As Execution opens, the Handmaids and their partners in rebellion stroll down the street, feeling triumphant after killing off so many commanders. I might be the only person who finds it hilarious that the number of commanders killed (37) is the same as the number of [redacted] in a particularly filthy joke from the movie Clerks. But I digress. The Handmaids, led by Aunt Phoebe, June, and Moira, are making their escape.
Serena is making her own escape—without the benefit of friends or family. Watch for a commander’s wife to not even think of calling her handmaid by her human name while begging for her life. Serena knows Joseph Lawrence is the only commander who won’t immediately send her back to her new husband, that’s where she goes. Though why Serena thought Naomi the true-believer would be on her side, I do not know. Watch Naomi lament why the handmaids dislike the women who beat them, stole their children, and repeatedly participated in their rapes. Serena thinks she’s progressive because she’s used to people like Naomi. Lawrence confirms what happened after the wedding: Rebellion—AKA Revolution. No one asks how he knows.
Nick, having a fertile wife and no handmaid, is still alive. But Rose is suddenly in labor and we have to wonder if her being drugged instigated this complication. The doc later suggests this too. We wonder if Nick might be in on helping the handmaids escape—which almost mirrors the circumstances of “Offred’s” escape from Gilead in the novel. Meanwhile, the escaping handmaids are caught by the Eyes and they’re ready to kill anyone just to make June show herself. So she does.
Naomi, tradwife that she is, called Wharton to talk it out with Serena. Gross. He promises to give her a chance to get pregnant on their own before bringing in a young woman to regularly SA. Gabriel also informs Serena that her buddy June was the organizer of the mass murder that followed their nuptials. Weirdly, Serena is surprised. She’s the abuser who doesn’t understand why the bruised party is still upset even though they themselves are done being angry.
I like that the show is using the word “rape” in the episode instead of skirting around it with ‘ceremony.’ Here in America, the media will say things like ‘had sex with a minor’ or ‘non-consensual sex ensued’ or even the ludicrous ‘sex by surprise.’ Mealy-mouthing terrible crimes is one of the ways we soften the perceived impact while doing nothing to aid victims or prevent new ones. While I recognize that those with trauma prefer not to hear the word—I can’t imagine those with that issue are watching this show to begin with.
June has made a few choices I find odd this season. One is her continued belief in a loving god. The other is appealing to the humanity of people who have none. Her meeting with Gabriel Wharton was satisfying in the way it’s fun when a senator or judge calls out the Fascist-in-Chief of America for his fash ways. It was unsatisfying in the way it’s maddening that after the call-out, nothing actually changes. No one is consequenced. Despite everyone ostensibly believing in a supposedly loving god, June is sent to die.
Much time is spent this week discussing what is or is not an “affront to (capitol G) God.” Power over piety is a common theme in those who use religion to manipulate the masses, kinda like how they pretend everyone they don’t like is hurting children (often sexually) because who is going to stand up and defend such a person once that kind of accusation has been made. No one wants to stand up and say what “God” wants is wrong—and pretending there’s a god on your side has allowed bad people to do bad things since the humans tried to figure out where the sun goes at night. It’s a Nazi tactic, and people use it because it still works.
Lawrence’s good-bye to his daughter (actually Janine’s daughter) is tragic. Joseph implores his wife to ensure the girl gets to read and learn. Why he thinks Naomi will support this, I do not know. She’s awful. Lawrence must have assumed he wouldn’t live to see her again—probably because the other commanders (some of whom must have lived) still want him on the wall.
This week is the penultimate episode. The series ends next week. So June’s death is a very real possibility as she walks onto the staging area to her presumed execution. Soon we see that many gallows have been erected. Aunt Phoebe, the other handmaids, Moira, Janine, and...Aunt Lydia? It’s initially unclear if she’s there for her testimony or if they’re going to execute her too. But Lydia has had it with her girls being abused by terrible men. She’s blamed for making killers out of handmaids. So, she prays: “Dear Lord, forgive me. And please forgive them. My precious girls, have mercy for what they’ve done. For they have been prisoners of wicked, godless men.” June is as shocked as we are to see Lydia express her rage this way. The look on Janine’s face says it all.
Despite emotional victories and acts of bravery, it's all very bleak. In the crowd of econo-people though, we see Luke, Rita, and some other familiar faces from the resistance. That’s when June begs for a chance to ask God for forgiveness, ending her soliloquy with that quintessential phrase: “Illegitimi non Carborundum.” That’s fake Latin for Don’t let the bastards grind you down. June is hanged in that old school, slow-suffocation way for everyone to see. That’s when the battle gets real as hell.
June is saved in time, which is honestly surprising. We see econo-families fighting and dying. Aunt Phoebe aims and fires with sudden skill and precision (it turns out her name is Eva and she’s in the CIA), Luke gets the battle he’d been waiting for, and Rita shoots a man to death to save June. This is the kind of violent carnage I thought we were going to see at the wedding, but didn’t. At the end of it, Wharton survives and we don’t see Lydia die.
Maybe it’s not cool to watch this show and cheer for the carnage. But guess what? I’m American. Since 2015 we’ve been watching our media pretend a rapist, a career criminal who beat his family, stole from everyone, and has never been consequenced for crimes a day in his life is somehow good at business, intelligent and clever, and cares very much about his constituents while stating directly that he’s unsure that the US Constitution applies to him. It’s madness, and the average person has little to no power to stop it.
But in Gilead, they do. The people rise up instead of lying down (not a rape reference, but rather a statement of disgust at how many people are stepping aside to let the fascists continue to fash all over us), fight back instead of smiling and nodding. The fighters in Gilead, those rebels risking and dying for the right reasons, are rewarded with the arrival of this fictional American military where the people in charge are against the fascists. Mark Tuelo is a welcome sight, and not just because he’s so smokin’ hot in military gear.
And that’s only the halfway point of the episode. Next up, the rebellion prepares to strike another blow. The plan is to install a bomb with an altitude trigger. It goes on the plane taking the commanders to Washington DC, then when the plane is high enough, it goes off. It’s decided that commander Lawrence will plant the bomb and then leave the plane.
Serena is probably the most frustrating character. She’s singularly self-focused, can justify any abhorrent act, and you just know she’s gonna walk away alive, with her child, and without any real consequence. Heck, her helping take out the rest of the commanders may even make her a hero when the history is told.
Speaking of which, those of you who read The Handmaid’s Tale know that the end of the book takes place long after the main events. It mainly features scholars talking about how accounts of the events are probably exaggerated. The general tenor of academic discussion being that it probably wasn’t that bad. Time diminishes these human atrocities the way we did with American slavery, the holocaust, or Japanese internment camps. So we may have that to look forward to next week.
Execution ends with us believing we’ve already seen the execution in question. June and Lawrence arrive at the airport, with Joseph promising he’ll “try not to f*ck this up.” But the plan f*cks itself for him. He arrives in time to see Wharton and his gang, who immediately start razzing him about New Bethlehem. Knowing what will happen, and that the plan will be ruined if he doesn’t go—Joseph Lawrence gets on the plane. He chooses to die for the cause, finally, maybe absolving himself for his part in hurting so many people.
I think we’re supposed to be sad when Nick begins his slo-mo walk to the plane, with June reacting and maybe even contemplating saying something. Nick pauses, knowing he’s making a lasting choice this time. LOL, he has no idea how lasting. “Guess you decided to join the winners,” is a hilarious last line from a doomed Nick. Because he gets on the plane and we watch it explode with the remaining Boston commanders onboard. To be clear, Lawrence was never a hero. Even when he was “helping,” his attitude was one of ‘whatever ladies, just don’t get me killed.’ In the end though, he made the hard choice. RIP Lawrence. GFY, Nick.
What a powerhouse episode. Exactly what I showed up for. Execution had so much to love, and so much to cheer for. That TayTay song is my new anthem. It seems like there’s way more to get through next week. What happens to Gilead? Will Serena see a single consequence? Does life insurance still exist for all those new rich widows? Will Luke and June get Hannah back? Will the child remember her at all? They’ll be wrapping it up seven days from now. And I cannot wait. 10/10