‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Samira Wiley on Killing [SPOILER] With June & That Gutting Monologue

[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 Episode 5, “Janine.”]

Project Mayday makes good on its namesake during Wednesday’s (April 23) newest episode of The Handmaid’s Tale as a planned infiltration of Gilead goes horribly awry and leaves two of our heroes in grave danger.

In it, Moira (Samira Wiley) and June (Elisabeth Moss) don martha costumes to sneak into Jezebel’s to lay the groundwork for an attack on the commanders. There, they run into Janine (Madeline Brewer) for the first time since Chicago. Though she’s fancifully dancing with the other girls to an a capella rendition of 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up?” the sight of her fellow former handmaids stops her in her tracks.

Their reunion is cut short when Commander Bell (Timothy Simons) ushers in his parade of despicable men and starts harassing June. Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) breaks it up and seems to recognize her beneath the brown mask in the process. The others are too busy bragging about the fancy foreign cars they’re getting out of the new trade deals stemming from the New Bethlehem to notice his reaction, though. Things get tense when Lawrence lays claim to Janine, and the other commanders take his side over Bell’s. Lawrence informs him he is highly disliked by others of his ilk and brings nothing of value to the table. In their room, Janine reminds Lawrence that he’s only decent in comparison to the men outside. However, she also does him the favor of showing him a peephole where he can spy on the other commanders, just as they’re discussing their plans to use New Bethlehem as a bait-and-switch before restoring Gilead’s true brutality. Then, Bell demands, he’ll expect to see Lawrence on the wall.

Janine joins June and Moira in the penthouse where they can finally, briefly talk. June wants to bring Janine back to the rebel encampment with them, but Moira knows it’s too risky. Taking Janine off-site would lead to the brothel’s shutdown and ruin their chances of pulling off the attack, so they plan for Janine to get the other girls ready to escape when the time comes. After Janine leaves, June tries to justify her attempt to change their plans by saying she and Janine have been through hell, but Moira, in a gutwrenching monologue, reminds June of the daily torment she went through in this very building as a sex slave. It’s the first time we’ve really heard Moira explain how heavy a burden she carries, and June is stunned by the realization that she’s not the only one with an axe to grind in Gilead. The two are soon able to reconcile and laugh about the impulse to compare their experiences of abuse, and June apologizes for being a bad friend. Then, trouble walks in in the form of a guardian.

The guardian finds their written-out plans and locks them in a safe where only he knows the combination and then proceeds to throw Moira on the bed with plans of violating her. She immediately fights back, and June joins in. Together, the two kill the guardian and have to take his body to an incinerator to hide the evidence of what they’ve done. It’s no use, though, because the guardian’s sudden absence puts the entire place on lockdown, and Luke is unable to retrieve them from the parking lot as planned. Their only hope of escape is Lawrence, who happens to be driving by and lets them crawl into his trunk.

Elsewhere in the episode, Nick (Max Minghella) learns that one of the guardians he attacked at the border will survive and is even regaining consciousness. The news is delivered by his father-in-law, High Commander Wharton (Josh Charles), who blames him for the security slip-up and seems to eager to hear what the survivor has to say about it.

Meanwhile, Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) has a bitter exchange of words with Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) over the fate of Janine and other former handmaids being thrown into sexual slavery. They both accuse one another (rightfully) of hurting the handmaids, but Serena wins Lydia over by saying she wants to employ them as attendants at a new fertility center in New Bethlehem. Then, Serena gets an unexpected proposal from Wharton, who’s built a children’s library in honor of her, and assures her he wants her to continue her mission even in matrimony.

As eventful as the episode is, it’s Moira’s speech that really sears into the viewer’s soul. She’s been such a sturdy presence for June and everyone else, so to see her drop that veil just a little is stunning. TV Insider caught up with Samira Wiley to talk about that gutting speech and everything else Moira goes through with June in this episode.

Leading into this episode, Moira is insistent she is coming to Jezebel’s, whether June likes it or not. What is it about this particular mission that makes her feel so compelled to join it? 

Samira Wiley: I think we know Moira as a handmaid, but a lot of the time that we didn’t see — which was the bulk of her time in Gilead — was at Jezebel’s. So she feels like this mission is hers. It’s been very difficult for Moira to be fighting across country lines. She’s been in Canada for so long; that’s not where she wants to be. She’s trying to figure out how she can make the most of what she has to offer. But I think that she sees this opportunity as like, “Oh, okay, now I’m up to that. This is mine. I’m not gonna let anybody take this.”

What was it like for you to suit up in the marthas outfit? You’d done handmaids and even aunt clothes before.  

I was thinking the same thing when I put on everything. Now, it’s comfortable number one, but also the marthas wear masks now, which was very interesting. Honestly, the most interesting thing about that costume and filming in Jezebel’s that time, I really loved being able to take on a martha role and be able to wear that costume, but it was really, really, really interesting for me to be able to act with my eyes for most of the time.

Why do you think they wear the masks?

They wear the masks, I believe, because — the ones who work in Jezebel’s, at least — should not tempt the men further.

When we get to the reunion between June and Moira and Janine, it’s so loaded, but also super lightning fast. Can you talk about building that scene, where there’s so much to say and so little time to say it? 

Yeah, and I think there’s also — we have three very different objectives, and this is the first time I believe they’ve seen each other since Chicago, and Moira feels like June is losing the plot for a second, like “No, this is not … No, no, let’s stay on course. Let’s stay on course.” It’s kind of like the ball going a bunch of different places during that scene. But I felt like all of us were able to keep our objectives. And it was really fun filming. I haven’t been on set with the two of them like that in years.

You kind of alluded to this, but Moira has resisted bringing Janine with them the way that June suggests then. What is she most mad about with June saying that? Is it it that it makes her feel like she’s being portrayed as heartless, or is that she’s just too impulsive and not getting things done?

I think that at this point, Moira is kind of done with following June and living June’s life and doing whatever, sort of giving up her own internal instinct sometimes for June. June is very impulsive. We are there for a mission. And honestly, June wasn’t even supposed to be there. This is supposed to be mine. So, yes, I think that she talks about being portrayed as heartless, but I don’t think that that’s the main thing.

There’s a moment right after that when Moira gets to kind of talk about her own trauma and talk about how ridiculous it is to compare it to what June was going through. Can you talk about delivering those lines and reaching that place?

It was definitely the scene I was looking forward to the most. All the trauma that Moira mentions, it happened to her, but it was not on screen. So to be able to speak about that time was very validating for me, to be able to have more of a story told in that way. There’s a real interesting dynamic in that scene. It sort of leans toward absurdity, even toward the end of talking about comparing this trauma, but to be able to voice it in that way, to be able to read those lines and say, “Oh, I don’t have to do any work. This is already what’s built up inside of me for the last five seasons previous,” honestly, it felt like a release, not only for Moira, but a release for me, Samira, as the actor who’s portraying her, to be able to just tell, even if it’s just in words, even if it’s just saying, it not having it portrayed, I felt like it definitely got the job done.

So when you read that part of the script, was that what you already figured out about the character, did you learn something in that moment?

Oh, you know what? It really did feel like when I read it felt like it just felt true. It felt like there’s a lot of scenes you read and it’s like, “Oh, this is happening now. Oh, this is happening now.” But I felt like I read that and I was like, “Oh, this is what I’ve been waiting for. These are the words that have been caught in my throat.”

June apologizes after she says all that for being a bad friend, but they’re kind of interrupted by the guardian coming in. Do you think she would have accepted that apology if they weren’t interrupted?

Yeah, I don’t think it’s really a place that Moira really even wanted to go. I think the main thing she wanted in that scene is to be seen. She felt and has felt invisible for a long time and that June’s story is the only story almost. And June and Moira are their best friends. So I don’t think that it would have been me not accepting of the apology.

A little after the guardian comes in, Moira gets in trouble for having written materials. In your facial expression, she seemed a bit stunned, like, “Oh yeah, that’s right. This is what we’re dealing with here.” Is that a moment when she remembers what she’s coming back to by being here? 

Yes. I think there are multiple moments. Ever since she walks off the truck with the box and goes in, I think she’s hit with flashbacks the entire time. That’s just another moment. Walking into the Jezebel room and seeing scantily women, the woman that she was, the woman that she had to be, had to play the role of that, was an impact. Walking into the room with the man and having him bring up the reality of not being able to read and write. All of it was just bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. A lot for Moira, really, a whole lot to be confronted with.

Yeah, and then obviously, after that, the guardian takes advantage of her and throws her on the bed. After everything she has just talked about, about the trauma that she was experiencing, how real and visceral that is to her, that must be another like re-traumatization. How does she summon the will to fight back?

I think it definitely happens in this non-verbal conversation between Moira and June. I’m not sure if Moira — I mean, she might have, she definitely has it inside of her — but the courage and the gumption to be able to do what she did, to know that she has her ace next to her, I think that definitely gave her courage to go ahead and do what she did.

Well, like you said, she knew June was going to step in and help her. There was that nonverbal agreement. Contrasting that with the earlier part of the discussion, when she was saying she’s impulsive and it’s all about June, does this moment kind of remind her of their solidarity?

Yes, definitely. And I think also probably that’s who Moira was. That’s the Moira that we first got to know in Season 1: the Moira who gets a shank and decides to tie up an aunt and take her clothes. All of those things, the person that she was, the person she’s become, the sort of back and forth of the energies of June’s character and Moira’s character, just all of that.

In the next scene, they find out they’re in trouble because Luke can’t get them out, and they have to turn to Commander Lawrence. June knows a lot more about him than Moira does. What does it take for her to trust June after everything they’ve just been through?

There’s no other choice, and this is what June does all the time is she doesn’t give you a choice. Even the fact that she’s there! This is — you’re in this garage, the alarm is going off, the gates are about to close. There’s no understanding on Moira’s part that anyone with the title of commander could even be in the same sentence as someone you can trust, but there is literally no other option for her than to climb inside a trunk.

This marks the halfway point for the final season. What can you tease about the second half?

When you spoke about the scene and the moment that it takes for her to fight back, that is, I think, the spark for who Moira is and what her story is for the rest of the season — that person that I fell in love with when I first read the pilot, that is who I felt like I really got to fully embody in the rest of Season 6. What I can tease is that your dedication, fans, will be rewarded.

How do you feel about wrapping up the show with this season?

I say this all the time, but I feel like there are so many shows happening right now that they don’t get to tell their full story. They’re just sort of, “And now this is canceled. Now this is off TV.” So I do feel like I was able, and we were able as a cast, as the writers, everyone’s able to tell a full, complete story. It’s bittersweet. I’m gonna miss everyone. I’m gonna miss telling this story and also being so close to what the conversation is in the larger world. But I do feel satisfied and finished with this trauma story.

The Handmaid’s Tale, Wednesdays, Hulu

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