June finds her place in Commander Lawrence's household. The Marthas show June how their resistance cell operates. June pushes them to take a large risk and they suffer the consequences.
This episode provides examples of:
- Didn't Think This Through: How Lawrence sees June's attempts to interact with the Resistance cell. He seemed content to allow them to smuggle messages and black market items, but endangering his household by smuggling live humans without his consent sends him into a rage.
- Disposing of a Body: After the Resistance cell is nearly discovered, Lawrence makes June dispose of the body of the dead Martha. June digs a hole and buries her in the garden. Mrs. Lawrence even helps by planting fresh flowers on the grave itself.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Luke is constantly drinking throughout this episode as he is clearly having trouble coping with June's decision to remain in Gilead while taking care of a baby that is biologically not his.
- Nerd Glasses: Emily gets these back again.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: June offers to aid the injured Aunt Lydia up the stairs and offers for her to visit another time. Her attempt at empathy earns her a cattle prod to the abdomen for her trouble.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Emily shows signs of PTSD of a refugee from a totalitarian regime. She was forced to be a sex slave, saw her lover hanged, had her genitalia mutilated and was sent to a concentration camp. She is having trouble coping with interacting with women in a professional capacity and being treated with humanity. It extends to her inability to contact her wife. Moira knows this, as she has interacted with similar women since her arrival in Canada.
- Shout-Out: When one Maid reveals she used to be a high school chemistry teacher, June sarcastically says "let's go Breaking Bad."
- Ungrateful Bitch: Lydia responds to June's kindness with electrocution and a snarling rant about how she should have been executed.
- You Can't Go Home Again: Emily is still so traumatized by her experience in Gilead that she hasn't tried to contact her wife- even though all she needs to do is use a phone to reunite with her.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Subverted. It is revealed Lydia wanted to invoke this on June for her stunt involving the Mackenzies but was overruled by the other aunts.
