The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 Episode 1 recap: June reunites with long lost character
HuluThe Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 Episode 1, ‘Train’, picks up where we left off in Season 5. June and Serena are unlikely travel companions, Gilead gets ready for New Bethlehem, and an old character makes an unexpected return.
If you remember back to Season 5 of the Hulu series, things weren’t looking great for Luke and June. While Commander Lawrence pushed ahead with his plan for New Bethlehem – a supposed safe haven for exiled Gilead citizens – June refused to return to the country that stole her daughter.
Meanwhile in Canada, anti-refugee tensions reached boiling point, which only grew worse when a Gilead sympathizer ran June down outside her house, nearly killing her. Luke intervened, but in the struggle, he accidentally killed the attacker. With the Canadians already turning on them, staying put wasn’t an option.
Mark Tuello helped them to board a train heading west, but with police swarming the platform, Luke turned himself in, leaving June and Nichole to travel alone. As the train pulled away, June realized she and Nichole weren’t alone – Serena and baby Noah were there too. Warning: spoilers ahead!
June and Serena are unlikely travel companions
HuluThe Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 Episode 1 takes us back to that train journey. June and Nichole and Serena and Noah, all traveling together as if they’re old friends – but there’s tension in the air.
At the Wheelers, Serena got a little taste of the hell June went through, but let’s not forget how long she was the aggressor. As Lawrence previously told Serena, she’s got some kind of “irony deficiency.”
So, when Serena keeps trying to talk about her situation as if they’re both victims of Gilead’s system, June is quick to correct her.
After June explains how her arm got broken, Serena says, “It seems they are unhappy with both of us.” But June retorts, “We are not the same.”
Serena says June can “put that all behind” her now, clearly forgetting that Hannah is still stuck in Gilead. Still, June decides to put Serena’s support to good use, asking her to watch Nichole while she takes a much-needed nap.
When she wakes up, she’s panicked to discover Nichole is gone – and there’s double as many passengers on the train. She finds Serena with Nichole and Noah, and she’s not too happy.
Serena says, “You think I’m going to steal your daughter while you’re asleep, like some Disney villain? For God’s sake, June.” Again, irony deficiency.
But June’s got bigger problems right now. Although she tries to go and find food for her and Nichole, she starts to feel faint thanks to her broken arm and takes a minute to sit down.
Serena finds a doctor on board to check up on her injury, but June’s more concerned about finding out if he’s got a phone she can use. The doctor makes a deal: he’ll let her call whoever she wants if she’ll let him check her arm.
Nick gets out of prison
HuluBack in Gilead, surprise, surprise – Nick is out of prison. It seems The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 isn’t set to fix its Nick plot hole. How he keeps slipping through the cracks is anyone’s guess, but hey, it’s TV, baby.
It appears Rose’s father, High Commander Wharton – who’s set to play a bigger role in the sixth and final chapter of the Hulu show – got him out.
Nick tries to get in his good graces, saying that Rose is “right to be upset with me.” But Wharton replies, “Well, Rosey’s always been sensitive. But you two have a lifetime together to figure that out. What happens between a man and his wife is between them and God.”
He even says he’ll speak to Commander Lawrence for him (remember, Nick punched him in Season 5 after June was attacked) – but his help is conditional.
He tells Nick to focus on his wife and child and avoid temptations, and even though Wharton is due back in DC, he says he’s going to stick around in New Bethlehem for a while.
In translation: “Forget about June, and I’ll be keeping a close eye on you.”
Tuello makes new plans
HuluBack on the train, June returns to the carriage to find Serena has made a safe space for women and children refugees (if only they knew who she really is).
June explains to Serena that she spoke with Moira, as Luke has been arrested for defending her. “The man who ran over me died,” she says. Serena gives it the whole Gilead spiel, saying, “God’s justice will prevail. Luke will find you and you’ll be a family again.”
Finally, June speaks up. “Serena… Hannah. She’s still there, remember? She was kidnapped and she’s still a prisoner.”
She apologizes and June delivers more news: Moira told her their train isn’t going to Vancouver, as they’re not welcome there. And they don’t know where they’re headed yet.
Serena promises to help bring June and her family back together. Even though June doesn’t want her help, she says it’s something she needs to do “after everything.”
The scene cuts to Tuello’s office, where Moira storms in demanding help to get Luke out of prison. After all, the footage from every cam on the street shows he was simply defending June.
HuluTuello says he’ll make some calls and see what he can do, but Moira knows what that means: there’s nothing he can do. “It’s not a good time to be an American in Canada,” he admits.
Even worse, it’s looking likely that the US Government-In-Exile is going to get shut down.“The cabinet wants to start normalizing relations with Gilead,” Tuella adds. “That would mean derecognizing the United States.”
“We can’t let them win,” says Moira. Just as it seems like it’s toast for the US of A, Tuello says, “Mayday’s fighting back.” That’s right: what’s left of the American government is ready to join forces with the Gilead resistance – and Moira wants to join the fight.
The mob comes for Serena
HuluBack on the train, the women are sharing their war stories from Gilead; who they’ve lost, and how they escaped. Soon enough, Serena starts rubbing them up the wrong way, saying they’re out thanks to “God’s grace.”
As they continue to share the suffering they’ve endured, Serena says, “Seems like all of us here at some point or another were a part of some kind of violence.” All of them are still none-the-wiser, but June shoots her a look as if to say, “Are you f**king kidding me?”
The doctor shows up to check in on June, pulling her to the side. Under his breath, he asks, “How well do you know your traveling companion?”
June doesn’t let on, but the doctor continues, “I don’t think she is who you think she is. If you knew who she was you wouldn’t be letting her anywhere near your daughter.
“I think she’s a war criminal traveling under false papers. They’ll make sure when they arrest her. I talked to the security people. They’re sending an officer to come and get her.”
He confirms the officer is on their way, saying, “It’s better than she deserves.” June, not knowing what else to do, pleads, “Just promise me one thing. They will keep her baby safe.”
The doctor heads over to Serena and takes Noah, pretending it’s for a standard check up. “He seems like a very healthy young boy,” he says as he cradles Noah. “Praise be for that, right?”
Serena brushes it off, but the doctor goes on to say that he was made to work in a fertility clinic in Gilead. Turns out, Fred Waterford and Serena had visited him.
A little louder than before, the doctor says, “He’s really a beautiful boy, Mrs. Waterford… Serena Joy,” which alerts the rest of the women in the carriage.
They react with shock, which quickly turns to anger, with one saying, “We can cut out her tongue,” and another shoving her.
Even though June can’t forgive Serena for the past, she doesn’t want to see her getting tortured. She tries pleading with the other refugees, saying that a police officer will come to get her soon.
However, when the officer turns up, he checks out her fake papers and decides that they’re legit, but not because they are.
HuluThe officer is just one of many people who’ve been burned by Gilead, and he’d rather leave Serena to get her comeuppance via an angry mob than a comfy prison cell.
Even though June tries to convince him to take her, the officer says to Serena, “You have a beautiful baby, mam. I had a son. And a wife. She died in the colonies. He’d be almost 11. You look nothing like Serena Joy. Sorry for the interruption, ladies.”
He bows out, and one of the passengers tells anyone who wants to leave (and avoid the horror that’s about to ensue) to get out now. The doctor escorts them away, and finally it’s them against Serena, who’s still holding onto Noah.
They surround her and start shoving her around, like a predator taunting its prey. June, who gets pushed to the side, thinks fast and pulls the emergency stop lever, causing the train to screech to a halt.
She manages to get Serena and Noah into another carriage and shoves them off the train before the rest of the gang can get to them. When they finally get through, Serena’s gone with her baby, and June gets called a traitor.
June reunites with a long lost character
HuluThe Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 Episode 1 cuts to the morning. June and Nichole wake up to an attendant announcing they’re at the end of the line: Alaska, one of two States still considered US territory, alongside Hawaii.
A rep comes over and June explains she and Nichole are new arrivals. They send her to the medical area first and she waits in line, while a doctor slowly walks over.
What happens next is hard to put into words – it’s one of those scenes that you just need to see. The doctor looks at the list and drops it to the floor after seeing a name. Why? It’s June’s mother, Holly!
That’s right. It looks like she didn’t die in the colonies after all. She shouts out for June and the pair slowly walk up to one another in utter disbelief, before holding each other in a warm embrace. And that’s where the episode ends.
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 Episodes 1-3 are streaming on Hulu now, with Episode 4 set to drop on April 15. Until then, read about the upcoming spinoff, The Testaments, check out the best TV shows to watch in 2025, and find every upcoming release with our 2025 TV show calendar.
