Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood, the author of the 1985 dystopian novel "The Handmaid's Tale," a Scorpio queen and practicing palmist, has long praised the virtues of ...

[Capricorn](https://nypost.com/article/capricorn-zodiac-sign-dates-personality/) is the daddy of the zodiac and no one deals darker in discipline and toxic paternalism than Aunt Lydia. [Virgos](https://nypost.com/article/virgo-zodiac-sign-explained-by-a-celebrity-astrologer/) often possess brilliant minds and nurse a need to be of service. Capricorns are all about the long game and the legacy they leave and Lydia’s perverted approach to parenting is, in her mind, a way to secure the good of the world and the immortal souls of the handmaid’s in her charge. We see these influences expressed in Lawrence who, ashamed of the role he has played in the development of Gilead, uses his knowledge and power to help the resistance dismantle it. True to the ethos of her [earth sign](https://nypost.com/article/earth-signs-zodiac-explained/), Beth chose death over betraying her fellow handmaid’s. Synonymous with swashbuckling adventure, Sag is the sign of the pirate and with an eyepatch and penchant for speaking her mind to grave consequence, Jeanine fits the bill. As such, it is Nick who is able to give June the gift of her vengeance, sealed with a kiss, by handing over Commander Waterford to her in the season 4 finale. [Taurus](https://nypost.com/article/taurus-zodiac-sign-dates-personality/) rules the throat and is the domain of Venus, making bulls natural gourmands and more than a hint hedonistic. Libras are averse to conflict and violence and Luke is uneasy about the prospect of learning to shoot a gun in season one and continues to be less hell raising and action oriented than his wife.. Everything she does is to ensure the safety of her children, even betraying the resistance and her fellow handmaid’s when the life of her daughter Hannah is threatened. In celebration of her literary legacy and the return of the [Hulu](https://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=XRMZVUE6JmY&offerid=852731.19&type=3&subid=0&u1=nyp) series for Season 5 on September 14, 2022 that continues to uphold said legacy, we’re taking a look at the zodiac signs of the major characters of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Further, she proves herself capable of mercy, warmth and generosity and is at her best when in the company of or charged to care for, children.

'Tis the season for all things supernatural. Plus, there's a new season of the “Handmaid's Tale” that's streaming. Here's what's new in home video this ...

Framing it as a way to connect with the outside world and bring them into Gilead, Serena pitches the commanders on the idea of giving Fred a grand funeral and ...

After that, she tells Luke about sending the finger to Serena and he tells her she needs to stop obsessing over Serena so that she can be there for her family. Knowing that June will see this (which she does, on the massive screens in Yonge-Dundas Square) it’s clearly an attempt to get back at June and make her feel some pain. She gives one to Janine (who she blames for helping to arrange the Putnam situation) and takes one herself. But she quickly learns that the funeral Gilead has in mind for Fred is, er, a lot less spectacular than what she wanted. This is also where she learns that June isn’t going to get in any trouble for it and will remain a free woman, which clearly terrifies her. that Serena has put her through, June goes and buries her gun in the yard for safekeeping. As she comes out of the morgue, there’s a surprisingly large candlelit vigil there to support Serena. And in the midst of this, she’s bluntly told that her husband has been killed. June makes it back home after literally tearing Fred apart at the end of last season, but before she can even wash the blood off of her, she hops back in the car heading off to god knows where, freaking the sh*t out of Luke and Moira. After trying to literally come clean by scrubbing off the all blood she'd been smearing around town all morning, June heads on down to a Toronto police station to turn herself in for Fred's murder. Things get heated as the other women say they want to get revenge on their Giladean abusers, but June doesn’t seem to want to be a part of it. [Season 4](https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/tv/a36271229/handmaids-tale-season-4-spoilers-deaths/) left us off with the kinda brutal (and by that I mean VERY brutal) murder of Fred Waterford, and it seems like season 5 took that energy and just ran with it because these first few episodes were nothing short of a dramatic, chaotic, vengeful mess.

Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) uses Fred's funeral to show Gilead off to the world with a televised event, one June and Luke (O-T Fagbenle) see — including that ...

I think she’s a desperately lonely kid and that I think is what prompts that furious anger and all that kind of stuff. I think when Esther tries to kill herself and kill Janine — first of all, I think it’s almost more about killing herself than killing Janine, she wants to take Janine down with her — it’s always about loneliness, that she’s always abandoned by everybody. I think the interesting thing is that Serena was a slight bit ahead of June at this point, so it’s June realizing that Serena — just because Serena is in her sights — is now a danger to her and her family. It was terrifying but at least you knew what you could do and what you couldn’t do, so here, I think she assumes, “I’m going to break a law and I’m going to go to jail.” And in this case, it’s the reason she was able to do it because she knew she wouldn’t have to face any of her friends or Luke. [So] when she thinks she’s being betrayed by Janine, who I think I and you and everybody, including Esther, has the same feelings about: affection that Janine’s looking out for your best interest, that she’s not a selfish woman, that she’s good-hearted and magnanimous and all those kind of things… It was a surprise to us that — Alexis had conversations with her people and she made a very kind of careful decision, but I didn’t know we were going to lose her this season so I had planned on having her in the season. And I think for a lot of people, that’s the feeling you get after trauma is you have this whole thing. For June, it’s not just that she’s realizing that “it wasn’t just Fred who I really would like to wipe off the face of the Earth,” it’s also “I have a dream of killing Serena as well.” She was putting her focus on Fred and to realize that the death of Fred lights a fire under someone like Serena, who is both not going to wait for you to hit her before she hits you and also not going to let herself be vulnerable, she’s going to build ramparts. I like the fact that they respect each other and they respect the creativity of each other’s ways to get what they want. I think with the death of Fred, June sees that as the end of something, not realizing that for Serena, it’s the beginning of something. What did you want to do with that dynamic now that Fred’s out of the picture and there have to be mixed feelings there?

"The Handmaid's Tale" would appear to be returning at an auspicious time, as the overturning of Roe v. Wade has thrust Margaret Atwood's dystopian vision ...

The Hulu series obviously hasn’t lost any of its relevance, and indeed, some of its themes resonate in a more pointed manner. There are also other less-developed subplots, among them Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd), and what the burdens of a conscience might look like; Nick (Max Minghella), still pining for June as he seeks to chart his own path; and Bradley Whitford’s Commander Lawrence, whose belief in the goal of quietly reforming Gilead from within has become a central tension on that larger level. While shedding old grievances would surely be the practical move, that’s simply not in her, much to the chagrin of her husband, Luke (O-T Fagbenle). But the arc of this fifth season is ill-suited to the moment, more narrowly focused on the bond of hatred between June and Serena, at the expense of almost everything else. Yet even in a patriarchal society, Serena is not without the political skills of a survivor. With Moss again wearing multiple hats as star, producer and occasional director, “Handmaid’s Tale” seldom fails to deliver stark or shocking moments.

In the first two episodes of 'The Handmaid's Tale' season 5, Fred might be dead, but June's troubles are far from over. Read our recap.

As they focus all their attention on the massive screens, they see a close-up of their daughter Hannah, who brings Serena a bouquet of flowers before standing by her side and holding her hand. Lawrence informs Serena the commanders denied her request for a bigger funeral, Janine is briefly reunited with her birth daughter Angela before Naomi puts a stop to it, and Warren creepily feeds Esther chocolates in an attempt to "get to know her." This prompts her to help Rita in the kitchen, where she tries to fire up the former Martha about getting revenge on Serena. In fact, commander Putnam and his wife are in the market for a new handmaid, and Lydia thinks the "young and fertile" Esther could be a great fit for the family. Things take a dark turn, however, when Esther accuses Janine of using her to gain access to the Putnams' so she could see Angela. She picks up the crying baby, and is quickly able to soothe and quiet her as only a mother can. With Tuello and Fred's cardboard casket in tow, she arrives at the airport, where she's greeted by commanders Nick Blaine ( But June feels better after talking to the kind agent, as Tuello says her actions not only scared Serena, but probably all of Gilead. [Sam Jaeger](https://ew.com/search/?q=sam+jaeger)) breaks the news that Fred was traded for 22 Gilead prisoners, a new deal that somehow left him hanging in the woods. Slow motion scenes of Fred's beating and murder are intercut with glimpses of June smiling, all while the Everly Brothers' "All I Have To Do Is Dream" plays in the background. Emily's partner informs her that [she's fled to Gilead](https://ew.com/tv/how-the-handmaids-tale-wrote-off-alexis-bledels-character/) to hunt down the evil-doing aunt Lydia ( [Ann Dowd](https://ew.com/search/?q=ann+dowd)). Of course, that intercepted mailing was Fred's severed finger, the bloody digit June attempted to send to Serena Joy (

Strahovski has played the villain to Elisabeth Moss's June for almost five years. Since day one, June and Serena may have been “under his eye” but have never ...

Though the clock rule meant nothing to her, she managed to recap all the “terrible, terrible things” Serena has done in a hilariously terrible way. [World of Style](https://stylecaster.com/style-trends-2022/)” issue and With season 5 now on Hulu, we asked Strahovski to give us a quick refresher on the show’s past five seasons. Let’s just say, Strahovski puts the “joy” in Serena Joy.

Yvonne Strahovski, who plays Serena Joy Waterford on Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, opens up to ELLE UK about the hit show ahead of its fifth season.

Days after the of the show confirmed a sixth season of The Handmaid’s Tale during the Toronto International Film Festival, Stahovski reflects on what she hopes for her character’s future. Production for season five of The Handmaid's Tale began in February 2022, less than a year after the fourth season – which was filmed during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic – aired. [They] would probably have a very complicated relationship,’ she says of Serena and her offspring. it’s strange when I see the alignment in the themes [and the world’s politics] in the seasons, as the years have gone by’. On the timelessness of the show’s themes, which showrunner Miller has admitted is unintentional, Stahovski says of the writers: ‘It does seem like they write for the current politics… In a bid to avoid sharing spoilers, Strahovski wouldn’t give examples of the 'explosive' scenes we can expect to see between the pair’s characters in season five, but if its trailer is anything to go by, it looks like June and Serena are out for blood. The symbolism reared its head on the streets again recently, following the US Supreme Court’s overturning of While double masking and daily testing were still in play during season five’s filming, what was notably different between the two seasons was Strahovski and Moss’ screen time together. ‘But I thought [his ending] was an amazing move and important to have, even though it's obviously complicated,’ she adds referring to June’s enjoyment in asking Fred to choose death by gun or a whistle (the latter involves being chased). While the actor may have swapped her character Serena Joy Waterford’s signature teal Gilead dresses and white rollnecks for a monochrome checked blazer, a hint of Serena’s now character-defining slicked back bun prevails. I’ve tried to humanise her as much as possible - she's a human being, after all – and it's not like she's sitting there thinking, “Oh, I'm going to be evil”, even though it often doesn’t look that way.’ Fortunately, for fans and Strahovski alike, that’s where the similarities end.

In the premiere of Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale season 5, Emily (Alexis Bledel) is missing and June (Elisabeth Moss) is given an explanation.

“Emily is still very much part of the story this year,” explains Miller, offering a hint of what June will be wrestling with as the season goes. [portrayed life after trauma](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/handmaids-tale-elisabeth-moss-june-sexual-trauma-survivor-season-4-1234957790/) when it followed the handmaids who survived Gilead in their lives as refugees in Canada, which has taken in those who escaped in hopes of giving them a better life. “It didn’t feel healthy, but it felt correct,” says Miller of Emily’s decision to go back to Gilead and continue the fight, even if it means she likely wouldn’t survive there on her own. Listen to Miller talking about the perpetual relevance of the series on THR’s TV’s Top 5 podcast “I am forever grateful to [showrunner] [Bruce Miller](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/bruce-miller/) for writing such truthful and resonant scenes for Emily, and to Hulu, MGM, the cast and crew for their support.” And June spends the whole season asking herself if Emily was right: ‘Well, if Emily thought that was the right thing, I feel so shitty, maybe that will make me feel better?'” “At the beginning, June is rudderless without Emily and feels like she could easily be that person and disappear. [Alexis Bledel](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/alexis-bledel/)), is missing from the meetup. And, even if Bledel doesn’t return, Emily’s impact is set to reverberate — as her decision deeply affects June when the starring handmaid sets out on her season-five course. “[Alexis] made that decision completely on her own; it was a complicated time and she let me know,” Miller tells The Hollywood Reporter. While the fifth season was in production, Bledel, an original star on the series, announced that she had departed The Handmaid’s Tale after four seasons. [Elisabeth Moss](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/elisabeth-moss/)-starring series reconnects with June (Moss) right where viewers left her — cradling her youngest daughter, Nichole, while covered in Fred’s blood and brushing off questions from her husband Luke (O-T Fagbenle) while internally plotting her next move.

The last time we saw The Handmaid's Tale's June Osborne, she'd led a pack of former handmaids to help her murder Commander Fred Waterford in the woods.

After asking if he saw June, she wonders, “And what she needed to do was done?” When he answers in the affirmative, it seems to please her. “I will see that my husband has a proper burial in the nation that he founded,” she says. He was a monster, and he deserved to die,” she says, waiting for the officer to arrest her. This angers him, but after he chills a bit, he tells her about the FingerGram and shows her a photo of the commander strung up on the makeshift wall with “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum” spray-painted beneath. The event to which June has confessed didn’t happen on Canadian soil, and therefore “it is not a concern of The Crown.”](https://tvline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/the-handmaids-tale-premiere-recap-season-5-episode-1-tuello.jpg) And when she responds “Praise be,” he advises her: “Don’t let the bastards grind you down.” And as Luke tries to figure out how to get through to her, she makes a choice: She confesses to the murder to a Toronto Police officer, and she’s taken into a back room. She knows law enforcement will be looking for her, and “I can’t wait for boots on the stairs.” Plus, she admits that she “loved” watching Fred die, and that’s probably not the best energy you want around a toddler? “She was gone, and then she was here. She looks distressed enough to raise the suspicion of a police officer who happens to be passing by, and pretty soon Luke is coming to get her at the station. Knowing that the police will soon be on the way, she takes a gun and then quickly gets in her car. By her f—king hand!” she adds before hopping in the car and driving away as they yell for her to stop.

Though Commander Waterford definitely didn't deserve the pomp and circumstance, greater forces were at work. Gilead's ruling council considered the event, which ...

[The EPs add that Serena and June’s twisted relationship is at the center of the new season, which will offer insight into both the women’s past and their future.](https://tvline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/the-handmaids-tale-recap-season-5-episode-2-june.jpg) And if that weren’t enough, Serena made a point of stopping by a group of school-age girls to accept a white bouquet from one of them.](https://tvline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/the-handmaids-tale-recap-season-5-episode-2-luke.jpg) Serena kissed her on the forehead and then looked directly into the camera, giving viewers a barely perceptible smile. These are two people who hate each other, want at times to kill each other, have the ability to, and then there’s also this fascinating respect that comes into play.” And Serena saw it as a way to stick it to her former handmaid/Fred’s killer, now free and living in Canada. [The Handmaid’s Tale](https://tvline.com/tag/the-handmaids-tale/)‘s fifth season — the second half of a two-episode premiere; read an [Episode 1 recap here](https://tvline.com/2022/09/14/the-handmaids-tale-premiere-recap-season-5-episode-1/) — found Serena Joy Waterford somehow bending the American, Canadian and Gileadian governments to her will and pulling off a grand funeral in Gilead for Fred.

Every product on this page was chosen by a Harper's BAZAAR editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Culture · Film ...

- "I used to think of my body as an instrument for the accomplishment of my will. - "There was a time when women were able to choose. - "The mouth of a woman is a deep pit. I feel like the word shatter.” — June, Season 1, Episode 4. - "Fuck Aunt Lydia! - "No mother is ever completely a child's idea of what a mother should be. I have given myself over into the hands of strangers. [The Handmaid's Tale](https://www.harpersbazaar.com/handmaids-tale-tv-show/) continues to grip viewers, as we follow June Osbourne's journey outside of Gilead. - "It's gonna end the same no matter what you do, so there's no point trying to be tough or brave. The girl who thinks her boyfriend with the perfect hair is just playing a sexy prank. I just need to scream." Here, we round up 30 of the best quotes from The Handmaid's Tale so far.

The Handmaids are back — on screen, that is. You've seen the red robes and white bonnets at protests for abortion rights and on social media, and originally ...

Imagery and quotes from the series and the book it's based upon have also repeatedly [been brought up ](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2022/06/30/handmaids-tale-best-seller-jenny-han-rules-book-list/7761663001/)in the real world – on the internet and in person – since the Dobbs vs. [Abortions in TV, film started with hysteria, then became (mostly) accurate. Those who tune in looking for a rallying call will be met with a TV show at a turning point, one that cares less about the big questions and more about the violent drama it has immersed its protagonist, June (Elisabeth Moss). [Emmy](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2022/09/12/emmys-2022-best-and-worst-moments/10362172002/) awards and domination it had in early seasons, but it is still one of Hulu's highest profile series and a cultural touchstone. But if you're looking for a TV show that truly reckons with abortion rights, there are Now, three months after the [Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to an abortion](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/06/24/what-does-overturning-roe-mean/7722502001/), "The Handmaid's Tale" is coming back for its fifth and penultimate season (Hulu recently announced a renewal for a sixth and final season).

When the show premiered in 2017, the rebellious handmaid Ofwarren was quickly silenced. The actress who plays her talked to Newsweek about her evolution.

It is her spirit, it is her soul." It's not as intense and it's not as rough and it's not as 'f**k you.' There's a wise woman in there, a woman whose experience some s**t and doesn't need bells and whistles and 'f**k you's to get her point across.' This is 'f**k you' Janine." "This is pilot Janine. "That to me is Janine's power. In Season 1, Janine's sharp tongue and refusal to bend to the will of Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) and the rest of her captors in Gilead—the oppressive, regressive patriarchal religious society that has sprouted up in response to a fertility crisis—led to her having one of her eyes gouged out.

Grace spoke to ELLE.com about those disturbing chocolate scenes, working with Ann Dowd, and being "another angry handmaid in Gilead."

Then I met her and I was like, oh my God, you are the nicest person in the entire world, and I hate your character so much. I was really intrigued about the process. I listen to music to get out of the scene. Why am I such a little poison demon? I didn’t even think about that. I think I took that discomfort, and I tried to really use it in the scene, because I was nervous. That was a really heavy project, and there were a lot of strange, uncomfortable scenes that we had to shoot, and I feel like I’ve learned a lot from that. I listen to music to get into a scene. I became such a big fan, and I was so excited to get to set and work with everybody, and that has still not gone away. I hadn’t watched The Handmaid’s Tale before I was on the show, because I was young, and it wasn’t really something my parents would’ve offered up to me. So as much as I was stressed out and anxious, I just really let myself feel that. It goes back to what I always say about working on Handmaid’s—I’m honored that they hired a real 14-year-old to play 14, because if we’re that uncomfortable shooting these scenes, we’re that uncomfortable with showing these scenes, maybe we should really be doing something about what is happening in real life.

"The Handmaid's Tale" premiered over five years ago and was quickly renewed for another season. It may have a sixth and final season, but we are here to ...

Like every previous season, you can watch "The Handmaid's Tale" season 5 on Hulu. The subscription with ads will cost you $7, and the ad-free subscription costs $13 a month. Madeline Brewer (Janine Lindo) will return, but Alexis Bledel (Emily Malek) has left the show.

Emily's sudden exit from The Handmaid's Tale may seem unsatisfying at first, but it feeds into the show's exploration of trauma and self-forgiveness.

[Season 4](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-handmaids-tale-season-4-recap/), Emily’s story trickled to only a few brief moments in which she mostly played a character facilitating the stories of others. Even in the novel, Emily posed a fascinating counterpart to June, a study of action versus inaction. When she is entrusted with the task of getting June’s daughter to safety, she quite literally [swims to Canada](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-handmaid-s-tale-season-2-episode-13-review-the-word/). Her departure may be abrupt, but even in her absence, she continues to serve a crucial narrative point for the show; that of the revolutionary. [Margaret Atwood’s novel](https://www.denofgeek.com/books/how-will-margaret-atwood-handmaids-tale-book-sequel-affect-tv-show/) introduced Ofglen as a seemingly pious devotee to the oppressive system that has left her a handmaid, only to reveal herself as a revolutionary working to destroy the system from within. There are things that changed her intrinsically, and given the very real option to go back to how things were, she found herself unable to do so. We see that, despite living with Sylvia, attempting to readjust to a life as a wife and mother remains elusive for her. There is no removing Emily from her queerness, and in some ways, even her departure enforces this. As Emily’s portrayer Alexis Bledel stepped away from the role after season 4 for reasons unknown, her story appears to have drawn to a close, but there are plenty of questions left in its wake. Still, [Season 4](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-handmaids-tale-season-4-recap/) brought some level of catharsis as central characters found asylum in Canada away from the horrors of Gilead. Appearing in the original novel only briefly, her state-imposed title of Ofglen is her only known name, making her a Handmaid’s character built more by the series than the book. [Season 5 premiere](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-handmaids-tale-season-5-episode-1-review-morning/), we hear that Emily has gone back to Gilead from her wife, Sylvia (Clea DuVall).

In an exclusive conversation with E! News, The Handmaid's Tale's Madeline Brewer explained Janine's motivations in season five of the Hulu drama—and why ...

Sign up for TV Scoop!](https://www.eonline.com/news/e_insider?source=article_cta&medium=tv) "I think it's so easy to look at Janine and think that she's just following in line and she's following the rules," Madeline told E! [The Handmaid's Tale season five](https://www.eonline.com/news/1343319/handmaids-tale-season-5-trailer-june-prepares-to-return-to-gilead-with-an-army) are streaming now on Hulu, with new episodes released on Wednesdays. "She has the anxiety of, ‘Will the Aunts post me if I make myself useful to them? "I think it's very easy to think that she's doing that. [Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale](https://www.eonline.com/news/the_handmaids_tale), which dropped its first two episodes Sept.

It's an adaptation of Margaret Atwood's book — starring Elisabeth Moss — that portrays a dystopian future where women are oppressed. To date, there have been ...

In the UK, new episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale air on Channel 4. Maisel, Saturday Night Live, Only Murders in the Building and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Here is what you need to know about how and where to watch The Handmaid’s Tale online. Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. The Handmaid’s Tale has been one of the most critically acclaimed series of the last 10 years. The good news is that there are a number of ways that you can sign up for Hulu that fit almost any budget.

The Handmaid's Tale executive producers Bruce Miller and Warren Littlefield break down the climactic funeral sequence in the season 5 premiere.

It seems that, now that June has dealt a huge blow to both her traumatic past and the society of GIlead, she will be facing off with her much more potent threat - a woman who actually respects her power and knows how to play against her. However, the emotions of the scene are viscerally powerful on a straightforward level as well, and Miller notes what is going through June and Luke's heads is simply, "She’s got her hand on my kid!" In fact, this could be setting up storylines through to the end of the series, as it was recently announced that While on a date to see the ballet in their Canadian refuge, June and her husband Luke see a televised broadcast of the ceremony, during which Serena is given a white bouquet by a young girl in a group of schoolchildren, who the couple immediately Littlefield reveals this scene is just as momentous as it seems, representing Serena "stepping in and getting on the throne." [The Handmaid's Tale](https://screenrant.com/tag/the-handmaids-tale/) break down the implications of the climactic funeral scene during the season 5 premiere.

'The Handmaid's Tale' showrunner breaks down all the ways JFK's funeral inspired Fred Waterford's elaborate burial scenes · Gilead said goodbye to Fred Waterford ...

The episode's title, "Ballet," refers to the fact that June (Elisabeth Moss) was on a date with Luke (O. The executive producer said that on the day of shooting "the world was cold and gray." Miller said that he and Moss, who directed the episode, didn't necessarily purposefully plan to juxtapose the funeral with a ballet — they were just thinking about where June and Serena would naturally be on their journeys. ["The Handmaid's Tale"](https://www.insider.com/the-handmaids-tale-facts-trivia-2019-6) season five episode two, "Ballet." [footage from Kennedy's funeral events](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuJjaOKITn4&ab_channel=SteveForbes), Onassis in fact often walked alone or held her children's hands. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum](https://www.jfklibrary.org/visit-museum/exhibits/past-exhibits/a-nation-remembers). [the riderless horse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEQSFDd4agc&ab_channel=CNN) that became an iconic part of Kennedy's funeral procession. And that made it feel so bare and raw that she was just this sad woman out there on her own, not being comforted by anybody." Kennedy's 1963 funeral](https://www.businessinsider.com/jfk-funeral-arrangement-2013-11) for the elaborate scene. Fagbenle) at the ballet when Gilead is honoring Fred. But the similarities go beyond the basics. [Similarly, on "The Handmaid's Tale," ](https://www.insider.com/handmaids-tale-based-on-real-world-origins-history-events-2019-8#giving-birth-in-public-is-a-practice-royals-in-the-17th-and-18th-century-used-to-follow-5)Serena Joy was walking alone with her child, though she was pregnant so she had no hands to hold.

Madeline Brewer discusses Handmaid's Tale Season 5, Janine becoming like June, her bond with Esther, and what songs she listens to get in character.

For Janine, it is" All I Have To Do Is Dream" by the Everly Brothers. "I Only Want to Be With You" by Dusty Springfield. I can't allow her to make the same mistakes that I made," because she knows what to expect. But I think that she also, in a very real way, she knows this household, she knows this man, she knows this wife, she knows, I think, that at the very least, it is a safe-ish household. I think that she's been through so much, and she can't watch it happen to someone else. Will I be able to see my daughter? But yeah, I think part of it is the fact that Janine, I think it's necessary for her to mentor and to guide in the way that she was guided by June. But I also think that she recognizes that this girl is, "How can I keep her alive? Now that June is gone from Gilead and Janine is there, Janine steps up in a way that she was happy to never do while June was there but realizing that there is an absence, there is a missing piece, and someone needs to fill that role. I love this show so much. I love this character so much. Collider: I know as a viewer, the show is extremely emotionally exhausting.