Rage doesn’t take long to build, but justice can take forever to attain. The Handmaid’s Tale has been reaching and reaching, and now appears to be at the culmination of what June has been seeking as in season 4 it would appear that her justice is going to be meted out, but not before Gilead seeks its pound of flesh or more. As June seeks justice she begins to find that the word is an elusive dream that might be well-deserved, but won’t be so easily obtained without shedding blood on either side as she seeks to gain more than justice for those that have been wronged by Gilead. As the story has pushed forward it’s become very apparent that what it would eventually lean towards would disrupt and eventually consume everything and everyone it touched, much as war and conflict on this level tends to in the real world. While June is seeking her justice and payback from Gilead however it’s been made apparent that what she wants won’t come without a very steep price that she’ll have to think about while she’s paying it, as war and the upset of the status quo creates havoc and pandemonium not just for those that are directly involved in the conflict, but also those that are seen as collateral damage by some and as innocents by others. Seeking justice is rarely a neat and tidy thing, and in the case of this story, it’s become something that will exact a horrible price for the one woman that wishes to take what is hers by right.
Having pushed past the original story, as many adaptations tend to do at some point, The Handmaid’s Tale has become a rallying cry for some in this world while for others it’s become more of a ‘Yas Queen’ movement that might mean that someone has missed the point or is attempting to show support in their own way. It’s difficult to do anything but side with those that have been marginalized in such a way, especially since the whole idea is that June doesn’t really want much other than justice, and of course, revenge. The latter is something that she probably won’t openly admit to when trying to go through legal channels, but there’s no doubt that this thought is one of the more prominent going through her mind. After being abused, mistreated, and everything else, there’s no way that many human beings would react in any other way, since being the simple but complex creatures we are, anger is a very basic emotion that is simple to feel but can take a twisting path towards realization. In some cases that anger might simmer and give way to cold reasoning that will eventually enact a type of revenge that will be quiet, subtle, and yet extremely effective.
That doesn’t appear to be happening here. Whatever Gilead might be, and there are many who would go into full detail about this without any doubt, it’s not a nation that’s about to play nice or simply forget the slight offered to it by a woman that escaped. On the other side, June is one individual with a just cause and a very hard choice to make since going to war with Gilead is bound to hurt more people than she can easily think of, and will further alienate her from those she cares about. More than a few movies and shows have depicted rebel leaders in various ways, from being among the most disgusting and vile individuals that will do anything they can to get their way, to the noblest and upstanding citizens that will do whatever it takes to protect their people and uphold their own ideals. But June is definitely somewhere in the middle since she wants justice, she wants Gilead to pay, and she wants her people to survive and prosper. But as it’s already been seen in the trailer and in the prior seasons, freedom and justice come at a steep price when those that would willingly take it away are thwarted in any way. In short, Gilead is going to do anything and everything possible to make June and those around her suffer no matter how far they have to go. It’s a messy situation that June entered into willingly, and one that she’s going to have to navigate in order to reach the end that she desires.
One has to wonder who’s going to be standing and who will eventually fall by the end of this coming season, but there are likely plenty of people thinking that June will reach the goal she wants, and the world will move on somehow as the lessons of the past are taught to those that come after in order to bring a brighter future for everyone involved. It’s a thought at least.
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