The Handmaid’s Tale took a breather from its intense pace this week and delivered something of a filler episode with what could be a consistent ending. The fifth season of the series reached its top speed in the previous episode, “Dear Offred”, with June Osborn almost (literally) taking her shot at Serena Joy Waterford. She had the gun and the shot, but didn’t pull the trigger. While Serena is whisked away to a remote mansion in the Canadian wilderness, June is left behind in Toronto, waiting for her second chance to return to her former tormentor.
Episode five, titled “Fairytale,” only seems to serve as a setup for something bigger to come in the rest of the season. The episode doesn’t give us much other than a decent cliffhanger ending preceded by some low-level interactions and fluff introductions. Here’s a breakdown of The Handmaid’s Talethe last episode.
Back in Toronto
The episode opens with an ethereal dream sequence of floundering marine life swooping across the screen. We see a younger Hannah marveling at the jellyfish behind the glass as June watches. June’s sole focus of season five was a reunion with her daughter, who is now perilously close to complete indoctrination into Gilead’s uncanny ways. June is awakened by the buzzing of her phone and learns from Mayday agent Lily that a Gilead Guardian will pass along the border. This spy has information that June and Luke are particularly interested in; locations of women’s schools, which Hannah will soon be enrolled in.
Luke and June go to the Mayday cabin from a previous episode to meet Lily and hopefully connect with the Guardian. Lily fears the meeting could jeopardize the entire operation as Canada has stepped up its border patrols; they get tired of Mayday’s presence along the borderline. The Guardian can’t reach them, so they have to get to him and venture into the unregulated No Man’s Land.
June and Luke are both ready to take the risk and are given a map and the task of searching the forest for a flag that indicates their destination. Moira, who accompanied them to the cabin, remains behind as she and Lily both marvel at the couple’s devotion to their long-lost daughter. “They keep fighting for each other,” Moira notes. As June and Luke follow the trail, a body appears suspended from a tall tree branch with a sign around its neck that reads “Rapper.” Despite this terrifying sight, they continue.
Serena’s New Lineup
Serena settles into her new home in the middle of nowhere, hosted by the mysterious Wheeler family. She meets a group of Gilead women who marvel at her pregnancy and say it has given them hope for their own chances of having a child. We get a flashback scene of Serena “shopping” for her future maidservantwith Aunt Lydia trumpeting the qualities of every woman.
Serena gets a call with Commanders Lawrence and Putnam and comes up with a new idea for the shuttered Gilead Information Center, a fertility center. Serena believes Gilead is focusing its outreach efforts on the wrong facets of the country, emphasizing their controversial way of life rather than the endgame of producing children. Putnam scoffs at the idea, while Lawrence shows interest.
Meanwhile, we get a harbinger of the inevitable conflict between Canada and Gilead with Lawrence’s planned conflict “New Bethlehem” Project. This initiative would welcome those who have defected from Gilead; people Putnam dismisses as traitors and terrorists. Lawrence worries that if they continue on the absolutist path, the country will die. As things get tricky in Canada for Gilead refugees, the plan’s convergence and growing anti-US sentiment could lead to the major conflict that has plagued the series for several seasons.
Serena finally gets to meet Commander Wheeler, who informs her that he and the other high commanders have voted to adopt her idea for a fertility center. She is forbidden to participate in the initiative, citing the well-being of her baby.
June and Luke meet Jaeden
Back in the woods, June and Luke finally make contact with their spy; a young Guardian named Jaeden. He leads them through the rubble of decaying buildings to a red brick bowling alley. Jaeden describes the woman’s school treating the students like princesses and quickly moving them to their arranged marriage. Jaeden begs them to stay until dark, because walking through the woods during the day is a huge risk. He offers the couple a thumb drive with all the information he has about the settings before the bowling and beer begin.
Jaeden later reveals that he became a spy for Mayday because he believed in people’s simple right to do whatever they wanted, even something as trivial as the game they were enjoying at the time. Luke then wanders off to a nearby piano and sings Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together”, followed by a slow dance with June.
The trio venture back to Mayday before Jaeden’s step produces an ominous click; a land mine left behind buried by rebels. The device explodes, seriously injuring Jaeden and drawing the attention of other Guardians patrolling the area. June and Luke leave with the border in sight, but are surrounded and surrounded by Gilead troops. They are separated with a scream to close the episode.
In general, “Fairytale” is a bit of a slog. It’s usually 45 minutes of empty calories with just a few chunks of meat in it; the fertility center, New Bethlehem, and the capture of June and Luke. The discouraging ending will hopefully bring something bigger in episode six.