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‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Max Minghella Confirms Nick Did Not Bring in [SPOILER] to Torture June

Max Minghella plays Commander Nick Blaine in 'The Handmaid's Tale.' Nick has always been a nuanced character, and the fourth season of the Hulu show is no exception. After some fans misinterpreted Nick's actions in a new episode, Minghella explained Nick's true intentions in an interview to give fans more clarity.
by Eryn Murphy
Published on
2 min read

On April 27, Hulu released the first three episodes of season 4 of The Handmaid’s Tale. In the fourth season of The Handmaid’s Tale, Elisabeth Moss returns as June Osborne, and Max Minghella once again plays Commander Nick Blaine.

After the new episodes premiered on Hulu, some fans of The Handmaid’s Tale walked away from the episode mad at Nick. In an interview with journalist Steve Varley, Minghella cleared up some assumptions about Nick’s intentions in season 4 of The Handmaid’s Tale.

[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for season 4 episode 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale.]

Max Minghella and Elisabeth Moss in season 4 episode 3 of 'The Handmaid's Tale'
Max Minghella and Elisabeth Moss in season 4 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ | Hulu

Nick was controversial to some fans in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

At the end of “Nightshade,” the second episode of the fourth season, Nick tracks down June after she orchestrated the escape of 86 children from Gilead. He assures her that he is doing his best to keep her alive, and she surrenders.

The next episode, titled “The Crossing,” begins with June being taken into custody by Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd). June is interrogated and tortured in an effort to get her to reveal the location of the other Handmaids who helped her.

June finally breaks when she is shown her daughter Hannah (Jordana Blake), and she gives away the Handmaids’ location. At the end of the episode, June and Nick meet again and Nick apologizes for capturing her. They reaffirm their love for one another before saying goodbye.

After the episode, some fans assumed that it was Nick’s idea to use Hannah, June’s true weakness, against her as a form of torture.

“I’ve never been a Nick fan, so I’m glad to see these three episodes didn’t sway me towards anything but outright hating him. The scene of her running back to kiss him turned my stomach…,” a fan wrote on Reddit.

Another one wrote, “He basically admitted to being the one to use Hannah to get the truth out of her, thus giving up all her allies…”

Max Minghella says using Hannah was not Nick’s idea

On April 28, Minghella was interviewed by Varley and the interview was posted on YouTube. In the interview, Varley asked if Nick was the person responsible for using Hannah against June, prompting Minghella to look alarmed.

“Oh, I definitely don’t think so,” Minghella said. “No, I don’t think that Nick would ever be capable of being so personally responsible for something that malevolent.”

He continued, “Especially not something that would have that kind of impact on June. No, that’s all sort of antithetical to his intentions I think.”

Related

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Episode Recap: ‘The Crossing’ Drastically Changes the Show

Nick has a lot of ‘guilt’ in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

In season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale, Nick was promoted to the role of Commander. His role in the power structure of Gilead is even bigger in the fourth season, complicating his morals and his love for June.

“He’s always sort of trying to utilize his position to June’s benefit,” Minghella told Varley. “I think he has a tremendous amount of guilt about his history and his past and wants to compensate for that.”

Minghella added, “… this is his path towards some kind of redemption. At the same time, he can’t, he can’t sacrifice his position because then he can no longer be useful… I believe his heart is in the right place.”

Season 4 episode 4 of The Handmaid’s Tale will premiere on Hulu on May 5.

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