‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Elisabeth Moss Says Rescuing Hannah Is ‘Always’ June’s ‘End Goal’
On Sept. 14, season 5 of The Handmaid’s Tale premiered on Hulu with two new episodes. The new season picks up directly after the season 4 finale, and it shows June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) trying to balance her life in Canada and her need for revenge against Gilead. In an interview with Parade.com, Moss discussed June’s goals for the new season of The Handmaid’s Tale.
[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for season 5 of The Handmaid’s Tale.]
June’s daughter is her priority in season 5 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
In The Handmaid’s Tale, June lives in Canada with her husband Luke (O-T Fagbenle), her friend Moira (Samira Wiley), and her and Commander Nick Blaine’s (Max Minghella) young daughter Nichole. June and Luke’s daughter Hannah (Jordana Blake) is still in Gilead.
Speaking with Parade.com, Moss shared that June’s family is her priority, and her main “goal” is still to get Hannah out of Gilead.
“Hannah’s always, always been the end goal,” Moss told Parade.com. “I think that what it has probably developed into is trying to figure out how to keep her family safe—[June’s daughter] Nichole and [June’s husband] Luke and Moira—and she’s trying to figure out how to keep them safe.”
The actor continued, “I do think that there’s a side of her that wants to just lead the charge and lead the resistance and go back into Gilead guns blazing, but she has a family, and so she’s trying to figure out how to be the mother and the wife and the friend, while at the same time being this heroine, this person who is this symbol for the resistance.”
Where season 5 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ picks up
In the season 4 finale of The Handmaid’s Tale, June, Emily (Alexis Bledel), and other former Handmaids murder Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) together.
Season 5 episode 1 of The Handmaid’s Tale, titled “Morning,” shows June’s immediate reaction to this decision.
“Obviously, at the end of Season 4, I think June thought that she had sort of vanquished her enemy. That she was going to release herself from this villain of Fred Waterford. And in the first episode, it’s a less than 24-hour period and it takes place basically right after the murder,” Moss told Parade.com.
As the episode goes on, reality begins to set in for June.
“She’s in this euphoric place. She’s feeling like she just had this incredible experience. She’s feeling the relief of it, and then her world starts coming in, consequences start coming in, her family starts coming in,” Moss said.
What Elisabeth Moss thinks is next for June
In “Morning,” those who helped June kill Fred begin to encourage her to kill other Gilead leaders. This reaction forces June to consider what she wants going forward.
“People start asking her questions. People start asking her what’s next? What is she gonna do next? Who are they going after next? Who are they going to kill next? And she’s going, ‘Wait, wait, I’m not that person. I needed to do this for myself. But I’m not a violent person,'” Moss told Parade.com. “She’s saying that [while she’s] covered in blood.”
As season 5 continues, fans of the Hulu series will watch June balance her love for her family and her need for revenge.
“She has to deal with who this murder has made her. Who is she now and can she be the woman who was holding her child and her baby and the woman who with those very same hands killed this man? And how can she be both of those women?” Moss explained.
New episodes of season 5 of The Handmaid’s Tale will premiere on Hulu each Wednesday at midnight ET.
