Creators, Cast Unpack Those Two Major Deaths in Penultimate Episode

The revolution is being televised, but not everyone will survive it. That certainly came true in the penultimate installment of The Handmaid’s Tale as two major characters will not make next week’s series finale.

The shocking development at the close of the episode certainly wasn’t anticipated as it was the culmination of two very different decisions made by two very different people … moving in the opposite direction.

It also came on the heels of another shocking moment that kicked off the episode, as June (Elisabeth Moss) and her cohorts plot their uprising to the music of Taylor Swift. But not any Taylor Swift you’ve heard before — well, not exactly.

The long-awaited Reputation (Taylor’s Version) must be getting very close indeed, as the songstress debuted her re-recorded update of “Look What You Made Me Do” to help set the tone for revolution. It was a badass soundtrack as all hell immediately begins to break loose.

“I’ve been wanting to use a Taylor song for many years on the show and we finally found the perfect spot for a track from her, and I’m so glad we waited because there could not be a more perfect song for a more perfect moment,” Moss told Billboard of the instantly epic moment.

“When I laid the song up against the scene, it just landed perfectly thematically, rhythmically and magically hit all the edit points which sometimes happens if it’s meant to be,” added editor Wendy Hallam Martin.

As the episode progressed, June set the stage for a pivotal moment that could change everything for the better, if it all works perfectly. But this is The Handmaid’s Tale. When does anything work perfectly?

June got word that pretty much all of the remaining top leaders were jumping on a flight to D.C. after the Mayday-handmaid rebellion, so she enlisted the aid of Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) to take them down a notch.

And literally!

He agreed to drop a bomb on the plane and get out of there before anyone was the wiser. Well, as with all things, a great plan only works in theory. The commanders showed up early, leaving Lawrence — whom they are already suspicious of — in a desperate situation.

In a powerful moment, we see him resign himself to doing the right thing, even knowing what that means. After a meaningful look toward June, who’s watching it go down, he chooses to board the plane and prepares to fly off with the other Commanders.

And then, there’s Nick, who we’ve seen rise from driver to Commander in his own right. Like Lawrence, he’s been faced with a choice throughout this show. Where do his loyalties and beliefs lie? He’s in love with June, has fathered a child with her, but Gilead has treated him well, almost like a chosen son.

In the end, after what appeared to be some flashes of uncertainty, he chose Gilead, and he, too, entered the plane.

“It seemed like we needed that character to finally to make the choice; it was time to stop walking the tightrope,” co-showrunner Eric Tuchman told TheWrap.

“Nick was under tremendous pressure and when people are under pressure, they don’t always think rationally,” Minghella told The Hollywood Reporter. He said he thinks Nick made the turn after a pivotal scene with his wife Rose in the hospital.

“I looked at it as a morality play,” he said. “The moment you make a psychological decision like that, the world will karmically punish you for it, certainly in the context of this story.”

Tuchman said they also knew in advance that this was how they wanted Lawrence to go out. While Nick has been a hesitant ally to June and the revolution, Lawrence has become more and more overtly supportive, long regretful of his role in the rise of Gilead.

Tuchman told TheWrap they took the veteran actor out to lunch, not sure how he would react, and were happy to find that “he embraced the idea. I think he really sparked to it. It felt like an honest ending and a noble ending for this character.”

“It was basically my fantasy of his trajectory. Because, it can’t come too easy,” Whitford told THR. “This is not a show that needs a male savior.” He blamed Lawrence’s “savior complex” and for allowing him to buy into the myth of New Bethlehem and being blind to “what is a pretty obvious possibility, that those guys were gonna turn on him.”

“When you’re going to kill off characters, you want them to go out with a bang,” Tuchman told THR. “You want to have it land in a big way. Literally, in this case, Max and Bradley — and (High Commander Wharton) Josh Charles also explodes — all three of them have a very memorable end.”

“I was very happy that Lawrence made the choice that he made,” said Whitford. “I think as he’s listening to Nick and sitting on the plane [in the final scene] he’s thinking, ‘This poor kid is another victim of this hellscape that I created.'”

The final moments of the episode sees June looking up as the plane erupts in flames, ending one part of this chapter. As The Handmaid’s Tale moves toward its conclusion next week, sequel series The Testaments is waiting in the wings to pick up the pieces of whatever’s left.