Next Week's 'The Handmaid's Tale' Promo Is The Most Intense Thing I've Ever Seen
Guys, I'm still not over that massive cliffhanger at the end of The Handmaid's Tale Episode 10. Just when it looked like something good was finally going to happen to June, her happiness was ripped away by the Gileadean regime. At the end of Episode 10, June was left stranded alone at a farmhouse in rural New England, and The Handmaid's Tale Season 2 Episode 11 promo suggests that her situation is about to become even more dire. Can't we have just one nice thing? Warning: Spoilers for The Handmaid's Tale Season 2 follow.
In Episode 10, June goes through quite an emotional roller coaster when she starts having contractions — and then learns that it's false labor. Serena Joy, who has been eagerly awaiting June's post-delivery departure, is beyond pissed, and she heartlessly takes her anger out on her innocent handmaid.
When June asks Fred to place her in Hannah's district after she gives birth, he (and later, Serena) considers the request one step too far. "She's already disappeared for months, and now she wants another favor?" think the Waterfords. In their rage, Serena Joy and Fred decide that the best way to induce labor — and to get June out of their house — is to force June to submit to "The Ceremony," Gilead's ritualized rape. June fights back, but she's not able to make the Waterfords stop.
After the brutal scene, June is unresponsive and immobile. Fred, spurred by June's near-catatonic state, manages to find a scrap of empathy in his cold heart and arranges for June to have a 10-minute meeting with Hannah at an "undisclosed location." The two have a sweet moment, but before June can even blink, Hannah leaves — and Nick is shot by two Guardians and taken away in a car. June is now totally alone at a farmhouse in the dead of winter, and the stress of all this makes her go into labor, presumably for real this time.
Based on the Episode 11 promo, next week's episode will pick up right where Episode 10 left off (as it should). At the beginning of the promo, a sweaty, likely in-labor June comes face-to-face with a wolf, which is pretty much the worst-case scenario if you're alone and pregnant in the middle of nowhere.
June's situation gets even more dire as — I can only imagine — her contractions get closer and closer together, and throughout the promo, she gets increasingly desperate to save herself. In one scene, June ransacks the farmhouse for medical supplies and packs a bag, presumably to take with her to freedom. Later, June finds a car (an old Corvette or Mustang) in the garage and tries to drive through the garage door, but it doesn't look like she's successful. Will June be able to delivery her baby as a free woman, or will she have to undergo a painful home birth alone? My anxiety is going to be at an all-time high until we find out.
Back at the Waterford house, Serena Joy is ripping her husband apart for his stupidity. No matter how great it was seeing June and Hannah reunite, you can't deny that letting June leave the house was an idiotic move on his part. "How could you be so stupid?" Serena practically spits at Fred, and for once, I kind of agree with her.
Serena calls out Fred for his "sick infatuation" with June, and he immediately goes on the offensive by grabbing Serena by the collar and pushing her against the wall. "Don't you dare," he says as he shakes her. Serena Joy fights back against the abuse, telling him through tears, "You've left me with nothing. I have nothing." She may be right about Fred being an idiot — men being dumb is an ongoing theme in The Handmaid's Tale — but it's hard to feel bad for her. Instead of being nice to June, she either used her as a pawn or was just downright cruel. If Serena really has nothing, it's no one's fault but her own.
Honestly, I don't know how I'm going to get through the next week. There are only three episodes of The Handmaid's Tale left this season, and I still have so many unanswered questions. Amid all this uncertainty, there's one thing I know for sure: June's situation can't possibly end well.
The Handmaid's Tale Season 2 Episode 11 hits Hulu on Wednesday, June 27.
