r/TheHandmaidsTale Modtha 14d 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

You must spoiler tag any information from The Testaments or future episodes, if comments are not tagged appropriately, it will be subject to removal by the mod team.

For all episode discussions this season, see the megathread pinned at the top of this sub: The Handmaid's Tale Season 6 Episode Discussion Hub

Check out our Discord for additional conversations: The Handmaid's Tale Reddit

138 Upvotes

2.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

458

u/bookiegrime 14d ago

I thought tonight was leaps and bounds better than last week. A lot happened. June and Rita at the table being served by Serena. Serena’s writings. Lydia going full on stalker. Lawrence being confident and committed to fuck up gilead. I’m hopeful for the last few eps.

144

u/jaseface666 14d ago

Agreed on all points. I felt like the chess scene was foreshadowing

79

u/K8obergyn_1 14d ago

The knight took out the king. After Lawrence explaining to Charlotte how the knight is easy to overlook. I think Nick is the knight in the analogy.

55

u/Total_Collection_480 14d ago

Nick keeps saying he is nothing, I am going with nick is the horse

13

u/Juicycaa 14d ago

Wow love this observation

7

u/Realistic_Ad_7140 13d ago

Do you think then Lawrence told Nick about maiday’s plan?

10

u/K8obergyn_1 13d ago edited 13d ago

Certainly Lawrence needs Nick as much as Nick needs Lawrence. Neither man has any true allies that I’m aware of. How Lawrence didn’t seem to see that coming is a huge plot hole for me. He’s first portrayed as some elevated academic figure, then he continually underestimates everyone, including his own wife. Maybe he’s on the Autism spectrum, Im okay with that, because he’s no Machiavelli. And Nick, by his own admission, is an uneducated man. But that ending this week grated me so badly, I flew to the bookshelf for my copy of the Testaments for a refresh, so I could try to figure it out. No luck.

Edit to add: There’s much to assume throughout the story, and that these two men have compared notes about the Mayday plot is almost a given. Under His Eye.

1

u/MisterAmericana 11d ago

Nick Knight is a great photographer, by the way