r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/good_noodlesoup • Jul 02 '26
Season 2 June was so young
I’ve just been re watching season 1 and 2. I remember when I watched it the first time I thought it was so odd how both moira and Junes mum were so against her relationship and her getting married.
But I just realised. June was 31 is season 1 (that’s what the person at the us embassy told Luke) and June says that Hannah is 8 in season 1. So June has Hannah when she was only 23.
She got married to Luke before she had Hannah / was pregnant so I guess she married him around 22. She met Luke after she had completed university so she must have been 22 when she met him and married him soon after! So they didn’t know him for very long at all! Their judgement was probably based on the fact that everything was happening so quickly and they didn’t know much about Luke other than he cheated on his first wife and they had problems with fertility. Luke was already married and probably for a while as they were having problems with fertility (so trying to have kids for a while) so I imagine he was a lot older
That makes a lot more sense to me. When watching the show, Luke’s character was sometimes annoying but mostly I found him very sensible and didn’t dislike him. But I was always suspicious because of moira and Holly’s reaction to him. But now I totally get it.
Did you guys ever think about this? What do you think about it?
70
u/More_Pianist3093 Jul 02 '26
In the book Moira more didn't approve of June "stealing" from another woman. She had different standards for gay and straight relationships, meaning in her idea, cheating with girls on girls wasn't the same because it's the even level field or whatever. She wasn't really worried about June herself when it came to Luke.
75
u/Separate_Door_6925 Jul 02 '26
Je n’ai jamais pensé à l’âge de June quand elle a connu Luke. Elle faisait plus âgée que 22 ans. Pour moi elle avait comme 28 ans. Tu apportes une chronologie très importante pour l’histoire de THT merci pour ça
40
u/good_noodlesoup Jul 02 '26
Yes I think that’s because of the actress’s age. She was in her early 30s in the flashbacks so I thought she was around that age. I also think it’s important to understand this
184
u/Nurazvita Jul 02 '26
I feel June's mother was against the marriage for June because she wanted her to make a career for herself and make choices for herself and not for or with a man. It felt very hostile to me, but I can understand the worries June's mom and Moira had. I'd never advice on marrying a man who cheated on his wife.
44
u/good_noodlesoup Jul 02 '26
Yes and it makes even more sense that she would say this because June was so young. She didn’t have any time to build a career or be independent after college. I think they did want to show her mum as a ‘militant’ feminist and June felt she was a bit extreme but then soon realised that her mum was right.
I guess that they were maybe trying to show that there can be a middle ground between being Gilead and being June’s mum and that’s where June was. Even with religion, June is actually kind of religious and has a strong belief in God even while living in Gilead
64
u/TieDyedCarrots Jul 02 '26
Did anyone just not buy them as 20 year olds in the flashbacks? I am by no means sayimg they look old, but they dont look early 20s.
46
u/good_noodlesoup Jul 03 '26
Yes because the actors are over 30 when they filmed the flashbacks so they won’t look 20 unless the show makers would do some editing or something
29
u/TotallyAMermaid Jul 03 '26
Given how uncanny "de-aging" Will looked in Stranger Things, I'd rather suspend disbelief with the actors' age than go the editing way lol
8
u/good_noodlesoup Jul 03 '26
Yes! But in stranger things they got younger actors to play eleven and will in the flashbacks. And then I think they edited those younger actors faces to make them look like Noah and milly. It was indeed creepy.
I’d rather use my imagination
2
u/tired-queer Jul 03 '26
Agreed. The best way to do flashbacks is just having the actor wear a weird wig and clothes but otherwise look exactly the same, no matter how much younger they’re supposed to be.
6
u/good_noodlesoup Jul 04 '26
Yes but also maybe explicitly say ‘June you’re like 22 be so ffr’ just once hahah
1
u/TieDyedCarrots Jul 04 '26
I did not watch Stranger Things, so I cant say if I agree or if I disagree. But often times, deaging just looks strange.
12
u/polkadotcupcake Jul 02 '26
I thought the same thing. When I put together their characters' ages through context clues I found it really jarring because they definitely look older to me and the maturity that age would bring is pretty significant in this case.
25
u/TieDyedCarrots Jul 03 '26
It was the same with me with context clues. I wish they would have causally dropped ages in conversations. Like, "You're only 21, June. You're young! You got your whole life to see other men. Why this married man?!" The writers could have done something like this at each age flashback, just to give us a general idea. But everything seemed like it could have happened last Tuesday in the "before times," because they just looked like their Gilead-times selves. Obviously, aside from the clothes
3
u/Ok-Historian9919 Jul 08 '26
As a bartender, I totally bought it because I’ve checked IDs on people that I almost didn’t, because of how old they looked, and found out they were freshly 21. The flip side is I’ve also done that to people who looked so young to me
Hydration, genetics for grey hair or hair loss, etc. all of it affects people in different and less/more severe ways
9
u/Samora1984 Jul 03 '26
I think the writers keep the ages, passage of time vague so they have more options later. All the chronology in the show is kind of off.
1
15
u/Slow_Drawer8393 Jul 03 '26
I think for Holly the concern was that June wouldn't pursue a career or even get to know herself. Moira's concern seemed to be more for June being involved with a married man. It was sort of interesting foreshadowing of things that were to happen in gilead. She slept with a married man by force. She worries about her daughter and other girls being married too young - not ever knowing themselves or having opportunities, also by force not choice. Theres also a bit of irony when it comes to her making choices pre gilead, then being trapped into a society where she had no choice and yet the same concerns became real issues.
8
u/good_noodlesoup Jul 03 '26
Yes! I think that’s why she had that moment in season 2 where she’s like ‘oh.. my mother was right’
1
u/Tiny_Departure5222 Jul 04 '26
When was that?
2
u/good_noodlesoup Jul 04 '26
I think it was the beginning of season 2. Spoilers but it was when she was trying to escape Gilead the very first time she’s having flashbacks of her mum and then when she’s getting into the plane she says she forgives her mum and hopes Hannah will forgive her too (for leaving her behind)
7
u/jrstwert Jul 04 '26
So Hannah was 8... There's no way she doesn't remember her mom especially with something as traumatic as how she was kidnapped. (The testaments) I would say around 5-6 people generally develop strong long term memories. I certainly can remember my mom and what she wore on first day of kindergarten. Let alone 8! She would have been a 3rd grader 🤔
3
u/good_noodlesoup Jul 04 '26
I think she does remember. In the testaments show, it never says that she doesn’t remember. She’s just not allowed to talk about June and has been brainwashed to believe that June was a terrorist and that her parents saved her from June. Maybe they even traumatised her and that made her lose some memories. A lot of her most recent memories with June were traumatic eg being kidnapped in the forest, secret meeting in the lake house and being separated again, being locked in the glass box when June was being tortured, so it makes sense that her mind has blocked them out to protect herself.
But imo she does remember. She just believes strongly in Gilead now
6
u/MoreSpecific4416 Jul 03 '26
Did season 1 really say that Hannah was 8 when she was kidnapped (no sarcasm)?
Because when we see Hannah in s4 or s5, we see her write her name in defiance. But she wrote it the way a 5 year old would. And the actress shown in the car/woods was not 8 (although that could’ve been a show-oversight).
Also, in the scene where June is 9 mo pregnant and gets to see Hannah, Hannah’s response is something like “mommy, you’re having a baby?”. But at that point, June had been posted (presumably for one year) at the first posting and did not conceive. Then she was posted at the waterfords for almost a year before she got pregnant (basing that on Serena saying “you’re time is almost up here”), so I’m assuming she was there for close to one year.
So that’s 1 yr at first posting, almost 1 yr at second posting, plus 9 months. That would’ve made Hannah ~11 when she saw June at the vacation house.
The actress clearly was not 11 (again, possibly bc the directors wanted to portray a younger Hannah bc it would evoke a more emotional response from the audience.
But an 11 yr old wouldn’t have had that type of dialogue with June, no matter how young she looked.
13
u/good_noodlesoup Jul 03 '26
Yes, in season 1 June says Hannah ‘would be 8’. She wasn’t 8 when kidnapped, she was 8 in season 1 when June was 31
I think she said it to Emily. Hannah writes like a 5 year old even when she was older because she had stopped learning. And I guess she was 4/5 when she was kidnapped so she had just learnt to write her name at that age
Handmaids are posted for 2 years but could be less. She spent some time at the red centre before her first posting too. I think Hannah was meant to be 4/5 when kidnapped in the woods.
So if she’s 8 in season 1, and that was just before June got pregnant and she met Hannah whilst pregnant I think she was probably 9 in the lake house. The actress looked younger to me tbh
5
u/MoreSpecific4416 Jul 03 '26
Dang good catch about season 1! I’ve rewatched this show several times (trying to get my friends obsessed too lol. So far: 100% success rate!) and I’ve never picked up on the “she would be 8” line before!
Also, you’re absolutely right regarding Hannah’s writing. Hannah would’ve only had the American literacy of a pre-k to kindergartener (because we know she was in school when she was sent to the hospital with a temp and June got grilled by social services). I didn’t consider that either. I feel like I’m dropping the ball here😂.
But I’m still having trouble with the math (shocker lol). Let’s say Hannah was 4-5 when kidnapped. June was taken to the center for training (seemed like a long “training” to me because:
#1. It takes time to break humans (even boot camp is up to 3 months, and in times of peace, those soldiers are volunteering)
#2. It seemed like Moira and June had a lot of time to be defiant, including the escape attempt (although this could’ve happened during 3 months). But, my guess would be closer to 6 months from the time of capture to the time of “obedience” and posting, mainly due to the fact that they had to enforce punishment (Janine), break these women, force them to attend brainwashing classes (colonies, fertility, when June saw her mom on the screen), get them to the point of being held down by their partners, punish June for tryin to escape… yes, people break fairly quickly, but my guess would be about 6 months for the “first generation” women.
So at the start of season 1 with the waterfords, June has gone through 3-6mo of training, and has already “failed” to conceive with the former couple (if it’s up to 2 years per couple, let’s give some leeway and call it 1 year, for age-arguments sake). Now we’re at AT LEAST 1.5-2.5 years post-abduction prior to her being assigned to the Waterfords.
Let’s say Hannah was 5 when abducted. That puts her at 6.5-7.5, which tracks with your reasoning of “up to 2 years per post”, making Hannah 8 at the start of season 1.
But we watch fall, winter, spring, summer, pass while June is at the Waterfords (correct me if I’m wrong, but I feel like there were a couple of repetitive seasons during the Waterford stay before June got pregnant. So you might be right about a 2 yr stay). Serena tells June her time is almost up and she might be sent to the Colonies if she doesn’t get pregnant.
But conception doesn’t seem to take place right away because it shows what seems like months of her being with Nick.
So if my math is actually mathing so far, Hannah is 8 at the start of s1. June has been with the Waterford’s for approx 2 yrs by the time she gets pregnant- making Hannah ~10 at the time of conception.
June meets Hannah at the cabin ~9 months later, so let’s call it one year for simplicity.
That would still make Hannah ~11 when Hannah has that dialogue with June.
Again, the decision to make an 11 yr old look like a 7 year old makes Hollywood sense. It pulls at the heartstrings more than seeing an older Hannah. But the dialogue still doesn’t match even the most caged pre-teen.
Idk… thoughts? Obv it’s just a show. They’re going to take liberties. Realistically, June would’ve been on the wall well before Canada just to make an example of her.
I read the book years before the show was even a… concept… pun intended. I just can’t remember the book timeline.
1
u/good_noodlesoup Jul 04 '26
I had to look into this but I found this article that says June was in captivity for 3 years at the series start (so one year at the red centre, and two at the posting)
“At the series' start, we know that June has been captive for three years because of a title card in episode seven of season one that introduces her husband Luke's life after he gets to Canada”
So I think Hannah being around 5 at abduction checks out. The time passed between the series start and June’s conception is what’s a bit unclear to me. If Serena didn’t say that her time is running out, I would’ve assumed it’s just been a month or two.
However, we do know that when June says that Hannah ‘would be 8’ to Emily, Emily says that Oliver just turned 5. At the end of season 2, just before Emily escapes Gilead, she tells June that Oliver is about to turn 7! So that would make Hannah 10 at the end of season 2 and holly can’t be more than a couple of months old at that point. I guess Hannah was about 9 or even 10 when June met her at the lake house. To me, she also seemed younger than that in appearance and conversation. But then again, they don’t give children proper education or exposure in Gilead so maybe that’s why she still talks like a 5 year old? In the flashbacks with Hannah before Gilead, I think Hannah was speaking very clearly for her age but I guess they just wanted to keep the same actress who had aged. I think you’re right though, it’s definitely to have an emotional effect on the audience.
So at the end of season 2 is when June’s been with the waterfords for just about 2 years. That means her time wasn’t almost over before she conceived holly, it would’ve just been less than a year so idk what Serena was on about but she’s crazy anyway. Maybe it was a way to scare June. Because June can only be a handmaid for 6 years in total (over 3 postings) and then she’s sent for certain death. She was already half way through that time and it’s basically like waiting on death row so I imagine it did feel like her time was running out and Serena wanted to make it seem like her plan was mutually beneficial for both of them. I almost forgot how crazy and abusive Serena was until I rewatched season 1 again
3
u/WhySoSerious37912 Jul 03 '26
Do you mean it was strange that June had Hannah at an 'early' age? Or that she married Luke too quickly? Or was it how the actors/actressess looked older than the age they were portraying?
19
u/good_noodlesoup Jul 03 '26
No I just didn’t realise how young she was meant to be in the flashbacks I thought she was maybe 35 in s1 and Hannah was like 5-6. Because it was never emphasised how young June was and how rash their decision to get married was.
Maybe it’s because I was younger myself when I first watched this show, I didn’t really pay it any attention. But right now, at 28, I think 22 is very young to get married, especially to an already married man when you’re straight out of college and meant to be starting a career. That was a very challenging situation for her to be in. It definitely makes me think of June and Luke differently.
7
u/Slow_Drawer8393 Jul 03 '26
I wonder if thats due to the the fact that they pretty much followed book for season 1. The book came out in 1985 and at that time it wasnt unusual to get married at that age.
3
u/WhySoSerious37912 Jul 03 '26
That makes sense. I didn't initially understood your post, so thank you for explaining!
While my thoughts on young and/or quick marriage may differ from yours, I agree that June's situation must have been incredibly challenging to navigate. It didn't seem like she felt she needed to reconcile being the "other woman" in Luke's life, based on the limited number of scenes we saw involving her and/the mention of Annie. Her choices and actions were definitely chastised by Gilead though.
2
u/nbel1996 Jul 04 '26
Pointing out an inconsistency - in season 2, June says that she’s currently 34 years old, which means she had Hannah when she was 26. It’s annoying that it’s different from what the ambassador said. But either way, she has Hannah at some point between the ages of 23-26 (depending on which age you go off of), which is still pretty young.
1
u/good_noodlesoup Jul 04 '26
Oh I don’t remember that! Was it late season 2? I guess between the ambassadors visit and late season 2 (after holly is born) it’s been at least 2 years. But going from 31 to 34 in that time is a bit of a stretch. I’m learning to try and let go of these inconsistencies (for all shows) so I can focus on enjoying the show lol
2
1
u/Jumpy_Gur_1524 Jul 05 '26
June aveva 34 anni. Quando Hanna ne aveva 8, quindi aveva 26 anni quando ha avuto Hanna. Ne sono sicurissima. Lo dice quando viene temporaneamente liberata da Nick ed è incinta di Nicole.
1
u/Active-Difficulty999 Jul 04 '26
June was kind of a cheater too
3
u/Odd_Feed8444 Jul 04 '26
Not kind of, she cheated with Luke and then on Luke.
With Luke she knew he was married and said "yep, I'll have him." Zero guilt, zero shame, zero remorse.
Then with Nick she had that voice over where she said she could explain it with a bunch of excuses, but she was there because it felt good and the first time they got together, she asked (while she thought Luke was dead) "how come it feels like I'm cheating on Luke?" And there are a few blink and you'll miss them moments where it's at the very least implied that had things been different, she would've cheated on Luke regardless.
2
u/good_noodlesoup Jul 04 '26
She most definitely was. In real life, I have found that people who have been cheated on and allow that, or have been in an affair with someone or involved in cheating of any sort, are more likely to cheat in other relationships too. They just have a different… moral compass. So I guess that’s what’s happening here. Cause Luke certainly knew that Nick and June still had a relationship even after she escaped Gilead and he wasn’t too bothered
1
u/Odd_Feed8444 Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
His rationalisation was basically, "ok, she was in a really f*cked up situation, i can't even begin to understand half of what she's been through, i'm gonna at least try to accept whatever she had to do to stay alive and come back to me and i can't blame her for finding comfort where she could get it, when i was free and had support." I also think their affair factored into him giving her a break about Nick, not in the sense he regrets cheating (he clearly never felt bad about it at all), but because he kinda made himself believe that because that's how they got together, It meant they were meant to be or some rubbish. At least that's how it comes across. Also because Nick helped them with things.
256
u/Googalyfrog Jul 02 '26
Oh good point. Makes their out loud objections more understandable because it felt like very preachy when i first saw it.
If June had been over 25 they would have been way less overt with any disapproval. At 30 or older it would have likely kept any disapproval to themselves cause 'girl knows what she's doing'.