'The Handmaid's Tale': Season 6, Episode 3 Recap – 'New Bethlehem, Same Ghosts'

Elle

17-05-2025

Episode three of The Handmaid's Tale season six opens not with action but a memory, fragments of what was pre-Gilead: baby Hannah, Moira (Samira Wiley), Luke (O-T Fagbenle) and June (Elisabeth Moss) in better times. It is the kind of sequence that reminds us how much these characters have lost, and how much they are still fighting to preserve.
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But before we can enjoy the happier times for too long, we are sent straight to No Man's Land and inside the makeshift Mayday HQ. The mood shifts from strategy to execution among those willing to fight for their country and bring down Gilead. The resistance is planning targeted assassinations of Gilead's most brutal commanders and those responsible for the refugee plane shot down in Season 5. This is not about diplomacy. It is war. And it is personal.
The tension sharpens when June learns two things: Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) is back in Gilead and Nick (Max Minghella) is running New Bethlehem. She knows she is going to have to face both of them once more, but will it be as friend or foe?
'She always comes out on top,' June mutters, not with envy, but exhaustion. Serena's survival instinct is almost as powerful as June's. It has never faltered, even if her faith has had to shapeshift along the way.
We then cut to New Bethlehem, where Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) and Nick are seen hosting foreign dignitaries in what Lawrence half-jokingly describes as 'Gilead's Disneyland.' A paradise with rules. A pitch with flowers. It is all part of the regime's rebranding. But does the glossy new exterior hide familiar shadows?
A Mayday messenger, disguised as a German official, slips into Nick's house with urgent news: June is back. She is in No Man's Land. Waiting for him.
And so he goes.
Out in the woods, June and Nick reunite. Their embrace is quiet but seismic, charged with love, regret, and the ache of time lost. She tells him their daughter is safe, with her mother Holly (Cherry Jones) in Alaska. It is the first time Nick has heard that June's mother is still alive. He knows what this means for June, and for his daughter to have a grandmother.
But June is not there for a catch-up. She needs his help. Luke and Moira are trapped in No Man's Land and only Nick can get them out. With the visit from the foreign dignitaries looming, Nick at first refuses, aware of how damaging this could be in his new role and in front of his father-in-law, Commander Wharton (Jason Butler Harner). But his resistance does not last long, and he is once again putting himself at risk for June. June insists on coming with him, as she would not miss a chance to put her life at risk or indeed spend time with Nick. Cautious but unable to say no, he lets her into the back seat of his car.
Back in New Bethlehem, Serena appears reborn as the poster girl for this new progressive Gilead. Clad in tailored pink, a soft deviation from the wife's uniform but still unmistakably Gileadean, she has slipped seamlessly into her role as the ambassador for its newly perceived softer image.
When Lawrence arrives to collect his show pony, she asks him to pray with her. He hesitates. His faith is not in God but in damage control, but he is forced to play along to keep Serena sweet. As she quotes scripture, 'If you call, I will answer. If you cry for help, here I am,' it is obvious that Serena has been swept up in the idea that she can once again lead this new nation to greatness. Meanwhile, the reality is that Lawrence is just trying to tidy up the wreckage.
Elsewhere in Gilead, Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) enters Jezebel's, the brothel used by commanders throughout the series to satisfy all their non-conservative needs. She is shaken to find Janine (Madeline Brewer) there, heavily made up, smoking, and used. Aunt Lydia believed the Handmaids would be treated with respect and honour after leaving their posts, but it is clear that is not the case. The room is filled with former Handmaids who all look away when they see her. Except Janine. She is no longer scared of her and demands to know why she is there.
'What are you doing here?' she snarls. Aunt Lydia stumbles over her words of honour and respect and Janine responds, devastatingly, 'Well, surprise, they lied to you.' Lydia offers to help, but Janine is done. She is sick of expecting other people to help her or look out for her. The damage is too deep.
This realisation that the system Lydia had pledged her life to and used as an excuse to do the unthinkable to others is not what she believed, appears to be life-shattering.
As the dignitaries continue their Gilead tour, Nick is conspicuously absent. His father-in-law is starting to get suspicious. As Lawrence tries to assure everyone that New Bethlehem is all the good of Gilead and none of the horror of the past, it is clear they will need more convincing.
Enter Serena.
Now dressed in lilac, moving visually closer to Gilead's traditional wifehood yet retaining her autonomy, she steps forward to speak. With poise and sincerity, she tells the dignitaries why she returned. How Gilead stole her voice. How she did things she regrets. She believes New Bethlehem can redeem not just her, but others. Her speech is carefully crafted, emotionally resonant. She talks about clean water, safe air, and healthy babies. And then she brings out Noah.
It is the clincher.
The foreign women soften instantly. A healthy baby in a broken world. Serena does not just sell New Bethlehem, she embodies its promise. It works. Voluntary repatriation is now on the table.
Meanwhile, Nick and June sneak through an abandoned waterpark to find Luke and Moira. It is a surreal backdrop. The America of old, left drained of its colour and freedom. June asks how Nick can serve both Gilead and the Americans. He does not answer. He does not have to. She already knows the answer is her.
He tells her he saw her in the hospital after the car attack. He never left her behind. This is not just about his daughter. This is about June, too.
Eventually, they find Luke and Moira holed up in a gift shop. Luke is on edge, burning with guilt, frustration, and a desire to act. Moira tells him he has nothing to prove. He is not convinced. He feels like he has failed everyone.
As Nick and June break in and help them escape, it is clear someone has seen them. It is the Guardians. They catch Nick in the act and he has to think quickly. It is their word against his and he cannot lose. As June, Luke, and Moira run to the car, we hear multiple gunshots before Nick emerges unharmed and jumps in the car.
As Aunt Lydia returns for one final push to save Janine, she is met with disregard from Lawrence who has bigger things to think about. The New Bethlehem plan is working. As they toast its success and ignore Commander Wharton's wary eye, it seems like everything is going according to plan. But where is Nick in all this? With June, of course.
As Mark (Sam Jaeger) pushes Nick to cooperate with the Americans or be exposed, it is clear who really holds the power. Nick does not flinch. He knows his value.
Luke begins to sense what viewers already know: the bond between June and Nick has not frayed. If anything, it has deepened. They speak in parting, another parting, weighted with things left unsaid.
'Do you realise we always do this?' 'Do what?' 'The whole goodbye thing.' 'Who are we kidding? How about… see you later?' 'See you later.' 'See you later.'
They smile. And we know: the goodbye is never final.
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