Critic’s Rating: 4.25 / 5.0
4.25
At the beginning of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 Episode 6, June and Moira survived hiding in the trunk of Joseph’s car, but when they crawled out into the world again, it was clear nothing was as safe as it seemed, not even with Joseph at the wheel.
Despite trusting him so many times before, June isn’t naïve enough to feel cozy in his presence now. And she’s right to hesitate. Joseph is still broken by Eleanor’s death, still shocked by the cruelty he overheard from the other Commanders, including plans to hang him on the wall.
Now isn’t the time for either of them to be second-guessing alliances. If anything, it’s the perfect time to double down and believe in each other’s causes.
Moira thinks June is reckless for sharing their plan with Joseph. But honestly? It felt like a calculated risk. June knows Joseph’s guilt is still raw, and dangling the possibility of destroying Gilead’s worst monsters was music to his battered soul.
There was just one problem: the crucial documents they’d left behind at Jezebel’s.
Nick to the Rescue… Or So It Seemed
With Joseph stuck, who better to call than Nick? The man who has always — always — had June’s back. The man who cleaned up his own messes when necessary, even if it meant putting a bullet in Toby.
Nick swiftly retrieves the documents, exchanging coded words with Janine in the hallway right under Commander Bell’s nose. It is a silent, practiced dance between two survivors.
When Nick returns to June, he’s fraying at the edges.
Still stoic, still composed, but more vulnerable than we’ve seen in a long time. He asks her to stay with him through the night, promising he can smuggle her out at dawn.
What follows is one of the most tender scenes in Handmaid’s Tale history — a callback to how they fell in love. In Nick’s garage apartment, in the dark, they imagine a world without Gilead, dreaming about a first date that never was.
Nick tells her that before Gilead, he would have been invisible — just the guy bagging groceries. But June reassures him: she would have noticed. He’s brave. Kind. Handsome. Unmissable.
It’s a quiet, aching moment — the kind you hold onto, especially in a world where hope is so fleeting.
Aunt Lydia’s Empty Cookies and Janine’s Breaking Point
Meanwhile, Aunt Lydia continues to chase redemption in her own twisted way, offering oatmeal raisin cookies and empty promises to Janine.
She shared her latest idea about Handmaids retiring as pregnancy attendants. Freedom in name only. Janine, who has nothing left but her anger and clarity, calls it what it is: a pipe dream.
If Lydia really wanted to help, she’d reunite her with Charlotte. But Lydia can’t — or won’t.
And no sweet, homemade treat can erase the reality that Lydia helped rip Janine’s daughter away from her in the first place.
Janine’s fury is sharp and deserved. She’s trapped in a nightmare she never agreed to, and the only thing left within her power is refusing to let Gilead sell her a prettier cage.
Trouble Knocking at Nick’s Door
Back at Nick’s house, Gabriel is waiting and is not there for a friendly chat.
Tension crackles immediately. Gabriel received a call about Nick, about his “visit” to Jezebel’s, and about Toby.
The implication is clear: Nick’s loyalty is under suspicion. And Gabriel, with his anxious steepled fingers and false concern, demands complete honesty to “save” Nick from the wall.
Nick’s fear is palpable. He gives June a simple, chilling instruction: if I don’t come back in five minutes, run to Serena’s.
It’s the first real crack in Nick’s armor. And the first warning shot that something terrible is about to happen.
June and Serena: Two Sides of a Broken Mirror
In the pouring rain, June appears at Serena’s doorstep — drenched, desperate, and improvising.
She spins a story: she asked Nick to run away with her to Alaska, but he refused. Serena was the only one she could trust.
Serena buys it, maybe because she wants to. Maybe because June once saved her life.
Their conversation, like always, crackles with tension and weird affection. Serena reveals she’s marrying Gabriel. Not Fred 2.0, she insists. A better man. A man who built her a library and promises to reform Gilead.
June can’t help but challenge her. Just because women can read doesn’t mean they’re free. It’s just a better, shinier version of the same old cage — one that works better for Serena.
The two women circle each other like old foes, old friends. There’s regret. Resentment. And that unavoidable truth: they’re trapped in the same cycle, whether they like it or not.
Nick’s Shattering Betrayal
The next morning, the awkwardness deepens when Serena summons Rita for an intimate reunion with June, bringing the old dynamic between Handmaid, Martha, and Wife painfully back into focus.
June asks Rita for help, but Rita wisely refuses. She has a family now. She won’t risk them for another rebellion.
Meanwhile, Joseph teaches Angela (Charlotte) chess, offering her a glimpse of a different future — one Naomi is desperate to stomp out.
And then it happens.
Nick arrives at Serena’s. He tells June they should run away to Paris. He begs her. She is stunned, honored, stunned again. Maybe there’s hope.
Then there’s a knock at the door. It’s Gabriel.
Nick and June scramble into the pantry to hide. They hear Gabriel’s voice. He has good news: he shut down Jezebel’s.
And it’s thanks to Nick because it was he who told Gabriel everything — Mayday’s plans, the names, the plot to kill the Commanders.
Nick betrayed them. He betrayed June.
June can barely breathe in that pantry, pressed against the man she thought she could always trust. She’s not alone. I can scarcely breathe, either.
Where Do We Go From Here?
It’s a devastating reveal — one that redefines everything. The title of the episode nailed it. It’s a surprise that nobody wanted.
Did Nick have no other choice? Was this the only way to save June? Was he trying to cut a deal that would let them escape together?
Or did fear win? Did survival win?
The consequences are staggering. Where does this leave Janine? Moira? The rest of Mayday? How long before the walls close in around everyone June cares about?
Trust is a fragile currency in The Handmaid’s Tale. And now, it has been shattered in the worst possible way.
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