4 Theories About *That* Handmaid's Tale Plot Twist

It seems like a ludicrous answer, but Serena Joy was never one for doing the logical thing. Had she been, it might have occurred to her that Gilead would take away her rights and power, or that maybe living with true believers as a pregnant woman would automatically get her treated like a handmaid.

Still, Serena Joy knows she is a dignitary of Gilead and that Canadians have attempted to kidnap and hold her pregnant personage prisoner. It is precisely the excuse she needs to return to Gilead, declare she cannot run their outreach “fertility center,” and try again to convince Lawrence to marry her. With Putnam out of the picture, perhaps she’ll make better headway.

As for June, Serena’s got the trump card: Hannah. June will do anything for the promise of Hannah, even go back into Gilead. Also, if she thinks Luke might be there right now, she’s got double the reason to agree.

The most obvious place Serena would insist on going is to Toronto’s Little America to see Mark Tuello. After all, this *isn’t* Gilead, and Serena Joy is not a handmaid. She was being held against her will in a country where that’s illegal, so logically, she would go to Mark for help as a dignitary in need of protection. It’s hypocritical (and darkly hilarious), but it’s 100% a Serena Joy move. It also means she could make a play to get control of the fertility center and reestablish herself as a woman in power.

The question is what June does about this. She was nearly executed, she’s technically been kidnapped, and Serena running because a couple obsessed with treating her like a walking womb kept her prisoner is irony beyond measure. But also, June is a freedom fighter, and the Wheelers and their ilk are her enemies too.

Seriously, what will Moira say if June shows up with Serena saying they need to protect her?

Those who have read The Testaments know that no one knows what happens to June after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale; it’s a mystery. But there are rumors she’s out in the Canadian wilderness, or even that she made it to what’s left of America, aka Alaska. Since she arrived in Canada, well-read viewers have been waiting for some sign that June would head Northwest.

That does not mean Serena and June are going to make it to Alaska in the next episode; there’s a whole sixth season to go, after all. But a failed wild ride into the wilderness could be the first step in creating the possibility June will head that way sometime in the future (sans Serena as kidnapper). Not that anyone knows for sure what June’s fate is — the wilderness rumors are just a theory in the novel — but the show playing into that as a possible ending would make a lot of sense, especially if, this time, June and Serena fail to get very far.

I know this is a stretch, but what is the point of this Mayday plotline if not to blow up their spot by working with June? There are only two more episodes this season, and the group isn’t likely to have been a one-off guest appearance.

Not that Serena would demand to go there. It’s more likely that Serena’s capture of June wasn’t thoroughly thought out. Besides, let us not forget Serena didn’t murder Ezra. Her bullet lodged in his body armor, knocking him down. That’s still enough to do damage (deep bruising, probably broke a few bones), but he’s alive, and when he recovers enough to get to his feet, he’ll report them. June has to get them off the road and someplace safe, and Mayday might be their only hope.