The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 5 Season 4 Chicago Recap and Review

After a long train ride and a fierce argument Janine and June finally arrived in Chicago in the last episode. Lets jump right into The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 5 Season 4. If you need to get caught up check out our coverage.

A Rebel With Too Many Causes

We get a sweet moment from the past where Luke and June are making love.

Meanwhile Janine is having sex with our rebel leader. He is like a less effective less interesting Che Guevara. As June listens to the fighting she hears the sounds of war. She grabs and lantern and despite calls to return to bed she heads upstairs to presumably see what is going on. As she approaches the window she sees the war in all it’s violence. She is trapped.

Inside of the rebel encampment June does laundry while surrounded by tons of fresh vegetables. Life is relatively normal in camp but June is not comfortable. She is trying to make friends with the person in charge of gathering supplies. They have a ton of MRE’s that they are going to try and trade with the people across the way. 

Janine is smitten with the rebel leader. He is helping her shoot a gun. She is all giggles and coy smiles with him. June wants to go on the mission to trade and with Janine’s help she talks Che into letting her come.

Aunt Lydia is Out

We get a look at where all the Aunt’s hang out. It also appears to be where the older Aunt’s retire. Lydia is walking on a treadmill. Aunt Ruth is  in charge and comes in and Lydia strikes up a conversation regarding the new Handmaids. Lydia has been relieved of her duties regarding the Handmaids. Lydia essentially begs for her job. It ain’t gonna happen. She asks Ruth to discuss her reinstatement with the officers. She declines. Ruth tells her her time is over.

Joseph now appears in front of a council of other commanders.. They open up by taking a dig at the escaped handmaids. He discusses how powerful the military is but mentions how terrible the sanctions are effecting the Gilead’s economy. He wants to declare a cease fire with Chicago and California. He is hoping it will lead to trade normalization. The group of commanders ain’t having it. They remind him that it was his handmaid that stole all of the children. Nick appeared to be hostile to the idea too. The two discuss how to keep June alive after the meeting. Nick tells him he would know if she were close to the battle.

Meanwhile on the way to the trade meaning June appears very unhappy with the rebel leadership. Janine tells her she needs to try and fit in better.

Nighthawks, a militant arm of the insurgency have burned a couple of guard bodies. The rebels appear afraid of them.  The group must take cover as a group of Gilead soldiers is rolling through. They all remain quiet and hidden despite June’s desire to fight. Che tells her to shut the fuck up.

I mean June wants to pick EVERY battle and that is not sustainable. Che tells her to survive they must do a better job of picking battles.

They arrive at a museum where the trading commences. Amongst dinosaur bones Brad comes by and tries to make friends but June is not into the friends circuit. Janine notices the male attention and comes over. She finds a Cubs hat and wants to get it for Che. Janine’s eyes are open. Janine tries to trade her red cloak for the hat. The person she is bartering with says no. June throws in her cloak and the trade goes through. Janine offers to put in a good word with Che so he will be nicer to June. June says it isn’t necessary.

Lydia and Joseph the Ship No One Wants

Lydia and Joseph meet in his study. Well this a weird meeting. Lydia essentially is trying to blackmail Joseph. She reminds him she knows about his black market dealings and his relationship with June. She wants to be reinstated in return for her silence.

Joseph flips the script and asks her what she knows about the other commanders. Joseph says he needs his seat back at the leadership table and Lydia’s information can help. Together they can fix the country. Her trade off–she gets to deal with June when she is caught. He agrees.

June is carrying around a makeshift lantern and talks to Janine about fighting. June wants to leave and start fighting. Janine is ready to stay. She wants to stay and raise a family. Janine wants to make her own decisions. June wants to protect her. June tells her “come with me tomorrow or stay here and be “OfStephen”. Oh shit. That’s rough. OfChe sounds better. 

Nick is smoking a cigarette and a couple of Martha’s come out of a black van. They look annoyed. He wants to know where June is. One Martha says “Fuck June Osborne”. The other tells him two handmaids were spotted going into Chicago. He has his lead.

June Takes in a Cubbies Game

June is preparing to go and Brad gives her directions. Janine and June say their goodbyes. Its awkward and hard and both cry. Hell I am over here crying. June tells her to take care of herself. That baby will be lucky to have you”. “Those rebels will be lucky to have you”. Janine gives her the Cubs hat. Tough scene.

Lydia is getting ready in the morning and her quarters really do feel spartan. It is an interesting insight into a character that has been pretty superficial. She is now leading the new handmaid’s in a circle while telling them they will never walk alone. 

June looks like a tourist as she walks down the middle of a street while holding her map. I am pretty new to the resistance thing but the middle of the street doesn’t sounds like a great place to be walking. She hears something behind her. She hides underneath a car. Its Janine. She has come to help. She reminds June that handmaids always walk in twos. Great parallels between this scene and Lydia’s.

Joseph and Nick meet. Nick shares that June is in Chicago. He is now onboard for the ceasefire. The entire council is onboard with a ceasefire. However they are going to bomb the shit out of the insurgency before.. It is going to be dangerous time to be in Chicago. 

The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 5 Season 4 is The Bomb

Now June and Janine are walking around like tourists together. They finally find where they think the nighthawks will be. Nobody is manning the gates though. It looks like they all left in a hurry. With lots of food laying out. Something isn’t right. They see planes flying in. Lots of bombs dropping.

June wakes up. after getting knocked out by the bombs that Gilead releases. She climbs over the ruins in hopes of finding Janine. There are a handful of survivors. They are emerging from the rubble. June is desperate to find Janine. We get a beautiful cover of Chris Martin’s fix you. 

It is a beautiful shot of the rubble and the smoke. Moira is one of the NGO members sorting through the disaster. Oh man. What a scene four seasons in the making. It is almost too much to bear. That will do it for The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 5 Season 4.

Where We are Going/Where We Came From

1. It is amazing how the show has radicalized moments of consensual sex. Like its an act of rebellion. I am up for a show that celebrates sex as an act of rebellion. Very cool.
2. June is most comfortable when she is out doing stuff. That is certainly how a lot of us deal with stress which has made the pandemic even more difficult.
3. The soccer fan in me recognizes the phrase You Never Walk Alone. It is a powerful anthem even for non soccer people. Listening to a whole stadium sing it is almost eerie.
4. Nighthawks are a little too close to Tunnel Snakes for my liking. Tunnel Snakes Rule!!!!

4. The NGO’s responsible for humanitarian aid are really heroes. Check out The White Helmets. It is a documentary about real life people who run into disasters instead of away from them. All of them heroes flat out.