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glasskey · 7 months

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The Boston Globe Episodes

Today I’m going to talk about The Boston Globe episode and how it paved the way for Nick, June and Holly’s journey. The Boston Globe episode is a powerful statement about the break down of truth in the face of dictatorships, and the threat of it in current political climates. In regards to the future of these characters, the episodes featuring the Boston Globe are extremely pivotal.

It’s telling that Nick and June spend the first 3 months of their babies life together at the now haunted and abandoned Boston Globe. Its the place where knowledge and truth once flowed and it’s where we truly begin to see how Holly is used as a vehicle to tell a larger tale. Here the printing presses are all painted in handmaids red, nooses hand from the rafters and bullet holes punctuate the walls like the final word in the resistance. It’s no coincidence that Holly undergoes her most formative months in this broken down home of free knowledge and information, as she will be fundamental to the restoration of democracy to her country.

It’s also the place where Nick and June begin to truly fall in love with one another. Nick and June have sex, at last unrestrained by the boundaries of the Waterford household, and there’s a lustful abandonment to it bred by years of captivity. We’re finally given a glimpse into their somewhat free life away from Gilead. Blaine’s always been somewhat of an enigma, stoic, dutiful and domesticated. But here in the semi free world we see the layers are almost instantly stripped away, he becomes immediately emotional and vulnerable….years of service have suffocated him.

These are their child’s most developmental months and it is the most formative moments of their relationship, where their feelings grow into a lasting bond. By the time she returns to the Waterfords, their child is well on its way to being fully formed, just as is her relationship with Nick. By the time their child is born, their bond will be forged and they will love each other entirely. It’s no coincidence that when Nick is married off to Eden, June almost miscarries.

June wanders around the secret location dressed in Blaine’s clothes, she’s in her first trimester, she’s wearing the t shirt she took off him the first night they were together and very possibly the night they conceived Holly. His clothes act like some kind of personal shield, it’s the best he can do in his absence. Later as she makes the Globe her home, she jogs between the small cities of presses to a shrine she has erected, an assortment of mementos and photographs from the surrounding desks. Just like the Handmaids letters, she intends to keep their stories alive, their voices heard.

Upstairs she gathers old editions and pieces together the story of the The Sons of Jacob and their rise to power. As Holly grows in her womb, rebellion grows in her heart and June returns to the Waterfords with a crystalized intent to destroy Gilead. Nick looks at the wall of clippings reconstructing his past and begins to truly understand, this is the moment when Blaine’s loyalties truly turned. He tries to convince her to go, he’s understandably worried about her future and the future of his unborn child….he should be, it’s a girl.

The two share a morning cup of coffee and there’s the facade of a normalcy as we get a glimpse of Nick and June as a couple in the real world. “If I wake you then you leave, how is that a win for me?” She asks him. Atwood’s text describes June as no longer wanting to leave Nick, June’s caught in a dream from which she no longer wishes to wake. The rare moment of domesticity in this moment is so brief, but overflowing with contentment. Just a flash and then it’s gone, like all the other precious moments of peace these two get.

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glasskey · 7 months

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Nick & June's Mix tape Vol. 2

With season 2 comes volume 2 of our Nick and June mix and it’s an interesting one. Nick and June fall in love, await the arrival of their new bub, fight off numerous enemies and we learn that true love requires absolute sacrifice.

Rebel Handmaid Commander

Watching Nick and June fight at the Boston Globe is absolutely mesmerising. These two have been locked up and forced to behave for so long, now they have the freedom to actually argue (amongst other things…. cough cough) it’s like shaking the can and ripping off the lid. This scene is supercharged from the word go. The sex scene here is raw, real and by ordinary standards, it’s seriously graphic. These two are finally taking a deep breath of one another, instead of whispering sweet nothings and secreting themselves away in clandestine corners. June bites Nick, it’s antagonistic, a sign that they’re not going to be playing nice today. She’s still slightly pissed off and she wants no part of the lawn boy bit, so he’d better bring his A game. Well okay then.

There’s an incredible sense of relief at watching June being able to argue with Nick, the Handmaids hood and its accessories are ashes, and at last after years of being made to be quiet, she’s allowed to actually yell at a man for being an idiot. She’s also not this delicate precious thing in the tower anymore, and Blaine’s finally got the opportunity to have a few choice words of his own. Essentially both of them have grievances and they’re not pulling any punches. It’s clear from June’s new nickname that she’s already earning herself quite a reputation amongst The Eyes as a bit of a trouble maker. As the mother of his child, Nick’s understandably feeling a little antsy about her sticking her neck out so readily for the noose. Given Gilead’s somewhat unforgiving laws, Blaine seems to be a touch vexed that he’s spending a lot of time playing “stubborn or stupid” when it comes to June. But it’s exactly this relentless recklessness that enables her to be the kind of leader, he already sense’s she will become.

June’s rightfully annoyed that, while yes she has been extricated from the Waterford’s clutches, Nick doesn’t seem to have much of an idea as to what’s next. At this point Nicks still finding his feet with Mayday, no doubt he’s always known where to find them when he needs to, but up until now he’s never needed to. In Gilead you need to think two moves ahead and June’s allegation of Nick wanting “to play the hero” is a crack at just how unprepared he is. There’s a definite dig here at his status in the Waterford household as the resident whipping boy who’s suddenly decided that he wants to level up. As with June transitioning from “not being that kind of person” to our Rebel Handmaid Commander it all takes time. Heroes aren’t born, they’re forged through struggle and battle and Blaine’s not even close to being fully formed yet. It’s not until the end of Season 2, when he finally holds his daughter, that we see him begin this journey and it’s only the end of Season 5 that he truly earns a place by her side as a warrior.

Blaine’s definitely not thinking straight, he’s a freshly minted baby daddy who’s freaked out and gone against all of his instincts of self-preservation, to help June make a break for the border. June’s no better, she’s all heart, no head here too. Her love for Hannah completely outweighing any reasonable argument that Nick may have for the remotest chance of success. Ultimately his options are limited to letting her go with a gun or without one. Make no mistake, she was always going to get those keys.

Corinthians

In season 2 we see Blaine cite Corinthians 13:4, a psalm espousing the pure nature of love in front of Fred, Serena and his newly arranged wife, as he looks at June. “Love is patient” according to Corinthians 13:4, in Gilead it has to be, marriage is transactional and love is an inconvenient obstacle to a servant’s higher purpose.

If you were ever under any illusions that Nick was a “free” man, the whole Eden debacle should clarify things for you nicely. A free man doesn’t have to marry a child bride while the woman he loves and the mother of his child watches. That’s just not a thing. Nicks selection of this psalm is a message to June that’s designed to serve as an assurance amongst all the recent emotional rubble, but he’s also hoping to God that some of its actual meaning will penetrate Fred and Serena’s thick skulls. Unfortunately it’s to no avail, to the Waterford’s Corinthians is simply just pretty words and no message.

When Nick reads Corinthians, Serena understands exactly who it’s for and promptly sends June to her room…….like that’s actually going to make a difference. Serena’s maneuverings in this arranged marriage and Eden’s ensuing death are an eerie reflection of her forced conception of Holly and the ultimate theft of Nick and June’s dream for a family through the appropriation of their child.

Eden’s death is a metaphor for the destruction of paradise, her recitation of Corinthians 13:4 just prior to her death brings into sharp relief Gilead’s ruthless annihilation of beauty. Eden’s refusal to apologise for, lie about or relinquish Isaac, speaks loudly of the absolute unselfish sacrifice of true love. Nick may not give a fuck about himself but he loves June entirely and refuses to see her dead, however painful, he resolves to give her up.

Serena has observed the progression of Nick and June’s relationship and decided enough is enough, it’s now reached threat level 9 and needs to be stopped before it hits critical mass. Corinthians 13:4 speaks of love as something that is earned, treasured, abides through trials of great suffering, heals and humbles. If Serena had any inkling of what this meant, she’d know it was already way too late.

He's the one who got them out.

There’s selfless, and then there’s this next level shit that Nick pulled in season 2 when he smuggles out a bunch of handmaids letters and then credits Luke with getting them out. Okay so maybe not completely incorrect after all Luke and Moira did flood the internet with them. But seriously the statement “got them out” implies some type of serious effort or danger like let’s say a trip across the border with them, rather than a simple post on Insta or Twitter with a few choice hash tags.

At the very least Nick should get a bit of credit here right? RIGHT? The fact that he DOESN’T take any is absolutely intentional. Nick returned from Canada asking for nothing and giving June everything. It cost him a huge part of himself and the fact that he gave it away so readily was designed to illustrate his pure self-sacrifice for her. This is the moment, right here that’s designed to show that Blaine loves her, like LOVES her, and officially doesn’t care what it costs him.

The very act of passing these letters to Luke and then crediting Luke with them, is a veiled metaphor for the passing of messages back and forth between June and her family. While ridiculously selfless it’s necessary for Blaine to credit Luke in order to complete the actual construct of the metaphor.

Blaine is June’s conduit, her messenger, guardian, guide, lover, but with the words “I met your husband” he reminds her and acknowledges that in the ordinary world he will have to relinquish these roles. There are three words contained in this scene that perfectly capture Blaine’s sentiment and they’re heartbreaking in their simplicity: “I should go” he says and as he leaves he tells her he loves her for the last time that season.

Blaine looks crushed and limps away visibly wounded, June is so overjoyed by his news about Luke and Moira, it’s as if she is blind to his pain. For both of them there is the realisation that not only CAN she leave but she inevitably WILL. It’s not long after we see him arrange for June to leave and for the next three seasons he keeps his distance. This is a crucial moment for Blaine, the letters home and meeting Luke face to face form the basis of his attempted growing separation from her as he tries to do “the right thing”. The only problem is, the more that Blaine sacrifices for her, the more her love for him grows.

I wish I could hold her

No exaggeration, this fucking wrecked me. There are a few moments on THT that choke me up spontaneously and this is one of them. It’s absolutely gutting to see a usually stoic Blaine suddenly dissolve into a puddle of vulnerability, heartache and tenderness.

Blaine doesn’t often talk about their baby, he doesn’t dare, it’s altogether too much to hope for that they might one day be a family. Here he can’t contain himself, “Our babies so beautiful” he says, his joy over the birth of his new daughter and his love for the mother of his child, spilling out of him. “I wish I could hold her” he says with the heartbreaking revelation that Nick has been stripped of any claim to his own daughter, including the ability to hold her for the first time. Tears well in June’s eyes, her usual sassy cynicism completely melting away in a single heartbeat.

With the birth of Holly comes the first time we hear Blaine actually mention the possibility of leaving Gilead, for the first time he has something that might make him try. The two of them fantasise about an idyllic escape from the Hell of Gilead. The golden glowing leafy window makes it hard to believe they’re not already standing on a sandy beach beneath lush green trees.

The Waterford’s window contains a gingko biloba, the most ancient of all trees, a symbol of their lasting love and growing family tree. This is one of those incredible THT moments that will stay with you throughout the seasons, where two parents bond over the birth of their child and dream of a better life together…..in Hawaii. I’m not crying, you’re crying…

Before I get into our 3rd Nick and June Mix tape, I’ve got a second Lawrence and June Mix. In the future Nick and Lawrence will be getting a separate Mix tape, and Nick, June and Tuello will all be getting their own playlists. See you then.

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