So in the Season 5 premiere, he was shocked to find out that the jig was, in fact, going to go on as planned! There is nothing to see here! Meanwhile, in the first part of the two-episode premiere, Serena learns of her husband’s death and immediately knows who is responsible, and Emily calms down for good. Read on for “Morning” highlights, and then be sure to check out what executive producers Warren Littlefield and Bruce Miller had to say about this shocker at the end of episode 2!) “BY THE HAND OF THE F–KING!” | We cut right back to June at home, avoiding Luke and Moira’s increasingly unsettling questions about what happened. She angers Nichole once more, inadvertently smearing blood on the child’s face, before grabbing her coat and walking out. “I did it. I killed him. I killed Fred,” he tells Moira and Luke, excited as they look on in horror. “By her hand. By her hand king!” she adds before getting into the car and driving away as they yell at her to stop. She doesn’t. Instead, she goes to a dinner party full of women who helped her finish Fred. They eat with abandon—pancakes, eggs, milkshakes—because, as one of the ladies notes, “Everything tastes better when Fred’s dead.” Outside, one of the women opens the trunk of her car to show June a large bag of weapons. he gives June a pistol and promises he can get more. It slowly becomes clear that these women saw Mission: Wipe Out Waterford as the first of many murderous operations and expect June to help them the way they helped her. Except she doesn’t care, and is more concerned that Emily seems to be missing. This infuriates the former maids. “We all went to the woods for you, Junior,” says one. “He was your monster and we tore him apart for you. Now it’s my turn,” points out another. June explains that none of them are likely to get the justice they deserve, and the situation escalates until one of the women points a gun at June and then fires it into the air several times. Knowing that the police will soon be on the way, she grabs a gun and then quickly gets into her car. The others quickly leave as she does. ADIOS, EMILY | June then goes to Emily’s house, where Sylvia informs her that Emily has returned to Gilead “to fight, I think. To find Aunt Lydia, if she can. That’s what he had to do.” Because June must be June, she immediately decides it’s her fault. But Sylvia is done with all that and doesn’t want to discuss. “He was gone and then he was here. It’s more time than I thought I would have. We are lucky in many ways,” he says. And when June asks if Sylvia will let her know if Emily calls, Sylvia says no. After he leaves, our girl begins to come down from the adrenaline rush of ending her rapist’s life. Eventually she falls to the edge of a body of water, washing her hands, which are still somewhat bloody. She thinks of Hannah, both before and after Gilead, and cries. She seems distressed enough to arouse the suspicion of a policeman who happens to be passing by, and before long Luke comes to pick her up at the station. The thing is, June doesn’t want to come home. She knows law enforcement will be looking for her and “I’m looking forward to boots on the stairs.” Plus, he admits that he “loved” watching Fred die, and isn’t that probably the best energy you want around a toddler? And as Luke tries to figure out how to meet her, he makes a choice: He confesses to the murder to a Toronto police officer, and they take her to a back room. Luke frantically shouts “Don’t do that!” as she was led away, but June had never looked so peaceful. WELL, THIS WAS UNEXPECTED | This peaceful attitude continues as he is interrogated. “He raped me and held me captive. He was a monster and he deserved to die,” she says as she waits for the police to arrest her. But — TWIST! — it’s not going to happen. The event June confessed to did not occur on Canadian soil and therefore “doesn’t concern The Crown.” June is taken aback, insisting that there must be punishment for such an act? But her questioner insists that Canada “has no quarrel with you” and she is free to go. While I’m glad June won’t be doing time, there’s a sense of insult to injury in how even the END of her years of torture isn’t so easily acknowledged and dismissed. Luke brings her home, where Moira is uncomfortable with the idea of June taking care of Nicole. “You scare me,” he says. “Me too,” June replies, on the verge of tears. “I thought I was going to be in jail.” They exchange “I love you’s” and then Tuello shows up to inform June that both Serena and Gilead are a bit disappointed with what she’s been able to accomplish. “I just came to say: well done. You did something terrible that needed to be done. I understand how much it costs. May he rot in Hell,” Tuelo tells her. And when she replies “Glory,” he advises her, “Don’t let the bastards crush you.” June later meets Luke and Moira as they bathe the little girl. Then June hugs her daughter and cries, and once again I’m impressed by the young actresses who play Nicole. So soulful! THE WATERFORD WIDOW | What has Serena been doing all this time, you wonder? After June’s care package shows up, Mrs. Waterford is taken to a safe location and informed of Fred’s death. He doesn’t believe Tuello when he shows up and says he’s not sure what happened after he handed Fred over to the border, and calls him directly responsible for Fred’s death. This infuriates him, but after he cools down a bit, he tells her about the FingerGram and shows her a photo of the commander that’s tacked up on the makeshift wall with “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum” spray-painted underneath. Serena asks and learns that it was Fred’s left finger on the envelope. “It wasn’t Gilead,” she says angrily. “It was June Osborne.” Tuello says that’s not possible. “You don’t know what it is,” Serena spits. He becomes even more mad later, after seeing Fred’s truly mutilated corpse, only to discover that Canada is not pressing charges because the crime took place in No Man’s Land. “Therefore, June Osborne has broken no law,” Tuelo tells her, adding that when her own charges are cleared up, she can apply for asylum. It’s like, I THINK NO. They leave the morgue to find a long line of Gilead-friendly Canadians holding a candlelight vigil for Fred. You can see Serena’s wheels turning as she slowly walks through her supporters, so it’s no big surprise when she announces that she’s bringing the commander home to bury him. “I will see that my husband has a proper burial in the nation he founded,” she says. “The Waterford name has power, and that will be respected and remembered.” A frustrated Tuello says that’s probably not going to happen, but he’ll make some calls. THE NEW LADY. BLAINE | Back in Gilead, Nick is at home with his new wife, who walks with a cane and seems to know at least a little about what she’s really doing. And she seems supportive, which is a nice change! After asking her if she saw June, he wonders, “And what he was supposed to do was done?” When he answers in the affirmative, he seems to please her. “Maybe June will find some peace now,” she says. Now it is your turn. Rate the premiere via the poll below, then hit the comments with your thoughts!
