The Handmaid’s Tale — “Faithful” — Episode 105 — Serena Joy makes Offred a surprising proposition. Offred remembers the unconventional beginnings of her relationship with her husband. Offred (Elisabeth Moss), shown. (Photo by: George Kraychyk/Hulu)
Who is Nick?
In the novels, Nick is painted with more ambiguity than he is here. The series has done what it can to make Nick into a sympathetic character … well, at least, more of a sympathetic character than a suspicious one, anyway. It’s still up in the air, and we have plenty of time and reason to doubt him and anyone else, but that also makes me even more intrigued as to who Nick actually is.
Who was he before all this went down? How did he land such a fancy gig working for Commander Waterford? Is he sympathetic to the Gilead cause, or is he just playing his role like everyone else? Is he, in fact, an Eye as June accuses him of being? Or part of the Resistance, planted there early on (as we see him disposing of Serena Joy’s book in a flashback)?
I have a feeling we may actually get the answers to these questions, especially as June’s relationship with Nick progresses in the coming episodes. Her disappearance at the end of the novel carried much of its ambiguity due to us not knowing exactly what Nick was up to. However, with the changes to the series, it will eventually need addressing, either now or in the already confirmed season 2.