The Handmaid’s Tale Review: First Blood (Season 2 Episode 6)

Serena and June’s relationship grows more complicated on The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2 Episode 6, “First Blood.”

After June’s health scare, both women attempt to mend their fractured relationship, but June’s motivations aren’t as well-intentioned as she leads Serena to believe.

Serena continues to be the most complicated female character on The Handmaid’s Tale. She was an architect of this patriarchal society; an outspoken advocate for family values and procreation, yet, she regularly threatens and abuses the willful June who was/is a wife and mother.

Serena has nothing but distaste for rebellious June, but equally despises the Handmaid when June’s behavior is submissive and subservient. She abhors weakness but punishes strength.

A Change of Heart

Serena decides to make an effort to be more nurturing towards her Handmaid, most likely because she fears all of the friction between herself and the mother of her child threatens June’s pregnancy.

June proves to be increasingly more manipulative — aside from her brief meltdown — so even though she accepts Serena’s gestures of kindness, viewers know that in the back of her mind, she’s figuring out how to use Serena’s behavior to her own advantage.

June believes the most effective way to further her own agenda is to appeal to Serena’s maternal instinct, and she begins reflecting on her time as a mother, attempting to humanize herself.

She mentions Hannah several times, like the parent of a child who has been taken, appealing to the kidnapper to see their offspring as more than an object to be used for insidious purposes.

Still, June covers all her bases by re-establishing her relationship with the Commander who has been largely absent during the Serena-June conflict, stepping in only to pacify his wife.

Fred doesn’t want June out of the house for obvious reasons, but the friction is causing his superiors to doubt his ability to do his job. If Fred can’t control the women who are under his own roof, he’s viewed as weak and unable to lead.

It’s been made clear throughout The Handmaid’s Tale that Serena played an instrumental role in shaping the laws that govern Gilead, and Fred merely benefits from her “achievements.”

June sees the cracks in the Waterford’s marriage and pits husband and wife against each other. If she can’t get what she wants from Serena, she appeals to the Commander which has not only proven effective but hasn’t escaped Serena’s notice.

Eventually, Serena realizes she’s being played. There is no ugly confrontation. Both women are tearful. June because her request to see her daughter is denied, and Serena because she feels betrayed, manipulated, and disappointed.

It’s hard to feel sympathy for Serena because of her coldness and cruelty, but in that moment, the depth of her loneliness and lack of purpose is palpable.

Serena has no friends, no confidantes. She lacks the ability or opportunity to truly connect to anyone in a society where nobody can be trusted.

You get the impression that Serena was never a girl’s girl. Her efforts at camaraderie are awkward and strained.

The attempt to forge a bond with Serena may not have all been an act on June’s part. She tells Nick, “I thought she could be decent.” As despicable as Serena can be, her intent to improve her relationship with June may have started out as self-serving but ended up being pure.

June: I thought she could be decent.

Serena returns to antagonizing June, determined to break her spirit. But June knows Serena’s weakness, and June is carrying it inside her.

This pattern of manipulation and mind games could go on until one of them eventually breaks, but with the Commander likely killed in an explosion, June and Serena’s relationship is bound to be altered once again. His absence could make things much worse for June or be the answer to her prayers.

“First Blood” advances the storyline in a few major ways, and the push and pull between Serena and June makes their interactions the most complexly layered of the show. Viewers know what is going through June’s mind since she’s the narrator, but it’s the glimpses into Serena’s past that we crave.

Serena is in a prison of her own making, and it’s too late to tear down the walls she helped build. She takes her frustrations out on everyone around her, particularly June.

While the title “First Blood” could be referring to the terrorist attack, it also applies to June and Serena. Who cut first? Was it Serena and her politics, or was it June when she stepped outside the bounds as a dutiful Handmaid?

Other thoughts:

• Eden looks to become collateral damage in the power struggle between June and Serena.
• The terrorist attack will undoubtedly mean trouble for the Handmaids.
• What happens to Serena if the Commander is dead?

What did you think of this episode of The Handmaid’s Tale? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Handmaid’s Tale airs Wednesdays on Hulu.

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