June's plan to rescue the children of Gilead causes her to butt heads with a group of Marthas who are working with May Day. Commander Lawrence realizes that the walls are closing in on him as he tries to rescue his wife and help June. June returns to Jezebel's in order to speak with one the resistance contacts; but a chance encounter with Commander Winslow may put everything jeopardy. Serena Joy and Commander Waterford take a clandestine trip upstate that takes a surprising turn.
Tropes
- Alas, Poor Villain: Despite all the reasons why he deserved it, it's hard not to feel a little sorry for Fred when he goes down after the episode full of Pet the Dog moments for his wife, and his last act when being arrested is insisting that Serena is innocent. Serena is the one who lured him into this situation. Of course this leads to....
- Asshole Victim: No one is going to feel sorry that Fred is captured by the Canadians and Commander Winslow is incinerated. Especially Commander Winslow, when he mentions "his children".
- Batman Gambit: Turns out Serena’s obsession with getting Baby Nichole back from Canada was all part of a conspiracy she devised with Mark Tuello.
- Call-Back: Oprah Winfrey's voice recording (last seen when a pregnant June is marooned in the Mackenzie's house) shows up on the radio during the Waterford's Road Trip. Fred shuts off the radio when he hears this.
- Chekhov's Gun: A literal gun is set up here, given to June by Commander Lawrence. It gets fired at the end of the season.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Turns out the Marthas at Jezebel's were the ones who June helped save in Episode 3.
- Cool Car: The Mercedes Convertible the Waterfords use to get to the Canadian Border.
- Death Glare: Fred gets to face a wealth of these from loyalist American forces arresting him.
- Deus ex Machina: June is able to leave Jezebel’s unscathed and undetected because a Martha she helped earlier in the season just happened to be one in charge of cleaning the room on this particular evening. As well, a man and his escort are apparently too inebriated to notice the bruises and blood on June's face.
- Dirty Coward: Commander Lawrence initially tries to do this rather than assist in June's plans. Averted as he runs into problems with the checkpoints.
- Disposing of a Body: The Marthas at Jezebel's are careful to remove all evidence of Winslow's death from the hotel room while disposing of his body in an incinerator.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Fred Waterford’s entrapment by the American and Canadian military is very similar to the way the Israeli Mossad used to hunt down escaped Nazi war criminals.
- Good All Along: Serena's change of heart and Face–Heel Turn after returning from Canada was just an act to regain Fred's trust and lure him onto Canadian soil, where he can be arrested by the legitimate United States government and their Canadian allies.
- Failed a Spot Check: The man and his escort outside Commander Winslow's hotel room completely fail to notice June's face covered in bruises and blood.
- Averted: the man clearly sees her and then averts his eyes. A hurt woman hobbling pitifully away from a room might not be a such a rare sight at Jezebel's.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: Finally subverted. Turns out Serena's behavior throughout most of the season was just an act to ensnare Fred in Mark Tuello's trap.
- Honey Trap: Poor Fred. (By his own wife, no less.)
- Idiot Ball: Fred holds one firmly throughout the episode. He ignores numerous red flags that Serena's road trip isn't what it seems.
- I Have a Family: Winslow attempts to invoke this with his dying breath. Given that his children are the result of his being a serial rapist, it falls on deaf ears.
- La Résistance: June butts heads with a group of Marthas who head a local chapter of May Day when they find out about her plans to smuggle a group of children out of Gilead.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After June kills High Commander Winslow, she has this look as she sits on the floor of the hotel room. Fortunately, a very familiar Martha is able to save her.
- Mythology Gag: The way June kills Commander Winslow is very similar to how her counterpart killed Commander Waterford in the 1990 film adaptation.
- Not in This for Your Revolution: Billy, a contact of Mayday and bartender at Jezebel's, collaborates with the resistance out of greed, not ideals. June hopes to exploit this as part of her plan.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Fred's reaction to being surrounded and arrested by military forces loyal to the United States of America.
- June has one when High Commander Winslow sees her at Jezebel's.
- Pet the Dog: Fred lets Serena drive and apologizes to her for taking away her writing from her.
- The Reveal:
- All of Serena's angst and longing after Baby Nichole was just a ruse by her and Mark Tuello to manipulate Fred Waterford into crossing the Canadian border, where he is promptly charged with crimes against humanity and arrested.
- Commander Lawrence finds that he has lessened powers with respect to mobility when he finds that he is unable to progress past the checkpoints that Gilead has set up, meaning that he knows that Gilead is coming for him. This is evident when the Waterfords easily get close to the Canadian border without any resistance.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Commander Lawrence attempts to do this with his wife but is ultimately averted as he realizes that he has no power to go past the many checkpoints there are. He later plays this straight when he retrieves June from Jezebel's after her killing of Commander Winslow, and does not hesitate to hightail it away from there.
- Swiss-Cheese Security: How else do you explain Mark Tuello being able to cross the Canadian Border into Gilead, and drive back with the Waterfords into Canada? Especially when Episode 1 established the use of drones patrolling the border?
- Too Dumb to Live: When someone is about to kill you because of your adherence to laws that require children to be taken away from their mothers, saying "my children" in a vain attempt to be spared is just going to do the opposite, as Commander Winslow unfortunately finds out. They may be biologically his, but still doesn't account for the fact that these children were all conceived through rape and were taken away from their actual mothers.
- Villainous Breakdown: Fred goes through one as he's arrested at gunpoint for war crimes, shouting his captors have no authority to do this.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Commander Winslow is abruptly killed off halfway through the episode.
- Wham Episode: Commander Winslow is dead, and Commander Waterford is arrested by the Americans in Exile.
- Wham Line: One courtesy of Mark Tuello to Fred while Fred has a gun in his face.Mark Tuello: Commander Waterford, you have now crossed into Canada. We are arresting you for war crimes and crimes of aggression in violation of international human rights treaties and international law.
- Woman Scorned: Looks like Serena wasn't as respectful of the law of Gilead as everyone thought she was.
