The Handmaid’s Tale’s Most Conflicted Commander Is One of Its Best Characters

There are immoderate atrocious women connected The Handmaid’s Tale, but men marque up the bulk of its villainous characters. That goes for idiosyncratic men similar the thankfully departed Commander Fred Waterford, but besides “men of Gilead” arsenic a collective, oppressive, violent, misogynistic whole. The amusement tends to woody successful heavy-handed themes, but it’s besides invested successful creating analyzable characters. The astir fascinating examples are Gilead insiders who recognize excessively precocious they’re trapped successful prisons of their ain making.

We’ve previously explored however this makes Serena Joy Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski) 1 of The Handmaid’s Tale‘s astir consistently infuriating yet absorbing characters, inactive existent successful the show’s existent sixth season. Over the years, we’ve seen Serena captured by Canada for warfare crimes, past released, past awkwardly told determination was nary spot for her successful Gilead due to the fact that its rigid civilization wasn’t equipped to woody with a widowed azygous mother. Then, aft Gilead tucked her retired of show arsenic its typical successful Canada, she had to fly Toronto erstwhile a kerfluffle implicit her migration presumption meant she mightiness suffer custody of her son.

Serena has done a batch of soul-searching since we archetypal met her arsenic pious Commander’s wife, each successful favour of ritualized rape if it meant she could get her mitts connected a baby. As we learned successful flashbacks to her beingness “before,” she was erstwhile a almighty writer and talker pushing the far-right Christian question that brought Gilead into existence… Gilead, a spot wherever women are not allowed to work oregon constitute and anyone who dares to talk retired is swiftly executed.

Fortunately for Serena, her hubby Fred doesn’t bid her killed erstwhile she steps retired of line; helium conscionable chops disconnected a digit arsenic punishment. But her conflicted feelings astir Gilead person crystallized rather a spot arsenic play six gets underway. She understands present the harm she’s caused, some to the radical who’ve been personally damaged by her actions, arsenic good arsenic her culpability successful helping physique a horrendous regime.

After realizing excessively precocious she’s excessively celebrated to slink astir unnoticed, Serena hardly escapes an aggravated mob that’s each excessively prepared to rip her to shreds. She’s genuinely a pistillate without a state until Commander Joseph Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) abruptly reappears successful her life, arsenic seen successful “Exile,” play six’s 2nd episode. It’s fitting that Serena and Lawrence go allies connected behalf of New Bethlehem, his “reformed” mentation of Gilead, due to the fact that similar her he’s perpetually grappling with the blameworthy unease of having had a manus successful bringing the nightmare that is Gilead to life.

Serena (middle) and Lawrence (far right) stock a golden-hued infinitesimal with their frenemies successful New Bethlehem. © Hulu

This week’s episode, “Promotion,” refers to Lawrence’s elevation from Commander to High Commander, a ranking that helps lend legitimacy to the fledgling New Bethlehem. It’s inactive a portion of Gilead, but successful New Bethlehem women are treated acold much respectfully; they tin work and write, and determination are nary Handmaids. (Also, nary nationalist executions!) Serena doesn’t adjacent person to spot its elegant beachside homes successful idiosyncratic earlier she agrees to determination there; the committedness of being capable to usage her encephalon again is irresistible, arsenic is the feeling that the God who erstwhile steered her truthful incorrect is present guiding her connected a way to marque amends.

Lawrence whitethorn beryllium the slightest spiritual antheral successful Gilead—don’t inquire him to recite a prayer—but helium tin surely place with Serena’s quest for redemption. Lawrence joined The Handmaid’s Tale successful play two, aft we’d agelong go accustomed to assuming that anyone walking astir calling himself a “Commander” was a woman-hating monster. But Lawrence, contempt being known arsenic “the designer of Gilead,” isn’t a monster. Devoted to his woman passim her agelong conflict with intelligence illness, helium treats the women forced to service successful his location with benevolence—he has Handmaids, due to the fact that each Commanders must, but helium avoids the rape “ceremony” and is seemingly the lone Commander who sees it for what it truly is.

He besides proves to beryllium an state for June (Elisabeth Moss) and the increasing absorption movement; portion he’s not precisely an progressive participant, helium often uses his Commander presumption to misdirect Gilead’s nosy soldiers. He passes connected information, offers shelter, and facilitates clandestine transportation, sometimes groaning astir it, but ever redeeming lives successful the process. Outwardly, astatine least, he’s portion of Gilead’s elite, keeping up appearances and going done the motions. But particularly aft his beloved woman dies, and he’s nudged into marrying the shrill widow of an executed Commander (the dormant man’s crime: raping a Handmaid that wasn’t his Handmaid), Lawrence moves afloat velocity up connected New Bethlehem.

Lawrence knows helium can’t undo the sizeable harm he’s caused, but helium believes he’s recovered a mode guardant with New Bethlehem. The remainder of the satellite has understandably rejected Gilead’s draconian mode of life—but remains funny astir the affirmative biology changes it’s enacted, and particularly each the palmy pregnancies that’ve been happening wrong its borders. New Bethlehem besides provides a much palatable instrumentality constituent for Canada and different countries who’ve go overrun with hopeless Gilead refugees. They don’t privation to nonstop radical backmost to a spot known for rampant quality rights violations, but New Bethlehem is different, right?

Look astatine that quaint small New Bethelem gazebo. © Hulu

With Serena Joy afloat connected board, and Lawrence assured that “power volition travel from reform,” there’s a twinkle of anticipation that New Bethlehem tin steer Gilead to a much progressive future. There’s inactive a batch of play six near to go, though, and it seems apt that the “men of Gilead” that The Handmaid’s Tale viewers person grown to despise won’t easy portion with their cruel dystopian paradise.

At slightest we person Lawrence—sarcastic, depressed, but wryly comic and, albeit misguided astatine times, undeniably astute arsenic hell—to punctual america that not each Commander is loathsome to the core. The amusement itself seemed to underline that constituent this week, erstwhile alternatively of playing a opus implicit the extremity credits of “Devotion,” it alternatively utilized voice-over of Lawrence speechmaking The Little Princess to Angela, his toddler-age measurement daughter. Earlier successful the episode, he’d introduced the communicative by saying it was his archetypal wife’s “favorite publication erstwhile she was a small girl,” and promising Angela—a kid calved into a nine wherever women aren’t allowed to beryllium literate—that erstwhile she’s aged enough, she’ll beryllium capable to work it each by herself too.

New episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale play six get Tuesdays astatine 12 a.m. ET connected Hulu.