‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Showrunner Says ‘the Walls’ Are ‘Closing in on Nick’ in Season 5
In The Handmaid’s Tale, Commander Nick Blaine (Max Minghella) typically has storylines tied to his love interest June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss). However, season 5 of The Handmaid’s Tale has given Nick a separate storyline, and the new season seems to examine Nick’s allegiance and internal feelings about Gilead.
[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for season 5 episode 6 of The Handmaid’s Tale.]
Nick worries about being a ‘bad person’ in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
In The Handmaid’s Tale, Nick is written as a morally gray character. While little is known about his past and how involved he was with the creation of Gilead, he is shown to not agree with Gilead’s ideals.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, The Handmaid’s Tale showrunner Bruce Miller shared where Nick’s mindset is in the show’s fifth season.
“And I think Nick is very tied up in feeling like a good or bad person about the things that he does. He does not want to do anything else. He’s avoiding as much as possible doing anything else to make him feel like a bad person. He has plenty of those things on his plate,” Miller said.
What to expect from Nick in season 5 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
In season 5 episode 6 of The Handmaid’s Tale, “Together,” Nick is the one who ends up killing Commander Warren Putnam (Stephen Kunken) for raping Esther (Mckenna Grace).
After he does this, Nick’s wife Rose (Carey Cox) has a negative reaction. According to Miller, Rose could end up being “a problem” for Nick as the season continues.
“That’s what it’s about. It’s getting closer and closer and closer. And you can feel the walls closing in on Nick in this episode, and I just love the fact that you feel Rose — exactly what you said — is she dangerous? Is she dangerous to June but not to Nick? Is she dangerous to both of them? Is she dangerous to neither? What the hell’s going on?” Miller told Entertainment Weekly.
The showrunner added, “She’s certainly moving closer to being a problem or something, and so was Warren [Putnam], and now this. “
Bruce Miller does not think Nick is a violent person
While a fair share of The Handmaid’s Tale viewers do not seem fond of Nick or his relationship with June, Miller does not think Nick is drawn to violence like others in Gilead.
“I think that Nick has experienced close up violence before, and knows how much it tortures him. In fact, it made him prefer to kind of act as a driver who was a spy for the Eyes, as opposed to doing lots of other things that could have been interesting. He didn’t want to have anything to do with violence anymore,” Miller told Entertainment Weekly.
New episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale premiere on Hulu each Wednesday at midnight ET.
