The Handmaid’sTale season 6, episode 6, “Surprise,” finds June (Elisabeth Moss) right where we left her last week – hidden next to Moira (Samira Wiley) in the trunk of High Commander Lawrence’s (Bradley Whitford) car.
As they speed away from Jezebel’s, June’s mind races as fast as the vehicle. She and Moira are still in great danger, but the former’s already worrying about how they’ll retrieve the sensitive materials they left behind in the brothel’s safe.
The car soon comes to a stop, and Lawrence lets them out. He tells the two women that the other commanders intend to jettison his plans for New Bethlehem, then hang him on the wall. June responds, sharing Mayday’s secret plan to execute the commanders when they gather at Jezebel’s. With their delicate alliance further strengthened, they head to Lawrence’s home to plot their next move.
Bradley Whitford. Russ Martin/Disney
In the basement of his New Bethlehem home – where they’re nearly discovered by Naomi (Ever Carradine) – June insists they return to Jezebel’s to get the map out of the safe. But Lawrence reminds her that the brothel is in full lockdown following her and Moira’s murder of a guardian. Resourceful as always, June has a plan B.
She borrows the commander’s phone to call Nick (Max Minghella), who’s in the midst of grappling with the fact he had to finish off the hospitalized guardian before he regained consciousness. Happy to temporarily rid his mind of that unpleasantness, Nick springs into action. He not only easily retrieves the items from the safe, but also recovers an incriminating bloody tooth from the crime scene.
Unfortunately, his luck runs out in the hallway, where he encounters Commander Bell (Timothy Simons) and Janine (Madeline Brewer). While drunken Bell taunts him, calling him a “boy scout” who must need “Daddy Wharton’s” permission to come to Jezebel’s, Nick subtly communicates to Janine that June and Moira made it safely out of the brothel.
Nick then meets June in Lawrence’s basement, where he gives her the items from the safe, as well as a long, loving hug. He asks her to stay the night with him; with his father-in-law High Commander Wharton (Josh Charles) and Rose off to D.C., it’ll be safe for her to stay till morning. While they embrace, we flashback to a time when their relationship wasn’t so complex – when June was the Waterfords’ handmaid and Nick their driver. Lying in bed after an illicit, romantic rendezvous, they fantasize about running off to Paris together.
Following their brief trip back in time, they arrive at Nick’s New Bethlehem home. But it seems they’re not alone, as Wharton can be seen inside through the window. Nick tells June to stay in the car while he finds out why the High Commander is still hanging around. He also instructs her to head to Serena’s (Yvonne Strahovski) nearby house if he doesn’t return within five minutes.
Nick enters his house and into a verbal ambush. Wharton isn’t happy. He’s aware Nick was at Jezebel’s – presumably from Commander Bell – and wants to know what he was up to. He also finds it highly suspicious that the guardian clinging to life at the hospital died just after Nick visited him. Looming over a nervous Nick, Wharton demands answers. “These lies… they’re going to land you on the wall,” he tells his son-in-law.
A return to Jezebel’s reveals another fraught encounter. Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) is visiting Janine with fresh baked cookies and some good news. She excitedly tells her former charge all about her and Serena’s intentions to make the ex-handmaids attendants at a fertility center in New Bethlehem.
But Janine isn’t having it, especially with Mayday’s plan to free her already in motion. They argue, resulting in the old Lydia to momentarily resurface and slap Janine across the face. Before physically removing Lydia from the room, Janine tells her she’ll only forgive her if she can reunite her with her daughter Charlotte.
Ann Dowd. Steve Wilkie/Disney
Meanwhile, Nick’s five minutes have run out. June sneaks out of his car and onto Serena’s doorstep. Serena’s obviously surprised to see her frenemy, who last pushed her off a train en route to Alaska. As expected, the two have words, especially when Serena shares the news of her upcoming nuptials to Wharton. June points out that Serena hasn’t changed, as she’s still subjugating herself to a powerful man.
But Serena just wants her former handmaid’s forgiveness, which June tells her she can never give her. Still, Serena keeps trying. The next morning, she not only prepares breakfast for her surprise house guest, but arranges a reunion with Rita (Amanda Brugel). June and the former Martha are thrilled to see each other, but things become awkward when Serena reveals that Rita has decided to stay in New Bethlehem, where she now works as a baker.
When Serena leaves to tend to baby Noah, June and Rita talk more openly. June immediately views her friend’s new position in the reformed Gilead as an opportunity for her to spy for Mayday. But Rita has her own problems to deal with; she just wants to focus on reuniting her family in New Bethlehem. June is disappointed, but also sympathizes with Rita’s situation.
Amanda Brugel. Steve Wilkie/Disney
A quick check-in at the Lawrence residence finds the High Commander teaching toddler Angela/ Janine’s daughter Charlotte how to play chess. Naomi tells him he’s putting ideas in the little girl’s head, an anti-Gilead act that will reflect poorly on them. But Lawrence slyly says none of it will matter soon, as he symbolically knocks the chess game’s king over with a knight.
But he may be getting ahead of himself. At Serena’s house, Nick arrives to meet June, presumably to sneak her back over the Canadian border. It seems after being interrogated by Wharton, however, he has a new plan. He wants to make his and June’s Paris fantasy a reality. He’s arranged the whole thing, and is ready to leave, like, right now.
Bradley Whitford, Ever Carradine. Steve Wilkie/Disney
While he’s passionately pleading with her to go with him, there’s a knock at the door. It’s a surprise visit from Wharton, who has big news for fiancée Serena. He tells her he’s just shut down Jezebel’s that morning.
With Nick and June hiding in a nearby closet, eavesdropping on every word, Wharton continues to detail his accomplishment. His excitement over shuddering the “club of ill repute” turns to enthusiasm and praise for his son-in-law.
Standing beside Nick, June listens in horror as Wharton talks of how he learned about Mayday’s plan to massacre the commanders at Jezebel’s: “It was Nick who discovered the plan. It was Nick who told me everything.”
In the dark closet, Nick looks at June with shame and guilt in his eyes. June stares at him in disbelief. Trapped in the confined space and unable to speak, her jaw slowly drops and she shuts her eyes.
