June Osborne is my hero

I am obsessed with The Handmaid’s Tale and its angry protagonist, June Osborne. This is one show I would happily binge but the meanies over at Hulu are only releasing one episode a week so I have to wait. I seriously hate that.

If you have not watched the show, read the book, or seen the original film, and have lived in a cave under a rock, you may not have heard the story. It takes place after a second civil war where the nation of the United States is mostly taken over by right-wing nut job Christians. Fertile women are made into handmaids and sent to live with high-ranking commanders and their wives. They have no freedom and are raped once a month by the commander with the wife taking part. It’s just all sorts of messed up. When a handmaid gets pregnant (praise be!) they have to give up the child to the mistress of the household.

Meanwhile, June, now a handmaid, saw her daughter, Hannah, taken from her, and Hannah is then sent to new parents (a commander and his wife). June is also placed into the home of Fred and Serena Joy Waterford. In the “before” Serena Joy was an architect of what would become the new, religious state of Gilead. She’s not just another wife hell-bent on having a child through her handmaid, she’s a big driving force in the creation of this dystopian hell.

If you have watched that, I am sorry for wasting your time.

I love June. I love that she makes mistakes and is human. I love how far she is willing to go to save Hannah. Most of all, I love her anger. It is so rare for female characters to express fury. They can be sad, hurt, disappointed, depressed, etc. but they never seem to be truly angry. June Osborne is nothing if not furious. And she has every right.

Spoiler alert. Don’t read any more if you have not seen Season Four episodes 6 and 7.

Having said that, June can also be infuriating. Watching her fight with Moira about getting on a boat to Canada made me want to throw something at the TV. We get it. She feels guilty about Hannah but she was going to be tortured and killed by Aunt Lydia if she stays in Gilead. She’s no help to Hannah dead.

Serious question for other fans of this show… Is Janine dead? Please leave your answer in the comments or email me.

For no reason other than it helps with SEO, I am putting a link to reasons you should avoid squirrels.