The Handmaid's Tale is repeating itself again, but in the best way possible

The Handmaid's Tale season 5 finale spoilers follow.

The Handmaid's Tale, once streaming's biggest show, has lost a lot of fans over the years. That's not to say it's airing to no one each week though. There's still a diehard fanbase that will stick with this show right to the very end, and even beyond in the upcoming Testaments spin-off.

But it was around season three when the cycle of torture and pain that June suffered became too repetitive and also too gruesome to endure any longer. It was no longer possible to believe anyone could survive such an ordeal, especially given all the many close calls with death that June faced daily.

It's a shame that people gave up around that point though, because June sure didn't, and neither did the writers either. Sensing that the show was starting to grow stagnant, big changes were made in season four, most crucially when June finally escaped Gilead (as much as anyone can really escape that hellhole).

Free of her prison, June's story expanded in ways that helped free up the show to explore this dystopia from a completely different viewpoint. And most importantly of all, it finally gave all that suffering a purpose, regardless of whether you like how it was handled or not.

Season five continued in that vein, exploring the wider ramifications of Gilead's rule and its persistent hold over June. But again, just like season four, the finale changes everything, moving the pieces into place for what will now be the final season. Yet even with all this set-up in motion, a new kind of repetitiveness has sunk in. And for once, it's very much welcomed.

The Handmaid's Tale season 5 ending explained

Following last week's shooting, June buys a bullet-proof vest to protect herself from more attacks, whether they're from Gilead or just angry, resentful Canadians who live close by. But it turns out that guns aren't the only way to take someone out.

After Agent Tuello reveals that the memorial shooter has been apprehended, another June-hater crawls out of the woodwork and knocks her down with his pick-up truck. The vehicle sports a Gilead bumper sticker, of course, which is clearly visible as the truck runs June over a second time. The man is about to back up over her and finish the job when Luke suddenly appears and beats June's attacker down into the asphalt.

But where's Serena in all this? Why hasn't that walking tribute to hypocrisy shown up yet in this episode?

Meanwhile, Nick has arrived in Canada following a clash over June's shooter. While Luke's out of the room, June's ex slips in and kisses her on the forehead while she's still unconscious. That could have been real awkward if Luke walked in, or if June woke up, but instead, Nick walks out and makes a deal with Tuello, agreeing to cooperate with the American government in exchange for June's safety.

Meanwhile, Janine and the other Handmaids (who mostly remain nameless) are living a "Hard-Knock Life", singing the tune as they scrub the floors. Aunt Lydia, no longer as monstrous as she once was, lets this slide, although she's soon disheartened to hear that Janine needs to be re-posted ASAP.

And so Lydia does what Lydia does best, manipulating the situation to her desires by asking Lawrence's future bride AKA Mrs. Naomi Putnam, if she would consider taking Janine in as her new Handmaid. It's pretty awks given that Naomi essentially took Janine's baby to claim as her own, but both parties agree, hoping this will fix everyone's problems. It's Gilead though, so obviously they don't.

Naomi puts Janine on a trial period while Angela, "their" daughter is away. It's a tense meeting, which only grows worse afterwards when a Martha tells Janine about what's happened to June — "They never let anyone get away. Fuckers."

Enraged by this, Janine doesn't respond well when Naomi suddenly decides to be nice for a change, telling her new Handmaid that it's nice to have a friendly face in the house. "We're not friends," Janine reminds her, channeling the best of June's rage. "I think you're one of the worst people I have ever known. I hate you."

Cue the tears which taste like white Gileadean privilege. Speaking of, where is Serena?

In Toronto, Rita reveals that June's attacker didn't survive the injuries Luke gave him, which means the authorities are likely to be on their way. And suddenly, those echoes of former seasons start creeping in, because June wants to run. Last time, they didn't leave until it was too late, bringing to mind flashbacks from earlier seasons when June, Hannah and Luke were separated at the start of Gilead's reign.

"America wasn’t Gilead until it was, and then it was too fucking late," says June, and she's right, so everyone packs up to leave. But Tuello intercepts them, explaining that police are already waiting at the airport for Luke. Not all hope is lost though, because there's a sort of secret train they can take which will relocate the group out west along with other refugees.

Now seriously, where's Serena?

Things aren't too chill over in Gilead either as Nick storms into a Commander gathering and punches Lawrence in the face over what happened to June. "It wasn't me. It wasn't my decision," says Lawrence, but he certainly didn't look out for June in the way he once promised.

Despite his role as a new Commander, the attack still lands Nick in jail where Rose, his pregnant wife, visits to call him out on his love for June. Yep, we couldn't remember Rose's name either, and at a push, we're not even sure if Nick could recall it given how little he seems to care for her.

Things are even worse over at the Red Center. Lydia's plan has fallen apart thanks to Janine's cold, calculated outburst, but before new plans can be made, a pair of Eyes whisk Janine away into a van. When Lydia tries to push back, one of the men physically pushes her over. The Cheek, The Nerve, The Gall, The Audacity and The Gumption all spring to mind here in this moment.

But what's more interesting about this is how Janine ends up bound in the back of the van with a crying Martha who's also shackled the same way she is. This last glimpse of Janine in season five instantly evokes that devastating moment in season one when Emily was taken away to be castrated after her gay lover was murdered right before her very eyes.

How The Handmaid's Tale finale sets up season 6 and The Testaments

Even though the times seem to be changing in Gilead, ever so slowly, it's also clear that some things never change in this dystopian world. And that's echoed again at the very end when June, Luke and Baby Nichole arrive at the train platform to wait for their escape.

Escape isn't on the cards for all of them though because the police are already there on the hunt for Luke. Over the phone, June's husband begs her to leave without him and take Nichole to safety. "Come find me," replies June as she reluctantly boards the train, watching through a window as the police arrest Luke.

Once again, June and one of her children are separated from Luke, except this time around, June still has Nichole, whereas she quickly lost hold of Hannah when Gilead first grabbed them all those years ago. Still, it's intriguing to see the show draw these parallels as we enter the final phase of The Handmaid's Tale.

Fans have long noted that each season of the show ends up being more relevant than ever as American society catches up to the not-so fictional Gilead depicted here. With that in mind, it's no coincidence that the season five finale draws so many deliberate parallels with season one.

The message seems to be that no matter what you do, things will never change, not really. And that's a pretty depressing note to end on, except not everything is the same this time around. Yes, Handmaids are still being bound and shackled in the back of vans, and yes, June can never keep her family together for long, but there's a final twist at the very end of the episode which does bring us some hope.

After being weirdly absent from the whole finale, Serena (there she is!) suddenly shows up with baby Noah on the same train as June. Yep, the pair once again find themselves trapped together in less than ideal circumstances. The power dynamic is different this time around though. Serena is no longer in control like she once was, and in fact, she's even grateful to June for helping to deliver Noah in the first place.

Stunned by Serena's sudden appearance, June barely manages to say hello in response, to which Serena replies, "You got a diaper?"

And with that, the camera pulls away as the pair continue to stare at each other with such a wild, complex mix of emotions. As viewers, we're not sure how either of them feel about this sudden development, and honestly, they probably don't either.

But whatever happens, it's clear that something has changed between the two after everything they went through together in season five. And even with all these callbacks to earlier seasons, change is also on the cards for Gilead too, although it might not look like it just yet.

As anyone who's read Margaret Atwood's sequel already knows, The Testaments spinoff (SPOILER ALERT) reveals that Aunt Lydia is the one who will ultimately be responsible for Gilead's downfall. We're still quite some way off from that, but the moment when those Eyes pushed Lydia down and took Janine away will certainly add fuel to the fire that WILL eventually drive her acts of treason.

When EW asked showrunner Bruce Miller about that possibility, he said "it's not as simple as that." But that doesn't mean the events of this finale won't play a role in Gilead's demise.

If that wasn't intriguing enough, Miller also said in another interview (via Deadline) that he won't necessarily follow the book exactly because his version of The Testaments will be "a sequel to this TV show" rather than a faithful adaptation of the source material.

"For June, I don’t feel an allegiance to wrap her up the way she's wrapped up in The Testaments novel," adds Bruce.

So while most of the repetition that's seeping in represents a poignant full-circle moment for the show, it might also be lulling us into a false sense of security regarding June's future in season six and beyond.

The possibilities that this opens up makes The Handmaid's Tale more exciting than it's been in years, and perhaps ever if the final season can live up to what's come before.

The Handmaid's Tale streams on Hulu in the US and both Channel 4 and Prime Video in the UK.

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David Opie

After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival. 

In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.

David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.

Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends. 

As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound. 

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