The Handmaid’s Tale: June And Serena’s Complicated Dynamic

The Handmaid’s Tale thrives off of the complicated relationship between June and Serena. However. The fifth season has been capitalizing on growing the complexities between them. Much of it comes to a head in a June and Serena-centric episode as Serena finally gives birth.

It is not the scenario Serena always envisioned. Fred is dead, and the other wives and Handmaids do not surround Serena in preparation for the baby’s birth. Instead, Serena is alone with June in a barn in the middle of No Man’s Land.

The episode jumps back and forth between the present-day hardship of giving birth and June and Serena’s first viewing of another Handmaid giving birth. The entire episode portrays the complexity of their history and current situation.

In the past, Serena and June exchanged looks as another Handmaid gave birth, in a moment that could be mistaken for potential camaraderie, had the audience not known what happened next. It suggests there was a time before June and Serena despised each other before the horrors of their situation took hold.

In the present day, June and Serena are more than aware of the problems that have plagued them since that day. Serena relies on June as an escape plan from a dangerous home while June struggles to accept being the only person present for Serena when she goes into labor.

Their relationship is at the heart of the show in their different perspectives on life, but it also shows they may be closer than ever to be on the same side.

As Serena wonders, if her newborn son, Noah, will be anything like Fred, June explains that it will be up to how Serena raises him. What Serena teaches Noah will impact the man he eventually becomes.

Serena and June’s dynamic has more history than any other, as they constantly find themselves back in each other’s orbit, whether they like it or not. Yet, to a degree, they may understand each other better than most, having bounced between distant allies and hardened foes.

However, it is the final minutes of the episode that may influence their dynamic as well. In what Luke considers an act of karma, he enjoys watching as Serena discovers her baby will be taken from her, the same thing Luke and June had experienced with their daughter.

But, while Luke seems to relish in the turn of events, June appears to be anything but happy. Shocked and horrified may be better words to describe June’s expression as she watches Serena desperately beg and shout for June to stop the separation between Noah and Serena.

It is a moment that may bring the two together unexpectedly. Or, depending on what June does next, it could further solidify the problems between them. Season five still has more stories to tell between June and Serena, but time will tell in which direction their relationship goes.