Diksha Sundriyal
The rebellion finally knocks on Gilead’s door in the eighth episode of Hulu’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 6. Titled ‘Exodus,’ it focuses on Serena and Commander Wharton’s wedding day, which calls for several senior Commanders of the country to assemble in one place. This also gives their enemies the opportunity to strike them, and with June and Moira back in Gilead, the attention, once again, shifts towards the Handmaids. The intention is to kill the high-ranking Commanders and land a massive blow to Gilead’s functioning. One of them, and perhaps the most hateful of them all, is Commander Bell, who finally gets his due. SPOILERS AHEAD.
June Avenges Janine by Killing Bell
Every season, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ gives us a character to hate, and the final season is no different. In the form of Commander Bell, we are introduced to the worst of what Gilead has to offer, and the more we get to know him, the easier it gets to hate him. His vile nature becomes clearer during his time at Jezebel’s, as he zeroes in on Janine. Even when all the Jezebels are killed, he lets Janine live so that she can become his Handmaid, allowing him complete freedom to abuse her anyway he wants. Things are so bad for the poor woman that even Aunt Lydia is worried for her when she sees her at Bell’s place. Commander Lawrence updates June on Janine’s situation, and it becomes clear to her that her friend must be rescued, no matter the cost.
Serena’s wedding presents a perfect opportunity to kill the Commanders and get the Handmaids, including Janine, out of Gilead. While the rest of the Handmaids are allowed to join the wedding ceremony, Janine is kept out of it. So, June decides to rescue her friend herself. According to the plan, the wedding cake is spiked with sedatives, which means that two hours later, anyone who has eaten the cake will fall asleep. For this reason, none of the Handmaids eat the cake. However, the Commanders, their wives, their guards, and everyone else do. With everyone falling asleep, all the Handmaids have to do is walk up to the Commanders, slit their throats and leave the house.
Janine, however, is not in on the plan, so June does the killing for her. She enters the house and finds Bell sleepy due to the sedative. He wakes up because of a call, but is distracted when he sees June. Before he can make a move, she stabs him in the eye. The act is fatal, and it claims Bell’s life within seconds. Janine comes into the picture minutes after the deed is done, which means she is spared the murder, but now is free to leave the Bell household and escape Gilead with June and the other Handmaids.
Timothy Simons’ Return to The Handmaid’s Tale Seems Unlikely
Timothy Simons’ Commander Bell quickly became one of the most hateable characters of the show, particularly in Season 6. At first, the hate is directed towards him for his cruelty towards the women of Jezebel’s, particularly Janine. He fixates on her, especially after he sees her being friendly with Commander Lawrence. But then, we also discover that he is one of the many people pushing to undo all of Lawrence’s reforms at New Bethlehem. Not only does he want Gilead to return to what it used to be, but he also wants Lawrence to be put to the Wall.
With that, not only is he a horrible person, but he is also one of the people who want things to be bad for women in Gilead because that’s how they will be good for him. This makes Bell one of the important targets, and thus, his death at June’s hands not only serves vengeance for Janine, but also clears Lawrence’s path and falls in line with Mayday’s plans of fighting back. Considering how badly June stabs him, there is no hope for Bell, which means that we have seen the last of him, unless it is in Janine’s nightmares. This also means that actor Timothy Simons has also wrapped up his part in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ and will most likely not feature in the rest of the episodes of the show.
Read More: The Handmaid’s Tale: Why Does Serena Go Back to Gilead?
