The Handmaid's Tale: Season 1

A family is pursued by a group of armed men. The woman is caught and separated from her young daughter and husband as shots are fired in the distance. Some time later, the woman is now known as Offred, the handmaid to Commander Fred Waterford. She and another handmaid, Ofglen, pass by a wall on which men have been hanged for crimes such as being gay, working in an abortion clinic, and being a Catholic priest. In a flashback, women are indoctrinated into their new role of handmaids by Aunt Lydia,

June and Ofglen go food shopping, and they reveal more personal information about themselves to each other. While they are walking, they see St. Paul Catholic Church being destroyed by the new regime. Ofglen tells June that the regime also bulldozed St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan to try to "erase" the fact that it ever existed. When June asks how Ofglen knows this information, Ofglen reveals that she is part of a resistance movement against the government, but June declines to join, not fu

In flashbacks, the rise of Gilead is detailed through June's eyes: June and her female colleagues were fired and the government froze women's bank accounts and ruled they could no longer own property. In the present, Serena takes June to see Janine and the baby, and June fears Janine is delusional. Back home, June is interrogated by an Eye and Aunt Lydia about her knowledge of Emily/Ofglen. Aunt Lydia physically beats and shocks June with a cattle prod for being disrespectful and quoting from th

Banished to her room, June retreats to her closet where she finds a Latin phrase, Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum, scratched into the wall. When Rita, the Martha assigned as the Commander's housekeeper, finds June lying on the floor, June tells her that she fainted so Serena sends her to the hospital for a check-up. During the examination the physician remarks that the Commander is most likely sterile and offers to attempt to impregnate June, but she declines. In flashbacks, Aunt Lydia teaches

Serena suggests to June that she have sex with Nick in case Commander Waterford is sterile. Later that day, Serena leads June up to Nick's room and waits by the door while June and Nick have detached sex. Flashbacks detail June and Luke's first meeting and courtship. During a Ceremony night, the Commander touches June's thigh, which she later tells him never to do again. She also confronts him about Emily. He admits that while they thought they were building a better world, they knew that "bette

When Mexican trade delegates visit the Waterford's home to evaluate the effects of the Gilead regime, June is asked about her experience; she lies, saying that she is happy. The handmaids are taken to a function to demonstrate Gilead's success to the delegation, illustrated by a parade of Commanders' children to whom the handmaids have given birth. The next day, June privately tells Mexico's ambassador the truth about Gilead and asks for her help, but the ambassador is unable to do anything. How

After he was separated from June and Hannah (from episode Offred) Luke is shot and injured but escapes when the ambulance crashes. He passes out from his wounds and is rescued by a resistance group traveling to Canada with many survivors, including Erin, a mute escaped handmaid and Zoe, the daughter of a US Army soldier. Initially reluctant, Luke joins them after Zoe shows him that Gileadan authorities hanged people from the rafters of their church for resisting. As they board a boat, Gileadan g

Commander Waterford gives June makeup and a dress and takes her out for the night. Nick drives them to Boston to an underground brothel, where sex workers (known as "Jezebels") work. June spots Moira and they briefly reunite. Nick trades drugs and pregnancy tests for alcohol with Beth, one of the brothel's Marthas. June goes to see Moira again, and she explains to June how Quakers tried to help her escape but were caught. Moira had the choice of being sent either to the Colonies or one of the br

Janine's daughter is handed over to Commander Putnam and his wife, then Janine is transferred to another couple and renamed Ofdaniel. During the first Ceremony night with her new commander, Janine forcefully stops the proceedings. At the market, Alma tells June that she is involved with Mayday, and requests that June retrieve a package from the bar at Jezebels. June convinces Waterford to take her to Jezebels again that night. Waterford presents June with Moira and June privately asks Moira to r

A flashback shows June's capture and indoctrination by Aunt Lydia at the Red Center. In the present, after discovering Commander Fred's trips to Jezebels, Serena forces June to take a pregnancy test, which ends up being positive. Serena angrily accuses Fred, telling him the child is not his. After learning the news, Nick and June have a tender moment. Serena takes June to see Hannah, but leaves her in the car; June becomes hysterical trying to get out. Serena warns June that Hannah will be safe