Janine and the other handmaids lead June to a farmhouse in western Massachusetts to a farm sympathetic to Mayday. While June recovers, she finds out about shocking details of the young wife of the Commander present on the farm. Fred and Serena find out about the plane that June enlisted to bring the children to Canada, with Fred saying that June has likely started a war between Canada and Gilead.
This Episode provides examples of:
- Animal Lover: Janine enjoys her time with Mr. Darcy, a pig. Naturally, Janine is disgusted when Esther has Mr. Darcy shot and used as food to feed the Handmaids to the point the Janine is about to vomit when Esther forces Janine to eat a piece of pork.
- Asshole Victim: Pogue. Esther says he is one who frequently raped her. June allows Esther to kill him.
- Blood-Splattered Innocents: After Pogue is killed, we see Esther splattered in his blood.
- The Bus Came Back: Nick returns to the show after leaving in the middle of the previous season. As revealed in the next episode, he hadn't left for Chicago yet and (as he was in Washington D.C. during his previous appearance) he actually had returned to Boston to assist in tactical plans for the battle in Chicago, which presumably took some time.
- Creepy Child: Esther definitely qualifies, but as detailed under Rape as Drama, she has good reason to be. Her husband even admits to June that he is scared of her from time to time, though given the circumstances, June isn't at all sympathetic to him.
- Didn't Think This Through: Commander Waterford tells Mark that June's actions constitute this trope when he finds out about the plane of children, saying that this incident "will start a war".
- Even Evil Has Standards: Lydia does not agree with Commander Calhoun's assessment of the Handmaids as "whores", considering that Calhoun had a Handmaid himself who gave him at least one son.
- Heal It With Fire: One of the handmaids uses a fire-heated curling iron found in a warehouse to cauterize June's wound.
- Hypocrite: Commander Calhoun appears to be very dismissive of the use of Handmaids despite having a son through one.
- Internal Reveal: Mark finds about the plane of children and informs Fred and Serena.
- Kick the Dog: Esther forces the handmaids to eat pork which was prepared from a pig that Janine was close to.
- Old Man Marrying a Child: The elderly Commander Keyes is married to Esther, a young teenager (who is played by the 14-year-old McKenna Grace).
- Rape as Drama: Par for the course with this show, but June is horrified when Esther tells her how, after it was revealed her husband could not perform sexually, he would "pass her around" to other men, including other Commanders, in the hopes that she would get pregnant.
- Rambling Old Man Monologue: Commander Keyes doesn't appear to be quite right in the head. The next episode explains why.
- Shout-Out: One wonders if the Esther in this episode references a similarly psychotic Esther trying to kill adults.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- June is in rough shape during the first part of the episode due to her gunshot wound. One of her fellow Handmaids uses a fire-heated curling iron to cauterize her wound. Despite this impromptu treatment, June is rendered infirm for quite some time to recover, and given that infection is a real threat from her gunshot wound, she is forced to use homemade treatments such as moldy fruit to use as a crude antibiotic.
- Despite their security blunders in the previous season's finale, Gilead was easily able to figure out how the children were smuggled out and arrest Commander Lawrence for his suspected role in the incident.
- Sure, you do a good job as an Aunt, but if one of your charges is responsible for hatching an escape plan that leads to the exodus of 86 children, the authoritarian regime that you support will still look at you with suspicion and physical abuse.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: After forcing Janine to eat a piece of pork from Mr. Darcy, she leaves in a huff, prompting Janine to vomit immediately afterwards.
- Also in the beginning of the ep when June is brought into the Keyes farm.
- Wham Shot: When June is brought into the Keyes farm, we see a hazy vision of Mrs. Keyes and are unsure about who she really is. It's only after June recovers and we see that Mrs. Keyes is actually a teenager.
