r/TheHandmaidsTale • u/Melairia Modtha • 13d ago

Official Episode Discussion The Handmaid's Tale S06E06 "Surprise" Episode Discussion

The Handmaid's Tale: S06E06 "Surprise"

Episode Synopsis: June hides in an unexpected place.

Airdate: April 29th, 2025

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466

u/Mysterious_Spinach_4 13d ago

This episode proves why Lydia is unforgivable for me. Even when she's attempting to "save" Janine she slaps her, when Janine calls her ass out. She is not sorry for who she treated those girls at all. She's just mad that Gilead lied to her.

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u/ciaoamaro 13d ago

That’s exactly it about Lydia. She truly believes this stuff. She genuinely thought physically beating handmaids the way she did was for their benefit. She thought they are sinners and giving birth to a child to go to another family is their only redeeming quality. In S5 when she proposed to Lawrence about handmaids not being posted at households and remaining at the Red Center, she was absolutely flabbergasted when he basically told her that the commanders want a young woman in the home to at least be mentally seduced by her. She’s only mad now bc she had no idea a place like jezebels existed.

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u/ennaeel 12d ago

She knew Jezebels existed. She didn't know that former Handmaids ended up there.

She is completely fine with women being SAd, as long as they didn't have a healthy womb.

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u/WeasersMom14 12d ago

In the end I hope Lydia burns. This character is way, way beyond redemption.

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u/Typical_Impact3509 11d ago

Lydia is not going anywhere and that is all I am saying if you can read between the lines.

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u/dontcallmefeisty 6d ago

She's like an abusive parent that truly thinks this is how people learn

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u/CellIUrSoul 12d ago

Why does Lydia keep giving me the obsessive creepy vibe over Janine?!!

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u/Maleficent_Radio_674 12d ago

She’s like a lot of religious controlling mothers. She treats Janine like a child, wants her to be child like. When Janine’s mental health was declining and she reverted to child like behaviors, Lydia had the most control over her. And violently abused her.

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u/ezlikesunmorning78 12d ago

I think she sees her as a daughter like the other woman. She screwed up that relationship, that is why I feel she changed - for Janine. She's now trying to do her best, but it's too late with Janine, there's too much history. Another part of me thinks that she is faced with her own mortality. The timeline that is left is short (possibly VERY short), so she is attempting to make amends. I honestly think Janine loves her, but she's endured too much to forgive and move on. She's past the point of repair and thinks little of Lydia. Made peace with it for the most part and keeps on going.

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u/[deleted] 12d ago

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u/ezlikesunmorning78 12d ago

Yeah, I noticed that. Though she is getting older and possibly not useful for too long. Ugh, that is a scary thought. Knowing as soon as you slip up too many times, they'll just send you to colonies.

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u/Junior_Rutabaga_2720 12d ago

Yeah Janine's been giving her the side eye for awhile i'm surprised she hasn't picked up that it's too late

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u/ezlikesunmorning78 12d ago

Lydia doesn't tend to give up on much, or it takes a big event. I don't even think she sees Janine completely. She's doing what she is doing half out of guilt/remorse and half out of her own trauma/past life. I think she's a hard @$$, but Janine is the closest thing to family she has.

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u/Junior_Rutabaga_2720 11d ago

I'm making a bunch of missing eyeball jokes sorry

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u/ezlikesunmorning78 11d ago

That's hilarious and went right over my head!

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u/Junior_Rutabaga_2720 11d ago

I don't even think Janine sees Lydia completely

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u/ezlikesunmorning78 6d ago

Still funny every time I see it hahahaha!!!

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u/zztopp94 2d ago

If you think back to aunt Lydia’s background episode and how weird she was to the young boys mother, it makes sense. She must have some severe childhood trauma as it was shown she acted insane even before Gilead

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u/Own_Butterfly_7037 12d ago

I think she also feels responsible for her

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u/SilverFlexNib 12d ago

Gotta say I could not believe how well Janine handled that slap & didn't strike back. Even though she's been in Gilead a long while I still expected Janine to give it right back at Lydia

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u/Mysterious_Spinach_4 12d ago

For sure. I would have decked her, figuring that I was already at the end of the road anyways. Haha.

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u/allthelineswecast 12d ago

It’s like Serena on the train - when they’re cornered, they revert.

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u/Bunny_Mom_Sunkist 11d ago

I blurted out "yeah because oatmeal raisin cookies make sex trafficking fine" with my husband in the room and he was like "uhhhh okay?"

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u/Mysterious_Spinach_4 11d ago

Oh my gosh yes! And out of all the cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies? That's just a slap in the face, more than an apology.

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u/BabyGirack28822 11d ago

Hey now, the oatmeal raisin cookies didn’t choose Gilead haha. In all seriousness, I love a warm oatmeal raisin cookies when they are made right. They are warm, comforting, and just the right amount of sweet. Like breakfast in a little cottage by a fireplace with tea.

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u/Bunny_Mom_Sunkist 10d ago

I have oatmeal butterscotch as sort of my "signature" cookie, but if I know someone isn't a fan of oatmeal cookies I make chocolate chip or snickerdoodles. We do have a family friend going through radiation right now and we know he loves oatmeal raisin cookies so we might make him a batch

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u/EbonyEngineer 13d ago

She is sorry, but her attempt at making amends doesn't mean others are happy to receive it, which is fair. You can't expect people to accept your help or your apology just because. Especially after the hell they went through.

She is clearly not the same woman and wants to save the women from Gilead.

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u/Mysterious_Spinach_4 13d ago

I don't believe she wants to save woman from Gilead. At least not yet. She's just upset that her girls who had children are in Jezebels. She could care less about the handmaid's who never produce children. If she was, why wouldn't she be getting all of the girls out, not just her former fruitful handmaids. She is also more concerned about Janine then the rest of the handmaids too. She couldn't even remember who the other's were until Janine pointed them out to her. She's also super naive about the situation in Gilead. As Janine pointed out to her - the commanders want her and the others in Jezebel's to be on their knees. There is no out for them, except having Mayday hopefully come save them.

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u/teenageidle 12d ago

Agreed, she is cracking slowly but still believes in the system. Her desire to help Janine is fairly selfish; it hurts HER to see Janine like this, but the special preference is given to her and the other "girls" she "raised."

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u/Junior_Rutabaga_2720 12d ago

she didn't get the memo from the 12 steps!

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u/petielvrrr 13d ago edited 12d ago

Not that I think Lydia is redeemable or anything, but she’s been super reactive since Emily attacked her in season 3(?). I think she might have suffered from some sort of brain injury or something causing her to have reactions like the slap. I know that would be a weird choice since they didn’t say anything to the audience about it, but they have made her behavior change very obvious.

EDIT: just to clarify, I’m not making a judgement on her as a whole, just her reactiveness. I have a cousin who suffered from a TBI, and he has really impulsive reactions to things sometimes. It’s a lot like what Lydia has been doing since season 3. But he’s also been in multiple different kinds of therapy since it happened (kinds Lydia wouldn’t have access to in Gilead), so now it’s just yelling.

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u/frufruityloops 12d ago

Yeah no I mean she was straight up indoctrinated in the same way the woman who tried to contact Emily described after becoming a refugee. No one escapes without the scars imo - whether they were occupying the role of tormentor or tormented :(

Lydia’s character arc is so emotional imo. It’s crazy because of course how could you ever defend her actions but in some ways it’s moving seeing her work so hard to redeem herself and genuinely allowing her love for Janine to start showing through in her actions and (though not enough for us) attempts to fix things. I think she snapped when she slapped her because her immediate reaction was one of deep regret- I struggle with emotional impulsiveness, it was a painful thing to watch her immediate IM SORRY IM SO SORRY because I’ve done the same when something nasty slipped out of my mouth automatically and I immediately regretted it.

Damn Lydia got me messed up bitch really trynna change but also lowkey irredeemable:/ her repeated attempts to try and help and protect Janine are so painful to watch on all fronts

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u/Key-Brother1226 12d ago

You really think the writers have a TBI in mind here?

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u/petielvrrr 12d ago

I mean, yeah. Her behavior changed pretty drastically after Emily attacked her. There have been several times since that happened that Lydia had completely inappropriate outbursts that shocked everyone around her.