‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 4: June and Luke’s Relationship Could Still Be Saved, EP Says
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 has changed everything. But will June and Luke ever be the same? Can their relationship be prepared after the years apart, the trauma, and June’s relationship with Nick Blaine? According to showrunner Bruce Miller, their connection has survived “just enough” to give them a fighting chance in the future.
[Major The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 Episode 6 spoilers ahead.]
Does June end up with Luke?
June and Luke have been separated for the entirety of The Handmaid’s Tale. They’ve only been seen together in flashback scenes showing their lives before Gilead took over the United States. For a long while, June assumed Luke was dead after Gilead caught them fleeing to Canada. Luke also had no idea if his wife and their daughter, Hannah, had survived after their separation.
Eventually, they all learn the whole family survived. Luke escaped to Canada, and June and Hannah were stuck in Gilead. That knowledge gave June and Luke hope to hold onto. She also fell in love with Nick while living at the Waterford’s home.
In season 3, when Nichole was safely in Canada with Luke and Moira, June was able to get a message to him saying the baby was born out of love. Luke learning she had a relationship with Nick was a hard blow, but it didn’t shake his commitment to trying to save her from Gilead.
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 Episode 6, “Vows,” did what viewers felt would never happen: June and Luke were reunited. Yes, June finally made it out of Gilead. Now that June is an American refugee in Canada, she can begin the long healing process. And part of that is reconnecting with Luke.
June is still ‘tied to Gilead’ in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 4
Miller told Variety exploring what’s salvageable of their marriage will be a difficult task, but not impossible. He remained tight-lipped on whether he thinks June will end up with Nick or Luke in the end, however. (The Handmaid’s Tale book never got this far, so it’s up to the creative team and Margaret Atwood.)
When asked if they’ll try to return to their old selves or start anew, Miller said:
“I think the only option is No. 2, which is to move forward with who you are now, but the desire and what you’ve been dreaming about is Option A, which is just, ‘The person’s going to come back and they are going to be exactly the image that existed — the June-shaped hole in his life.'”
The trauma June lived through in Gilead will inform how she moves forward in Canada, however. And that includes if/how she and Luke rebuild their life together.
“It’s a long and bumpy a** road from gut-wrenching trauma to any kind of normalcy,” Miller said. “And when it comes to that, she’s still in Gilead. Her heart, her brain, so much of who she is is tied to Gilead. There’s push and pull.”
June and Luke will have to restart their relationship
One thing that did survive Gilead was June and Luke’s connection. According to Miller, that small piece of their love that kept them going through the hardest years was “just enough” to keep their relationship afloat. Despite the years apart, and in spite of everything that’s happened, their connection remains. And it’s clearly seen when the couple is reunited on the boat in Canada in episode 6. He said:
“Now that I’ve seen the actors go through it, I would say how [June and Luke] recognize each other is incredibly easily — so much of them is still connected, and a lot of that has to do with that they were able to still move their relationship forward a bit while they were apart. He knew a little bit about what she was going through and she knew a little bit about what he was going through — just enough. If she had never found out that he was alive — if she had just assumed from Moment 1 that he was dead — that would be a very different thing. But, even in our strange little world, they’ve had a little bit of time to get used to this.”
Moving forward, Miller hopes June comes for Serena Joy and Fred Waterford.
“I want June to nail Serena and Fred and all of those people and get them in jail,” he said. “I also want June to forget about those people and move on with her life. And June wants both of those things.”
New episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale come out on Wednesdays at midnight on Hulu.
