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does anyone know what happened to esther?? it’s bothering me. lol

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“Nick reaped what he sowed. He led a violent and dishonest life.”

I’m sorry, is this a joke? Have I been watching with my eyes closed for the past 8 years? She says this, by the way, while talking to her abuser/r*p!st, who has been allowed to have a redemption arc. She forgave her for fucks sakes. The writers cannot be serious right now.

At least Janine got her happy ending. Crying big girl tears for our girl. Besides that, everything said and done, all I have to say is that finale was god awful and disappointing. I’m so frustrated as I know many of us are. Not even just with how they’ve handled Nick’s character. The season itself was horribly paced and they spent more time setting up for the Testaments than actually wrapping this story up in a way that makes sense. Some of the lines were ludicrous. Not even sorry. I think I just need time to process.

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If he was a villain he would have let the guardians arrest June Luke and Moira.

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my mother watching 6x09: “maybe the b*mb won’t go off if luke made it cause he’s a moron”

😭 real

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The funny thing is, even if I wanted to make a video now something that would trace their whole story and explain what the writers supposedly meant, what the arc was leading toward I literally wouldn’t be able to. Because that conflict? It never actually existed.

She never asked him to leave Gilead. He never stayed because of power or politics. That line he says about picking the winners 🤢🤢🤢 comes out of nowhere. It’s completely OOC.

And all those moments where people said “Don’t trust Nick”? June never had a real reason not to trust him.

There’s not even enough footage to put together a video that would support that narrative. That’s how poorly this was executed.

Everything we saw on screen contradicts how it ended and contradicts what people around June kept saying about Nick. Even if I wanted to find “bad” scenes with him, there just aren’t any.

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don’t speak to me for a week i’m grieving

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Wow, what an incredible comment. Thank you for highlighting it. Actually it’s way worse.. Let’s break it down because this is honestly a huge red flag and a deeply unsettling situation.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s happening, especially in the New Bethlehem storyline.

Luke categorically says: “We’re staying here with Nichole.”!!! And then tells June kinda: “You do what you want. You can go or not.” But the emotional subtext is:

“If you go, you’re the bad one. You’re abandoning your family. We’ll never be enough for you.”

He places the full weight of guilt and moral responsibility on her. And at the same time, he claims full parental authority over a child who isn’t even biologically his 🚩

That’s the issue. Nichole is Nick’s daughter.

June, her biological mother considers moving to New Bethlehem and can be closer to Nichole’s real father.

And Luke’s reaction? A total shutdown. “Absolutely not.” No discussion. No acknowledgment of Nick as a parent. Just full-on control.

So what is this psychologically?

This is called parental gatekeeping when one parent (or parental figure) tries to control the child’s relationship with the other parent by:

• Denying the other parent’s role or identity

• Controlling access to the child

• Rewriting the narrative: “I’m the one who’s been here, so I’m the only one who matters.”

In divorce cases, this is already problematic. But here? Luke isn’t even Nichole’s biological father!!!!!!??!!!

He’s just the husband who happened to be there when June brought the baby into Canada.

Why is he doing this?

From a psychological perspective, this is ego defense.

Luke feels powerless:

• He knows June doesn’t fully love him

• He’s lost control in their romantic relationship

• He can’t compete with the emotional bond between June and Nick

So he latches onto something he can control, fatherhood. Claiming Nichole becomes his last way of feeling important. It’s emotional compensation: “I may not be the man you love, but I’ll be the father she needs.”

Except she already has a father. A real one. And Luke knows that.

What makes this especially disturbing?

He’s not doing it “for Nichole.” He’s doing it to erase Nick, and by extension, to reinforce his own narrative:

“We’re a family. I’m the dad. Nick doesn’t exist.”

He’s ignoring June’s autonomy. He’s ignoring Nichole’s biological identity. He’s ignoring Nick’s existence as a loving father

Let’s be clear: this is emotional manipulation wrapped in the language of love and protection.

It may look noble on the surface, “he just wants to keep the family together.”

But in reality, it’s a form of psychological control that:

• Invalidates the biological father

• Disempowers the mother

• Distorts the child’s reality

And all because Luke doesn’t want to feel like he’s losing.

Bottom line: Luke is trying to claim someone else’s child while gaslighting the actual mother and suppressing the truth of the child’s origins.

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i just discovered there’s a group of people who ship june and serena?? …june’s abuser & r*pist? where’s the punchline because that is insane😭

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I was trying to hold out but the writing for this season is horrendous. We’re getting redemption arcs for the 2 most evil characters in the series and Nick’s getting villainized out of nowhere. Like?? The whole rebel commander arc with him and Lawrence went nowhere, his history with Mayday forgotten; and now Nick’s a nazi. Serena HELD JUNE DOWN while they brutalized her. She psychologically tortured her. Lydia cannot be redeemed after everything. They’re trying so hard to make a 180 with these characters when just a few seasons ago we were watching June be repeatedly r*ped, beaten, and tortured. The writers have lost the plot entirely.

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Let them eat cake🤭

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Looking forward to the fanfic writers giving us a good ending if Handmaid's ends with Nick's death or June denouncing him completely.

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Luke having the audacity to scoff at June trusting Nick and saying he doesn't give a shit about the resistance is a joke.

I'm sorry, but are you kidding me? I don't know if this is an issue with the writing team or if Luke's character is really just this shortsighted, but HELLO? This is the same man who just last season(?) was telling June to take Nichole and meet with Nick so he could help them find Hannah. But now that he isn't directly beneficial to Luke he's reducing him to a Nazi? Now he's just some commander who wants to see the resistance burn? As if he hasn't been a direct participant in Mayday for years! Even when June wasn't in the Waterford house he was working with the resistance. Give me a fucking break. I'm so tired of Luke and I know I'm not the only one. Get him off of my screen.

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I just can't be mad at Nick. He has helped June more times than I can count. Risked his own life, killed for her, rescued Luke & Moira, etc.

I'm now seeing people being very quick about throwing him under the bus and turning face, but I feel like there's more to this arc. It was either he tell the truth or get put on the wall and you know what? She falls back on him at every turn to clean up her mess and he does so without hesitation because he loves her. She risked him over letters and a map. He would have been put on the wall for letters. and. a. map. June acted on impulse to get those letters without thinking of the consequences (per usual) and her impulse put Nick literally against a wall.

Looking back to past seasons, June ratted out all of her handmaid sisters because they had Hannah. She was forgiven for all. Nick is no use to her, the movement, or his children if he's dead. For once in this series he made a selfish decision and I feel like he is valid in doing so. While we may see it as him putting the Jezebel girls at risk and signing Lawrence's death warrant, I feel like there is more. There has to be more. This is too cliche and cheesy if it ends full stop at a betrayal from him after EVERYTHING. He is not just a double agent. Not after everything he has done for June and Nichole. No way the writing would be so black and white. AND he is not a bad person!! He has said time and time again that everything he does is for his family. I would be beyond disappointed if they wrote him off as some evil, two-faced character, which he is not. He is a complex character, yes, but not someone who would betray the people he truly loves.

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“sometimes i think you’re the only good thing in my life”

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i was caught up in the flashbacks and so eager for their relationship to come to fruition, but just like June, my hope was crushed under the weight of betrayal. surprise!

6x06 surprise

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I feel like Luke is finally seeing Nick for who he is, which is a protector for June, and he feels emasculated. His behavior in 6x04 is infuriating. This useless, crumpet of a man has finally, after years of inaction, decided he wants to be directly involved in the destabilization of Gilead. HE has decided to take the reigns from the women and men who have been putting their lives on the line to save their loved ones the entire time he was sitting on his ass. Now he's better than thee and it's "his turn" to fight for Hannah? So... we're taking turns now? Should've tapped her out sooner, man!

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“i came to see you. at the hospital.”

“you were there? is that why you agreed to spy for the americans? to see me?”

“i had to. i had to see you.”

s6 e3 - devotion