7 The Handmaid's Tale Theories To Ponder After Season 5's Finale

June and Nichole winding up on the same train with Serena and Noah, heading to Vancouver to get a flight to Hawaii, feels like fate. But June and Serena have attempted to collaborate before, and it’s never gone well. Knowing June may not make it to America suggests that whatever attempt they make at banding together will go sideways, with Serena possibly betraying June yet again.

June burning her last bridge with Lawrence, followed by Nick’s fist to his face at the wedding, would lead most to assume Commander Lawrence is now fully Team Gilead. He even married the terrible Mrs. Putnam! But Lawrence’s promise to make Gilead a better place was never to June or Nick. It was to his first wife, Eleanor, and he doesn’t seem likely to break it just because others aren’t on board.

That’s good for Janine, who is already discovering the backbone June always knew was in her. Lawrence may very well be calling the Eyes in an underhanded attempt to help Janine get to Canada. And if so, the moment Lawrence gives her the opportunity, Janine will be out of Gilead for good.

The Testaments never reveals what happens to Luke, though it suggests he didn’t disappear with June. That makes their separation at the end of Season 5 seem possibly permanent. It also suggests Luke won’t make it out of prison alive, though whether it’s a fellow inmate who shanks him, Canadian officials who off him, or he’s secretly handed over to Gilead remains to be seen.

A theory that didn’t play out in the Season 5 finale, but viewers aren’t ready to let go of, is Naomi Putnam taking out Lawrence. There are an easy half-dozen motives. Lawrence ordered Commander Putnam’s execution; he stood impassively and watched it happen. There’s also that hilariously gross marriage proposal, not to mention how he acted at the wedding itself.

All it would take is Namoi discovering the truth about his promise to Eleanor to send her over the edge, or even better, uncovering that he was helping June for the majority of the show. Perhaps she’ll find out he even helped Janine get out. Any of those would quickly drive Naomi to do it for the good of Gilead.

The show has thrown everything in the way of June and Nick being together, but with Rose walking out on him, there’s nothing left for Nick in Gilead.

It’s high time Nick went to Canada. If Luke is removed from the picture, nothing is standing in the way of him tracking down June, giving the two their sort-of happily ever after.

Poor Aunt Lydia spent all season trying to reconcile her belief in Gilead’s system with the reality of how “her girls” are treated. Janine being taken from her by the Eyes at Lawrence’s command looks like the last straw.

However, as other aunts have pointed out, Lydia’s behavior hasn’t gone unnoticed, and her attachment to “her girls” is not considered dignified. If she tries to rescue Janine, others could use it against her, leading to the ultimate humiliation: Lydia being demoted, or worse, forced into early retirement.

There are a lot of reasons June might fail to get to Hawaii — Luke going on trial, for example, or Nick sending her a message that he’s coming to Canada. Heck, she might even turn back to rescue Janine. Serena betraying June still seems the most likely outcome, forcing June and Nichole to stay in Canada while Serena and Noah fly away.

But there’s one other possibility: Serena’s complete redemption. June may turn back, but as Luke did with her, she may force Serena to take Noah and get on that plane. Serena could wind up in America and spend the rest of her life knowing she never deserved this second chance at freedom, but deciding to live up to June’s vision of her as someone who did.