Fred was a key part of that, but only one piece of the puzzle; Serena Joy is another. Taking the finger as a warning, then it means June still wants to bring down Serena Joy and is not about to let her walk free despite Fred's death.
Even though Serena had written books supporting Gilead before they went into power she too faced brutal punishment. This was seen during season two after she rebelled and read a Bible verse out loud, as a result, the top of Serena's pinky finger was amputated.
June Wanted Fred To Feel The Same Fear She Did
So many women lived (and live) in fear because of Fred Waterford and men like him that it's a punishment befitting the crime in June's mind. June also makes sure to bite off Fred's tongue, which speaks to their own relationship.
In a recent interview, Elisabeth Moss explained why June helped Serena deliver her son, Noah, and it all came down to one thing: Necessity. Though the women are in a battle with one another, they quickly realize they have a much bigger enemy to contend with in Gilead.
(A barn is … kind of like a manger?) “I turned the other cheek,” June explains after noting she has not forgiven Serena at all. “Turns out after all this, I guess I'm a better Christian than you.”
She is fiercely jealous of June, for whom Fred has repressed romantic feelings; she often punishes June unjustly simply to vent her jealous rage. She also feels inadequate because she cannot get pregnant, again taking it out on June.
The childbirth scene is primal and intimate and prompts the women to confess their secrets: June tells Serena that she didn't kill her when she had the chance because she simply didn't want to, and Serena realizes she has been forced into essentially being a handmaid in the Wheelers house and begs June to take her baby ...
While she is a woman, and therefore oppressed by Gilead, she is also extremely cruel and hurts other women just to make herself feel powerful. Some of the defining beliefs of the modern feminist movement are choice and equality.
Noah Waterford is a character in The Handmaid's Tale. He is the son of Serena Waterford and Fred Waterford.
Despite seeming to be a true believer at the start of the story (at least in June's eyes, indicating that she might not always be a reliable narrator), Lydia is actually a part of Mayday, working against Gilead in the long game.
Williams and Alexis Ohanian shared their pregnancy publicly at the Met Gala. Serena Williams announced her second pregnancy publicly at the 2023 Met Gala. Now, she is sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how she and her husband Alexis Ohanian told their daughter, Olympia.
June first sees the extent of this when she is taken by a handmaid into a private room in the Winslow family house. At first she can't understand why the Handmaid is not replying to her before she sees that her mouth has been forced shut with metal rings.
A quick recap: June (Elisabeth Moss) confesses to Fred's murder, only to find out she won't face any legal consequences (except a fine for , transporting an unsecured biological sample, his finger) since it didn't happen in Canada.
The Waterfords were previously believed to both be infertile. Fred had failed to get both June and a previous handmaid pregnant, despite many attempts even outside Gilead's "ceremony". Serena was shot in her lower abdomen by a protester in the days before Gilead, and her injuries damaged her reproductive organs.
June has been (re)assigned to the Waterford's household as their new handmaid "Offred". As part of the Ceremony, Commander Fred tries to impregnate Offred as she lies in the lap of his wife. Nick tells Offred that the Commander wants to see her alone, which is forbidden.
Rita discovers the Waterford's handmaid hanged herself in her room. Nick quickly tries to cut the rope and gets her down but only to find that she is already dead. As the body is carried away, Serena asks Fred "What did you think was going to happen?"
Nichole Holly Osborne, temporarily named Nichole Waterford, is the biological baby daughter of Nick Blaine and June Osborne. She was initially named Holly by her mother when giving birth (after her maternal grandmother) and renamed Nichole by the Waterfords.
Though Waterford is probably sterile, Gilead doesn't allow for that possibility to be voiced–even to himself.
Now, in episode 7, "No Man's Land," Serena finds herself turning to June (Elisabeth Moss) for help as she gives birth to her son, Noah, as the series flashes back to their early days in Gilead, when June was still a handmaiden named Offred and the two were learning the Republic's bizarre birthing ritual.
Serena staying in Gilead was never an option for her for several reasons, the first being that her husband is a known traitor. It's likely that the Commanders at least assume that she is a traitor, too, although they have yet to indicate whether they know this. Serena also being pregnant and unwed is another factor.
Serena Helped Create Gilead
It is important to note that Serena did not come up with the handmaid system itself or any other of Gilead's social stratifications, merely the idea that if women shifted their priority to making a home rather than working, as a solution to the declining birth rates in America.
June shares the good news with Luke and Moira, excitedly telling them the U.S. Is planning a raid, and Hannah's going to be rescued and returned to them. While they hug, jump, laugh, and cry in celebration, the scene switches to Hannah, who's on the grounds of her school.
This scene was particularly painful as viewers watched June pretend she played no part in the death and instead spoke of her guilt for not checking on her. During their conversation, it seems like Lawrence genuinely does not know the role June had in the death.
She is confined to her home and forced to take in a Handmaid to try to conceive a child with her husband. Serena's obvious unhappiness means that she teeters on the edge of inspiring the reader's sympathy, but she forfeits that sympathy by taking out her anger on Offred.
June could have killed Serena…but doesn't.
June, armed with her gun, comes face-to-face with Serena outside the Gilead Center, and although she puts her hand on her gun, she ultimately lets Serena get away.