The Handmaid’s Tale Creators Say ‘There Was No Escape’ From That Shocking Plot Twist in Episode 6
A heartbreaking twist for June became the point of no return in The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6, risking to move everything into a very different direction ahead of the show’s big finale. Here’s what the showrunners have to say about that unexpected character development — major spoilers ahead!
The latest episode of The Handmaid’s Tale shifted things radically for those fans who believed the show will end up with a beautiful love story between Elizabeth Moss’ June and Max Minghella’s Nick.
Just when the former seemed to get as close as possible to her dream of revolution becoming true, she’s suddenly betrayed by one of her closest allies and love interest who exposes her intentions to his father-in-law, Commander Wharton.
The show is yet to delve into the real reasons why Nick would show such a sudden change after The Handmaid’s Tale spent a solid amount of time developing his relationship with June.
Still, the showrunners have already offered an explanation to what’s happened — and that’s definitely bad news for the series.
Nick’s Betrayal of June in The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 Episode 6, Explained by Showrunners
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The shocking plot twist in the show’s latest episode marks a sinister departure for the rest of The Handmaid’s Tale, suggesting that, despite Nick’s good intentions, he was still conquered by Gilead's system.
“It was time for June to take a very honest and hard look at who Nick is and what their relationship is really about. We’ve seen Nick in a pressure cooker situation all season. The walls are really closing in on him. He has two worlds [where he is] one foot in each world—and it was time for him to make a decision,” the series’ co-showrunner Eric Tuchman said in an interview with Us Weekly.
He then continued, admitting everyone was aware of fans’ wish to see June and Nick’s happily ever after, but then saying there was no other way for the latter after all.
“He’s saved her many times. But that’s only part of his day. The other vast majority of his time is spent as a Gilead commander. And he rose from a driver to commander — so he must have been doing something to contribute to that ascent,” Tuchman added.
The Handmaid’s Tale Fans Are Divided Over Nick Plot Twist
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Even though most of those who loved the couple of Nick and June might still need some time to recover, there were others who saw some sense in Nick’s controversial actions after all.
“I'm gonna get down voted to hell for this but June left Nick not many choices. She had him go to No Man's Land to save Luke. This resulted in him having to kill those guardians. Then she needed him to go to Jezebels to retrieve the letters. He got caught there. Now she's upset because his father in law demanded a good reason for him doing all this. Father in law was ready to put him on the wall,” Redditor LSUAlly4 pointed out in a thread.
“Exactly like June girlie maybe it’s YOU (I am unfortunately a Nick apologist),” SeirraS9 put in.
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“Nick did what he had to do. He had to come up with a good reason for him to be there in the first place and didn't have any time to come up with a good lie. I think he's going to turn it around and find another way to help mayday destroy the commanders,” Odd-Article5060 suggested.
When Is The Handmaid’s Tale Next Episode Being Released?
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 Episode 7 is coming to Hulu on May 6. The rest of the episodes will air on the platform every Tuesday until May 27.
