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glasskey · 1 month

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Nick & Lawrence Mixtape

Ever since June wreaked havoc in Lawrence’s household in season 3, he’s been hanging with our boy Nick. Welcome one and all to the season 4 and 5 Gilead Boss mix

Thank you for your service to Gilead.

Thanks to June’s shenanigans, Lawrence is now due to be executed, Gilead has politely sent Nick Blaine to say “Thanks ever so” before the final curtain call, but unwittingly they’ve also sent Lawrence his exit strategy. Nick may be crafty, but Lawrence is a true strategist. He’s a brilliant psychoanalyst, who took all of 3 seconds to realize Blaine was in love with Osborne and that there was no way on God’s green earth, that baby was Fred’s.

Nick had the audacity to hook up with a Handmaid, is sporting a rebellious streak a mile wide and yet SOMEHOW he’s still alive. It’s obvious to Lawrence that Blaine’s extremely cunning and very, very useful. Lawrence is a cynical and astute political animal, soaked in Teflon, with more lives than a cat. He’s the quick witted, dodgy “friend” who talks you into all manner of shit. While he conceived Gilead he’s not really responsible for the ritualistic bullshit that seems to have been constructed out of his theories. As a result he greets any of it with utter disdain, and it is this same hatred for the religious ceremony of Gilead that Lawrence can sense in Nick Blaine.

At first Nick appears compliant and servile but when nudged in his June Osborne Achilles Heel, Lawrence is surprised to find how malleable and resourceful the young commander can be. Blaine turns up touting not only a free ticket out of death row for Lawrence, but also a chance to regain his previous powers.

Lawrence realizes immediately what June always knew; Blaine is an invaluable ally masquerading as nothing more than the resident “fetch and carry”. These two immediately set up an enchanting marriage of convenience in which much political back scratching may take place. For the next 2 seasons we remained glued to our screens as we watched Lawrence use Blaine’s deadly abilities to precisely maneuver pieces across the board, pulling himself out of the noose and all the way back up to the top.

She is never coming back to you.

“You’re getting very comfortable here” Nick says to Lawrence, it’s not just his house that he’s referring to, it’s also his somewhat apathetic acquiescence with the powers that be. “She changed you, she changed me” Nick says reminding Lawrence of the newfound purpose that June brought them both. Here we see a bit of a battle of wits with Lawrence trying to convince Nick, June has lost her value now and Nick not so subtly threatening to kick Lawrence out of his house and possibly back to the chopping block, if he doesn’t save her life. While Lawrence thinks it’s “nice to want things”, Blaine isn’t playing; he wants what he wants and he fully intends to get it. “You owe me”, Blaine states not once but twice, refusing to be denied.

Here in the dim light, Lawrence and Nick strike a deal that echoes throughout season 4 and 5. Lawrence has already realized he simply needs to push the June Osborne button and the resourceful young commander will do exactly as he’s bid. Conceding to Blaine’s demands to merely keep June alive, is a small price to pay for what he knows is Nicks lasting loyalty.

“She is NEVER coming back to you, why would she?” Lawrence says. There’s a deep connection between Nick and June of liberty and rebellion and here Lawrence tries to convince Nick that freedom has forgotten him and it’ll be better for everyone if he just gets comfy right where he is. Let’s give credit where credit is due, throughout season 4 and 5 Lawrence almost gets away with it. As intelligent as Nick may be, he is consistently emotionally vulnerable and it makes him easy prey. There’s part of me that wants to believe that Lawrence isn’t entirely opportunistic, he’s been uncomfortably close to the noose because of June and there’s no doubting he’s kind of got a soft spot for Nick, at least enough to want better than a sharp drop at the end of a rope for the young commander. As a result Lawrence suggests he move on, and Nick having lost hope, gets married. Lawrence may have the best of intentions, and his observation that June’s love “fucks people up” is not entirely wrong, but let’s face it ultimately he has got to go.

In Fred’s absence Nick is sorely missing the father figure he constantly craves and without June he’s feeling somewhat lost. Conveniently Lawrence has become a tad lonely ever since June departed his gloomy abode, and consequently he takes Nick under his wing like some kind of cuddly Darth Vader. Despite the illusion of a buddy comedy gone Gilead, the reality was that this relationship signified Nick’s deepening commitment to Gilead and the widening chasm between himself and June. Lawrence, the Architect of Gilead encourages Blaine to set up a new life complete with a house in the burbs, a compliant Gilead wifey who lives to knit and make coffee, and a leg up in government. It’s the peaceful home Blaine always wanted, always searched for and yet, there’s something not quite right. It’s nothing but a cheap illusion, a mere shadow at best, and despite his best efforts to assimilate, he aches for his true family.

I’m constantly watching Blaine cling to a compromise, ANY answer no matter how painful, that doesn’t involve inconveniencing June’s life. Here we see him try and inevitably fail once again.

Would your heart glow?

Here they’ve come straight from a meeting where Lawrence did his darndest to secure a cease fire and get some aid to the border, naturally he was shocked to find that Nick didn’t help him out with that one. Lawrence is a touch miffed, and as a consequence it earns Nick a nice dry as fuck pay out to let him know that he’s been a wee bit cold blooded, and maybe, just maybe he’s not as smart as he thinks he is. Lawrence’s cute, cutting quip also made light of Nicks deep affection for June, casting it instead as nothing more than a school boy crush. As usual Laurence is being a bit mouthy here and he definitely knows that’s not the case, but his point is valid: The Eyes don’t see everything.

If Nick thinks that he’s got a beat on June’s whereabouts by simply relying on them as a source, Lawrence is here to tell him he’s sadly mistaken; his devotion to her is not some sort of psychic GPS. “Very funny” Nick replies with some well-earned derision, but as we all know he’s constantly making mental notes and he promptly follows up by checking with his Mayday contacts. She’s in Chicago and he didn’t have a fucking clue, worse still is that in no time at all Lawrence has made a deal that involves Nick having to bomb it, with no guarantees she or ANY of the refugees seeking aid will actually survive. Nick does his best to side step this one but it’s to no avail, and he’s left looking like he’s about to return his breakfast to the desk in front of him. It’s Commander Putnam in particular who sticks the boot in here, forcing him to get a wriggle on and bomb his girlfriend and a bunch of innocent civilians. Blaine’s chillingly precise look and almost audible mental note, made me wonder if it was primarily this that earnt Putnam that bullet in later episodes.

At least part of Nicks journey involves being a military commander and this was done precisely to demonstrate the progression from simple recruit to an aggressive higher power that can be manipulated for the purposes of war and accumulation of power. Throughout the seasons we see Nick fulfill his commitments to Gilead with increasing reluctance, as he begins his journey from Gilead stooge to rebel fighter. It’s an awesome and complex journey that highlights personal growth and the desire to change in the face of great adversity. The bombing of Chicago is one of those moments that’s meant to illustrate Nick’s personal loss amongst the civilian casualties of war. “It’s the cost of doing business” Lawrence says to a sickened and cornered Blaine; the sacrifice of others for the greater good, or at least Lawrence’s version of it….even if it’s June.

I've been grooming Nick.

Technically a Lawrence and June moment but I’d like to take a moment and embellish on exactly what Lawrence had been up to. “I’ve been grooming Nick. Not sexually of course.” Lawrence says to a gob smacked June.

No shit. He’s convinced him to marry a nice girl in the burbs, back up his plot for New Bethlehem and be his personal assassin to get it done. Lawrence is a master manipulator, he wants what he wants, and Nick is simply no match for his human puppetry. As a reward for his continuing compliance, Lawrence assures Nick that he and June will be together again. Lawrence intends to get New Bethlehem completed, he likes to cover his bets and he knows that his best chips in this game are Nick and June. If he can get the young commander to back him he’s sure to have June getting cozy in New Bethlehem in no time. I’m sad to say that in S5 we nearly lost Blaine to the forces of Gilead, he simply lost hope when he “tried to let go” of June. In the dark he clings to the smallest ray of light, Lawrence’s dream for a better version of Gilead, some semblance of freedom.

I was never more conflicted about Lawrence than I was in S5, the moments of sheer manipulation of these two for his ultimate goal made me absolutely livid, but I also applauded his attempts to at least try to improve the cesspool that was Gilead. He was determined to “wrestle a better future from an unchangeable past”, but New Bethlehem wasn’t ENTIRELY just Lawrence attempt to make amends, it was also his best effort to “Kill off America once and for all” as Tuello astutely observed.

Audiences wondered why Nick would ask June to go along with Lawrence’s plan and actually go to New Bethlehem, the truth is he was fucking clueless. By this point he was so far under Lawrence’s sway, he couldn’t see the wood for the trees. He’d managed to convince him that it was some sort of Gilead version 2.0 that the UN would immediately embrace with open arms, in which Blaine could live happily ever after with the love of his life. June was devastated, but let’s face it how could she have known that Lawrence had turned Nick from “a puppy” into his lapdog over the last year. Lawrence had already admitted to June that he’d used religious nut jobs as a delivery system to save humanity, so it should have come as no surprise that he would use the two lovers to bring New Bethlehem to fruition. Many years ago Nick Blaine dug himself a hole and sadly he just kept digging. You want to “stay out of trouble” in Gilead, you’d best pick up a shovel. The way he saw it; June had a family who loved her, a family to return to, so he let her go and got settled in the pit. Nick and June’s meeting in 5 09 was one of those moments that made it painfully clear, not only how much Blaine loves her, but how desperately he needs her.

You could have killed her.

“It wasn’t my decision” Lawrence yelps at Nick as he takes a vicious right hook from the young commander. Personally I’m not sure if I believe him or not, suffice to say he knew about it, he did nothing to stop it, he purposefully hid it from Blaine, and MOST importantly, he should have known better. June has left a trail of dead commanders in her wake and it was only 10 episodes prior that she and Blaine dragged Fred into a forest to die. Usually I’d be giving Lawrence snaps for his intelligence but it was just one episode prior that June had officially “broken up” with Lawrence, with the understanding that they were “Never ever ever, getting back together”. This was a massive blunder. We’re 5 seasons in, because the plot demands it June’s basically unkillable and the word on the street is always, ALWAYS keep your fucking hands off June Osborn. It tends to make Blaine a tad bit grumpy.

Nick Blaine is, for all intents and purposes, a trained assassin obsessively in love with the mother of his child. Lawrence knew this, he’d just spent the better part of the last 2 seasons pushing Nick’s patented Osborne key whenever he wanted him to comply. Why the actual fuck did he think he’d get away with it? At the start of 5 10 we saw a massive red flag, a verbal tussle between the two about Osborne, it was clear; she was the rock that would break them apart. Up until that point he’d been compliant but now Blaine was starting to get that look in his eyes; deadly, detached, focused.

Stupidly Lawrence had recruited a bagman and assumed it would make him immune from getting very, very dead. Lawrence spent the entirety of S4 and 5 trying to set up a cushy life for Blaine, it even looked like he might be able to lure his precious June back for him, but it was all for naught. As Lawrence so eloquently put it “Gilead’s gonna Gilead” and despite his best efforts, ultimately it did. In Ep10 S5, Blaine strides unresponsive past his pregnant wife, striking his mentor on his wedding day in a room full of commanders, protesting June Osborn’s assassination attempt. This singular act is a violent and decisive rejection of Gilead’s guiding hand, its binding social contract, its hierarchy and its influence. It is one massively definitive statement, all condensed into the space of 10 seconds. This scene transported me all the way back to S1 when June cried incredulously to Nick that she couldn’t believe she told the Ambassador she was happy. “You’re being too hard on yourself, you were in a room full of commanders” he replies. June’s first act of rebellion is to share her true name with the other Handmaid’s and it is at that point that she share’s it with Blaine. It is here he takes his first small step as a rebel when he chooses to keep her secret and never use her slave name again.

This blow and his march across the border marks the final step in his journey to true rebellion. Where previously his loyalties had been somewhat divided, he now belongs completely and utterly to June and Mayday. Throughout the seasons Blaine has constantly displayed a need for guidance from a father figure and it’s been interesting to note how the personality of this father figure changes over time as his loyalties shift and he regains his freedom. Waterford is cold and brutal, conditioning Blaine to be servile and militant. Lawrence is a cunning, political animal, who tutors Blaine in the Machiavellian like maneuverings of the Gilead upper echelons. Ultimately though it is Tuello, the gentle diplomat who will teach Nick his individual worth and offer him sanctuary. Season 6, I can guarantee, the Nick / Lawrence bromance will officially be well and truly over.

Next time we'll be looking at our love triangle and character themes. See you then.

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glasskey · 6 months

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The Boston Globe Episodes

Today I’m going to talk about The Boston Globe episode and how it paved the way for Nick, June and Holly’s journey. The Boston Globe episode is a powerful statement about the break down of truth in the face of dictatorships, and the threat of it in current political climates. In regards to the future of these characters, the episodes featuring the Boston Globe are extremely pivotal.

It’s telling that Nick and June spend the first 3 months of their babies life together at the now haunted and abandoned Boston Globe. Its the place where knowledge and truth once flowed and it’s where we truly begin to see how Holly is used as a vehicle to tell a larger tale. Here the printing presses are all painted in handmaids red, nooses hand from the rafters and bullet holes punctuate the walls like the final word in the resistance. It’s no coincidence that Holly undergoes her most formative months in this broken down home of free knowledge and information, as she will be fundamental to the restoration of democracy to her country.

It’s also the place where Nick and June begin to truly fall in love with one another. Nick and June have sex, at last unrestrained by the boundaries of the Waterford household, and there’s a lustful abandonment to it bred by years of captivity. We’re finally given a glimpse into their somewhat free life away from Gilead. Blaine’s always been somewhat of an enigma, stoic, dutiful and domesticated. But here in the semi free world we see the layers are almost instantly stripped away, he becomes immediately emotional and vulnerable….years of service have suffocated him.

These are their child’s most developmental months and it is the most formative moments of their relationship, where their feelings grow into a lasting bond. By the time she returns to the Waterfords, their child is well on its way to being fully formed, just as is her relationship with Nick. By the time their child is born, their bond will be forged and they will love each other entirely. It’s no coincidence that when Nick is married off to Eden, June almost miscarries.

June wanders around the secret location dressed in Blaine’s clothes, she’s in her first trimester, she’s wearing the t shirt she took off him the first night they were together and very possibly the night they conceived Holly. His clothes act like some kind of personal shield, it’s the best he can do in his absence. Later as she makes the Globe her home, she jogs between the small cities of presses to a shrine she has erected, an assortment of mementos and photographs from the surrounding desks. Just like the Handmaids letters, she intends to keep their stories alive, their voices heard.

Upstairs she gathers old editions and pieces together the story of the The Sons of Jacob and their rise to power. As Holly grows in her womb, rebellion grows in her heart and June returns to the Waterfords with a crystalized intent to destroy Gilead. Nick looks at the wall of clippings reconstructing his past and begins to truly understand, this is the moment when Blaine’s loyalties truly turned. He tries to convince her to go, he’s understandably worried about her future and the future of his unborn child….he should be, it’s a girl.

The two share a morning cup of coffee and there’s the facade of a normalcy as we get a glimpse of Nick and June as a couple in the real world. “If I wake you then you leave, how is that a win for me?” She asks him. Atwood’s text describes June as no longer wanting to leave Nick, June’s caught in a dream from which she no longer wishes to wake. The rare moment of domesticity in this moment is so brief, but overflowing with contentment. Just a flash and then it’s gone, like all the other precious moments of peace these two get.

#june osborne #hulu streaming #june x nick #max minghella #nick x june #nick blaine #osblaine #elisabeth moss #bruce miller #the handmaid's tale #handmaid's tale #handmaid's on hulu #hulu tv #s2 #margaret atwood #tv series

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