Praise be, The Handmaid’s Tale is back! The hit Hulu series officially returned to screens Tuesday with “Train,” an emotionally tense episode directed by Elisabeth Moss.
Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6.
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Picking up directly after the events of the Season 5 finale, which saw Luke (O-T Fagbenle) being arrested and June (Moss) boarding a train to escape Toronto and unexpectedly reuniting with Serena, the Season 6 premiere episode followed June and Serena’s (Yvonne Strahovski) journey on a train to Alaska as it took an unexpected turn. The episode also chronicled the worsening relationship between Canada and American refugees.
One of a total of three episodes released by Hulu Tuesday, the premiere featured more than just a few jaw-dropping moments. Keep scrolling to read about some of the most memorable scenes from “Train.”
“It’s Not a Good Time To Be an American in Canada”
Fans have spent the past five seasons watching numerous unspeakable horrors unfold in Gilead, which is why the revelation in the Season 6 premiere that Canada is considering welcoming relations with the dystopian society so shocking.
During a meeting between Moira (Samira Wiley) and Mark Tuello (Sam Jaeger), a representative of the U.S. Government-in-Exile, Mark bluntly states that “it’s not a good time to be an American in Canada” before revealing that the Canadian government is preparing to shut the U.S. Government-in-Exile’s office down. According to Mark, “the Cabinet wants to start normalizing relations with Gilead,” something that would mean “derecognizing the United States.” Such a move would not only give a major boost to Gilead, and help the country expand its reach across the globe, but also hamper all ongoing efforts to ultimately defeat Gilead and return the United States to the country it was before.
However, hope isn’t completely lost. While the future looks grim, neither Mark nor Moira are ready to give up the fight just yet. As Mark notes, “Mayday’s fighting back,” giving hope that the resistance can continue and that Gilead will eventually fall.
June Pushes Serena From the Train
The most intense scene, and one of the most unforgettable scenes in the entire series, came on the train to Alaska. After Serena’s true identity is revealed and a police officer declines to take her into custody, Serena is left to be punished by her fellow passengers, all Gilead refugees who just moments earlier emotionally opened up about everything Gilead took from them.
The claustrophobic, tense scene almost seemed more reminiscent of something from a zombie apocalypse film, with a group of figures pushing and crowding around their victim. However, they weren’t looking for food – they were looking for revenge for the countless crimes Gilead committed against them, and they were determined to get it.
In a final effort to save Serena, June pulled the emergency brake and ushered her and Serena between train cars. With the angry refugees smashing the glass window, and Serena and her son Noah’s lives on the line, June pushed Serena from the train.
June Is Reunited With Her Mother
The Handmaid’s Tale has always been a somber and difficult show to watch, but the Season 6 premiere changed tune and ended on a happy note. In the final minutes of the episode, after June arrives in Alaska with Nichole and heads to medical, the camera cut to a woman in scrubs walking through the crowd of people. As she looks over the list of names of refugees, her hand stops and hovers over a name before she drops the clipboard and the camera finally shows her face.
It’s June’s mother, Holly Maddox (Cherry Jones), who had been presumed dead after it was revealed in an earlier season that she’d been sent to the Colonies, the place where women are sent to do hard labor before their eventual deaths.
The episode closed with June and Holly embracing after years apart.
