Diksha Sundriyal
The final season of Hulu’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ ends with hope for the rebels fighting against the totalitarian regime of Gilead. After many twists and turns over the course of six seasons, Mayday finally breaks through into Boston, and the American government is in exile no more as they push against Gilead to take over one city at a time. In all of this, June and Luke Osborne play an important role in finding the regime’s weak points and helping Mayday and the American military to exploit those weaknesses and win. However, this journey also takes a toll on the couple, and by the end of the series, the viewers are left to wonder if they can get back to the way things used to be. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Luke and June’s Different Experiences Have Changed Their Relationship
At the beginning of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ when June and Luke are separated, they don’t just lose each other, but also their daughter, Hannah. Over the years, the thought of Hannah is what keeps June going as a Handmaid in the Waterford house, and after she escapes, Hannah is the only reason that the couple keep coming back to Gilead. At one point, June even thinks about settling in Alaska with her second daughter, Holly, but eventually, she cannot keep herself from fighting the regime that still has her first daughter.
Through all the thick and thin and all the trauma that they go through, together or separately, Hannah remains the constant that keeps Luke and June together, even when they don’t feel like being in each other’s company anymore. Their reunion is heartfelt as Luke is happy that at least his wife got out. However, the experience of Gilead has changed June irrevocably. She is not the same person she was before being forced into rape and abuse, stripped of all she had, even her name. While she still loves Luke, so much has changed between them that she doesn’t know how to connect to him anymore. And this feeling is not one-sided.
With his wife and daughter torn away from him, Luke holds a grudge against Gilead that he cannot let go of, at least until he has Hannah back. He is possessed by the idea of tearing the whole thing to the ground, and while June understands that and even wants the same thing, there are times when she doesn’t relate to her husband. This disconnect between them becomes more pronounced when Luke finds out about Nick, and eventually realises that June is in love with him. He understands that Nick has helped June escape Gilead and saved her in the times that death seemed imminent for her, but at the same time, he cannot make peace with the fact that Nick works for Gilead and June loves him despite that.
June and Luke Choose Separate Roads to the Same Destination
In the sixth and final season of the show, the chasm between June and Luke widens. While they still love and care for each other, it is clear to both that they have changed drastically, and they are not the same people they were back when they were in love. This point comes up several times during the season, and in the end, when the war of Boston is won, and Mayday and the military prepare for their next move against Gilead, the couple finally has a talk about what the future holds for them.
Luke reveals that he is going to New York to join the forces in pushing further into Gilead, and it is clear that he has no intention of stopping until the entire Gilead has been razed to dust. Meanwhile, June decides to focus on Hannah and find a way to bring their daughter back home. Ultimately, they both want the same thing, but their choice of paths shows how different they are from each other now, so even when Hannah gets back, they might choose to keep it that way.
It doesn’t mean that they will be completely out of each other’s lives. They will be on friendly terms and amicable, but there is a good chance that they might never get back to being married and in love the way they used to be before. Perhaps, Hannah’s return might make things better, but for now, it seems that both of them have accepted the fate of their relationship and have made their peace with whatever’s to come next.
Read More: Are Nick Blaine, Commander Lawrence, and Wharton Dead in The Handmaid’s Tale?
