Exploring the parallel stories of June and Serena following their enforced separation in the dramatic finale of Train, second episode Exile examines choices their characters make in circumstances that neither of them fully control.
The dramatic balance shifts in favour of more reflective moments, as Bruce Miller’s script digs deeper into the emotional texture of the pair’s shifting motivations, teasing out how different characters stand in relation to the looming showdown between the USA, Canada and Gilead.
Separating Serena and June so soon after their surprise reunion pays dividends, and dispenses with any anxiety that the writers might toy with the implausible idea that the pair broker an alliance. A final clash between Serena and June is one of the inexorable endpoints of the show’s final series, but giving each of them their own stories on different sides of the border makes good sense for now. What Exile — and other upcoming episodes — also makes clear is the showrunners’ intention to shake up the existing character dynamic, pushing all of their protagonists into unnerving new areas of jeopardy and risk.
Serena has the good fortune to stumble across an isolated women’s religious community who take her and her baby in, their leader pretending not to know her true identity. Recovering from life-or-death peril aboard the refugee train, and enjoying the quiet kibbutz-like ambience of the settlement, her batteries are recharged.
The cohesion of Gilead is under strain, as Commander Lawrence presses ahead with his plans to expand and replicate New Bethlehem, convinced that Gilead’s hardline religious certainties will leave the enclave isolated and without allies. He’s hopeful of convincing High Commander Wharton — Nick Blaine’s father-in-law — of the wisdom of the ambition, and it’s Wharton who suggests bringing in Serena as the public face and persuasive advocate for the experiment.
Bradley Whitford has always been superb as the complex and conflicted Lawrence, and the New Bethlehem pilot centres him in the series’ arc as an unlikely (and somewhat reluctant) power player. Lawrence’s relationship with the scheming chameleon Wharton (a brilliantly chilling turn by Josh Charles) promises to be decisive to New Bethlehem’s future, as his wider ambitions become clear in future episodes.
After Nick discovers her whereabouts, Serena revels in Lawrence’s offer. It’s a supremely clever move that flatters her ego and sense of self-importance, and encourages her latent religious absolutism to resurface. She’s given renewed purpose and, and armed with the rekindled certainties of the wayward convert returning to her flock. What could possibly go wrong?
In deepest Alaska, June relishes the opportunity to reconnect with her mother, despite the tension and distrust in their relationship. June’s memories of maternal neglect shape her sense of the responsibilities she has as a parent, both to the child in her care and to the daughter kidnapped in Gilead. Should she remain in safe isolation, hoping to reunite as much of her fractured family as she can, or should she take the battle back to Gilead and free her daughter Hannah? The question is answered when she learns that Luke and Moira have disappeared in the no-man’s-land on a reconnaissance mission for Mayday. Her insistence on charging in to rescue them proves irresistible.
Despite, and because of, the dangers that Luke and Moira face, June is also re-energised, refocused and once again resolute. The episode ends with June transported to a Mayday guerrilla camp, about to head off on another risk-everything mission, while Serena steps off Lawrence’s private plane to start her job as New Bethlehem ambassador. It’s a deftly handled story of opposite and opposed journeys, moving June and Serena into a new phase in their endless enmity. Back in the director’s chair, Elizabeth Moss (June) handles the character development and the extensive plot work with her trademark attentiveness, and without the sharp reorientation feeling forced. The fateful reckoning between oppressors and oppressed that the series six promises already feels like it’s in motion.
The sixth and final season of THE HANDMAID’S TALE premiered earlier this month on HULU in the US, and begins screening on Channel 4 in the UK from May 3rd.
Read our previous reviews of the sixth season of THE HANDMAID’S TALE below:
