Fred's death at the hands of June and the other former Handmaids has consequences. Serena is moved to a more secure location and told by Mark Tuello that her husband was handed over to Gilead in exchange for 22 political prisoners. She immediately blames June. As for June, she goes to Emily's home and learns from Sylvia (Emily's wife) that Emily called to say goodbye and has gone back to Gilead to find Aunt Lydia. Later she tries to confess her role in Fred's death to the Canadian Authorities, only to find out that due to a legal technicality, June will face no charges.
Tropes present
- Arc Symbol: Blood. Specifically, smears of blood on people or objects, whether it be a glass of Orange Juice, a car window, Nichole, or even one of the women who participated in killing Fred Waterford. Eventually, June realizes this and this pushes her to a meltdown when she is unable to get Fred's blood off herself.
- Bathos: The emotionally laden scene of June confessing to murdering Commander Waterford to Canadian police ends with a whimper when she is instead only charged with transporting Commander Waterford's severed finger by mail,note fined CA$ 80 and then released.
- Blatant Lies: Serena rips into Mark upon receiving news of Fred's death. Mark claims that while he knew of the prisoner exchange, he claims to not know what happened after Fred was taken to No Man's Land. Serena doesn't buy it one bit and is fully aware that June set this up.
- Blunt "No": This is Sylvia's response to June when the latter asks if Sylvia will tell June if she hears from Emily.
- Confess to a Lesser Crime: Inverted. June confesses to murdering Fred but the act occurred in disputed territory (see Television Geography), so she cannot be prosecuted. She ends up getting a citation for the much lesser crime of mailing unsecured biological material e.g. Fred's finger.
- Dead Guy on Display: Of a sort. Serena furiously whips off the sheet over Fred's body as a way to display June's barbarity to Mark Tuello as Fred's corpse is seen badly mangled.
- Due to the Dead:
- Serena insists on returning to Gilead with her husband's remains so he can have a proper burial befitting one of the nation's founders.
- Canadian Gilead supporters hold a candlelight vigil for Serena once Serena confirms Fred Waterford's remains.
- Invoked and averted by Tuello. While he acts respectfully in front of the grieving Serena, he confesses to June that he's glad Fred was killed and hopes he may rot in hell.
- Gluttony Montage: June meets the other former Handmaids at a diner. There is food already at the table. Before they talk, they eat, with June devouring her breakfast and washing it down with a milkshake.
- Heroic BSoD: It turns out that June not washing the blood off herself before returning home in the previous episode was this. She only tries to get the blood off once she has a meltdown later in the episode.
- Internal Reveal: Once Serena sees the picture of Fred's body hanging on the wall with the message "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum" spray-painted underneath, Serena immediately knows that June is responsible.
- It's All My Fault: June blames herself for Emily's decision to leave her family and go back to Gilead. Sylvia questions the point. "So I can blame the right person?"
- Off on a Technicality: June turns herself in to the police and confesses that she killed Fred Waterford (making sure she only implicates herself and none of the other Handmaids). However, the attorney tells her that the Crown does not have the authority to prosecute her, as the incident occurred outside Canadian Soil. June does get a citation and a small fine for sending unauthorized biological material (Fred's severed finger) by mail.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Alexis Bledel chose not to return for season five. Her character (Emily) was written out, but remains alive offscreen. That way, the actor can return for future episodes if she chooses.
- Shown Their Work: Technically, Canadian authorities would have the possibility of charging a person with a crime regardless of where said crime happened, citing universal jurisdiction
. However, there are precedents of Canada refusing to invoke universal jurisdiction. It also helps that neither Gilead nor the US government-in-exile are likely to demand justice for Commander Waterford's murder. - Television Geography: The attorney who releases June after the latter's confession informs her that because the incident occurred in a disputed area between Gilead and Canada, it is technically international land and therefore not a crime that is prosecutable on Canadian soil. Except that the crime actually occurred on American soil as evidenced by Fred being dragged there shortly before his 'particicution'.
- Wham Line: "[Emily] went back to Gilead."
