<i>The Handmaid’s Tale</i> Season 6, Episode 7 Recap: June’s New Plan

Spoilers below.

Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, June (Elisabeth Moss) has been able to count on Nick (Max Minghella) to come to her aid regardless of how little notice he gets. The former driver-turned-commander has been a trusted ally throughout June’s ordeal. However, after Nick tells High Commander Wharton (Josh Charles) that Mayday was planning an attack at Jezebel’s, their long-running union is, as the episode title suggests, “Shattered.” Nick was caught in a web of lies and gave up this intel to protect himself—and his secret relationship with June.

The fallout is immediate as Mayday scrambles to devise an alternative plan to target the Gilead commanders effectively. While Nick is no longer someone they can turn to (and June appears to cut ties), there is another powerful ally who is keen to get the job done, albeit fueled by self-interest. While Wharton celebrates his victory, his fiancée, Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski), wants to make a statement with the forthcoming wedding to prove to the other wives that she still has power and influence. The nuptials aren’t just an opportunity for Serena to showcase her worth, but also for Mayday to pursue their original targets. June and Moira (Samira Wiley) agree to undertake another dangerous undercover mission as the final season builds to its climax.

Wharton only gives Serena the abbreviated and blood-free version of what shutting down Jezebel’s actually entails. Still, we are left with no doubt that every single woman forced to work in that place has been executed. Only Janine (Madeline Brewer) gets a reprieve because Commander Bell (Timothy Simons) wants to make her his handmaid, which is little comfort. The horror at Jezebel’s makes Nick’s decision hit even harder.

The space inside the closet where Nick and June are hiding feels like it is closing in, and when the coast is clear, Nick tells June that he never said the girls had anything to do with it. June wants to know if the women are dead, and Nick confirms June’s worst fear: “I didn’t think he would do that.” Nick’s shock is genuine. Yet, he has been around for long enough to know how callous commanders are, even ones like Wharton who preach virtue but still think it is godly to slaughter a group of women. June tells Nick to take her back across the border, and she doesn’t even let him stop the car before she tries to get out.

Their parting is filled with bitterness and venom on both sides, with Nick telling June some hard truths: “You know you never cared what I did unless it helped you.” He mentions the Guardians he killed to protect her, as well as Moira and Luke (O-T Fagbenle), and that she now has to face the fact that he is a commander. When June accuses him of only wanting to save himself, he doesn’t deny it: “We all want to save ourselves. We’re fucking human. It’s what we do.” June is aghast, saying he is no different from the other commanders?. Again, he agrees before adding that June loves him; so, what does that make her? Is she complicit? Either way, it is a very tough week to be Team Nick.

Back at the Mayday HQ, June informs Luke that Nick revealed their planned attack and that she was the source of the leak. “The only thing he’s ever cared about is you,” Luke says. The hits keep coming as a furious Luke says June has been pining for Nick, as if he were a hero and a savior. “Don’t be in love with a fucking Nazi,” is Luke’s advice.

One person who goes easy on June is Moira, leading with compassion and understanding. June blames herself, but Moira reiterates that perilous circumstances shaped this romance. “He helped you survive,” Moira says. June doesn’t want absolution, yet Moria won’t allow her friend to beat herself up. It is a lovely exchange, highlighting that the besties are back on the same page after their recent falling out.

Nick seems intent on blowing up all of his goodwill, essentially telling Rita that she was stupid for trusting him. Drinking a large whisky, he says that June thinks he is a monster and rejects when Rita calls him a good man. Rita believes the time they spent in the Waterford house bonded them, but Nick says they were terrified of each other. In a split second, they would’ve turned on each other to survive.

“Don’t you want to be a man who does the right thing?” Rita asks. Nick thinks Rita needs to remember that the only person she can count on is herself. Perhaps I am being naive, but I could still see Nick stepping up before the end of the season. However, this season reminds us that everyone has limits, and in this regime, heroes are few and far between.

Serena has grown accustomed to flattery from Wharton and foreign dignitaries visiting New Bethlehem. As a result, she has seemingly forgotten what it is like to encounter resistance. The traditional Gilead wives, like Naomi Lawrence (Ever Carradine), have arranged a bridal shower, doubling as a platform to make snide and judgmental remarks about the more relaxed New Bethlehem rules. They all parrot their husbands’ criticisms of Commander Lawrence’s (Bradley Whiteford) reforms and think it is ridiculous when Serena asks what their hopes and dreams are. They also sneer at the no-handmaid policy and Serena’s fertility clinic plans for the retired handmaids.

Experiencing this pushback has rattled Serena, and she tells Wharton about how dismissive all the wives were. “They mocked my ideas; they think New Bethlehem is a folly,” she says. Wharton thinks the wives need to be reminded of who they are dealing with, and Serena believes a “proper wedding” will do that. Their planned smaller ceremony in New Bethlehem will need to be upgraded to the full pomp of a Boston bash. A huge traditional Gilead wedding means all members of the community are represented, including handmaids. Serena hesitates when Wharton mentions the red-clad women will be in attendance, though she agrees to this “show of unity.”

Speaking of handmaids, Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) is ecstatic when she finds out that Janine survived the bloodbath. Aunt Phoebe (guest star D’Arcy Carden) tells Lydia the Bells specifically requested Janine be their new handmaid, which Lydia finds curious, as they are only recently married. Lydia puts that question aside when she visits Commander Bell and tells him that she prayed for Janine’s rescue, and God delivered Bell.

Lydia might want to give her prayers another try, as Bell won’t let her see Janine, and she won’t be at the wedding because “she’s not ready for public viewing.” Alarm bells ring at this phrasing. If this wasn’t ominous enough, when Lydia leaves, she briefly sees a beaten Janine in the upstairs window before she is dragged away.

After all that has happened, it is understandable why June is packing to return to Alaska. After all, she boasted about her guy on the inside and insisted on doing the dry run to Jezebel’s; now she has lost the respect of the Mayday leadership. But it isn’t over yet, and it takes an antagonist to spur June into action. Lawrence stops by to reiterate that he wants what June promised: the war hawk commanders dead. And he knows precisely the card to play to get June’s fighting spirit back. “Serena never quit,” he says.

It isn’t this button-pushing that gets June back in the game. Rather, it is what Lawrence says next about Serena’s big Gilead wedding, complete with all the pageantry (including the handmaids in attendance), and the reminder that Janine isn’t dead. “She probably wishes she were,” says Lawrence about Janine’s return to red. “I hope she kills him in his sleep,” June says about Bell. Then a lightbulb goes off.

An activated June uses her intimate knowledge of Serena to propose using the wedding as the scene of their attack and the anonymous, veiled handmaids as a way to go undercover without drawing attention. Gilead just had a big win, and the commanders will be riding that arrogant high. Guardians will be pulled from other Boston locations to beef up wedding security, leaving Gilead more vulnerable. The bombs are still in place, and they will never see them coming. If they utilize all their allies (like Rita, who has zero hope in Nick), they can strike. What exactly they have in store for the commanders is unclear, but Rita receives a delivery of powder that I suspect will be added to the wedding cake. June and Moira volunteer to take weapons into Gilead and prepare the other handmaids.

Lawrence arranges for Lydia to go to D.C. to present the fertility clinic proposal, and she tries to get him to reschedule, as she wants to attend the wedding. They need Lydia out of the way, and so Lawrence insists that it is now or never. Luckily, they have an aunt on the inside who can let Moira and June into the Red Center. Aunt Phoebe sneaks the pair from Lawrence’s trunk inside, and I am thrilled Carden is part of the rebellion effort. In the basement, Phoebe tells them that Janine doesn’t know the plan and isn’t coming to the wedding, but June says she will take care of her friend. June can’t leave her behind again.

Sure enough, Phoebe runs into Lydia and makes up an excuse about why she was in the basement. Lydia doesn’t buy that Phoebe was looking for a mop, but doesn’t go down to investigate and explains her last-minute D.C. trip. Phoebe has regained her composure and reassures Lydia that the girls will be on their best behavior at the wedding. If only Lydia knew!

Below, Moira asks June to say something “leader-ish” and June begins with, “The Lord is my shepherd,” but adds a twist to the end of the prayer: “And please, dear God, give us the strength to murder those goddamn motherfuckers.” Moira adds “A-fucking-men.”