The Handmaid's Tale season 2, episode 7 promo: What will happen next in After?
THE HANDMAID’S TALE season 2, episode 7 is not out until Wednesday, but Hulu has released a promo for the next gripping instalment. Here’s a look ahead at the next episode, which is titled After.
Sneak peek at the latest Handmaid's Tale episode 'After'
WARNING: This article contains spoilers for The Handmaid's Tale season 2
The sixth episode of The Handmaid's Tale season two was perhaps the most bizarre yet with both awkward and shocking moments laid out in equal measure.
Serena Joy (played by Yvonne Strahovski) threw a surprise brunch for June (Elisabeth Moss) and some other Handmaids.
The episode itself was Serena Joy-centric, with the flashbacks focusing on her past as an activist who was instrumental in staging a coup on the US government and establishing Gilead.
Though cruel, she is probably one of the most interesting and complex characters on television as she lives her empty life inside the cage she created for herself.
So her attempt to throw a get-together for June shows the viewer how she is projecting her desire for friendship onto June, just like she is doing with her desire to become a mother.
At least June was more alive in this episode, having perked up somewhat from the severe depression which smothered her in the previous one.
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She and her unborn baby’s brush with death have seemed to soften Serena for a while at least.
The Commander (Joseph Fiennes) featured in the episode too, firstly when he’s being manipulated by June who tries to get him to give her a photo of her daughter Hannah (Jordana Blake).
But it is the opening of a new Rachel and Leah Centre that sees Fred take centre stage.
A big event and achievement for him, he opens the shiny new facility in front of Gilead’s elite and their Handmaids.
This is when Ofglen (Tattiawna Jones) who has had her tongue cut out begins to make her way towards him, revealing an explosive device under her red cloak - and boom.
The episode ends ambiguously and it is not clear if Fred survived the bomb.
What will happen in The Handmaid's Tale season 2, episode 7?
Episode seven is titled After and will likely deal with the aftermath of the bomb at the Rachel and Leah centre.
The biggest question going into the episode is whether Commander Waterford survived or not.
The promo trailer released is incredibly vague, but there are enough hints to speculate about what could be in store.
It opens with the Handmaids walking through the snow in previously unseen funeral attire.
There red out cloaks are replaced with black ones and their faces eerily covered with red scarves.
Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) presides over a funeral ceremony.
“I wish I could give you a world without pain,” she says despairingly as tears stream down June’s face.
Who is she crying for? Certainly, not the commander but perhaps Ofglen and the red coffins lying on the snow suggest that other Handmaids were killed in the blast.
Next, a flashback cuts to June in her old life saying to Moira (Samira Wiley): “$250,000?”
To which her friend replies: “For a healthy baby.” The following scenes suggest that Moira was a surrogate for another couple in the low birth rate pre-Gilead times.
Then a new, terrifying and sinister character, Commander Cushing (Greg Bryk) interrogates June.
“Commander Cushing doesn’t believe that I was taken against my will,” June says to Serena Joy who warns her: “You need to answer his questions very carefully.”
It’s notable that Serena Joy’s usual teal green is noticeably darker than usual - mourning attire perhaps? Is she now a widow?
June is driven along a street where an Aunt is seen hanging from a tree.
The next sequence shows Nick (Max Minghella), Serena Joy and June all looking worried as Commander Cushing enters the house.
Serena Joy’s voiceover ominously predicts: “The Commander will forgive my trespasses.”
Then Cushing himself says: “We need to find those among us who wish to do us harm,” as two gunshots are fired and June sobs hysterically.
Who got shot here? Was it Nick? Was it Fred? Serena Joy? This episode is set to deliver some brutal and shocking moments.
The trailer closes with a chilling whisper from Cushing: “You can trust me…”
The Handmaid’s tale season 2 drops on Hulu on Wednesdays
The Handmaid’s tale season 2 airs on Channel 4 on Sunday nights