The Handmaid's Tale
Wednesdays on HuluThe Handmaid's Tale Quotes
June: Was it worth it?
Serena: Right now, I think it was.
Serena: June, why didn't you kill me?
June: I don't... you've been the one waving the gun around.
Serena: Not today. At the information center, the protest. You had a gun.
June: Yeah.
Serena: Why didn't you kill me? Why Fred and not me?
June: I didn't want to. [She smiles]
Serena: I imagined this moment so many times. I always imagined that he would be here, Fred. He looks like him.
June: They say that they always look like their dads at first. It's evolutionary so that the dads don't kill them, you know?
Serena: Evolution? Do you think he's gonna be like him?
June: Depends.
Serena: On what?
June: On who raises him. And what kind of person they want him to become. And what you teach him. And on what you tell him is his to take.
Serena: I want him to have everything.
June: We all want that for them, Serena.
It's funny how every tiny baby you see makes you think you've never seen a baby before.
June
Serena: June, I think God sent you to me today.
June: You came after me.
Serena: What if he guided my hand to save you so that you can save my baby like an angel?
June: Bullshit.
Serena: There are avenging angels that rain down sulfur and fire from the lord. Rejoice with him, oh heavens, for he will avenge the blood of his children and take righteous vengeance on his adversaries. There are still angels. Maybe that's what you are for me.
June: [shakes her head] Is that what you think of me?
Serena: And when she could no longer hide him, she built for him an arc of bullrushes and placed this child therein. Maybe I'm the arc, June. Maybe I'm the vessel. I carried my baby and delivered him, and I held him. Maybe that's all that was meant for me in this life. Maybe it's God's will. [June takes Noah]
June: God's will. A vessel. That's what you thought I was. We were. Who we were, where we came from, what we wanted, none of that mattered to you, to any of you.
Serena: I'm so sorry.
June: I don't care that you're sorry. We mattered. We were, we are people. We have lives. And that's why I'm gonna save yours, Serena, because this isn't Gilead, and I am not you.
Serena: I don't deserve to be saved.
June: It's not for you. It's for him. Look at him. Look at your baby. You are the only person in the whole world that he knows. You are the only familiar smell, you are the only voice he recognizes, you love him, and you wanted him so much. You're his mother, and he belongs with you. That is God's will. Do you understand me?
Are you in fucking labor? Of course, you are.
June
Maybe it'll have a manger.
June
[looking at June] You came back.
Serena
No matter how many times you think about your own death, I don't think it happens the way that you expect. There's always a curveball, some strategy you didn't fully think through, an enemy you didn't see in time. No matter what you do, the end is always a surprise.
Juen
Luke: Last time. Last time, we didn't get to say goodbye, and I don't want that to happen again.
June: Nah. Fuck that.
Luke: Why?
June: Because we're gonna stay alive.
Luke: June, when we get to Gilead, they're gonna execute us, alright?
June: OK. You listen to me, OK?
Luke: OK.
June: OK. Last time, when we were apart, no matter what happened, I never gave up hope, and you never gave up hope because we knew, we just knew that we would find each other again. So, we're just going to do that again, right?
Luke: I love you.
June: I love you. And we are gonna do that again. Do you understand?
Luke: Yeah, right. We're gonna stay alive.
Go to your room. [Serena goes]
Alanis [ to Serena]
Aunt Lydia: I've just heard this morning's surprising news. I wonder if you could help me to get to the bottom of something. Three weeks ago. That was Commander Waterford's funeral, was it not? You remember that, don't you? Mm-hmm. Now, I want you to be honest with me. Do you understand me? Esther, do you understand?
Esther: Yes, Aunt Lydia.
Aunt Lydia: On the day of the funeral, you had a private audience with Commander Putnam. [Esther nods] Now, you can tell me the truth. There is nothing to be ashamed of. I need to ask you. Did you behave in a way that might have, even unwittingly, invited his attention?
Esther: No.
Aunt Lydia: God knows our truths.
Esther: I didn't do anything. He raped me.
Aunt Lydia: That's terrible. That's terrible! Oh, I'm sorry, dear. I'm sorry.
Esther: No, your not.
Aunt Lydia: I'm what, hun, I... what?
Esther: They all do it. You know they do. You're not sorry.
You know, I just wonder, if you never allow yourself to enjoy the spoils of your position, why seek it in the first place?
Commander Putnam
