If you hear an unusual noise a couple of times whilst watching Together it will almost certainly be the sound that your jaw is making as it hits the floor. There are two moments in the episode that are so unexpected and so audacious that that sort of involuntary physical reaction seems justified. One of them brings a long-standing character’s storyline to an abrupt end; the other sets in motion a road trip that no one can possibly have seen coming.
It can be difficult to remember just how many times June has been captured by the forces of Gilead. But this time it does feel different because husband Luke is grabbed by the bad guys at the same time. Having failed to make it back across the border to safety, the pair are locked up in improvised cages on the edge of no man’s land. What unfolds is an education in surviving the arbitrary cruelties of Gilead incarceration that Luke didn’t know he needed. Through the bitterest of experiences, June understands the resolve and resilience required to endure, and the overwhelming importance of never surrendering hope.
To her distress, Luke fights back against his jailers with no regard for the consequences or chances of success. He comes to realise that his wife is far better equipped to survive as a prisoner than he is, and sees for the first time how much of June’s appalling experiences in Gilead she has yet to share. It’s a very different sort of bonding moment to last week’s Fairytale, but it’s further confirmation of the centrality of the pair’s relationship in this season. O-T Fagbenle can more than hold his own in the acting stakes, and the scenes in which June (Elizabeth Moss) rages against her powerlessness when Luke overplays his hand with his captors crackle with emotion.
Under what’s effectively house arrest with the Wheelers, Serena comes to realise just how constrained she now is – reduced to the status of a baby-carrying vessel. No longer polite or welcoming, her hosts now issue instructions that she is expected to follow, and all of them concern her relinquishing independence and being less visible. When she learns of June’s capture, and the plan to terminate the threat she poses, Serena is granted a last taste of freedom and the chance to witness the punishment of her husband’s killer. It’s a chilling prospect and just the type of vindictive request likely to appeal to the Wheelers’ temperament.
Back in Gilead, Aunt Lydia discovers that the rebuttal of her pleas for reform have reverberated in unanticipated ways. It’s something that allows Lawrence and Nick to neutralise an obstruction to their own plans whilst demonstrating their fidelity to Gilead’s religious codes. For them, as they have no visible moral qualms about the action required, it’s hard to see a downside. Lydia once again gets to show her handmaids the fate that awaits Gilead’s apostates and heretics, fully aware that in this case she was the instigator of a powerful figure’s demise.
When events culminate in an armed standoff, the outcome sends the series spinning in a new and unpredictable direction. One of the strongest features of the fifth season has been the determination to experiment and not rely on simply recycling the same Gilead misery. Doing it differently does come with the risk that story innovations might strain at the limits of credibility, but it’s a narrative gamble that’s paying off here. Given the nature of this episode’s cliffhanger, it feels almost possible to anticipate what might unfold in next week’s No Man’s Land. That in itself is surely reason enough to tune in.
New episodes of THE HANDMAID’S TALE – SEASON 5 premiere Sundays in the UK on CHANNEL 4
Read our previous reviews of THE HANDMAID’S TALE below:
