The Handmaid’s Tale Ends With Season 6, But The Closure Never Comes
Based on the book by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale is back for a thrilling sixth and final season. The Hulu series picks up with June Osborn (Elisabeth Moss) heading to Alaska to flea Gilead control on a train with none other than Serena Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski).
As June and her baby take this journey, her feelings toward Serena remain complicated and unresolved. Even though they are on separate paths — with June trying to escape and Serena arriving in New Bethlehem — their stories still feel deeply connected. In my view, Serena continues to grapple with her own sense of right and wrong. She is not completely changed, but she is no longer the same woman who once stood beside the leaders of Gilead. The train scene shows that tension clearly. It is filled with action and emotion, especially as people from Gilead begin to recognize her and June must decide whether to offer mercy or stand with the survivors. I’m still not sure she’s earned redemption and truly thought June would make the decision to let Serena fend for herself.
After the second episode, this season slows down, giving characters more space to process the wreckage left behind by past choices. At times, the pacing becomes too slow and storylines lose momentum. June’s lingering gaze toward the future and the constant failed rescue missions start to feel repetitive. Maybe that’s the point — to make viewers sit with the frustration of hope that never materializes.
One thing I still can’t quite figure out is why would Nick sell out June? Max Minghella plays Nick with just enough restraint that it's hard to tell where his loyalty truly lies. It feels like he's torn between being a good man for New Bethlehem or being a good man for June. Personally, I think part of him never let go of her. But when his wife urges him to align with the commanders, he chooses that life and it ends up costing him everything. That moment hit hard.
Visually there’s great attention to detail as the cinematography is intentional and often haunting. Wide shots isolate characters in vast, oppressive emotions, while extreme close-ups capture the smallest flickers of emotion — especially in the eyes of the women. The color palette still leans heavily into muted tones, with pops of red that feel both beautiful and brutal.
Momentum builds toward the end of the season as the Handmaids begin to fight back against the commanders and guards. This was the moment everyone has been waiting for! After years of trauma and survival, seeing the rebellion take shape felt earned. Watching the women reclaim even a sliver of power made the stakes feel real again. It wasn’t perfect — and the resistance was messy and very uncertain — but that’s what made it feel so real.
This final season was meant to tie up loose ends, but one crucial storyline was left unresolved: June’s reunion with her daughter. It never came and I was honestly disappointed. After everything June had endured, I expected some kind of emotional resolution. The last episode hinted at it through a dreamlike scene of them together, but, in reality, her daughter is still in Washington, D.C. It felt like the show avoided giving viewers the closure we were waiting for.
With The Testaments set about fifteen years later, there is hope that some of these lingering questions, especially those about key characters, will finally be answered. Just like in the book, the ending delivers a full-circle moment as we see June back in her old room where she once lived as Offred. She begins reciting the same words she spoke in the very first episode of season one, bringing the story back to where it all began. While I enjoy a full circle ending, the show did not fully deliver on what I was hoping for. The story was uneven, with some episodes falling into repetition and slowing the overall momentum. There were moments that pulled me in, especially the action sequences and a few emotional scenes, but they missed the buildup. Characters I had followed for years deserved more closure. In the end, the season had potential, but left me more frustrated than fulfilled.
You can watch the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu.
