‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ EP Says 1 Decision Haunts June and Luke
In The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 finale, June and Luke make a life-changing choice. Toronto is no longer safe, and they decide to run before it’s too late. Executive Producer Eric Tuchman says one choice from the couple’s past haunts them to this day. It also influences their decision to flee.
Toronto isn’t safe anymore in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 5
In The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5, June and Luke experience a growing sense of unease in Toronto. Anti-refugee protesters fill the streets, and two attempts are made on June’s life.
“What we’re looking at is June and Luke feeling what it feels like to be unprotected. They are not welcome, and I think that the feeling of being not welcome leads to the feeling of exodus,” showrunner Bruce Miller said in a featurette.
After June’s arm is crushed by a truck and Luke faces charges for killing her attacker, June decides that they need to run. “Canada is not Gilead,” Luke tells June. “America wasn’t Gilead until it was,” she replies.
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ EP says this decision haunts June and Luke
In a featurette, The Handmaid’s Tale EP, Eric Tuchman discussed a past decision made by June and Luke. “One of the questions that June and Luke have wrestled with throughout the series — something that has haunted them is that they didn’t leave Boston soon enough,” Tuchman said.
The Handmaid’s Tale shows flashbacks to when Gilead slowly began to take over the United States. It begins with the realization that women aren’t allowed to have their own money. Then June and the other women at her job are all let go.
Understandably, June and Luke are reluctant to enter a state of full-blown panic and uproot their lives. However, after supporters of the new Republic attack the Capital and execute the President, they decide to run. Fans know the rest of the story. Gilead apprehends June and Hannah before they can reach the border. Luke gets shot in Gilead but manages to reach Toronto alive.
The Canadian police arrested Luke in the season 5 finale
This time around, June and Luke decide not to wait. Mark Tuello tells them of a group of American refugees who are getting on a train bound for Hawaii. The couple joins them with Nichole in tow. Unfortunately, the police are quicker, and they swarm the train station as June and Luke try to escape. Luke gives himself up and tells June to take Nichole and go on without him.
“They’re supposed to go to Vancouver, and from there, they get a boat to Hawaii,” Elisabeth Moss stated while speaking to The Hollywood Reporter. “I think she thinks she has to do this for Nichole,” she said of June.
“She has a baby, and the baby is crying, and she picks up the baby and sort of weaves this tale about the adventure they’re going on. And I think she does this very mom thing, which is that she puts herself and her own feelings aside and is trying to be positive for Nichole.”
All episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale are currently streaming on Hulu.
