‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Max Minghella Reveals What Luke Gives June That Nick Can’t

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale‘s final season.]

It’s hard to imagine how Nick and June come back from that bombshell reveal at the end of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 Episode 6, “Surprise.” Max Minghella and Elisabeth Moss‘ characters were hiding in a closet in Serena’s (Yvonne Strahovski) home when her new fiancé/Nick’s father-in-law, High Commander Gabriel Wharton (Josh Charles), revealed that Nick divulged Mayday’s plot to attack the commanders at Jezebel’s. Wharton had Nick cornered and likely would’ve had him killed if he didn’t come clean in their tense scene earlier in the episode. But it’s an unforgivable betrayal nonetheless, one that has put the life of every trapped woman in Jezebel’s at high risk—Janine (Madeline Brewer) included.

Nick and June’s romance has a split audience. For some, it’s their favorite romance of the show. Others see Nick as a moral blind spot for June, given his rise in the ranks of Gilead leadership. Nick has never been very rebellious; June has brought that fighting spirit out of him. Minghella previously told TV Insider (Swooon‘s sibling publication) that Nick has a very poor opinion of himself (he has the “self-esteem of a goldfish,” the actor described it). His stronger moments come when he’s motivated to act to help June in her rebellion. Minghella also noted that his primary reason for helping June’s resistance is because it means he can see her.