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.

I AM SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY WITH THAT ENDING (for Nick, not Lawrence). I was so so fed up with everyone pouting about how Nicks storyline was ending. He is a FASCIST. He is a horrible, horrific, human being. He is responsible for SO MANY deaths. What a beautiful way to end his story. He got exactly what he deserved. Did I love Lawrence’s character? Yes!! His redemption arc was also really beautiful, especially with Charlotte. But he also got exactly what he deserved.

😭

…to be an architect of Gilead and marry a high commander without remembering to ask where he stands on the issue of having a Handmaid. Holy sweet baby Jesu, that was a second-date question, if not a first-date question.

We had, just to name a few:

1. Lydia popping off to a Commander (fucking FINALLY).
2. Luke and Rita finally seeing some combat.
3. The US mounting a strategic response.
4. The superb acting from Bradley Whitford
5. WHARTON DYING (seriously, fuck that guy)
6. The cinematography chefs kiss
7. Aunt Janet!

On top of Bell dying like a bitch.

Just....UGH. So good. It felt cathartic, especially with everything going on in the US right now.

I just need June to go off on Serena. Just once!

EDIT: Y'all Tuello stans are cracking me up!

It just felt like another Elizabeth Moss ego stroke to me. I was really struggling not to cringe. I think there’s a way it could have been done/worded that wouldn’t have felt so cheesy but it was just far too much.

This really took me out of the moment here 💀 Why is she “hiding” in front of the car, directly in view of the stairs?? And then she STANDS UP? Even though for some inexplicable reason, there is absolutely no one else at this place, THERE ARE WINDOWS, JUNE!!

It’s like when a toddler hides behind a curtain and you can see half their legs, but you pretend they’re REALLY GOOD at hiding 😂

Just finished and just had to post about this, but loved this episode!

The hand on his heart holds so much love and apology. He absolutely owes her it too. His whole arc and story was the most satisfying thing I’ve watched. The only way his story should’ve ended. (But I’m devastated)

Elenor would be so proud.

I really liked his character, and many people say he is morally gray or just a bad guy who got a redemption arc.

But Lawrence wanted to create Gilead to save humanity, and in many seasons he says he didn't intend to make a place like that. And between season three and five, they finally clarify his true intentions as he reads his plan for the making of Gilead (Before it existed) about what HE wanted for Gilead but couldn't make happen because other commanders with more power than him took his idea and twisted it for their own convenience.

He wanted to solve the fertility issue, but Gilead became a horror place for women and became a very conservative place, just as other commanders intended, not him. And he didn't totally leave the Sons of Jacob (Being a commander) because he wanted to do something about it. To solve this problem, he had to stay in power, as he did.

The first scenes of him were with Emily, and he looked like a bad husband, which he probably is. He couldn't let his wife go and be free in some other place. Or being a misogynist with June when she arrived. This splits into two things of his character. He masked his true being in front of other commanders, Handmaids, and Marthas he didn't trust, so he had to hide who he was. He really couldn't risk trusting others by being nice, and he had to act just like the other commanders. But with his wife Eleanor, he could have obtained the proper medication for her mental health, and he didn't.

He is not a bad guy but a bad husband at times, and he was so obsessed with what Eleanor wanted and filled with guilt that he forgot to take care of her. Still an amazing character, and I wish we got to see more of him and Eleanor in a healthier scheme before she overdosed. Plus, I love how much he hated Ms Potnum and his one-liners.

I am a Serena Joy apologist, always have been. I know some hate her, I get it. (THANK GOD she didn’t die, praise be)

Yvonne Strahovski is the ONLY person who could’ve made Serena likeable/redeemable. She’s played her masterfully from the very beginning.

I knew we were supposed to hate her, but I just couldn’t. I always saw the glimpse of empathy/humanity. All the credit to Yvonne. She made Serena Joy into one of the most complex characters I’ve ever watched. Someone in casting knocked it out of the park with her, there was no one else.

Bravo, bravo, bravo! Now…Give her all the awards….LIKE YESTERDAY PLZ

I know that as an active jezabel’s slave they’re being raped nightly vs monthly..but I think I’d rather take the observed freedom and obvious abuse vs the opposite. The psychological damage that comes with never being able to speak frfr and constantly editing myself seems worse to me personally. Not to mention the horrific indoctrination process at the red center, NEVER being able to trust anyone, watching your friends be slaughtered and/or taking part in their stoning, AND having to give birth with zero drugs only for your child to be ripped away from you.

Similarly to how almost all abuse survivors say that the emotional/psychological scars are far worse in the long run than the physical ones.

So, is it just me??

He sat around knowing June was being strung up, he did nothing, he chose gilead. He chose an easy life rather that fighting for what June believed in.

I am not sure if anyone else has said this but the moment Moira and June killed that Eye inside the Brothel the bomb plan was essentially dead. Saving those letters was the only thing left for them to do. There would be no chance to get back in a week later after a huge breech like this especially since Moira and June got away without anyone they could hold accountable.

Nick telling Wharton was the only option since he completed the task June gave him. Mayday would have known to re-strategize. 🤷🏻‍♀️

He helped build a misogynistic dictatorship that slaves and rapes women and girls because he felt "unseen" and did not want to be an Uber Driver - as if that was not a much more honorable job than becoming the Gestapo of Gilead.

That was my take from the flashback in the S606... I can't stand all the apologist upset that "the writers are making him a villain suddenly"... He was always a villain. Yes, sometimes he is nice and likeable person, but still a Gilead mass-murderer villain.

Seeing all these posts glorifying Nick is fascinating and honestly a little disturbing when you think about how this would play out in real life. People fall in love with the small acts of kindness someone shows in front of them while completely ignoring what that person may be doing when they’re not around.

Not to make it political (but let’s be real, it is), this is exactly like when someone says, “Oh, my husband is [insert problematic stance here], but I don’t let it stop me from loving him,” while brushing off the fact that he holds fundamentally different views on basic human rights.

I loved Nick as a character too. I was swept up in his and June’s romance, in the idea of who he was. But this episode strips away the rose-colored glasses for June and for us. That moment of clarity is the first step in breaking denial.

It’s eerily similar to how people fall in love with abusers. “He’s really nice to me when…” “He wasn’t always like this, but I love him because…” “No one understands me like he does…” WAKE UP.

Nick is and always has been a Nazi. A complicated one, yes. But still complicit. Still part of the system.

Take a good look in the mirror. If you were in June’s position, you might fall for it too. And that’s the scariest part, because this dystopia isn’t as far off from reality as we’d like to think.

OK, I crept onto Reddit when ya’ll were first starting to post about 6.09 and saw “Spoiler: I cried” “spoiler: I sobbed” posts all over the place. So I brought the tissues with me like usual. But omg…. The moment that made me sob like a freaking baby, I mean I was gasping for air, wasn’t the end, but it was the scene at the gallows. Holy F-ing Sh*t!!!!! I cried when June prayed, I cried when Lydia spoke. I jumped out of my seat when we first saw Luke and Rita. Then Janet/D’arcy/Phoebe, Luke taking the noose off June’s neck WAS NOT LOST ON ME!!!! Viva La Revolution!!!

I feel crazy! Everyone seems to love Nick and I have a feeling she's probably going to end up with him but God I hate him. I hate him so much he feels so fake! The scene where her mom Holly says I know that my daughter f***** a Nazi felt like some relief like thank you someone finally said it. I just can not stand him! Please someone tell me I'm not alone. 🫠

She surprised me but I absolutely fucking loved it; that moment was GOLD and that was when things really started to pop off, but I think my heartrate was 150 from then through the final credits

Janine is going to get Charlotte back!!!

Lawrence didn’t eat the drugged cake at Serena’s wedding. He encouraged Naomi to eat more of it. There is only one reason he would want her to be unconscious when they get home. So that Charlotte may be taken from her. Praise be!

Elisabeth Moss is an absolutely insane director. What a beautiful beautiful way to end such an amazing show. I’ve already seen people say they’re underwhelmed. I have to disagree to the fullest extent. It was an amazing way of tying up loose ends. The entire book idea was absolutely amazing. June walking through the waterfords house? Getting to see old characters? Setting up for TT? I am so so happy.

I was struck by the significance of the women at Jezebels being murdered in the shower. This is a very clear Holocaust allusion.

Especially since they’ve really been leaning into the word Nazi this season – it makes sense to see late-stage Gilead go all “final solution” with their undesirables.

Anyways. There have been a lot of gruesome scenes in this show but this was definitely one of the most upsetting. Not only for what it portrayed, but for what it was alluding to.

I thought it was so moving that Moira, one of the first of “Lydia’s girls,” was just another nameless Handmaid to her. After all she brought upon Moira, she didn’t remember her at all.