The Handmaid’s Tale Episode 307 preview: Will June be silenced forever?

The latest episode of The Handmaid’s Tale reiterated exactly how subjugated the handmaids really are, evidenced by the silver rings. Will June wind up with a pair of these flashy accessories in Season 3, Episode 7?

By now, fans familiar with The Handmaid’s Tale know that the Republic of Gilead is run by a dictator-like regime which oppresses its’ women to the utmost degree. Every right and privilege has been stripped from them, even the choice of whom to speak with. But sometimes, when a handmaid doesn’t hold her tongue, she winds up being punished.

Warning! Spoilers for the latest episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale follow. Read on at your own discretion.

In “Household”, audiences see that one form of punishment prevents handmaids from speaking by sealing their mouths shut with silver rings — June (Elisabeth Moss) is the first to see the women with these rings. She’s initially surprised because their mouths are covered by masks so the horrific mutilations can’t be seen. Of course, once the masks come off, June can see they’ve been permanently silenced.

The reason why they suffered such a terrible punishment is undetermined, though the likeliest explanation is that the Winslows’ handmaids spoke out of turn. Or, perhaps they threatened to reveal that infertility is no longer an issue.

The Republic of Gilead has consistently promoted propaganda which glorifies the duties of handmaids — a duty to produce children in the wake of overwhelming infertility rates. But if a rogue handmaid revealed to the country that they created an entire family in a short period of time, their words could create doubt and incite insurrection.

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Commander Winslow (Christopher Meloni) presumably came to this rationalization himself, giving reason to why he ordered his handmaids to be silenced. This may or may not be the case but a Commander of his rank would likely do everything necessary to keep the country in order — that includes mutilating two innocent girls.

As for June, she could be the next to receive the “silent treatment”. The outspoken handmaid recently made an enemy out of Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) and the latter possesses the ability to have June outfitted with a pair of those nifty silver rings. June is clearly fearful of that fate as she tears up when Aunt Lydia latches up the mask on her face.

While there’s no guarantee that June will be subjected to this torturous punishment, the situation doesn’t look good. She no longer has Serena’s support and Nick (Max Minghella) was exposed as a loyalist to Gilead in the latest episode. What’s worse is June just proposed to Nick that they run away together, and such talks could give way to the series’ titular handmaid being silenced forever.

Do you think June will be silenced by her masters? Let us know in the comments section below.

The Handmaid’s Tale airs new episodes on Wednesdays. All episodes are currently streaming on Hulu. For more on this Hulu Original, follow us on the Hulu Watcher Twitter Account @HuluWatcherFS or on the Hulu Watcher Facebook Page.

(Source: TV Line)