Spoiler alert: this recap is for people watching The Handmaid’s Tale, series three, on Channel 4 in the UK. Please do not add spoilers for later episodes in the series.

Last week was a low point for June’s morals, but here she found new depths, driving a pregnant woman to suicide-by-cop. None of June’s spiteful actions will bring Gilead down, or even hurt its founders, but that’s not her goal right now. She’s hellbent on getting revenge on Ofmatthew, the informer she blames for the death of Hannah’s beloved Martha Frances.

Serena’s betrayal, Hannah’s loss and the many cruel home-truths of Commander Lawrence seem to have made June crack. The malicious bully we see here has nothing in common with the woman who chose five women to save from death for the resistance a few episodes ago, or the one who threw herself on top of Janine to shield her from a beating. Not even mouthing off to Lawrence can give her the satisfaction or punishment she craves. “No one’s empty of sin,” she tells Aunt Lydia during her ‘testifying’, but June is empty of everything else. She feels no fear when Ofmatthew snaps and points a gun at her, no sadness as she curiously examines a dead baby, and she is doing all she can to avoid feeling guilt for her role in Frances’ execution.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Serving up cruel home-truths ... Commander Lawrence. Photograph: Sophie Giraud/Hulu

While June’s out-of-character behaviour can be explained, it’s less clear why all the other handmaids have turned Mean Girls on Ofmatthew, spitting in her water and getting her in trouble with the Aunts. The handmaids are all in the same boat, and have always shown compassion to one another. Them suddenly turning on Ofmatthew seems to be an excuse to push her storyline to a speedier conclusion, ending in the depressingly inevitable Loaves and Fishes bloodbath. June muses that now she knows how Emily felt before she ran over an Eye, to reach that point of self-destruction. But as Ofmatthew’s lifeless body is hauled out, June has triumph in her eyes. Maybe she’s gloating over the destruction of an enemy, or maybe she’s satisfied to learn that, unlike Ofmatthew, Emily, or Ofglen, she isn’t going to snap.

Aunt Lydia

Praise be – an Aunt Lydia flashback! Three seasons in and we finally come closer to understanding the Aunt Formally Known As Lydia Clemmons, in what was easily this episode’s highlight. We meet her in an undisclosed period of time pre-Gilead, where she’s a caring teacher with free-flowing hair and chilli, who transitioned out of family law because she just wasn’t able to help enough children. This is a woman who, like the Aunt Lydia we know and are deeply unsettled by, is convinced of her own ability to do (and define) good.

The flashback sees Lydia getting close to a single-parent family she is trying to help, as well as to a colleague, Jim. She’s clearly a well-meaning and lonely person, recovering from a marriage that “was a mistake”, but the hints of the Lydia who will find her calling in Gilead are there from the start, as she refers to children as a ‘blessing’, and twitches with disapproval when single mother Noelle asks if she has a girlfriend.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest We have witnessed the birth of Aunt Lydia. Photograph: Jasper Savage/Hulu

She craves physical contact, and a scene in which Noelle applies makeup to her face becomes almost sensual. Later, Lydia is filled with self-disgust after letting her passions run away with her at the end of an otherwise lovely first date with Jim. He’s still keen on a second date, but Lydia has some issues regarding her own sexuality, and is repulsed by herself afterwards, promptly pulling her hair back into its familiar style, and declaring that she has a duty to “report moral weakness” as she arranges for Noelle’s son to be taken into care. We have witnessed, essentially, the birth of Aunt Lydia. What we still don’t know is where the fear of her own sexuality comes from. Lydia remains a fascinating enigma, and it’s a joy to see the ever-brilliant Ann Dowd get more material. Lydia, like most characters this season, has been inconsistent in her motivations, but Dowd is never less than magnificent.

The sound of music

If you’d felt that what this series was missing is Aunt Lydia belting out Dolly Parton, oh boy was this the episode for you, as she and Jim sing Islands in the Stream at a New Year’s Eve karaoke session.

Elsewhere, after that gruesome final scene, we were treated to a cheery blast of Doris Day’s Que Sera Sera – and what better anthem for June, who is increasingly losing sight of the big picture and giving way to hopelessness?

Under his eye

The baby Nicole drama has been moved to the backburner, as per Fred and Commander Winslow’s plan. June is still on call for TV appearances, which gives her temporary immunity from the wrath of the Aunts – and explains how she gets away with most of her behaviour here.



Seeing how the Aunts pair up handmaids with Commanders – over glasses of port – is an interesting insight into how, in their minds at least, they have the handmaids’ best interests at heart.



“It’s an acquired taste, seeing others in pain,” June muses in voiceover. Like a smoky whisky, apparently. Removing people’s compassion for those less fortunate than themselves is a key component of all controlling regimes. Is Gilead finally conquering June?