Warning: “Handmaid’s Tale” season two, episode six spoilers ahead.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” uprising is here.
“First Blood,” released on Hulu Wednesday, ends with an explosion that has the power to ultimately change the scope of the series moving forward.
In the final moments of the mid-season episode, the handmaids gather at the unveiling of the new The Rachel and Leah Center (or Red Center), organized by Offred’s (Elisabeth Moss) Commander. Ofglen — who we learn has been left mute after her refusal to stone Janine — steps out of line and does the unthinkable: confidently strolls into the hall, raises an arm and detonates a bomb of ground-shaking proportions.
“It shows the unintentional consequences of what the regime does to people,” explains Kira Snyder, one of the series’ executive producers. “It fosters the same type of violence that it imposes.”
Ofglen (the second played by Tattiawna Jones) pulls the trigger, but the attack was carried out by Mayday, the faceless group we were led to believe was done helping handmaids escape after Offred’s reluctant return to the Republic of Gilead proved deadly for an Econofamily.
“Looking at Mayday, it’s easy to think of them as the resistance and the good guys, but they have a very dark and powerful and violent tool at their exposure,” Snyder says.
While the extent of the damage is not immediately known, it’s imaginable a blast of that magnitude could significantly harm — if not take the lives of — several characters who were inside the center.
Notably, it’s implied Nick (Max Minghella) left the scene before the impact and Offred was at home with Serena. But the others — including Fred, the Commanders and dozens of handmaids — may not make it out unscathed.
“What Mayday does here is a violent blow by not only taking out a chunk of the power structure of men, but by taking the lives of some handmaids, which is the most precious resource Gilead has,” Snyder says.
She adds: “It’s really making sure we understand Mayday has complicated motivations and just because they want to tackle Gilead, doesn’t mean they have the safety of the handmaids front and center.”
The move marks a significant turning point for the women who have been long awaiting a resistance to the patriarchal society. But don’t expect it to mark the end of the regime.
With any opposition to the teachings of Gilead, punishment is not far behind.
“Gilead is not shy about making you carry evidence of what they see is your transgression,” Snyder notes. The season’s opener made that entirely too clear, devoting an entire episode to the torture of the handmaids after their season one finale attempt to revolt to save Janine.
Punishment for potentially taking the lives of the republic’s coveted players — men and fertile handmaids — will inevitably be monumental.
“It’s a hard start to the season,” she explains. “It is a world that’s not afraid to go to violence and that’s why I find it interesting to see in the episodes that follow the explosion how they themselves [the handmaids] respond to violence. It ends up being a bit of a vicious cycle as we’ll see.”
