The Handmaid’s Tale is no stranger to death. In a society where people can be executed for the slightest crime, multiple characters have ended up on The Wall, and Season 4 sawviewers say goodbye to one major character when Commander Fred Waterford was killed by former handmaids. Now, Season 5 has marked the first major death of the season when one character was killed in the newest episode. Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, Episode 6, “Together.”
“Together” proved to be a major episode, and one that could potentially change the course of the hit Hulu original series and life in Gilead forever. In the final minutes of the episode, Commander Warren Putnam, one of the higher-ranking commanders in Gilead, was killed. It was revealed earlier in the episode that Esther, the handmaiden that was to be assigned to his household before she poisoned herself and Janine with chocolates, is pregnant after having been raped by Putnam during their first meeting, during which he requested a private audience with her. Although Aunt Lydia had pleaded with Commander Lawrence to prosecute Putnam for his crime, it seemed he would get away with it, as so many others have before him, until the final minutes of the episode, when Lawrence and Nick Blaine arrived to the restaurant where he was dining with his wife, Naomi Putnam. After arresting Putnam for his crimes, he was executed just in front of the restaurant and in front of the other commanders and their wives.
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Putnam’s death shocked viewers, who, up until this point, had not seen men in Gilead punished for their wrongdoings against women. Coming just after the devastating reveal that Esther was prompted to attempt suicide after being raped by Putnam, Putnam’s execution felt like justice for many viewers, who immediately took to social media to react. Keep scrolling to see what viewers had to say about Putnam’s death.
Fans had been rallying for justice before Putnam’s execution
“Commander Putnam has always been a problem for me but now… he gotta go,” one fan tweeted after it was revealed Putnam raped Esther. “I knew something more went down in that room.”
‘Got what he deserved’
“OMG. The plot twist. This was too much for my poor little heart,” wrote one viewer. “Putnam finally got what he deserved. [Praise Be].”
Putnam was ‘so disgusting’
“Putnam is finally put down!! He was so disgusting!!” added somebody else.
‘Couldn’t have happened to a worse guy’
“Well d-, Putnam,” a viewer reacted. “Couldn’t have happened to a worse guy.”
Nick
“I bet Nick thought about June when he killed Putnam,” one person theorized. “Especially after I watched the ‘Inside the Episode’ for ‘Together.’”
‘Yes!’
“Yes!! Putnam is going down!” tweeted another fan. “Oh what? What nick? WHAT. THAT was crazy!”
‘Putnam deserved it!!!’
“I don’t think Commander Putnam saw that shot coming. In the middle of breakfast!!” added another person.
