant loss. She was one of the main characters, and in the Season 5 finale, Esther was pregnant and was to become the mother of Putnam’s child. But she just disappeared. Her child is never mentioned again. And Naomi doesn’t claim it, despite the enormous value of the children in Gilead.
It is unknown how Rose’s story ended. A pregnant woman found out that her husband and father are dead. The city is engulfed by revolution, and the rebels are winning. What happened to the child? What happened to Moira? What is the fate of Rita and her sister? The show’s decision to leave character’s storylines unfinished is disappointing. After six seasons, Moira leaves without a word? And the statement about the book that June wrote does not stand up to criticism — there are a lot of things that she couldn’t ever known about.
And instead of the characters’ ragged storylines, the show offers viewers several new convenient plot reunions.
For example, the appearance of June’s mom is too much like a plot move. Viewers know that while studying at the Red Center in Season 1, June saw her mother in a photo in one of the propaganda videos. Colonies are former sites of nuclear accidents and industrial waste, heavily contaminated with radiation and chemicals. The main task of women in the Colonies is to remove contaminated soil and radioactive waste; this is often done manually, as women dig up, bag, and move toxic materials. It seems that this is exactly what Holly is doing in the photo. Life expectancy in the Colonies is not great — in Season 2 we saw how the health of those who got there deteriorates terribly fast.
In s6ep02 at 09:20, Holly and June have this dialogue: “A doctor’s useful. They made me take care of the Aunts and the Guardians…” “How did you escape, Mom?” “It was the Army. They liberated my Colony about SIX MONTHS AGO…”
Even giving the benefit of the doubt, Holly Maddox spent at least seven to eight years in a radiation-contaminated area. But she’s alive. And outwardly quite healthy. June probably needed someone to look after Nicole (Holly), and the plot just made this reunion happen.
Meeting Emily is less improbable, but still unrealistic.
At s6ep10, 20:20 — Emily and June’s conversation: “So you weren’t in Boston?” “Bridgeport. There’s a hotspot of rebellion for some reason.”
Bridgeport is quite far from Boston. But these two are meeting? The show doesn’t provide any answers.
At s6ep10, 20:40 — Emily and June talk: “I was a Martha. I became friends with the commander.” “For how long?” “Seven months. I was safe…”
Emily was lucky that after returning to Gilead, no one recognized her as the runaway handmaid who smuggled the legendary baby Nicole (Holly) out of the country. And she was lucky enough to be assigned to a commander who let her make calls to her family outside Gilead.
Emily talks about “safety,” but I honestly don’t know if anyone could ever be “safe” in Gilead. Econo people, handmaids, marthas, wives and even commanders with equal ease ended up on the Wall. And members of the resistance — even more so.
About Janine. Let me skip the part where we usually talk about how touching her reunion with her daughter was. We’re all happy — and so am I. This is a celebration of justice. But I also have a problem with this reunion.
Angela (Charlotte) grew up believing that Naomi was her mother. Now they are separated, and the girl will never see Naomi again. That’s traumatic for a child. It was a similarly traumatic experience for the children rescued during Angel’s Flight. Doesn’t anyone ever talk about it?
And Janine was the only character who had stronger story armor than June. She was a handmaid, she went to the Colonies, she became a Jezebel, she became a handmaid again, she became a Jezebel again… And the fact that she didn’t die at some point is ridiculous. This character was treated like a doll — placed wherever the creators wanted her at any given moment. But no one has ever addressed her injuries. Physically, and definitely not mentally. The show didn’t provide any therapy for June, and it won’t do so for Janine. Will Angela (Charlotte) be safe with her mother? Biological parenthood doesn’t automatically make someone a good — or safe — parent.
The show didn’t explain Naomi’s motivation. Her choice is presented as a moment of self-sacrifice and a selfless act. But there were no signs leading up to this.
The appearance of a new character in s6ep07 — Aunt Phoebe, who turns out to be an undercover CIA agent — does not leave me indifferent. Was this character created for anything else besides saving the main characters?
The show told viewers almost nothing about Mark Tuello. What is his background? What does he do when he’s not helping June or looking languidly in Serena’s direction?
What is Janine’s fate? The show devoted a really long time to her, and in the finale, she was abandoned on that road in the middle of the night.
Nick Blaine. The fact that the show doesn’t give any closure to this character is hard to explain by anything other than the desire to shock the audience. Nick first appeared on screen in the tenth minute of the first season. He was one of the main characters throughout the show. But in the finale, he gets a few lines that contradict everything shown before. And then the character dies. Cutting off his story like that is not what you would ever call good storytelling.
DEVALUATION OF THE STORYTELLING
The sixth season at times ignores the backstory of the characters, forcing them not to match themselves.
Rose. In Season 5, viewers found out that she and Nick have a fairly trusting relationship. She knows he is in love with June, and that he was directly involved in Fred’s death. Fred was part of Gilead — killing him meant betraying Gilead. But Rose doesn’t mind; she has no problem with that. In the Season 5 finale, Rose tells Nick she’d like to end their marriage because he still loves June. And in Season 6, we don’t get a single scene suggesting that they reestablished a personal relationship. On the contrary — in s6ep06, Nick says he’s ready to leave Rose and run away with June. The seriousness of his intentions is clear, and the decision wasn’t made overnight — Nick even prepared passports for himself and June. The Jezebel disaster only triggered his nervous breakdown, but passports take time to arrange. At the wedding, when Nick and Rose eat cake, there’s no contact between them — not even eye contact. The show doesn’t show it. And then, in the hospital scene, Rose suddenly says a sickly sweet “my love” and asks Nick to prove his loyalty to Gilead.
But Nick isn’t loyal to Gilead — and Rose knows that. She knows about Fred. The character we see in this scene is not the same Rose we saw before.
Even more obvious are the changes about Luke.
By the start of s6ep03, Luke spends four days helplessly at the water park. When someone opens the store door where he and Moira are hiding, Luke is terrified — his hands shake when he clutches a gun. When Luke realizes it’s Nick who entered, he’s awkward but shows no aggression. In the next scene, when Guardians show up, Luke makes no attempt to protect himself, June, or Moira. He puts all the responsibility on Nick. And his whole contribution to the scene is… watching when the shooting starts. After that, they drive Nick’s car to Tuello. How many hours did they spend together in that car? They left the park before dark and said goodbye in the woods at night. What were they doing all that time? Chatting about the weather? Listening to music? And then in the farewell scene, Luke calls Nick bro and thanks him for saving them.
Three episodes later, Luke barely resembles his former self. At s6ep07, 09:00, Luke and June talk. “I thought I could trust him.” Luke winces, as if she just said something incredibly stupid, and lashes out: “He’s a commander in Gilead! He doesn’t give a shit about the Resistance. He doesn’t want us to win!.. Did you run to him like he’s a hero? Like he’s a fucking savior?..” Luke is offended and angry that June acted like an idiot and trusted Nick. But… why does Luke say this? Nick literally — LITERALLY — saved Luke. And during that scene, Luke had been completely friendly toward him.
The flashback shown in s6ep06 — where Nick and June return to his apartment above the garage — contradicts the storyline. Chronologically, this flashback happens between episodes 6 and 8 of Season 1. Nick and June are in bed… but why is it light outside? He was the driver, she was the handmaid, and all their meetings happened at night. June had to be back at the Waterfords’ house before dawn.
They hug and make out, and Nick talks about his life, and June tells him he is good, kind, and brave. And then… June gets amnesia? Because in s1ep08 at 42:50, June clearly says: “I don’t know anything about you. Nick, you won’t tell me anything. So I don’t know anything. I don’t know who you are…” And Nick answers: “My name is Nick Blaine. I’m from Michigan.”
Also — it seems odd that Moira doesn’t recognize Nick when they meet at the water park. Fred’s funeral was broadcast on TV, and Nick was right by Serena’s side. Did Moira never see that footage? Or did June seriously never say something like, “Oh, this guy — that’s Nick, the father of the kid you’ve been babysitting all this time.”
In the first two seasons, the dialogues were melodic and meaningful. In the sixth season, the dialogues are rather contradictory — or intentionally simplified.
At s6ep08, 26:40, Serena says to the handmaid Wharton brought, “Get out of this house. Run. And don’t come back.” The handmaids are deprived of all rights. They’re basically two-legged wombs. A handmaid doesn’t get to decide whether to leave or stay. And where exactly is she supposed to run to?
At s6ep02, 18:40, Lawrence, Nick, and Wharton have a talk: “…New trade route through New Bethlehem…” “Is paying off handsomely. We sell clean water and produce. Import cars and electronics. Everyone’s happy.” “…Their concerns evaporated the moment they realized they could cross the border and pick up a Mercedes and a Rolex [in New Bethlehem].” This dialogue is disgusting because the audience is once again expected to forget that this story takes place in Gilead. The Republic of Gilead is a dystopian society built on scarcity and control, where resources are rationed and strictly distributed. Even commanders’ families have limited access to goods. This was clearly shown in Season 1. And now I’m supposed to believe that Lawrence sells water and produce so profitably that people are buying Mercedes and Rolexes? And how exactly do those “mythical” Mercedes even get to New Bethlehem? By sea? Did anyone ever see a ship? Or do they drive them in from Canada — through all of Gilead — and nobody stops them… out of respect for Commander Lawrence?
At s6ep03, 01:40, Tuello and June talk: “And how long have they been there [Luke and Moira]?” “Four days. They have rations. Hopefully they found more things to eat.” Meanwhile, at the water park (19:11), Nick and June talk: “Why is this their pick-up spot, of all places?” “The park has been closed for a long time and it is always empty here.” So… where exactly does Mark expect Luke and Moira to find food in a long-abandoned water park? And also — why is June asking Nick about Mayday’s decisions?
In s6ep04 at 10:20, Ellen says, “Thanks to our special guest June Osborne, Luke and Moira got home safe. Rockstars.” Why doesn’t anyone say that Nick is the only reason Luke and Moira are alive? In the same episode at 28:15, June tells Ellen, “If you send me, you know that I have a Commander on the inside…” Seriously? I think the show should have ended in Season 1. June's still alive just because of Nick.
At s6ep02, 39:30, June talks with her mother: “What are you doing? You’re not a spy, you’re not a soldier!” “You don’t really know what I’ve done, Mom!"“Then tell me.” “Okay. There is a Commander…” This is a perfect example of how little care went into the dialogue writing. June claims she’s done something important. Holly asks her to explain exactly what. June says “Okay,” but instead of actually answering, she starts talking about a commander she plans to use again. That’s not an answer. It’s like Holly asked her, “What color is the wall?” and June answered, “It’s sour.”
At s6ep02, 08:00, June’s mother suggests removing the handmaid’s tag from her ear. June replies, “I can’t do that until all the handmaids are released.” The audience knows this is already her second tag. In s2ep01 at 52:10, in the Boston Globe building, June cut off the first tag — without giving a single thought to the fate of the other handmaids. Wearing a tag doesn’t make someone a hero.
In s5ep08 at 38:20, June quarrels with Luke because he doesn’t do anything to save Hannah, “What are you gonna do? Are you just gonna do the same thing you’ve done for the last seven years? F**king nothing?” In s6ep04 at 29:00, June quarrels with Luke because he is doing something to save Hannah).
At s5ep08, when June tries to convince Luke to move to New Bethlehem, Luke reproaches her for trusting Lawrence and reminds her that Lawrence is the architect of Gilead… But in Season 6, Luke trusts Lawrence — in the SAME EPISODE where, at the start, he says Nick can’t be trusted because he’s a commander.
In interviews related to Season 6, one needs to pay attention to the disturbing signals that lead to belief — the script was written not with concern for the characters, but taking into account the actor’s wishes.
“The show is so much about June’s motherhood and June’s role as mother. But I feel like, in order to really, fully telly that story, you’ve got to bring her own mom into it. As soon as we knew that [Cherry Jones] was open to coming back on the show, I think it was just a no-brainer to get her back for this final season.” Elisabeth Moss (TVline, April 2025)
No-brainer to get June’s mom back… Radiation proved powerless before the desire to return Holly Maddox. Suggestions that Holly was imprisoned in some kind of potato growing colony, or that there was green grass and a tree in the background of the photo June saw in Season 2, are refuted by a look at that very photo (posted above), showing June’s mom holds a bag of radioactive waste. And more: in Season 6, Holly says she was used as a doctor, but no mention of agriculture or anything like that.
There was a lot of speculation that O-T Fagbenle was going to leave the show because he was disappointed in Luke’s character in the early seasons… Amanda Brugel asked in the sixth season to give Rita more screen time … Bradley Whitford didn’t want to end the series playing the villain…
Max Minghella was the kind of guy who blindly trusted the creators… and the show badly needed to have a villain, so…
THE REVOLUTION THAT WASN’T SHOWN
It’s like buying a book and then discovering that its pages are empty.
The revolution began and ended BETWEEN episodes.
The sixth season is 473 minutes long. Of those, 40 minutes were spent on a train ride, another 40 on getting Luke out of the water park, and another 40 on Serena’s wedding. And somehow, the 19 days it took to liberate Boston didn’t make it into a single frame. (According to IMDb, Season 6 is the shortest season of The Handmaid’s Tale. The S1 is 52 minutes longer than the s6. S2 is longer than s6 by 4 hours.)
Because the series didn’t show the liberation of the city, a lot of questions come up. Like, how exactly was the city liberated? At s6ep10, 02:30, June says, “By the time the marines landed in Southie, the fighting was almost over. Gilead already started pulling out of the city…" So… does this mean Boston was actually liberated by Mayday? How many of these brave people died? Was this like June said in s6ep03, 02:00 — “You’re using civilians for your dirty work [about the American military]”?
Here’s how Mayday’s forces are described in s6ep02, 24:30 — a conversation between Nick and Tuello: “You know, you ran through the paramilitary, those people you get from Mayday — they’re not trained. They are teachers, pharmacists, Uber drivers. They don’t stand a chance. The Guardians will capture them and give them straight to the Eyes, or just shoot them on the spot. How many bodies are you gonna let them throw in the fire? When is enough?” “When there’s no one left to fight.” (Note: Tuello is a good guy, no doubt. But… do we have double standards for different characters?)
June said, “Gilead tried to fight, but they lost their leaders… The Boston commanders died even before the battle began…” But really — could America have reclaimed a piece of Gilead just because forty commanders died? On the maps from Season 2 (posted above), there are a lot of black dots — and most are near Boston. Those are Gilead’s military bases.
Another question: what happened to the civilian population of Boston? When the show teased that viewers would witness the revolution in the final season, it seemed logical to expect district after district slowly switching over to the American flag. Sure, some civilians were part of Mayday. But in a city that big? There must have been thousands of people just living their lives — even under Gilead. People adapt to survive in any regime, no matter how brutal. For every one person who joined Mayday, there would be thirty, forty, fifty who didn’t.
And what happened to the Wives?
Did June, Luke, Moira, and Rita actually take part in the battle for Boston? If they did… their story armor held up. Not a single serious injury.
The only one who was KILLED in the sixth season was Nick Blaine…
A BETRAYAL THAT THE AUDIENCE DIDN’T DESERVE
The real betrayal wasn’t what Nick Blaine did. In fact, it was the show that betrayed the books it was based on. The show betrayed the audience — not for the sake of a dramatic plot, but out of cruelty and a desire to assert itself at someone else’s expense. The script of the season was not well written; it was lazy storytelling. Gilead was no longer a concentrated horror. It wasn’t even intimidating anymore. The borders are open. The Guardians have disappeared. The commanders don’t see what’s happening right next to them. The handmaids, who were once afraid to even whisper to each other, are now openly and successfully plotting a coup. The Eyes went blind.
The execution scenes, the wedding, and the airport sequence break all the rules the show itself had set.
The plot twist left us with a hypocritical, deeply unhappy, and lonely woman — and a man who struggled for a long time but ultimately couldn’t bear the weight that was laid on his shoulders. Laid by this woman, who kept coming back again and again to use him — and then sent him to his execution.
What the series calls “a betrayal that definitely cannot be forgiven” completely ignores the context. It ignores the fact that Gilead is a place where every minute of one person’s life is paid for by the death of another…
And as if in mockery, two episodes earlier, the series showed how Mayday had already decided the fate of the Jezebels. These girls were doomed. They were called collateral damage.
At s6ep04, 11:00, a conversation in the Mayday camp: “First we will kill the commanders, then we will detonate bombs, and then the army will enter…” “What about the women? If they are not warned, they will be caught in the crossfire… Will we figure out how to get them [the women] out? They shouldn’t get hurt, should they?” “Well, yes, in an ideal world… But unfortunately, we don’t live in such a…” And also at s6ep04, 26:50: “It’s all Luke’s plan [Luke came up with this plan]…”
And then, at s6ep07, 05:50 — June and Nick: “You gave up those women to save yourself.” “We all want to save ourselves. We’re fucking human. That’s what we do.” “You’re just like them…”
And June Osborne has no moral right to condemn someone for choosing to survive.
Just because the screen didn’t show every bloody consequence of June’s actions — whether to save herself or out of personal vengeance — doesn’t mean the audience forgot about them. June forced Omar to take her with him so she could escape from the Boston Globe. This led to Omar being executed and hung on the Wall, most likely after being tortured for information. Omar’s wife was made a handmaid, and their child was given to someone else’s family.
June refused to participate in Janine’s execution, and as a result, all the other handmaids except her were tortured. She was spared only because she was pregnant.
June poisoned the commanders at Jezebel’s in Season 4 without any backup plan and faced zero punishment. Everyone else who was in Jezebel’s suffered afterward.
Many people were hurt — or died — because of her. And even if at some point her intentions were good, that won’t bring anyone back.
June’s condemnation of Nick for not sacrificing himself for some illusory “common good” is so hypocritical it turns her from a morally gray character into a selfish person devoid of empathy, insight, or loyalty. And that ruins the show even more than Nick’s death.
The devaluation of their union denies one of the fundamental properties of human nature — the ability to develop by interacting with other people. Even the showrunners of season six confirm his love for June. They confirm (even if “we haven’t shown a lot, so it was convenient to forget”) Nick makes good and important things and risks everything he has for June. And their daughter. But instead of rewarding him, the show and showrunners distort the essence. They turn it inside out. They turn the most beautiful feeling into something dirty. And wormy.
There is a quote that in a simple way subtly reflects the duplicity that permeates characters’ development in Season 6. Not just Nick. All of them.
June and Nick’s relationship was amazing. I think their love was amazing, and so unexpected. And it almost saved Nick… He’s a survivor, but he’s not much of a power player, and people like Nick get killed when they get to the top because other people want that power, whether it’s Mayday or whether it’s the other commanders allowing Mayday to blow that plane up. Bruce Miller (The Hollywood Reporter, May 2025)
People like Nick get killed when they get to the top because other people want that power, whether it’s Mayday. Nick wants power. Mayday want the same power. Nick is a bad guy. Mayday are good. Maybe anyone gets the logic. I’m definitely not.
In the books, June was a woman “without a name,” and that allowed readers to empathize with her. But when the show turned her into the revolution is HER, the plot started falling apart. Real revolutions happen when people come together — not because of a single hero.
The Above the Garage podcast gives a detailed analysis of all 66 episodes of the series. They also have amazing meta-episodes on character arcs, social and political themes in The Handmaid’s Tale, and more. Their episodes are like a carefully crafted commemorative album.
I also appreciated the analysis in the article “The Betrayal of Nick Blaine: How The Handmaid’s Tale Undermined Its Own Storytelling.”
In the near future, I’ll publish the second part of this essay, where I’ll discuss the characters of June and Nick, compare the book’s message with the distorted feminist statement made by the finale, and talk about the legacy The Handmaid’s Tale leaves behind: the consequences of gaslighting the audience, and how the fandom coped with the grief. And a little bit about Max Minghella.
The show started as a multi-layered, gray-scale story with no purely good or bad characters. Even Fred was given a perspective that allowed him to be understood — from a certain angle.
Season 6 threw away all the shades of gray. Now, there are white women who can give birth… and everyone else, who aren’t even worthy of having their story arcs finished.
The Handmaid’s Tale’ Final Season Will Be One of Triumph: “It’s Time”, says Eric Tuchman with Yahlin Chang, Elisabeth Moss and Bruce Miller. (The Hollywood Reporter, April 2025)
No. It wasn’t a triumph. And these four people, hiding behind the fact that they are filming a feminist show, actually staged a real harassment of the audience, especially the female part of it, using gaslighting and misogynistic statements. Under their leadership, the show purposefully took the path of alienating a huge part of the audience.
When I get again, “You're disappointed 'cause there's not a sugary ending”, I'll just send the link. Nick Blaine's crucifixion it's just another one of the reasons. The Season 6 is not the finale of The Handmaid's Tale, but a separate and based on it.
The first season received 13 Emmy nominations and won 8 statuettes, including the Outstanding Drama Series. The secons season received 20 Emmy nominations and won 8 statuettes. Seasons 3–5 received 55 more nominations. And the final season received the only nomination the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.
Finales are unbelievably difficult, because fans are passionate. You don’t want to disappoint. Some really great shows have some not wonderful endings. But I feel very, very good about where we went this season and what we did with the final episode, and the new journey we’re now on with [sequel series] The Testaments. Eric and Yahlin had to very carefully land this plane and allow us to take flight with The Testaments. That was a lot to navigate, but they did it. Warren Littlefield (The Hollywood Reporter, May 2025)
It more looks like Eric and Yahlin had to very carelessly sink The Testaments’ ship and the audiences will get enjoy of some emotional retribution.
The essay published on MEDIUM too. I authorize any use of this text for any non-commercial purposes. Share, translate, quote — let's spread this!
