“A chair. A table. A lamp. A window with white curtains.” These are the first words Offred (Elisabeth Moss) speaks in the opening scene of The Handmaid’s Tale following the flashback of her capture by Gilead. They are powerful words and ones that she ends with in the series as well.
But looking back, re-watching the chilling series from its first season, it’s clear there was a subtle hint that we missed in the moments leading up to it. The moment, for those who picked up on it or decided to re-watch and catch it today, told us how the show was going to end right from the very beginning.
The Subtle But Impactful Hint
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In the first episode of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 1, titled “Offred,” the harrowing scene begins when soldiers from Gilead capture June, Luke (O-T Fagbenle), and their young daughter Hannah. June is knocked out and placed on a stretcher in the back of a truck, barely conscious. When the scene cuts to the present day, she is sitting on the windowsill in her room in the Waterford home, dressed in full handmaid’s clothing. Just before she begins these words, you can hear a quiet but distinct audible click. Looking back, this is the click of June’s tape recorder as she sits in this very same spot years later and chronicles her life.
In the final episode of the series, Season 6, Episode 10, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Gilead has fallen in Boston thanks to June and the efforts of the Mayday team. Most of those who oppressed June are long gone. Those remaining have expressed remorse for their actions. She is free, in a sense, but still has a lot left to fight. Chief among these is getting her now teenage daughter Hannah (Jordana Blake) back.
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When telling her mother, Holly (Cherry Jones), about her plans, Holly urges her daughter to write a book about her story. June was a journalist before she was taken, after all. She had a natural talent for storytelling. And discussing her experiences could be both cathartic for her and help others.
Holly suggesting this is a wonderful moment between the two, since Holly never seemed to respect June’s career choice prior to Gilead taking over. Now, she recognizes how important her work is in contributing to the ongoing fight against oppression. It’s also fitting given that while in Gilead, women were forbidden from reading and writing altogether. It’s the perfect way for June to show that she’s no longer their prisoner, and she’ll make her voice heard.
She returns to the Waterford home, now abandoned and dilapidated. She walks up the stairs and to her old room where she looks around and observes those very same items she once had, the only possessions she could call her own. She sits at the windowsill, just as she did before. Except now, she’s fittingly wearing a green coat, the same color the Commander’s wives wore.
She clicks her tape recorder, the same quiet sound heard, and begins talking. It mirrors the scene beautifully and suggests that all the events throughout the series were part of June’s book, being played out for our eyes as she wrote the devastating and traumatizing words about everything she had been through, everyone she lost.
How Her Words Compare
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In the opening scene of the series in its pilot episode, June continues, “The glass is shatterproof, but it isn’t running away they’re afraid of. A handmaid wouldn’t get far. It’s those other escapes. The ones you can open in yourself given a cutting edge. Or a twisted sheet and a chandelier.” She’s referencing the fact that she has been posted in this home following the death by suicide of the previous handmaid, who indeed used a twisted sheet hung from the chandelier to eliminate her pain.
“I try not to think about those escapes,” she continues, a slight crack in her voice but filled with strength as well. “It’s harder on ceremony days, but thinking can hurt your chances. My name is Offred. I had another name but it’s forbidden now. So many things are forbidden now.” In this moment, Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) walks in, and the events begin to play out for the rest of the story.
How does this compare to the final scene? After dreaming of being reunited with Hannah, June perches atop the windowsill, and when she reaches into her pocket for her recorder, she clicks the “record” button and, as noted, it makes the identical sound from the opening scene. Now, it’s clear the voice we heard at the start of the series is June now, not June back then.
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She repeats the familiar lines, mouthing the words along with the narration, confirming that she’s speaking them in the present day. She has gotten out alive and continues to fight, so others can, too. “I try not to think about those escapes,” she goes on, echoing those powerful first words. “It’s harder on ceremony days, but thinking can hurt your chances.” It’s here that June looks up to the screen, however, and after saying “My name is Offred,” she smiles wickedly. She knows telling her story will make a difference. Her name was Offred. But now, it’s June.
Despite all the physical sacrifice, the emotional turmoil she endured, and the constant fight against Gilead, June’s writing after she escapes may become her most powerful method of attack. It’s these words that might finally help free her daughter from the clutches of Gilead, and eventually, bring Gilead completely to its knees. She was right that running wasn’t what Gilead was worried about. It was those other escapes, the ones that Gilead never saw coming.
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