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scarlettatg · 1 year

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The Handmaid’s Tale

The deal

Episode 306 Household

Gilead has been a black box for years. We don't know how decisions are made, where the power lies. The more we know, the more we can do.

What if I brought you someone who would talk? A Commander. An Eye.

It seems unlikely that kind of person would... be cooperative.

I'll persuade him.

We won't be able to do business with Mr. Blaine.

You made a deal!

I don't think you know who Mr. Blaine is. Or who he was. Our research indicates he is not to be trusted.

No, there's been... There's some kind of mistake. I will talk to him.

He's left for Chicago. Some people are not to be dealt with.

What did Nick do? Before he was a driver?

He served Gilead.

How did he serve Gilead? Tell me.

He was a soldier in the crusade. We wouldn't be here without him. All this time you spent together and he never mentioned anything.

Episode 310 Bear Witness

Have you ever thought about leaving Gilead?

You mean go somewhere where I could get mood stabilizers instead of herbal tea?

Joseph would help you. You could leave together. He wants you to be... safe. He loves you so much.

Joseph is a war criminal. He can't cross the border. He would be... jailed for the rest of his life. Or... killed.

Episode 502 Ballet

You've risen fast, while somehow managing to help June. That takes talent. To fly under the radar like that.

Just trying to stay out of trouble.

Wouldn't you like to see your daughter in person rather than asking about her?

That's a pipe dream.

I know you got a complicated past. But America can be a very forgiving place. If you make amends, gain us some visibility, play your part for a while. I'd like to help you and your daughter. If you'll let me. We could help each other.

I'll remember that.

Episode 509 Allegiance

What about Nick Blaine?

What about him?

I offered to help him when I was in Gilead, if he'd help us, but he turned me down.

What, to be your inside man in Gilead or something?

At first, but then, eventually, to be our man here. With immunity.

He said no?

Yes, but he can still have that. Maybe you could persuade him. Nick was an Eye. He's a Commander now. Someone like that defecting from Gilead... Big impact.

Episode 510 Safe

Now that we've fulfilled our end of the bargain, I have some papers for you to sign. They outline our agreement.

Contract?

If it was up to me, I'd take you at your word.

Not sure how much my word is worth right now.

I'd call you an honorable man. I look forward to working together. You have the gratitude of the United States government.

I'll keep my end of the deal. You just keep her safe.

I will do everything I can.

That's not good enough.

I believe the idea of Nick leaving Gilead never occurred to June or to Nick until season 5 with Tuello’s offer. After the Waterford house burned down and especially after June gets to Canada, they both live in whatever stolen moments they get, and after that there’s just the continuation of their separate lives. Nick believed June would go back to her life and that his daughter would grow up safe away from Gilead (and him), that he has no choice but to stay in Gilead and that he has nothing to offer June. He probably knows that because his involvement with the SOJ if he were to leave Gilead he would be tried as a war criminal. When he talks to the Swiss they aren’t willing to deal with him, but Tuello is and offers him a deal despite his complicated past. I’ve always wondered why were the Swiss unwilling to deal with him then but now it’s seems it’s fine. Could it be that then he was just promoted to commander and his information wasn’t important? He still would’ve had access to military actions and that info could’ve helped the resistance in Chicago. Tuello does mention that Nick has risen through the ranks so maybe that is why they’re willing to work with him now or maybe they just don’t have access to anyone that high up. Interesting though that since the conversation with the Swiss and where we are now, I think maybe a year has gone by. June also didn’t think Nick being out was a possibility and we see that in her reaction when Tuello tells her about Nick not taking the deal. It would be in her best interest if Nick stayed in Gilead (Hannah) yet we see that what mattered to her was that he had said no. She wants him out and close to her. She even tells him to bring Rose because she doesn’t care how it happens, she just wants it to happen. I think this is important to know exactly how June feels about Nick. It’s subtle but it’s there.

Every time I think about the scenes in episode 306 I try to make sense of what is being said and what we have been given. We know Nick joined the SOJ so therefor he had to have been in some way involved with the take over - we just don’t know to what extent. I keep thinking that if he was so instrumental he wouldn’t have been a driver for years. Bruce recently said in an interview Nick chose to be a driver. I don’t think he had many choices. I assumed it was be a driver or a patrolling guardian/military police. After all Nick wasn’t a founding father and he was working class when he joined the SOJ, it made sense for him to be kept as working class once Gilead settled. If he would’ve excelled in the military Gilead would’ve left him in the military, he wouldn’t have had a choice. What Serena says to June makes sense but not how she’s framing it. Without soldiers Gilead would’ve not become, just like it wouldn’t have become without her ideas and without men like Fred and Lawrence. Gilead would’ve become if Nick joined or didn’t join. Whether he called the FBI (if he knew about the take over) or not (the FBI was already keeping tabs on the group). He could’ve made it out or he would’ve gotten caught and forced to comply. In episode 310 we find out Lawrence and pretty much the Commanders couldn’t really leave Gilead and that would’ve included Nick, especially since June had already found out about Nick in episode 306. I know the episode doesn’t really give us a hint as if June related that info with Nick but I can assume at some point she must’ve thought about that. After this she doesn’t see Nick again until season 4, her only chance to ask him to leave would’ve been in 409. We don’t see them talk about it (I keep believing they live in the moment and they both think they have no possibility of a life together). She didn’t know Fred had made a deal, until after she gets back from seeing Nick and what happened with Tuello for me was a clear call back to what Nick tells her in episode 303 they’re politicians they have their own agenda, they don’t care about us. After that there’s the phone call jn 503 and their meeting in 509, where the possibility of him leaving was now a reality, but his obligations had changed making that possibility once again complicated/impossible.

In 502 when Tuello offers Nick the deal he doesn’t even think that would’ve ever been a possibility and while some people think he said no, he clearly says I’ll remember that. It’s definitely not a no. Nick doesn’t trust politicians, he has new obligations, knows how dangerous it is, probably think Lawrence’s plan to fix Gilead will work and like he tells Tuello in 510 June doesn’t need him, she has people to care for her. Aside from that in 503 all possibility of helping June with Hannah (also not explored in the season but I find it extremely odd they would add a Rose/MacKenzie connection and not use it) became an impossibility and probably taking the deal vanished when MacKenzie sees him talking to Tuello. That’s also why he can’t really move when June asks him to in the phone call and why she begins to understand that Nick made a life in Gilead (just like she’s trying in Canada) even though neither of them are happy. I see this as a breaking him away from his line in 409 and I’m here to do what I can.

As calculating and strategic as we have seen Nick throughout all seasons, knowing he could’ve lost June and that he couldn’t protect her was what it took for him to take the deal we all wanted him to finally take. He didn’t take it because he wanted to end Gilead - even though we know he wants to better it because he doesn’t agree with the atrocities it commits. It was all about her safety. He pretty much sacrificed his own safety (nothing he hasn’t done before) for hers. I wonder how they will push him in season 6. Was this enough for him to understand that Gilead can’t get better and it has to end? Because it’s something that in a way June also has to understand. She can’t get to Hannah unless Gilead falls. She has to let Hannah go in order to fight for her and this kind of aligns them in a similar path like we saw them in season 5.

#the handmaid's tale #june osborne #gilead #nick blaine #osblaine #the handmaids tale season 5 #commander lawrence #commander blaine

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glasskey · 2 months

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Nick & Lawrence Mixtape

Ever since June wreaked havoc in Lawrence’s household in season 3, he’s been hanging with our boy Nick. Welcome one and all to the season 4 and 5 Gilead Boss mix

Thank you for your service to Gilead.

Thanks to June’s shenanigans, Lawrence is now due to be executed, Gilead has politely sent Nick Blaine to say “Thanks ever so” before the final curtain call, but unwittingly they’ve also sent Lawrence his exit strategy. Nick may be crafty, but Lawrence is a true strategist. He’s a brilliant psychoanalyst, who took all of 3 seconds to realize Blaine was in love with Osborne and that there was no way on God’s green earth, that baby was Fred’s.

Nick had the audacity to hook up with a Handmaid, is sporting a rebellious streak a mile wide and yet SOMEHOW he’s still alive. It’s obvious to Lawrence that Blaine’s extremely cunning and very, very useful. Lawrence is a cynical and astute political animal, soaked in Teflon, with more lives than a cat. He’s the quick witted, dodgy “friend” who talks you into all manner of shit. While he conceived Gilead he’s not really responsible for the ritualistic bullshit that seems to have been constructed out of his theories. As a result he greets any of it with utter disdain, and it is this same hatred for the religious ceremony of Gilead that Lawrence can sense in Nick Blaine.

At first Nick appears compliant and servile but when nudged in his June Osborne Achilles Heel, Lawrence is surprised to find how malleable and resourceful the young commander can be. Blaine turns up touting not only a free ticket out of death row for Lawrence, but also a chance to regain his previous powers.

Lawrence realizes immediately what June always knew; Blaine is an invaluable ally masquerading as nothing more than the resident “fetch and carry”. These two immediately set up an enchanting marriage of convenience in which much political back scratching may take place. For the next 2 seasons we remained glued to our screens as we watched Lawrence use Blaine’s deadly abilities to precisely maneuver pieces across the board, pulling himself out of the noose and all the way back up to the top.

She is never coming back to you.

“You’re getting very comfortable here” Nick says to Lawrence, it’s not just his house that he’s referring to, it’s also his somewhat apathetic acquiescence with the powers that be. “She changed you, she changed me” Nick says reminding Lawrence of the newfound purpose that June brought them both. Here we see a bit of a battle of wits with Lawrence trying to convince Nick, June has lost her value now and Nick not so subtly threatening to kick Lawrence out of his house and possibly back to the chopping block, if he doesn’t save her life. While Lawrence thinks it’s “nice to want things”, Blaine isn’t playing; he wants what he wants and he fully intends to get it. “You owe me”, Blaine states not once but twice, refusing to be denied.

Here in the dim light, Lawrence and Nick strike a deal that echoes throughout season 4 and 5. Lawrence has already realized he simply needs to push the June Osborne button and the resourceful young commander will do exactly as he’s bid. Conceding to Blaine’s demands to merely keep June alive, is a small price to pay for what he knows is Nicks lasting loyalty.

“She is NEVER coming back to you, why would she?” Lawrence says. There’s a deep connection between Nick and June of liberty and rebellion and here Lawrence tries to convince Nick that freedom has forgotten him and it’ll be better for everyone if he just gets comfy right where he is. Let’s give credit where credit is due, throughout season 4 and 5 Lawrence almost gets away with it. As intelligent as Nick may be, he is consistently emotionally vulnerable and it makes him easy prey. There’s part of me that wants to believe that Lawrence isn’t entirely opportunistic, he’s been uncomfortably close to the noose because of June and there’s no doubting he’s kind of got a soft spot for Nick, at least enough to want better than a sharp drop at the end of a rope for the young commander. As a result Lawrence suggests he move on, and Nick having lost hope, gets married. Lawrence may have the best of intentions, and his observation that June’s love “fucks people up” is not entirely wrong, but let’s face it ultimately he has got to go.

In Fred’s absence Nick is sorely missing the father figure he constantly craves and without June he’s feeling somewhat lost. Conveniently Lawrence has become a tad lonely ever since June departed his gloomy abode, and consequently he takes Nick under his wing like some kind of cuddly Darth Vader. Despite the illusion of a buddy comedy gone Gilead, the reality was that this relationship signified Nick’s deepening commitment to Gilead and the widening chasm between himself and June. Lawrence, the Architect of Gilead encourages Blaine to set up a new life complete with a house in the burbs, a compliant Gilead wifey who lives to knit and make coffee, and a leg up in government. It’s the peaceful home Blaine always wanted, always searched for and yet, there’s something not quite right. It’s nothing but a cheap illusion, a mere shadow at best, and despite his best efforts to assimilate, he aches for his true family.

I’m constantly watching Blaine cling to a compromise, ANY answer no matter how painful, that doesn’t involve inconveniencing June’s life. Here we see him try and inevitably fail once again.

Would your heart glow?

Here they’ve come straight from a meeting where Lawrence did his darndest to secure a cease fire and get some aid to the border, naturally he was shocked to find that Nick didn’t help him out with that one. Lawrence is a touch miffed, and as a consequence it earns Nick a nice dry as fuck pay out to let him know that he’s been a wee bit cold blooded, and maybe, just maybe he’s not as smart as he thinks he is. Lawrence’s cute, cutting quip also made light of Nicks deep affection for June, casting it instead as nothing more than a school boy crush. As usual Laurence is being a bit mouthy here and he definitely knows that’s not the case, but his point is valid: The Eyes don’t see everything.

If Nick thinks that he’s got a beat on June’s whereabouts by simply relying on them as a source, Lawrence is here to tell him he’s sadly mistaken; his devotion to her is not some sort of psychic GPS. “Very funny” Nick replies with some well-earned derision, but as we all know he’s constantly making mental notes and he promptly follows up by checking with his Mayday contacts. She’s in Chicago and he didn’t have a fucking clue, worse still is that in no time at all Lawrence has made a deal that involves Nick having to bomb it, with no guarantees she or ANY of the refugees seeking aid will actually survive. Nick does his best to side step this one but it’s to no avail, and he’s left looking like he’s about to return his breakfast to the desk in front of him. It’s Commander Putnam in particular who sticks the boot in here, forcing him to get a wriggle on and bomb his girlfriend and a bunch of innocent civilians. Blaine’s chillingly precise look and almost audible mental note, made me wonder if it was primarily this that earnt Putnam that bullet in later episodes.

At least part of Nicks journey involves being a military commander and this was done precisely to demonstrate the progression from simple recruit to an aggressive higher power that can be manipulated for the purposes of war and accumulation of power. Throughout the seasons we see Nick fulfill his commitments to Gilead with increasing reluctance, as he begins his journey from Gilead stooge to rebel fighter. It’s an awesome and complex journey that highlights personal growth and the desire to change in the face of great adversity. The bombing of Chicago is one of those moments that’s meant to illustrate Nick’s personal loss amongst the civilian casualties of war. “It’s the cost of doing business” Lawrence says to a sickened and cornered Blaine; the sacrifice of others for the greater good, or at least Lawrence’s version of it….even if it’s June.

I've been grooming Nick.

Technically a Lawrence and June moment but I’d like to take a moment and embellish on exactly what Lawrence had been up to. “I’ve been grooming Nick. Not sexually of course.” Lawrence says to a gob smacked June.

No shit. He’s convinced him to marry a nice girl in the burbs, back up his plot for New Bethlehem and be his personal assassin to get it done. Lawrence is a master manipulator, he wants what he wants, and Nick is simply no match for his human puppetry. As a reward for his continuing compliance, Lawrence assures Nick that he and June will be together again. Lawrence intends to get New Bethlehem completed, he likes to cover his bets and he knows that his best chips in this game are Nick and June. If he can get the young commander to back him he’s sure to have June getting cozy in New Bethlehem in no time. I’m sad to say that in S5 we nearly lost Blaine to the forces of Gilead, he simply lost hope when he “tried to let go” of June. In the dark he clings to the smallest ray of light, Lawrence’s dream for a better version of Gilead, some semblance of freedom.

I was never more conflicted about Lawrence than I was in S5, the moments of sheer manipulation of these two for his ultimate goal made me absolutely livid, but I also applauded his attempts to at least try to improve the cesspool that was Gilead. He was determined to “wrestle a better future from an unchangeable past”, but New Bethlehem wasn’t ENTIRELY just Lawrence attempt to make amends, it was also his best effort to “Kill off America once and for all” as Tuello astutely observed.

Audiences wondered why Nick would ask June to go along with Lawrence’s plan and actually go to New Bethlehem, the truth is he was fucking clueless. By this point he was so far under Lawrence’s sway, he couldn’t see the wood for the trees. He’d managed to convince him that it was some sort of Gilead version 2.0 that the UN would immediately embrace with open arms, in which Blaine could live happily ever after with the love of his life. June was devastated, but let’s face it how could she have known that Lawrence had turned Nick from “a puppy” into his lapdog over the last year. Lawrence had already admitted to June that he’d used religious nut jobs as a delivery system to save humanity, so it should have come as no surprise that he would use the two lovers to bring New Bethlehem to fruition. Many years ago Nick Blaine dug himself a hole and sadly he just kept digging. You want to “stay out of trouble” in Gilead, you’d best pick up a shovel. The way he saw it; June had a family who loved her, a family to return to, so he let her go and got settled in the pit. Nick and June’s meeting in 5 09 was one of those moments that made it painfully clear, not only how much Blaine loves her, but how desperately he needs her.

You could have killed her.

“It wasn’t my decision” Lawrence yelps at Nick as he takes a vicious right hook from the young commander. Personally I’m not sure if I believe him or not, suffice to say he knew about it, he did nothing to stop it, he purposefully hid it from Blaine, and MOST importantly, he should have known better. June has left a trail of dead commanders in her wake and it was only 10 episodes prior that she and Blaine dragged Fred into a forest to die. Usually I’d be giving Lawrence snaps for his intelligence but it was just one episode prior that June had officially “broken up” with Lawrence, with the understanding that they were “Never ever ever, getting back together”. This was a massive blunder. We’re 5 seasons in, because the plot demands it June’s basically unkillable and the word on the street is always, ALWAYS keep your fucking hands off June Osborn. It tends to make Blaine a tad bit grumpy.

Nick Blaine is, for all intents and purposes, a trained assassin obsessively in love with the mother of his child. Lawrence knew this, he’d just spent the better part of the last 2 seasons pushing Nick’s patented Osborne key whenever he wanted him to comply. Why the actual fuck did he think he’d get away with it? At the start of 5 10 we saw a massive red flag, a verbal tussle between the two about Osborne, it was clear; she was the rock that would break them apart. Up until that point he’d been compliant but now Blaine was starting to get that look in his eyes; deadly, detached, focused.

Stupidly Lawrence had recruited a bagman and assumed it would make him immune from getting very, very dead. Lawrence spent the entirety of S4 and 5 trying to set up a cushy life for Blaine, it even looked like he might be able to lure his precious June back for him, but it was all for naught. As Lawrence so eloquently put it “Gilead’s gonna Gilead” and despite his best efforts, ultimately it did. In Ep10 S5, Blaine strides unresponsive past his pregnant wife, striking his mentor on his wedding day in a room full of commanders, protesting June Osborn’s assassination attempt. This singular act is a violent and decisive rejection of Gilead’s guiding hand, its binding social contract, its hierarchy and its influence. It is one massively definitive statement, all condensed into the space of 10 seconds. This scene transported me all the way back to S1 when June cried incredulously to Nick that she couldn’t believe she told the Ambassador she was happy. “You’re being too hard on yourself, you were in a room full of commanders” he replies. June’s first act of rebellion is to share her true name with the other Handmaid’s and it is at that point that she share’s it with Blaine. It is here he takes his first small step as a rebel when he chooses to keep her secret and never use her slave name again.

This blow and his march across the border marks the final step in his journey to true rebellion. Where previously his loyalties had been somewhat divided, he now belongs completely and utterly to June and Mayday. Throughout the seasons Blaine has constantly displayed a need for guidance from a father figure and it’s been interesting to note how the personality of this father figure changes over time as his loyalties shift and he regains his freedom. Waterford is cold and brutal, conditioning Blaine to be servile and militant. Lawrence is a cunning, political animal, who tutors Blaine in the Machiavellian like maneuverings of the Gilead upper echelons. Ultimately though it is Tuello, the gentle diplomat who will teach Nick his individual worth and offer him sanctuary. Season 6, I can guarantee, the Nick / Lawrence bromance will officially be well and truly over.

Next time we'll be looking at our love triangle and character themes. See you then.

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