The Handmaid’s Tale Season Finale Review: The Word (Season 2 Episode 13)

On The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2 Episode 13, “The Word,” June/Offred finally appears to sever ties with the Waterfords. Unfortunately, the finale is full of contradictions and plot holes that leave viewers feeling frustrated, confused, and unfulfilled.

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2 has been careening towards a brick wall in terms of storytelling. June’s multiple failed attempts to escape remind us that if she goes free, the series ends. As outrageous as it is that she returns to the Waterford home three times, it’s the only way to further current storylines and develop new ones.

Under Serena and the Commander’s roof, June’s presence creates a fissure, and, eventually, a fracture between Serena and Fred that cannot be healed. June’s able to exert more influence over Serena, laying the groundwork for the uprising that finally begins in earnest during “The Word.”

During Season 1, the geopolitics of Gilead, its economy, its governing body, the breadth of its powers, and its adversaries are barely touched upon, taking a backseat to the personal dynamics between the key characters.

Season 2 focuses primarily on June’s pregnancy, the evolving relationships between Serena, Nick, and the Commander, and the complex bond between mother and child. Yet the events in Canada, the radio broadcast that confirms a free America still exists somewhere, the terrorist bombing, and Serena’s reference to “the Resistance” all become increasingly significant.

“The Word” finally reveals that there is a strong opposition in place and that those who are part of it yield more power than we could have imagined. The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2 Episode 13 confirms Commander Lawrence is one of the good guys (or at least not one of the worst), but there are still a ton of questions surrounding what his plans for Emily might have been if she hadn’t tried to murder Aunt Lydia.

It’s a bit of a disappointment that we don’t get more insight into this character’s motives and endgame. And we’re likely to never find out — Lawrence resigns himself to the fact that by aiding Emily, he’s likely to suffer severe repercussions.

Lawrence is only part of a network that serves as an Underground Railroad of sorts for people eager to flee Gilead. A group of Marthas single-handedly (possibly with some help from Nick and a few Guardians) create the diversion necessary to sneak June and Holly out of the Waterford home.

This reminds us that the Marthas aren’t simply housekeepers and caregivers. Before Gilead, they were doctors, lawyers, professors, journalists, and activists, physically subjugated, perhaps, but still armed with the skills to wage battle against their patriarchal oppressors.

But the details surrounding the sudden urgency to free June are unclear. And how did Lawrence facilitate a perfectly timed reunion between Emily and June?

June’s decision to sacrifice one daughter to save another is fraught with contradictions. She hands off Holly to Emily, who has proven to be mentally unstable. On top of that, Emily is ill-equipped to care for an infant — she has no breast milk, diapers, or even a change of clothes — during what promises to be a perilous escape, if previous attempts are any indication.

June just readily accepts that things will work out for Holly/Nicole. Maybe it’s enough for June that she makes good on her promise to her newborn that she’d get her out.

June’s steely look of determination at the end of “The Word” is all fine and good, but what happens next? She cannot feasibly return to the Waterford home.

There are times when it feels like the Commander could be one step ahead, but the idea that he possesses the capabilities to orchestrate Machiavellian schemes never comes to fruition. He’s smart enough and powerful enough to be dangerous — like a chimpanzee with a loaded gun. Fred is more a slave to his emotions than the women he so desperately wants to control.

As clueless as the Commander is, he figures out that something is amiss. There’s no way Rita is being let off the hook. And even though Nick uses the logic that it’s too dangerous for the Commander to go in search of June and the baby, there is no mistaking the menacing, unspoken threat as Nick puts his hand on his gun.

There is no excuse, justification, or reason for June to return to Fred and Serena’s home. So how is she supposed to find her daughter with no resources? Is it back to the Red Center? A new posting where she’ll devote herself to dismantling Gilead between ceremonies?

Will she be sent to the Colonies? Will she find refuge among as yet unrevealed freedom fighters, where she’ll simultaneously exact revenge against the Commander, free her daughter, liberate Gilead, and then reunite with Luke, Holly/Nicole, Emily, and Moira?

The Handmaid’s Tale is trying to give its heroine a happy ending, which wasn’t author Margaret Atwood’s intent. Truthfully, The Handmaid’s Tale should have ended with that van door closing in Season 1, gathered up all the awards, and called it a day.

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

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