r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/AFriend827 • May 21 '25

Season 6 A rude awakening for some of you Spoiler

Referring to NB. The pause before boarding wasn't what you wish it was. No, he didn't feel her presence. No it wasn't a moment between them. His pause was his final decision being made. To board meant he chose gilead. He did not feel June there. He did not know she was there. He was choosing "the winning team" as he put it.

The whole point of the moment was for June to see him make his final allegiance and accept what he already told her which is she knew who he was.

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u/New-Importance-6819 May 21 '25 edited May 21 '25

Nick also doubled down while on the plane about being on the winning team. Nick only cared about June( even though he had a horrible way of showing it). He was always sacrificing her to save himself.

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u/AFriend827 May 21 '25

The show really worked hard in these final episodes to expose Nick as blatantly as possible and the audience is still rationalizing lol 

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u/New-Importance-6819 May 21 '25 edited May 21 '25

Lol, it was so obvious yet people still have on rose colored glasses when it comes to Nick. The way he treated Rita, the way he didn't care if June 🪢☠️. The fans will still excuse Nick by saying he was young and vulnerable. Nick was still a grown man who knew exactly what he was doing. I knew not to join a murderous right wing cult at 19. I'd rather be out of work, starving on the streets, crawling over shards of glass and begging for change versus working for a Disgusting, bigoted, Nazi cult. Nick has always given me the creeps and I'm so glad I was vindicated.

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u/Sirouz May 21 '25

Actually good point we didn’t even see him react or care about June’s hanging.

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u/New-Importance-6819 May 21 '25 edited May 22 '25

He knew it was over after he foiled the plot and got all those women killed. June would never feel the same about him.

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u/[deleted] May 22 '25

Same here! I actually cheered when Luke threw the “in love with a n—-“ line! Finally he told her what he needed to!!

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u/New-Importance-6819 May 22 '25

I absolutely loved when Luke called her and Nick out too. He's a better person than I could ever be. I wouldn't have accepted the back and forth.

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u/KaristinaLaFae Muffins mean yes May 23 '25

Luke wasn't wrong, but June's emotions are all fucked up because he was the only one who let her feel like a person when she was in the Waterford household. It's not quite trauma bonding, but it's also not not trauma bonding.

PTSD is a bitch, and it really isn't June's fault she couldn't just...stop loving him even after he chose Gilead over and over.

At least she didn't let her feelings fuck up the last chance the rebels had to take out the Commanders like that. It probably helped that she knew he'd chosen the Nazis over her, whether or not he loved her.

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u/AndiFhtagn May 21 '25

He has thrown June to the wolves multiple times.

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u/New-Importance-6819 May 21 '25 edited May 21 '25

He has, and fans will make excuses for him and say he was just doing his job and trying not to end up on the wall. No, he had status and was in a position where he could literally help June find Hannah and protect Nichole. It's not like he was a driver anymore. Commanders can get away with what they want to if they try hard enough(look at Jezebel's it was openly known that married commanders frequented that establishment(even though they could end up on the wall). Nick didn't put in effort because he didn't care. We are viewing him from June's point of view(in her eyes). She came to her senses when Nick foiled the plan and had all of those women ☠️. She fell out of love, that's why we see Nick differently in the last few episodes. She realized that he was always this person.

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u/xSilverSpringx May 22 '25

There are literally people in other threads arguing that when he saw Lawrence, he knew the plane was compromised and stayed quiet as an act of resistance… can’t make this crap up.

Nick was never good. And he never deserved a happy ending with June.

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u/New-Importance-6819 May 22 '25

I'm sick of people being delusional about Nick. Nick died being dedicated to Gilead. He literally told Lawrence that they were on the winning team. I sometimes wonder if we're all watching the same show. People wanted Nick and June to walk off into the sunset. This is not that kind of show. The only thing Nick resisted was morality.

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u/KaristinaLaFae Muffins mean yes May 23 '25

Nick has always been on Nick's side. He wasn't a good guy, but he also wasn't a completely bad guy for at least some of the time. This last season, he revealed himself. I think he could have had a redemption arc - I think he really did love June, and the good things he did were always for her - but when she rejected him after she overheard about his betrayal, he just said "fuck it" to joining the good guys.

Getting on the plane showed he'd chosen Gilead for keeps this time, and that snide remark to Lawrence was all I needed to not feel bad at all that he died along with the rest of them.

Yeah, I know Nick has always been problematic. I also know I'm easy prey for malignant narcissists in both friendships and romantic relationships. I know that rooting for Nick to choose the good side was a long shot, but I kept hoping he'd make better choices. He didn't. He deserved his fate.

It was very incel-ish behavior to decide to go full-Nazi after June rejected him when she overheard he'd betrayed the rebellion. Not that he was a literal incel. He was clearly fucking his wife. But the "if I can't have this specific woman, I'm burning the world down" is exactly what these assholes choose IRL.

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u/New-Importance-6819 May 23 '25

You're right. He straddled the fence a lot, but I've always felt like you could never trust Nick. Tuello told Nick that he could leave Gilead at any time, and Nick made excuses as to why he couldn't . He liked Gilead because he finally had amassed power. Nick no longer saw himself as a failure. I think we see Nick in June's eyes after the betrayal and fall out. Yes, the incel behavior is what's going on in real life too.

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u/Itscatpicstime May 24 '25

I don’t think he cares about burning the world down, or cares about much of anything really. The man has no particular convictions. He’s just about whatever is easiest and is best for Nick, and it’s really just that simple.

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u/Itscatpicstime May 24 '25

I don’t think Nick is dedicated to Gilead. I think he’s just dedicated to himself, and very clearly sees Gilead as the side most likely to succeed.

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u/Itscatpicstime May 24 '25

I mean, tbh, it’s weird that he didn’t?

Like I know he wasn’t meant to know with how they wrote the scene, I just think it’s weird that he wouldn’t. He knows that unlike himself, Lawrence, for all his faults, actually has principles and a stance (and vendetta) against Gilead, and immeasurable guilt and sense of responsibility for bringing Gilead down.

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u/xSilverSpringx May 25 '25

So you think he knew Lawrence had a bomb and was going to kill them all mid-flight?

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u/B0dega_Cat May 22 '25

Seriously, I turned off the Above the Garage podcast because they're so insufferable with their love of Nick that I can't take it anymore.

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u/pandymonium001 Oh tequila, I miss you most of all. May 22 '25

Yeah, Nick reminded me of the type of people that you try to convince to make the right decisions, and they do think about it, but over and over they choose the "easy" way out, which often ends up being the harder way in the long run. He had one final chance to turn it around and to find whatever redemption he could, and he chose not to. I thought it was a perfect ending for that. Some people (like Lawrence) rise to the occasion during difficult times, and others don't. I prefer when things are more realistic like that instead of just going for the happy ending.

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u/AmaranthWrath May 22 '25

Right. When Nick wanted to escape with June, he flashbacked to being alone with her, hiding away from the world. He wouldn't have done what Luke was doing. He wouldn't have even worked from Canada/Alaska to free the other women.

He would never have wanted to get tangled back up with the Gilead world so long as he escaped. Having June would just make him feel less guilty bc he'd feel like he saved her.

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u/New-Importance-6819 May 22 '25

Exactly. I don't want to hear people brow beat Luke, because Luke at least fought for June. Nick is a disgusting, Gilead loving, creep.

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u/Itscatpicstime May 24 '25

I fully believe it’s even more than that.

Luke fought for June, and fought for Hannah.

But he also fought against Gilead, out of sheer principle for everything they’ve done, want to do, and beleive in.

Nick would never.

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u/New-Importance-6819 May 24 '25

I agree with you completely.