The Handmaid's Tale Season 2: 5 Ups And 1 Down From 'Postpartum'

Love is patient. Love is kind.

The Handmaid's Tale
Hulu

Contains spoilers from The Handmaid's Tale Season 2 Episode 12.

The Handmaid's Tale takes an unexpected turn in the penultimate episode of the season, delivering one of its most shocking hours yet.

Postpartum takes place several weeks after the events of Holly, and we find June recovering at Gilead's Red Center, with Aunt Lydia watching over her. This means that, in spite of her escape attempt in last week's episode, the handmaid has once again returned to her post in Gilead. Serena Joy finds delight in being a mother, as her and Fred play the doting parents, but before long the cracks in their marriage come to light - especially when the baby's milk supply begins to run low, and the Waterfords have no choice but to welcome (in the loosest sense of the word) June back into their home.

Elsewhere, Emily is placed at yet another post and, while her new commander appears more lenient than her previous masters, he's also extremely terrifying. But there's definitely more to this storyline than meets the eye.

As Postpartum is the penultimate episode of the season, we were expecting there to be a few shocks, but we certainly couldn't have predicted all that happened in this disturbing hour.

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Stephen Patterson is an experienced writer and reviewer. He's also a TV addict.