The show’s penultimate episode Execution explores the impact of the shockwaves ripping through Gilead in the aftermath of the coordinated Handmaids’ attack on Serena’s and Commander Wharton’s wedding guests in the explosive events of Exodus. It also accelerates the momentum of the endgame, delivering more powerful and consequential set-pieces.
Many genre series’ showrunners would have crafted their storyline to conclude with the Exodus uprising, signing off on six intense series with that visceral moment of cathartic release. But as Elizabeth Moss (June) returns to the director’s chair to marshall the show’s final two stories, there’s time set aside to blend further acts of retributive justice, with more heart-stopping moments of high jeopardy.
Threaded through those dramatic payoffs are opportunities for the writer Eric Tuchman to bring the storylines of different characters to a rounded conclusion. This is thoughtful storytelling determined to do justice to the material that’s led to this endpoint, and keen to avoid any sense of a rushed or perfunctory wrap-up.
The consequences of The Handmaid’s Tale’s own “red wedding” hit hard in the hours following the nuptials. The rebels’ sense of triumph is undercut when June, Moira, Janine and the others are detained at their border rendezvous point and arrested. Serena’s fleeting wedding bliss evaporates as she clashes with Commander Wharton on his plan to exact retribution. His façade of reasonableness collapses, and she flees the family home as he rages against her defiance and desire for greater independence from absolute male control. Under pressure, their always-doomed alliance crumbles.
Her world comes apart once more, as Serena comes to question her recent life choices and Gilead’s ability to reform. Where can she go to seek sanctuary, except at the residence of Commander Lawrence? With the remaining US forces re-energised by the Mayday attack, they move back into offensive operations, seizing territory and pushing Gilead forces into retreat. Attempting to hold the line, Wharton – no longer needing to play the part of the penitent believer – plans to deliver spectacular retribution to crush the rebels.
June and the other prisoners are brought to a public execution spot, all to be hanged as heretics – punishment designed to demonstrate Gilead’s resilience. They are joined by Aunt Lydia, whose willingness to let the Handmaids escape in the events of Exodus was the culmination of her fraught journey away from orthodoxy. Imminent death appears to break June’s will, as her commitment to the resistance seems to waver. But it’s a deception broken as she screams out her defiance once again.
When the hangmen’s nooses tighten, the rebels of Mayday, who have secreted themselves throughout the watching crowd, launch their attack. As they arm themselves for an assault against their oppressors, they race to save those seconds from death. It’s a heightened spectacle, stretching credibility to breaking point, but it builds on the sense of unleashed righteousness that the previous episode expressed so forcefully. It also allows several of those who’ve had to endure Gilead’s vindictive cruelties to deliver some well-deserved payback.
Freed once again, June meets with Mark Tuello and discusses the next moves for the resistance. An impactful meeting with a detained Serena sees the character dynamic between the pair shifting one final time, as she reluctantly gives up information about where the Commander’s plane will be leaving from as the remaining Gilead authorities gather to plan their response. Serena knows full well the implication of her decision.
After Commander Lawrence is persuaded to deliver a payload to the plane, June agrees to accompany him as driver. The gathering at the airport settles even more character storylines – as Lawrence makes a sacrifice he must long suspected has been coming; and Commander Nick’s unconscionable betrayal of Mayday overrides June’s instinct to save him. It’s difficult to reveal more without significant spoilers. Suffice to say that the episode ends with an extraordinarily powerful visual, one of the most memorable in a show with a reputation for delivering them. It captures an event likely to break the resolve of the Gilead regime and its ability to respond.
While Exodus was shaped by the ambience and the beats of a taut political thriller, there’s a more heightened, melodramatic quality to the events of Execution. It’s a marked tonal shift that takes some adjusting to but, as it readies itself for its finale, The Handmaid’s Tale adeptly settles accounts and prepares for a sense of closure that should leave Gilead’s enemies emboldened and vindicated.
Episodes of the sixth and final season of THE HANDMAID’S TALE screen weekly on Channel 4 in the UK
Read our previous reviews of the sixth season of THE HANDMAID’S TALE below:
Season 6, Episode 1, TRAIN
Season 6, Episode 2, EXILE
Season 6, Episode 3, DEVOTION
Season 6, Episode 4, PROMOTION
Season 6, Episode 5, JANINE
Season 6, Episode 6, SURPRISE
Season 6, Episode 7, SHATTERED
Season 6, Episode 8, EXODUS
