The Handmaid’s Tale (Season 5), Episode 7 Recap and Ending, explained: A good character is revealed through our actions, whether the circumstances are favorable or not. June Osborne puts that saying to the test by saving the life of her biggest opponent, Serena Waterford, so she can raise her newborn son. Throughout the long takes that follow this action, director Natalia Leite allows enough time for both to put maternal instinct before rivalry and make rational decisions. The problem, however, is that Luke Bankole would soon come to wake them up to a reality in which no one can afford to have compassion.
The Handmaid’s Tale (Season 5), Episode 7 Recap
The seventh episode of the series picks up exactly where the previous one left off. June Osborne drives a vehicle while Serena Waterford points a gun at her from the backseat. Even so, the protagonist bombards her adversary with questions about their route and what will happen to her husband, Luke Bankole, but the widow sticks to vague answers due to the contractions. Osborne gets angry and loses control of the steering, grabbing the chance to escape on foot. Mrs. Waterford, on the opposite side, tries to take over the car without success since it gets stuck in a hole. Eventually, June changes her mind and turns around to help her walk to a nearby barn.
During a flashback, Serena and Offred attend birth at a wife’s home in Gilead. The Handmaid is screaming in the middle of a big room as Aunt Lydia requests the other women around her to pray and shout words of encouragement. At this point, Mrs. Waterford exchanges friendly glances with Osborne, smiling as if they were mocking that ritual. In the current moment, the heroin stands in front of her enemy to guide her breathing whereas she attempts to control the ache. June then hands her a blanket and starts describing Hannah and Nichole’s births, emphasizing that there was no support for the latter. When she finally comes closer to Serena again, the antagonist brusquely pushes her away, fearing the woman would do some harm.
Osborne leaves Mrs. Waterford alone and returns to the deserted highway. As she pushes the car, the earlier memory strikes again. After the wives leave the room, Aunt Lydia tells the Handmaids to gather around the expectant mother, who is now hemorrhaging, to pray and provide comfort. A group of nurses arrives to check on her, but the female’s body hangs lifelessly in the chair. They then move it onto a stretcher protected by a screen and deliver the baby to the sound of muffled invocations. Back to the present, June manages to get the vehicle out of the hole thanks to a makeshift board, but instead of hitting the road, she decides to walk to the barn.
Serena gets surprised by her rival’s mercy and embraces her assistance to give birth over the next few hours. Soon after the child comes to life, the segment cuts to a moment in the past where Aunt Lydia formally announces the pregnant Handmaid’s passing to her colleagues. Once they leave the room in silence, Osborne stays behind to watch the wives’ celebration on the opposite side of the hallway and spots a melancholic Mrs. Waterford standing apart from the others around her. They exchange smiles at a distance, and then the scene changes.
June and Serena have a conversation while the newly named Noah is being nursed. The first begins a monologue about the time her first daughter Hannah struggled to eat due to a tongue tie and colds that lasted until childhood. She proceeds to blame herself for it, though Serena changes the subject to question why she did not kill her at the Information Center the other day. Osborne just replies that she did not want to do it. After a few moments of silence, the widow mentions Fred’s absence, asking June if she thinks the boy will be like his father, to which she says that it will depend on who will raise him and what he will learn from that person.
After Mrs. Waterford wakes up from a nap in the next take, Osborne approaches her to suggest they seek medical assistance. Serena immediately denies it, explaining that she fears being found by the Wheelers, the family who was controlling to the point of treating her like a Handmaid. June, on the other hand, warns her that she may die from fever and lack of supplies, so under these circumstances, Mrs. Waterford begs the protagonist to take care of the baby. As she hesitates, her adversary adds that Bankole could teach Noah to be the kind of man who would never do the things his parents did.
Serena concludes that God’s will was to keep her alive in order to generate a life that her opponent must now save. To reinforce this assertion, she exemplifies that June represents an angel and quotes passages from the Bible in which these creatures come to Earth to help the creator take revenge on his enemies. The former Handmaid disagrees, attesting that Mrs. Waterford never really believed in all those precepts, nor did she care about other people. In the end, Osborne reinforces how different they are and announces she will save her enemy’s life out of consideration for her child.
In the next shot, Serena is reluctantly admitted to a Canadian hospital, whereas June remains at the front desk to call home. When she gets to the room instants later, the widow warns her that the baby is under observation in the NICU with suspected jaundice. Osborne reassures Mrs. Waterford that the procedure is common and asks how she is feeling. Despite the reluctance to use chemical drugs, Serena admits they effectively treat the fever, although the doctors still will not let her breastfeed. As soon as June gets up to leave, she takes the opportunity to thank her, and the two end up holding each other’s hands.
The Handmaid’s Tale (Season 5), Episode 7 Ending, Explained
At the reception hall, the former Handmaid bumps into Luke, so the couple shares a passionate kiss. She tells her husband about the birth and begins to describe the child’s situation until he interrupts her to ask about his mother. As she answers, three Immigration Officers arrive at the hospital looking for Mrs. Waterford. The couple follows the men to the antagonist’s room, where they detain her. She gets confused and demands to see Noah, but the request is promptly denied.
Outside, Bankole clarifies to his wife that he denounced Serena for illegal border crossing and lack of immigration status. In response, June stays silent and proceeds to watch her being left alone. By the time their eyes meet, the prisoner was already pleading for help like a bird whose nest has just been attacked. Although Osborne hesitates between abandoning her rival or reaching out to her, one thing is certain. Even wounded and heartbroken, every bird of prey is capable of flying to the sky to recover what once belonged to them.
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THE HANDMAID’S TALE (SEASON 5) EPISODE 7 EXTERNAL LINK: IMDB
THE HANDMAID’S TALE (SEASON 5) EPISODE 7 CAST: ELISABETH MOSS, YVONNE STRAHOVSKI, ANN DOWD, O-T FAGBENLE, JOSEPH FIENNES, MADELINE BREWER
Where to watch The Handmaid's Tale (Season 5)
