Spoilers follow.
The veil of Gilead has been lifted for many characters in season 6 of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which will hopefully lead to its downfall. Commander Lawrence is fed up with the weak, power-hungry “religious nutjobs” leading the country. After discovering Handmaids at Jezebel’s in episode 3, “Devotion,” Aunt Lydia finally realizes that their “sacred duty” was nothing more than a facade for men to get off on manipulating and controlling women. We’re still questioning where Serena Joy truly stands; after experiencing freedom in Canada, she’s been pulled back into New Bethlehem and is now off in la-la-land with Commander Wharton.
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In the episode “Shattered,” June realized that all Serena’s upcoming nuptials present the perfect opportunity to hatch a new plan, after their mission at Jezebel’s was thwarted with devastating results: the women that worked there were killed by firing squad. Weddings seem to be the perfect place to orchestrate the downfall of powerful figures, since so many are in the room at once. In “The Handmaid’s Tale,” most of the border guards and high Commanders will be gathered together, distracted by all the pomp and circumstance.
This plot does rely on June’s constant and sometimes unrealistic back-and-forth missions into Gilead, which starts to dilute its tyrannical terror the more easily she slips in and out. It seems like the series finale will hinge on this ability, so it may be something we have to accept with a bit of suspended disbelief. Even though June’s plot armor is wearing thin, there’s a sense of poetic justice in her new plan to yet again disguise herself as a Handmaid, and the setup is reminiscent of the biggest deadly wedding in television history.
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The Handmaids stage a more stealthy rebellion with wedding cake
The Red Wedding on “Game of Thrones” was just as traumatic for the actors as it was for the audience. What was supposed to be a political reconciliation became a bloodbath. With many of the Starks under one roof, it was the perfect opportunity for the Freys to attack by locking all the doors. The scene is gruesome and merciless, showcasing slit throats, a pregnant woman stabbed repeatedly in the stomach, and crossbows piercing all the guests.
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The wedding in “The Handmaid’s Tale” is a quieter and more subtle way of overthrowing power. It is not the violent, masculine aggression of warring medieval families, but women stealthily weaponizing the tools of their oppression: domestic labor and obedience. “Tonight we’ll use these robes to start a war,” June declares, and the Handmaids use their easily overlooked presence — since they are expected to be meek and fade into the background — to pass weapons to one another in the last rows of the church, which they plan to use on the Commanders that evening. Rita also laces the wedding cake with a slow-acting sedative that will lull the high-ranking guests to sleep.
The Red Wedding was so jaw-dropping because several main characters that we were emotionally invested in died in grisly ways, and that could likely happen in the last two episodes of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” While we already had the pleasure of watching June stab the sexist pig Commander Bell, hopefully we’ll see some more Commander killings soon. Nick and Serena seemingly ate the cake at the wedding, so they may be next in line to die, which would be a shocking way to end the series.
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New episodes of “The Handmaid’s Tale” season 6 hit Hulu on Tuesdays.
