S06.E04: Promotion

[paulvdb]

Quote

June disrupts the rebels' plans. Commander Lawrence gains power and influence.

Premiere date: April 15, 2025

[Armchair Critic]

I noticed Elizabeth Moss was fuller in the face and wearing jackets, found out she was pregnant while filming this season.

I don't trust that Commander and Serena is falling for his flattery.

Luke wants to prove himself but he will probably end up being a liability. I don't know how they could get back Hannah.

I don't blame Moira for not wanting to live through June, hope they all make it out safe.

 

Edited April 15 by Armchair Critic

[shirazplease]

I'm bored.  Nothing is happening.  Normally I like slow burns, but this is too late in the game.

[Helena Dax]

2 hours ago, shirazplease said:

I'm bored.  Nothing is happening.  Normally I like slow burns, but this is too late in the game.

I completely agree. I like slow burns too, but this episode doesn't belong to the final season. And it was simply mediocre, in my opinion. Generally speaking, the show has lost its way. It isn't psychological horror anymore, but right now it's too dumb to be politically or socially meaningful. The only thing I really enjoyed about this episode was the dark humor when it comes to Lawerence and Naomi's marriage. 

[Anela]

Moira and Luke were right: June was infantalizing them, and June has needed help herself.  She is not a superhero.  She also doesn’t think of their feelings, when she keeps putting herself into dangerous situations.  I did like Luke and June’s talk at the end.

I’m creeped out by the guy who is wooing Serena. I feel like he’s going to be worse than Fred.  I love Josh Charles.  It’s weird seeing him as a commander.  

Edited April 15 by Anela

[crashdown]

I think there was a lot wrong with this awkward, choppy episode. (I'll continue to defend the fact that the writers have been consistent in terms of character, but it's hard to stick up for writers who are this sloppy about everything else.)

Luke is suddenly in charge of the whole bombing mission? Because of his Mad Skillz with building permits?

Moira, who was reluctant even to tell June about the Mayday border operatives in season five because they were a bunch of traumatized refugees, now wants to become one herself?

June has decided, after four seasons of calling her Gilead kid "Nichole," that now is the time to start calling her "Holly," just when it would be most confusing with another Holly on the scene? And she does this without discussing it first with Luke and Moira, who were Nichole's primary caregivers? And neither of them blinks at it?

The June and Luke convo about their marriage was long overdue but very awkwardly shoehorned into this episode. It literally seemed to come out of nowhere.

Commander Wharton, who clearly is EVIL, is playing Serena like a fiddle. I'm embarrassed for her.

 

[marinw]

Question: are the New Bethlehem scenes filmed in Seaside, Florida? The same location as The Truman Show?

[crashdown]

39 minutes ago, marinw said:

Question: are the New Bethlehem scenes filmed in Seaside, Florida? The same location as The Truman Show?

No. It’s filmed in some place in Ontario on the St. Lawrence. It’s very pretty. 

[marinw]

47 minutes ago, crashdown said:

1 hour ago, marinw said:

 

No. It’s filmed in some place in Ontario on the St. Lawrence. It’s very pretty. 

Right! This show is filmed in Canada. 🇨🇦 

[yesferatu]

I feel like I am watching an AI movie version of a video game. 

[chaifan]

8 hours ago, shirazplease said:

I'm bored.  Nothing is happening.  Normally I like slow burns, but this is too late in the game.

I liked the pacing of the first 3 episodes, but I'll 100% agree with you on this one.  Nothing happened.  

I can't believe we have the return of Super June.  ugh.  Yeah, I know, Super June sort of appeared last episode, but I was hoping that was just a one-off.  But nope, June is full into Super June mode.  

3 hours ago, Anela said:

I’m creeped out by the guy who is wooing Serena. I feel like he’s going to be worse than Fred.  I love Josh Charles.  It’s weird seeing him as a commander.  

I haven't figured out the character.  I don't think he's purely evil, but I have no clue if he's playing Serena or truly interested.  I mean, after all, his choices are few and far between for adult females.  He's somehow avoided getting assigned a wife, and I give him credit for turning down Jezebels, and for serving Serena coffee & pie.  I think the uber-religiosity is genuine.  He doesn't seem to have a problem with women reading again.  But, damn yes, something seems super creepy about him.  I'm not sure what the endgame would be for fake-wooing Serena.  

OK, someone tell me if I'm going crazy, or has Serena switched from deep pink to purple?  Or is the color off on my tv?  

Poor Nadine.  She's really making an effort with Lawrence.  But she's all over the place.  She seems like she can barely tolerate him, is putting up with this marriage of convenience because it saved her ass, but then she's making the moves.  I love the scenes with Lawrence and Angela.  But I fear something bad is going to happen to that child.

3 hours ago, crashdown said:

June has decided, after four seasons of calling her Gilead kid "Nichole," that now is the time to start calling her "Holly," just when it would be most confusing with another Holly on the scene?

OMG.  Thank you!  This was so bugging me, and I just thought I missed something.  Is Nichole's full name Holly Nichole (or Nichole Holly)?  

So Lawrence's negotiations resulted in jewelry for the women.  Oh, yippee.  How about a truckload of books instead?  

 

[txhorns79]

21 hours ago, Armchair Critic said:

I don't trust that Commander and Serena is falling for his flattery.

I'm surprised she trusts any of them, but I've decided Serena has crossed over into being completely delusional.  It was like her greeting Rita at the New Bethlehem gates like they are old friends, and not the woman who was Serena's quasi-house slave for however many years.  Gilead is a black hole of death and destruction, and Serena is acting like she's in a rom com, complete with dreamily dancing in the street.

I'm also just waiting for Luke to get killed trying to prove himself to June.   

[crashdown]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

OMG.  Thank you!  This was so bugging me, and I just thought I missed something.  Is Nichole's full name Holly Nichole (or Nichole Holly)?  

Who knows? Serena named her Nichole, but when she was born, June told the baby that her real name is Holly (and she told Nick that, too). When June gave the baby to Emily to take to Canada, she told Emily to "call her Nichole" to honor Serena's sacrifice in allowing her to be taken. She and Nick have always referred to her as Nichole, not Holly. So have Luke and Moira, even though June sent Luke an audio tape telling him that her real name is Holly. (They could have changed it at that point, when she was an infant and wouldn't recognize any name, but they didn't.) And now, inexplicably, she's suddenly Holly. It will please a certain Osblaine-obsessed segment of the Internet who have ALWAYS called her Holly, but for a mainstream audience, I can't imagine why they're doing this.

[Linderhill]

Poor Nicole, she's going to be one confused little girl with this name change (and that isn't counting what could happen in the sequel series if it's anything like Testaments).  

Lawrence is very sweet with Angela, it's too bad it probably won't last.  Loved hearing the reading of The Little Princess.  It was one of my favorite books as a girl.

[circumvent]

Nichole or Holly?

Spoiler

This is probably the "smart" way the writers found to link this show to The Testaments because in the book Nichole is Holly - I think? But with these writers having this strange obsession with completely changing what is in books, who knows? they might even keep June alive forever, and having New Bethlehem be part of the next show's story

 

[Charlemagne]

June suddenly now calling the baby Holly makes perfect sense:

She was just reunited with her mother - whom she had long thought dead. 

The mother after whom she named the baby.

So, with that sudden and recent upturning of her emotional worldview, calling the baby Holly for the mother who she thought she had lost, is a reinvigoration and a recommitment to her sense of hope. And a sense of reclaiming what was lost.

[bettername2come]

I feel like they brushed over June just changing the baby's name back to Holly. Like, oh, now that you have another Holly in your life you're gonna also change her name? Plus, Nichole also works as a nod to her probable bio-dad's name. 

Jonah from Veep fits perfectly into the Handmaid's Tale universe.

June saying that Janine's like a little sister to her was so sweet. Moira and Luke teaming up to argue with June was nice to see. Moira's "You think that little of us?" was well-delivered and fair. June really does assume everyone dies without her.

I think I've never liked Lawrence more than when he read to Angela and said one day she would read it too all by herself. 

It was nice to see June and Luke have an open, honest conversation about their relationship and their family. 

[shirazplease]

On 4/15/2025 at 2:05 PM, Helena Dax said:

The only thing I really enjoyed about this episode was the dark humor when it comes to Lawerence and Naomi's marriage. 

He's the best thing about this show, and possibly has been for some time.  I don't care about Serena dancing in the middle of the street.  Let's get to Jezebels and start  the mayhem!

[aghst]

This episode seem to be rationalizing why they will go back to Gilead.

Again.

Characters have to repeatedly show why they are going on a mission to risk getting themselves captured or killed.  Goal of course is to kill Commanders.

But was June really going to walk away, get Luke and Moira to go with her to Alaska, quit the struggle?  As long as Hannah was in Gilead, she wasn’t walking away was she?

You would think for 3 former captives, who all went through a lot to escape, they’d be very reluctant to go.  Did they forget the PTSD, particularly June and Moira?

June thinks as long as Nick has power, he will save her if she gets into trouble.

Moira just wants to fight?  She just bored of being free or just want veangeance?

Luke also wants to be a hero?

I don’t know if these motivations are believable.  Show obviously has to have the main “Good Guys” get in the fight again.

Been well-established that these characters have reasons to fight Gilead.  But they seem to need to express this want repeatedly.

Tone of the show is different now.  We haven’t had the traumatic and intense scenes from the early seasons, when they hit you in the face with the brutality of Gilead.

Maybe the characters have forgotten the horror so they’re more hung-hot Han they’d be just after they gained freedom?

[crashdown]

12 hours ago, circumvent said:

Spoiler

This is probably the "smart" way the writers found to link this show to The Testaments because in the book Nichole is Holly - I think?

 

No, Nichole is Daisy in The Testaments, not Holly. Apparently part of the Holly/Nichole confusion arose because it was written after June said the baby's real name was Holly, but Atwood insisted that they keep the name Nichole. What changed is anyone's guess.

[Brn2bwild]

I'm hoping Serena isn't as delusional as she seems and that some of the lessons she learned from two months in that commune have stayed with her.

[circumvent]

10 hours ago, crashdown said:

but Atwood insisted that they keep the name Nichole.

Why is Margaret Atwood insisting on something she has no part on? This is strange. She apparently praised the butchery of her excellent book but has an issue with the name of a character that is not in it?

[PurpleTentacle]

"Gilead has the best prenatel care in the world." Is Serena reeally this delulu? Was she deliberatly lying, or have the writers just forgotten what they showed us in season 1? Gilead has basically no prenatel care at all.

I'm doubious about what the writers do and don't remember anyway. The way the characters are talking it's like there is only one Jezzebelles in the entire country. But we know that's not true and the characters did mention some debaucheries in Washington, so the writers must remember, right? This is such a mess...

[chaifan]

13 hours ago, PurpleTentacle said:

"Gilead has the best prenatel care in the world." Is Serena reeally this delulu? Was she deliberatly lying, or have the writers just forgotten what they showed us in season 1? Gilead has basically no prenatel care at all.

Exactly.  Oh, we chain our pregnant women to beds so they can't escape. They are constantly under threat of having eyes taken out, fingers chopped off, they know as soon as that baby is weaned they're back to being raped on a monthly basis...  but hey, undue stress on a pregnant woman has never been shown to adversely affect the baby.  Oh, come on show!  The viewers are smarter than that! 

Also, they've exiled, murdered or driven away at least 50% of their doctors, not to mention a good chunk of all the other staff a hospital relies on.  So there's no way Gilead's pre-natal, natal, or any other type of medical care could be above other developed countries.  

Again, if they showed the diplomats just doing a bit of side eye or eye rolls at this, it would be fine.  I'm ok with Serena believing what she says, or deliberately lying to fit her "ambassador" role.  I'm just not ok with the rest of the world agreeing with it.  

 

[AngelaHunter]

On 4/15/2025 at 8:58 PM, chaifan said:

haven't figured out the character.  I don't think he's purely evil, but I have no clue if he's playing Serena or truly interested.

It seems he lusted for her from afar - "coveted another man's wife" -  for quite some time. What does he want from Serena? Is he in love with her, or does he want to marry her so he can control her? It's hard for me to look at him and not see Will Gardner from "The Good Wife". Whatever it is, Serena is flattered and falling for it.

 

On 4/15/2025 at 5:42 PM, crashdown said:

Luke is suddenly in charge of the whole bombing mission? Because of his Mad Skillz with building permits?

I haven't seen his mad skillz with anything yet, except maybe pouting.

On 4/16/2025 at 4:36 PM, aghst said:

We haven’t had the traumatic and intense scenes from the early seasons, when they hit you in the face with the brutality of Gilead.

True, but for me, the casual sadism, sexual abuse, and humiliation the Commanders inflict on the sex slaves at Jezabel's, even if we don't see the full extent of it, is plenty brutal.

[chaifan]

4 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

It seems he lusted for her from afar - "coveted another man's wife" -  for quite some time.

Yeah, that's what I'm not completely convinced of.  He says that's what is happening, but to me the character doesn't come off as being genuine, that he's trying to scam Serena into falling in love with him.  Is it all an act, and if so, for what purpose?  

I could be totally off on this, of course.  

[AngelaHunter]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

Is it all an act, and if so, for what purpose?  

Yes, that might keep me interested enough to keep watching this. He's incredibly smooth, saying all the right things, serving Serena coffee and pie, and heaping flattery on her as though testing it out to see how much she'll swallow. The waltzing in the street tells him she'll swallow quite a bit. I'm curious to see the end game to this campaign to sweep her off her feet.

I must say I continue to be impressed by Yvonne Strahovski. After seeing her only on "Dexter", I had no idea she was such a good actress.

On 4/16/2025 at 4:36 PM, aghst said:

June thinks as long as Nick has power, he will save her if she gets into trouble.

Moira just wants to fight?  She just bored of being free or just want veangeance?

Luke also wants to be a hero?

Personally, I find the wooing of Serena a more intriguing storyline than the "A-Team" raid of Super June, Moira, and Luke, although I liked June informing Luke he's clueless about the reality of what it's like in Gilead.

I'm also enjoying the fucked-up, hilarious marriage of Lawrence and Naomi.

[Bluesky]

On 4/15/2025 at 12:26 AM, Armchair Critic said:

I noticed Elizabeth Moss was fuller in the face and wearing jackets, found out she was pregnant while filming this season.

I don't trust that Commander and Serena is falling for his flattery.

Luke wants to prove himself but he will probably end up being a liability. I don't know how they could get back Hannah.

I don't blame Moira for not wanting to live through June, hope they all make it out safe.

 

Serena has got to be lonely.  In that position a lot of us would fall for flattery.  I don’t trust that whole New Bethlehem.  It still too religious and they are still wearing colors that dictate who they are.  

[kitkat343]

14 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

It seems he lusted for her from afar - "coveted another man's wife" -  for quite some time. What does he want from Serena? Is he in love with her, or does he want to marry her so he can control her? It's hard for me to look at him and not see Will Gardner from "The Good Wife". Whatever it is, Serena is flattered and falling for it.

 

 

It reminds me of how Mark Tuello was also attracted to Serena.  I find him being genuinely attracted to Serena the way Mark clearly was to be a possibility.  But I agree I don't entirely understand his motivations.  He seems awfully tolerant of his son in law Nick being openly in love with another woman who has borne his child, and of Nick punching Commander Lawrence when he threatened June.  Rose really deserves better and I would have hoped that her father would be one of the people who would want more for her.

 

8 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

 

I'm also enjoying the fucked-up, hilarious marriage of Lawrence and Naomi.

  Watching Naomi fail will always entertain me.  

 

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Considering this is the last season I wish they would get to the actual rebellion rather than talking about rebellion. I feel like with that level of authoritarianism ther would be acts of rebellion happening all the time. And I wish that mayday leader had told June that it's a war and they need everyone they can get, and if she wants to go over the border to kill some commanders she is more than welcome to.

Also one small thing, but why is Angela so much bigger/older than Nicole? Angela was born in season 1 and Nicole in season 2 but I think it was less than a year in show time between their births.

23 hours ago, Bluesky said:

I don’t trust that whole New Bethlehem.

Yea like what happens when a handmaid says they want to move to New Bethlehem. Gilead is a country still presumably with millions of people and NB looks like the size of a small town at best.  Only giving some people the freedom to move there is going to be one more thing to make people rebel against.

[lucindabelle]

A few years ago my mom (in her 80s then now in her 90s) summed up the show like this:

 

she gets out. She gets caught. She goes back. She gets out. She goes back.

 

shes still right.

 

i had high hopes because episodes one promised something so different in everybody’s fate. But here we are. The Serena nearly got the lithe ru (Shirley Jackson) treatment is gone and forgotten. And apparently it takes no time at all to get back from Alaska. Geography is never a tv writers strong suit.

 

i too am waaaaay more interested in new Bethlehem and the possibility of a better Gilead than in the rebellion.

i hope the commander isn’t playing Serena mostly because i am BORED WITH THAT STORYLINE. I mean come on Serena and Lawrence cannot be the only two adults bringing wistfully if ready to wear clothes, store bought pie and reading a good book.

 

the scene at Jezebelles was completely disgusting. And quite strange to me because not all men by ANY means even those who enjoy power would actually enjoy a scene like that and the show is suggesting that MOST of these religious guys do /would. Which I just do not believe. 
 

which makes me bored. 

[circumvent]

8 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Also one small thing, but why is Angela so much bigger/older than Nicole? Angela was born in season 1 and Nicole in season 2 but I think it was less than a year in show time between their births.

I noticed that too. Not so much about Angela, I had forgotten about her, really. But I noticed that Nichole/Holly looked younger than I remember from the previous season. I thought she was already walking, for one thing

[crashdown]

The timeline with regard to Nichole/Holly has always been cracked. June came to the Waterfords in 2017; it was her second posting, and postings last two years. June seems to have been in Canada about a year. Hannah was around five when she was taken. If five years have passed (which is about right, 2017 to 2022, when June gave her testimony), Hannah should be 10, but they've aged her up to 12 to have the she's-about-to get-married drama. Nichole probably should be closer to three than two, but she's close enough to be forgivable. But Hannah and Nichole can't exist in the same temporal universe.

Since I don't know anything about babies, I have no idea if the kid playing Nichole looks two. Is she too young-looking for that?

[Kel Varnsen]

2 minutes ago, crashdown said:

Since I don't know anything about babies, I have no idea if the kid playing Nichole looks two. Is she too young-looking for that?

Maybe? I will have to look closer next time they show her. But Nichole looks like a toddler while Angela looks like she maybe 4 or 5. But I think they were born at maybe a year apart. Angela was born in season 1 episode 2. Then by the end of season 1 June finds out she is pregnant. In season 2 episode 11 she gives birth to Nichole. I am just not sure how many years season 1 and 2 take place over.

[crashdown]

31 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

I am just not sure how many years season 1 and 2 take place over.

You're not sure because it's unclear. Here are some facts:

• In the pilot, June says that Hannah is six "now." That would have been in 2017 according to June's season 4 testimony.
• At some point in season 1, June says that Handmaid assignments last two years if the Handmaid does not get pregnant.
• The Waterfords are June's second posting, so she'd already been in Gilead around two and a half years (I'm assuming six months for Red Center training). That would have made Hannah four at the oldest when she was snatched, which is already starting to seem off.
• When Serena approaches June about breeding to Nick, she says that June's time is running out. So we need to assume that at least one and a half years have passed in that single episode. That would make Hannah seven or eight.
• June and Nick do the deed. Nichole is born nine months later, and it probably takes a month or so for June to give the baby to Emily for the escape. That means that, at the time Nichole entered Canada, she would have been under one (or just barely one) and Hannah should have been nine.
• According to June, Nichole was 21 months when June got on the train with her, so another year has passed in Canada (which seems about right). Hannah should be ten right now, not 12 or 13. Nichole is two.
• As for Angela, she was born in episode 2 of season 1. June and Nick had sex for the first time in episode 5, AFTER THE YEAR AND A HALF TIME JUMP. That means that Angela should be at least two years older than Nichole, maybe a little more. So if Nichole is two, Angela is at least four. (I think she looks like a four-year-old, but again, I'm no expert.)

Anyway, Nichole and Angela are closer to their "correct" age than Hannah is.

 

Edited April 20 by crashdown

[Kel Varnsen]

5 hours ago, crashdown said:

As for Angela, she was born in episode 2 of season 1. June and Nick had sex for the first time in episode 5, AFTER THE YEAR AND A HALF TIME JUMP. That means that Angela should be at least two years older than Nichole, maybe a little more. So if Nichole is two, Angela is at least four. (I think she looks like a four-year-old, but again, I'm no expert.)

Ok that makes more sense then. I totally forgot about a time jump. Although jumping a year and a half between 3 episodes seems can kind crazy.

[lucindabelle]

It’s a teeny note but A LITTLE PRINCESS was one of my favorite books and Angela is wildly too young for it. It’s not a chapter book it’s really just a YA or middle grade and you have to be at least 10. Yes Sara is 7 at the beginning but most of the book takes place later on when her father is dead and she lives in the attic of the school. It may have been his wife’s favorite book but not when she was 2-3 which is what Angela seems to be (she seems barely verbal) and it didn’t help that the child actress was clearly not comprehending the story at all. Even a really awful dad- and Lawrence seems to have good instincts with kids- would know that book was too old for the child. Shoehorned in to show Lawrence kept illegal artifacts, still loved his wife, and for the words of the chapter itself which are all about little Sara’s old soul. 
 

I must say the language of the book sounds amazing. I’m due for a reread.

 

another note: are they still dressing by station? Rose was but Serena is wearing normal clothes.

[chaifan]

8 hours ago, lucindabelle said:

another note: are they still dressing by station? Rose was but Serena is wearing normal clothes.

Serena has been in all pink or purple since she came to NB.  I'm not sure if the color has changed, or if it just looking different on my TV.  So many scenes are so damn dark!  aargh.  All the other wives we've seen have been in Teal.  I have no idea what pink/purple signifies for Serena's station.  Widow?   Leader?  

In the scene where Serena met Rita at the bus, there were a lot of people in "normal" clothes, but those could have been on the bus with Rita.  Rita's sister seemed to be in traditional Martha grey.  And others in the crowd looked to be in monochromatic outfits of very dull colors.  

[Kel Varnsen]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

Serena has been in all pink or purple since she came to NB.  I'm not sure if the color has changed, or if it just looking different on my TV.  So many scenes are so damn dark!  aargh.  All the other wives we've seen have been in Teal.  I have no idea what pink/purple signifies for Serena's station.  Widow?   Leader?  

Serena also has been wearing pants pretty much all the time with other Gilead women don't seem to be allowed to do.

I also don't remember when Serena went to visit her mother a few seasons ago, her dad was already dead at that point. But she was living in her own and I don't remember what she wore.

[AstridM]

13 hours ago, lucindabelle said:

It’s a teeny note but A LITTLE PRINCESS was one of my favorite books and Angela is wildly too young for it. It’s not a chapter book it’s really just a YA or middle grade and you have to be at least 10. Yes Sara is 7 at the beginning but most of the book takes place later on when her father is dead and she lives in the attic of the school. It may have been his wife’s favorite book but not when she was 2-3 which is what Angela seems to be (she seems barely verbal) and it didn’t help that the child actress was clearly not comprehending the story at all. Even a really awful dad- and Lawrence seems to have good instincts with kids- would know that book was too old for the child. Shoehorned in to show Lawrence kept illegal artifacts, still loved his wife, and for the words of the chapter itself which are all about little Sara’s old soul. 
 

I must say the language of the book sounds amazing. I’m due for a reread.

 

another note: are they still dressing by station? Rose was but Serena is wearing normal clothes.

I read that book before I was 10 and loved it. But I was older than Angela. Hopefully she keeps it and rereads it herself later. 

[kitkat343]

14 hours ago, chaifan said:

Serena has been in all pink or purple since she came to NB.  I'm not sure if the color has changed, or if it just looking different on my TV.  So many scenes are so damn dark!  aargh.  All the other wives we've seen have been in Teal.  I have no idea what pink/purple signifies for Serena's station.  Widow?   Leader?  

 

Young girls prior to marriage wear pink in the Handmaids tale, which would reinforce the idea that Serena is forging her own path, since the leaders would be unlikely to reuse a color both for children and widows.