The American effort to retrieve Hannah and other children ends very badly when the strike force is shot down. In the aftermath, June lashes out against Commander Lawrence while her pleadings with Nick to defect to America go nowhere. Meanwhile Serena tries to assert her independence from the Wheelers only to be strongly rebuked by Alanis. This leads her to leave with Noah during a Gilead event feting Noah's birth. During a candlelight vigil for the fallen American Strike Force, a protest against the American refugees turns violent with gunshots fired.
Tropes applicable to this episode include:
- Ambiguous Situation:
- It's not known if Commander Lawrence was the one who sent the CD with a video of Hannah to June. It's also not known if this was a setup from Gilead to bait the Americans to launching their doomed strike force.
- It's also not known if it is confirmed if everyone in the strike force perished in the failed attempt, if they were captured, or if this entire attempt was simply a diversion for a more clandestine attempt in infiltration. While subsequent scenes seem to imply that the strike force did perish, no one seems to have physical proof of the members of said strike force being dead or alive.
- Atomic F-Bomb: June delivers an epic one to Commander Lawrence when the latter refuses to release Hannah out of Gilead.
- Bitch Slap: Before the ceremony for the Gilead center, Mrs. Wheeler delivers not one but two to Serena for leaving her room and talking to Mr. Wheeler by herself. She then tops it with "To me you are just a whore."
- Call-Back: Lawrence decides to ultimately use Serena's Marriage of Convenience proposal, except towards the recently widowed Naomi Putnam, who accepts.
- Crazy-Prepared: Gilead appears to have been prepared for the American strike force from the very beginning, with anti-air defenses moved to the Canadian border...
- Didn't Think This Through: ...As for the Americans, they clearly did not plan on the possibility that the northern border would be heavily fortified. It's possible that this was deliberate on the part of the Americans and that this "failure" may be All According to Plan, in which case this may be subverted.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The failure of the American Strike Force brings to mind the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba, where "bad intelligence" led to the defeat of the Cuban exiles against Fidel Castro.
- Dress-Coded for Your Convenience: The driver that saves Serena from the welcome center has a nose piercing and blue hair, indicating she's not affiliated with the Canadian Gilead sympathizers.
- Fatal Family Photo: Commander Vance shows Luke and June a picture of his daughter, before he departs on the mission to retrieve Hannah. Unsurprisingly, the entire mission goes south and Vance's plane is shot down with him presumably killed. Even worse, we see his wife and daughter mourning his death during the wake at the end of the episode.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Her fellow wives are pestering Rose with prospects of her pregnancy going awry, clearly jealous of one of their own being expecting without the use of a Breeding Slave.
- The Guards Must Be Crazy: For the first time this series, Gilead averts this hard as they are able to shoot down the American Strike Force with ease.
- Heroic Bystander: The female motorist who stops when Serena gets in the street to flag down a ride. She has no idea what's going on, but she sees a frantic, crying woman holding an infant and asking for help saving her baby. So she tells Serena, a complete stranger, to get in the car, and peels out of there before anyone in the Gilead welcome center can catch up to them.
- Hope Spot: A particularly brutal one where Luke and June are feeling upbeat and optimistic about rescuing Hannah before the mission goes completely south.
- Idiot Ball:
- The American forces hold one regarding the strike force as no one either anticipated the CD possibly being used as bait to lure the American strike force, nor did they consider that there were increased defenses on the northern border. Unless the Americans are playing the long game on this one.
- A second ball also sits firmly in the hands of the Wheelers regarding Serena. Allowing her to come back into Noah's life after shooting Ezra is one thing, allowing her to attend the Gilead fete and granting Serena a moment alone with Noah is the other.
- Marriage of Convenience: Lawrence proposes one to the recently widowed Naomi Putnam, who has no choice but to accept in order to maintain her social status.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": The Americans attending the vigil hit the ground when gunshots ring out.
- The Reveal:
- Despite years of Gilead education and previously having displayed signs of estrangement from June, Hannah hasn't forgotten where she comes from, as she is shown to secretly sign her drawings with her actual name.
- As for Gilead, it still controls a large chunk of the American Military and thus a force to be reckoned with on the world stage.
- Rewatch Bonus: Observe the Wheeler's maid and her interactions with Serena and Alanis and you'll know that she also has been plotting against the Wheelers to help Serena.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Serena absconds from the Gilead fete with her son after getting a moment alone with Noah. She flags down a random car and they drive off into the unknown.
- Shout-Out: Upon hearing that Russia, China, and North Korea have congratulated Gilead for "sticking it to the Americans". Lawrence makes a reference to a Groucho Marx quote, "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member."
- Tempting Fate: The Americans appear to be very confident about their mission before it fails horribly, resulting in the deaths of the entire strike team. To be fair, considering their previous successes in prior seasons, this may have been a given.
- Title Drop: Vance's daughter recites the Pledge of Allegiance.
- Villain Team-Up: After successfully defending against the American Strike force, Russia, North Korea, and China congratulate Gilead for "sticking it to the Americans".
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Commander Vance has one scene in the entire episode: he establishes he is going to rescue Hannah and then go back to his own daughter. He even shows what turns out to be a Fatal Family Photo before the doomed mission begins.
- We Used to Be Friends: Considering that in prior episodes, June had considered Commander Lawrence to be a "friend", hearing her tear a new one into Lawrence only emphasizes how badly things have gotten between the two.
- Wham Shot: Literal ones, as gunfire erupts at the wake for the fallen soldiers, hitting the American flag serving as a backdrop.
