9 Questions You Have After 'The Handmaid's Tale' Season 2 Finale
This post contains spoilers for the season two finale of The Handmaid's Tale, “The Word.”
After 13 stunning episodes, season two of The Handmaid’s Tale has come to a close. To recap, briefly: on Wednesday's episode, IT FINALLY HAPPENS. With the help of a network of Marthas, June and her baby escape the Waterford estate. After running across fields and backyards and roads under the moonlight, she arrives at a tunnel only to see Emily. Turns out, Emily’s Commander has helped her escape, too. When a truck arrives to pick them up, June hands the baby over to Emily. “Call her Nicole. Tell her I love her,” June says, using Serena’s suggested name for the baby, before the truck drives off. She puts her Handmaid hood on, turns around, and heads back, presumably back to the Waterfords to continue her search for Hannah. Below, questions you might have after screaming “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” to your television screen/as you wait for season three to arrive:
1. Where are Emily and baby Nicole going? As she gets into the truck, Emily’s Commander (played by Bradley Whitford), shouts, “Have a nice life! Don’t get caught. Keep away from drugs!” Is Emily going north to Canada and will she run into Luke? Will her own family be waiting on the other side? Or is she heading to a rest stop close to the border? Recall: where Offred and the Handmaids live is what was formerly Boston and the New England area, which is at least a four hour drive at that time at night. Is there a plane waiting for Emily, like the one June tried to get on earlier in the season?
2a. How long have these Marthas been smuggling Handmaids out of Gilead? And is this network different from the Underground FemaleRoad Moira used in the book and in season one to try to escape? One thing’s for sure going forward in Gilead: be nice to your Martha.
2b. Is Rita in big trouble? Will she be punished for helping June get out of the Waterford house in the first place? Or will Serena turn a blind eye?
3. Is Aunt Lydia alive? One of the shocking moments of the season two finale was when Emily stabbed Aunt Lydia with a knife she swiped the previous night with the intention of stabbing her Commander. The stabbing happens after Lydia says the Commander told her their first Ceremony “went splendidly.” This of course, is a lie, as the Commander told Emily he had no plans to do anything that night. (“Nah, get up, not gonna do that with you. Come on, go to your room.”) Not only does Emily literally stab Lydia in the back, Emily also kicks her until she falls all the way down the stairs. An ambulance is called, but Lydia’s fate remains a mystery.
4. Will Emily’s Commander, Joseph, get in trouble? Or will he smuggle more Handmaids out? How long has he been doing this? And is this why his wife complained about not being able to say goodbye to Emily before she left the house?
5a. Will Serena and June team up to take down Fred? By the time season two wraps, Serena and June are on the same wavelength as far as their hatred for Fred and more importantly, the well being of baby Nicole, are concerned. By allowing the Council to slice off Serena’s finger for daring to read as part of her attempt to inquire about the future of Gilead’s children, Fred has made his beliefs clear: He will never side with Serena. During June’s long journey to get baby Nicole out, June lets Serena say goodbye and hold the baby. While most viewers probably screamed, “Don’t you dare take that baby!” June didn’t show an ounce of worry. If season three included more Serena and June scenes, like the ones they did when Fred was in the hospital, that would be grand.
5b. Or will Serena be pissed that June gave the baby to Emily to get out of Gilead? This is separate from their shared feelings about Fred. Baby Nicole was the one good thing that happened to Serena this season, and she was taken away from her. She’s capable of turning against June in an instant, so don’t get too comfortable with the thought of them teaming up.
6. Related: is Nick going to kill Fred? Or at least, hold him hostage while this all goes down? Remember, Nick’s got a gun and plenty of reasons to do bad things to Fred. Is he waiting for other Eyes to show up? Is he waiting for June to return?
7. What’s up with the fire? Offred’s escape was largely made possible by the mysterious fire across the street from the Waterfords. Who started it? And more importantly, who lives there? Did anyone die? Did other Handmaids escape as a result of the fire?
8. What is June’s plan for Operation Find Hannah? Now that baby Nicole is off to safety (hopefully), June is 100% focused on finding Hannah. She knows she no longer lives at the house where they met on episode 10. But Fred probably has intel. He is a high-ranking Commander, after all, and he’s still infatuated with June. Will she use this to her advantage? Or will Luke magically show up with a rescue crew from Canada?
9. Seriously, will Canada save everyone? We haven’t seen Luke and Moira ever since the Jezebels letters went viral. What have they been cooking up in Canada?
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