'The Handmaid's Tale' Season 4 Episode 5: Is Janine dead? After blast in the end, June meets a shocked Moira
Spoilers for 'The Handmaid's Tale' season 4, episode 5 titled 'Chicago'
June for once seemed helpless as she was left to either comply with the wishes of another man - do a sexual favor in return for safety and food. She intially protects Janine, and steps forward but is unable to do it. This man, who is not a part of Mayday, clearly tells her that he has no interest in forcing her. All he needs is any woman, and that's when Janine steps forward. She tells June later that it was not too bad and remarks how the man even liked her eye patch.
In episode 5 titled "Chicago", we will see if June and Janine can leave behind the temporary safe haven they have found with a group of stragglers to find Mayday. Janine initially isn't so sure about leaving the one person who she believes has genuinely shown interest in her - as a person and not as a handmaid. Of course, June is sure that Janine is being used, and we also see how there is nothing different about this group that goes around claiming to be US citizens but do nothing to help the fight.
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Throughout the episode, we see how June and Janine feel different in this new environment. Janine has adapated much quickly and has even begun to dream of being a parent again. This is exactly what she tells June when she tells her that it is time for them to leave. June is clearly in need of a fight, one that will help put Gilead in a tough spot, but that is not something that she will get by staying with the stragglers. However, she is also not interested in forcing Janine to accompany her in her quest to find Mayday. So she tells Janine goodbye and is on her way.
This goodbye, however, takes on a whole new meaning just minutes later. When June and Janine were struggling to survive, the top commanders of Gilead, including Commander Lawrence and Commander Nick Blaine have come up with their own plan. They want to drop bombs in Chicago and 24 hours later, they want to call a ceasefire in an effort to begin trade talks with Canada again. They haven't forgotten all the children that were stolen from them, and they are planning a war. However, the priority now is to get business going.
However, they do not want to give in to Mayday's resistance easily. What is surprising, however, is that Chicago is deserted on the day the commanders planned to drop the bombs. It is the same day that June had decided to pursue her own journey. As she walks on the empty streets, she begins to get an eerie feeling about the place and Janine appears out of nowhere. Turns out, she didn't want to be left behind. She wants to continue the journey, and ironically, she even quotes Gilead's practice of how Handmaids always travel in group of twos.
Unfortunately though, this tender moments is ripped apart by bombs dropping from the sky. Something that June realized too late, and the two of them are caught in it. At the end of the episode, we hear June cry out for Janine, but there is no response. With tears in her eyes, she tries to see through the ash and all the destruction that has fallen upon Chicago. As she gets up very slowly, what awaits her is a sight that one wouldn't have expected. Moira stands in front of June as she looks around lost. Moira is as shocked as June and we wonder if this unplanned meeting will lead to another of June's crazy yet exhilarating plans.
'The Handmaid's Tale' season 4 will stream on Hulu on Wednesdays.