The Handmaid’s Tale Review: Chicago (Season 4 Episode 5)
We are finally out of Gilead and getting a look at life on the front lines on The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 Episode 5, “Chicago,” and it feels great.
The thing about taking June out of Gilead is that there is now space for her to actually fight, and she’s spooling for one. The problem is that while she could be subversive in Gilead and have relatively few consequences. While handmaids are a lower cast, there have been several incidents where there value has continued to rise.
The thing about taking off the red cloak is that June gives up a bit of that protection. When she looks for a fight here, no one is going to care if she’s a handmaid or not. She’s a soldier fighting against Gilead. Steven gets that and that informs how he approaches scenarios.
This is a way of thinking that June hasn’t been exposed to and it’s one that she’s going to need to get used to in order to survive and fight Gilead. Watching June attempt to adjust to a new set of surroundings is the kind of story, that the show has been missing and it’s refreshing to see June outside of Aunt Lydia and the commander’s grasp.
It’s been interesting seeing her paired with Jeanine on this episode. Jeanine has found a sense of empowerment in her newfound relationship with Steven and she’s starting to enjoy life again.
JUNE: Just dont’ get too attached, life is short here.
JEANINE: Life is short everywhere.
The way that Jeanine is envisions a future is hopeful. Her future includes having another kid and a relationship, and that’s okay if that’s what she wants. Jeanine can choose that life now. June, on the other hand, seems locked in a fight. I suspect that comes, in part, from her determination to save Hannah.
Hannah may be afraid of June, but that doesn’t change June’s anger over the hold Gilead has over her child. June won’t be happy until Gilead falls.
When June decides to leave Steven’s group, it’s a bittersweet moment. Jeanine is free to stay and it appears that she wants to until she catches up with June.
JUNE: What are you doing here?
JEANINE: I feel safer when we’re together. Handmaids always walk in twos, remember?
JUNE: Yea, come on.
Perhaps the most significant development from “Chicago,” is the reunion of June and Moira at the very end. After seasons of separation, this is the first time the two have seen each other outside of Gilead. While it’s the last moment of the episode, and we don’t see much of their interaction, it’s a hopeful development.
Aunt Lydia has an interesting plotline in “Chicago” as well. She’s enchanted with a new “crop” of handmaids that has just arrived. The Handmaid’s Tale has established that Aunt Lydia always wants to protect these handmaids and that she feels it’s her duty.
AUNT LYDIA: The girls have always been my concern. I have served Gilead with everything I have.
However, misguided Aunt Lydia may be it’s hard to argue with her motives. Given that The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 Episode 1, “Pigs,” did give us an inkling that handmaids are “…more trouble than they are worth,” it feels like Aunt Lydia may be in for a redemption arc of sorts now that she’s back in power. The way that the commanders have started seeing her as frail could also spark some rebellion within her.
Her speech as she instructs the other handmaids as they walk isn’t one that praises Gilead, but more about the fellowship and strength handmaids should have and find with each other. While Aunt Lydia does serve Gilead, her interest is in the wellbeing of the handmaids, and it is beginning to look like she’s onto their game.
“Chicago” is a promising start for a new chapter that will hopefully, lead to Gilead’s fall. As long as the series keeps looking at the high-ranking principal players the series will make movement to a satisfying conclusion.
Stray Thoughts:
- For some reason, Aunt Lydia on a treadmill feels like the first instance of technology we’ve seen in the show. The Handmaid’s Tale really doesn’t seem to use mechanized objects, and while the treadmill fits, it also feels anachronistic.
- I am worried about Jeanine. I am hoping she doesn’t die in the bombing after this beautiful episode with such great moments between her and June.
- I enjoy the snarky marthas who show up to a meeting with Nick and say exactly what the entire audience is thinking. June isn’t special she’s a rebellious face, and those who help her do “…end up on the f*cking wall.”
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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Lauren Busser
Lauren Busser is an Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Popshot Quarterly, Brain Mill Press Voices, and The Hartford Courant.