The Handmaid’s Tale episode 7 recap: The other side

This week’s episode of The Handmaid’s Tale offers the nightmare of Gilead from another location and perspective. Ready to learn what happened to Luke?

What The Handmaid’s Tale has done well thus far is recount Margaret Atwood’s excellent and terrifying novel of the same name, moment by moment. What it has done very well is add new context, whether in the form of set dressing, internal monologue, or in this episode’s case, a completely new perspective on the story of June and Gilead. Episode 7: “The Other Side” isn’t technically a Handmaid’s Tale. It’s the story of Luke, June’s husband, after she and Hannah were taken away.

The sudden jump in narrative certainly surprised me but makes perfect sense as inserted. If you recall from last week, June just learned that Luke was alive somewhere and that she was able to get a short, written message to him through the Mexican ambassadors. But we don’t immediately see where Luke is now. Instead, the majority of the episode is split between two moments in time for Luke. The first is what happened immediately after he left Boston with June and Hannah, and the second is what happened after they were taken.

The Handmaid’s Tale — “The Other Side” — Episode 107 — Remembering her family’s treacherous escape attempt, a shocking revelation from life before Gilead provides a new perspective on Offred’s life. Offred (Elisabeth Moss), from left, Hannah (Jordana Blake) and Luke (O-T Fagbenle), shown. (Photo by: George Kraychyk/Hulu)

The episode opens with a scene we’ve seen before, where the car runs into a ditch and Luke urges June and Hannah to run. But instead of following the women, we stay with Luke as he struggles to load a gun, and then is shot before he can do any meaningful amount of damage to his assailants. He awakens in an ambulance, but the ambulance promptly crashes, killing all inside but him. Resilient, he grabs a first aid kit and coat and heads out into the snow. He finds their abandoned car, then takes shelter in a deserted town.

This is where the flashbacks start (even though this, technically, is also a flashback if you consider the present day to be June’s time from last episode). Stick with me, this gets rocky. Luke, June, and a totally zonked Hannah are in a car headed out of town. Looks like they’re fleeing at last, dropping the information that Moira left shortly after their jobs were taken from them. The three must ride in the trunk while an old friend of June’s gets them out. We get to see a bit of Luke and June’s relationship here — both how they interact when stressed and frustrated in the car, and how they react when one needs the other as June hears sirens from the trunk.

The three arrive at an isolated cabin where they will stay while their helper gets them new passports, as “US passports mean nothing anymore.” The man also teaches Luke, sort of, to shoot a revolver.

The Handmaid’s Tale — “The Other Side” Episode 107 — Remembering her familyÕs treacherous escape attempt, a shocking revelation from life before Gilead provides a new perspective on OffredÕs life. Luke (O-T Fagbenle), shown. (Photo by: George Kraychyk/Hulu)

Back to later-day Luke, who is found by a group of refugees headed for Canada in an old school bus. Luke is in bad shape after being shot, but the leader of their group has medical training and helps clean and bandage his wounds as the bus trundles along. The group consists of “an army brat, two strays, a gay, and a nun,” with one of the strays being a young woman with a tag on her ear just like we know June has. She does not speak at all.

At this point, the flashbacks grow rapid:

• We see June and Hannah back at the cabin, making chocolate chip pancakes and teasing Luke.
• The tagged girl in the bus has a breakdown. Luke is told that they found her at a retraining facility for fertile women, and they have no idea what happened to her.
• While out fishing at an ice cold lake, Luke, June, and Hannah meet a hunter and his dog. They worry he may rat them out.
• Luke tries to leave the bus to go back to Boston, but he is too badly hurt to make it out and their leader puts her foot down.
• The hunter met before arrives at the cabin to tell Luke and June that their rescuer is dead. He says he has called a friend to meet them at the border, and they should get out now, because Gilead is looking for them.
• Luke tries to leave again, but the leader of the group takes him to an old church where a group of people were hiding fertile women from Gilead. All of the people hiding the women have been hung from the ceiling, dead. She warns him the same will happen to him if he goes back, and that he is no good to his family dead.

With Luke’s decision to stay, things slow down again. He joins the group on a ferry to Canada, but must give up medicine and his wedding ring to pay passage for the extra person: himself. Just as they are about to leave, though, Gilead opens fire on them and the boat must scoot off, leaving the group’s leader for dead as she is shot almost immediately. The boat makes it out as Luke comforts the silent young woman.

The Handmaid’s Tale — “The Other Side” Episode 107 — Remembering her familyÕs treacherous escape attempt, a shocking revelation from life before Gilead provides a new perspective on OffredÕs life. Luke (O-T Fagbenle), shown. (Photo by: George Kraychyk/Hulu)

Finally, we see Luke three years later in “Little America,” Canada. Luke is with the still-silent woman, and brings her tea, telling her the power has been turned back on. As they drink, he receives a phone call.

Arriving at a government office, Luke is given June’s message. It simply reads, “I love you so much. Save Hannah.” The episode ends as the two, knowing the other is alive, receive some comfort and hope from the knowledge.

There’s a surreal quality to seeing this entire situation at last through Luke’s eyes — from the outside. What struck me the most was how the episode (while not devoid of its gut-wrenching moments, such as the church scene) offered a tiny bit of hope after six other episodes of darkness. Luke is alive in a safe, if not especially comfortable or ideal, place. And they each know the other is alive. With that knowledge, both can work toward their goals with a renewed confidence.

Next: 5 questions we have for the rest of The Handmaid’s Tale season 1

I’m still terrified of The Handmaid’s Tale ending in total despair. There just isn’t a lot of hope left in a world like Gilead. “The Other Side” served as a momentary lifeline, but it does make me wonder what sort of god-awful horrors will be served up to June next episode, when (I presume) the narrative will return to her once more.