Diksha Sundriyal
The fourth episode of Hulu’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 6 prepares the audience for the chaos that is about to unfold in the second half of the season. Following the thrilling first three episodes, each of which takes June through a harrowing journey, this episode takes a breather by building up the events rather than jumping into the middle of another action-packed sequence. Despite its considerably laid-back vibe, the events of ‘Promotion’ are no less important. In fact, from the looks of it, they set up a very eventful fifth episode, which is promised to pack as much heartbreak as it does bullets. SPOILERS AHEAD.
June’s Bond with Luke and Moira Gets Strained
When June leaves with Nichole for Alaska, Luke is left behind due to the charges of murdering the man who tried to kill June. With four months to go before the hearing that would decide his fate, Luke joins Mayday to help them take down Gilead and bring his daughter, Hannah, back home. However, he doesn’t tell June about it, and eventually, when he and Moira get trapped in no man’s land, June comes to the rescue. Now that she has both of them back in Canada, safe and sound, she wants to go back to Alaska, where they all can be a family again. However, neither of them seems interested in that plan. Rather, Luke is more focused on seeing the plan he helped build right to the end.
The plan is to target the Commanders and kill them. The thought is that by this, Mayday would be cutting off the heads of Gilead, which would allow the army to swoop in and claim back the territory. Mark shares the intel from Luke and Moira with the Canadians, who will be all too happy for it to be executed. In return, they drop the charges against him. The question, however, is how to find these heavily guarded Commanders and kill them before the Guardians and the Eyes swoop in and destroy everything. It is decided that they should be cornered at Jezebel’s, where they are least protected and most distracted. They will get a person on the inside to get a lay of the land beforehand, and the next day, the sharpshooters will enter and kill the Commanders. Then, they will blow up the place with bombs, following which the army will come in.
When June hears this, she immediately calls them out over the apparent inefficacy of it all. She believes that they will not go past the first step as there is too much risk without any confirmation that it will work out. She suggests they use poison but is told that everything is taste-tested there now. When she asks what will happen to the women there, she is told that not everyone can be saved in these less-than-ideal circumstances. Then, Moira volunteers to go into the building first and double-check things. This agitates June even further because she believes that Moira has been out of touch with Gilead for a very long time and will not survive in a place that has been tenfold unpredictable since she left it.
New Bethlehem Welcomes Visitors
To present New Bethlehem’s image as a more progressive and open Gilead, visitors, especially Americans, are allowed to take a look around and stay if they think the place is good. Rita accepts this invitation because it means she will finally get to see her sister again, with whom she was separated when Gilead took the reins of the country. For this, she reaches out to Serena, who pulls a few strings and makes it happen in the hopes that it will help convince Rita to stay at New Bethlehem. She is also emotional after watching her former Martha tearfully hug her sister. Later, Rita also meets with Rick and asks if he can help her get all of her family out of Gilead. He says it is possible, but it might take one or two years. When asked if she can stay here for that period of time, she immediately agrees.
Following this, she visits Wharton’s house. She goes there with a pie, hoping to give it to Rose, who has been craving it. But since she is resting, Wharton decides to eat it with her. The conversation between Serena and Wharton becomes more and more personal, and both become more comfortable in each other’s presence. There is light flirting, which suggests that something more is developing between them, especially after he tells her that her now-dead husband should have been more supportive of her voice and her ideas. They spend a lot of time talking, and when the time comes, Wharton walks Serena home. On the way, he tells her that he saw her in DC a couple of years back. Even back then, he was struck by her beauty and elegance but was too shy to approach her because she was married at the time.
Remembering the time, she comments that Commander Waterford was less a man and more of an albatross at the time. This gives Wharton the push he needs to ask her to dance with him. She is pleasantly surprised by his offer because they are in the middle of the street, and there is no music. Still, they hold hands with each other, and they dance. It is safe to say that they would have almost kissed if it weren’t for the sudden appearance of a familiar figure, which catches Serena off guard. She sees Aunt Lydia approaching them and immediately backs away from Wharton. It seems she, too, is still intimidated by her. And from the looks of it, Aunt Lydia has found a way to help Janine.
Commander Joseph Lawrence Gets a Promotion and an Unexpected Party
When Joseph Lawrence proposed the idea of creating New Bethlehem, he was dismissed. But now, the place is a huge success and is proving to become instrumental in turning around Gilead’s spoiled image in the world, all thanks to Serena Waterford. For his work, but most importantly, for its success, Lawrence is given a promotion. Following the ceremony, one of the Commanders gifts him the promise of a good time. While it is not spoken outright, everyone knows that the place in question is Jezebel’s. Commander Wharton refuses the invitation, and he makes sure that Nick doesn’t join them either. Meanwhile, Lawrence doesn’t have an option, and he joins them reluctantly.
At Jezebel’s, he comes across Janine, whom he had intentionally sent there after his new wife wanted to do away with her due to her bad behavior. She is pushed onto him to give him the good time he was promised, but both she and Lawrence know that nothing is going to happen between them. When she confronts him about sending her here, he tells her that had he not done this, she would have either died at the Colonies, or she would have been executed at the Wall. He saw this as her best option, so he made it happen. He also shares a drawing made by Angela with her in an act of compassion that is not unheard of by him. It warms Janine’s heart, but it also makes her wonder about the girl’s future in Gilead. He assures her that she is safe, but Janine counters that even Commanders’ daughters are at risk, and if not that, what will happen to her when she grows up?
June Decides to Join the Fight Against Gilead
Following Luke and Moira’s rescue mission, June thought they could all go back to Alaska and be a happy family again. However, when Moira decides to volunteer for Jezebel’s and Luke reveals he will be seeing the plan through, she decides to intervene. Her thoughts are also aided by the fact that she discovers that Janine is also a Jezebel now, and this makes her more concerned about the plan, which doesn’t seem to have any care for the women and how to get them out safely before blowing up the place. So, she reaches out to the leader, Ellen, and asks her to send her to Gilead instead of Moira. When Moira finds out about it, she is enraged because, first, June goes behind her back to remove her from the mission she has worked so hard for, and second, June believes she is incapable of taking care of herself.
Luke supports Moira as he, too, is angry with June for infantilizing them. She does not find them capable of doing the very tasks that they have helped build from the ground up and is so invested in protecting them that she forgets that they, too, are adults. Later, June explains how she has been on the same path as Luke now is and has been disappointed and heartbroken every time she thought she was finally going to see Hannah again. She wants to protect him from that, but he tells her that she has done her part and now, he must do his, even if it doesn’t guarantee Hannah’s return. They both accept that their family is broken beyond repair, but there is no path forward but this: to destroy Gilead for all the bad it has done to them and to have some hope for Hannah, after all.
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