'The Handmaid's Tale 3' episode 10 pushing Eleanor further into depression could influence Commander Lawrence to risk entering Canada
Spoilers ahead for 'The Handmaid's Tale' season 3 episode 10: 'Witness'
'The Handmaid's Tale' episode titled 'Witness' ended with Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) finally agreeing to put June's plan into motion if she agrees to send his wife Eleanor Lawrence (Julie Dretzin) over the wall. The Commander is pushed to make this decision because he cannot let his wife witness something as horrific as the Ceremony ever again.
Now that it has become evident that Commander Lawrence is being targeted by Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes), June (Elisabeth Moss) is sure the Ceremony will continue taking place until she gets pregnant and in Eleanor's current state of mind, witnessing something like this will only push her further into depression.
She needs mood stabilizers, but that is something Gilead will not allow her to have. Instead, she gets served tea and that doesn't help her. One of the facets of Commander Lawrence and his wife's relationship is the promise that he will not go through with the Ceremony, but in the end, he had to break it to survive.
It was either partake in the Ceremony with June or end up on the wall. Eleanor is not mentally ready to accept her husband would have to do something like this, and she is further disturbed because Gilead has now forced not just her husband but also pushed her to watch over atrocious act committed in the name of betterment.
This entire incident occurs because June tells Commander George Winslow her Commander treats her with respect. He is visibly perturbed, and Commander Waterford finds this to be the perfect time to raise suspicions about Commander Lawrence and his activities.
In fact, it is he who orchestrates the entire event. After the Ceremony is successfully completed as Aunt Lydia had said, Waterford addresses June and asks her if she was alright. This conversation takes place just before he leaves Commander Lawrence's residence and June responds that at least it was not him.
It was not him and his wife holding June down to rape her. This further bruises Waterford's ego and he will be back for more and even one more Ceremony that Eleanor has to preside over after this, will one too many.
Commander Lawrence and June come to the same conclusion and that is why the commander deciding to go with June's plan is not surprising. He did, after all, see her make it work when she helped Emily and Nichole out of Gilead so how different could it be this time?
He has agreed to procure a truck and June has agreed to put Eleanor in it and take her away, but what about him? Yes, he is a war criminal who could be killed instantly for crossing the wall, but if he did want to leave with his wife, there is one way he could make it happen and that is by being a hero.
By smuggling the lost children of Gilead into Canada, Commander Lawrence would be helping them flee the regime, and may thus be spared, but will he risk it? The episode ended on this mysterious note and if we were to draw conclusions from the previous episodes, it looks like he will have to accompany his wife if he wants to guarantee her mental and physical safety.
We will know what Commander Lawrence decides when episode 11 of 'The Handmaid's Tale' season 3 airs on Hulu Wednesday.