The long-awaited sixth and final season of The Handmaid's Tale has finally arrived, and we're already addicted. We especially need to find out whether June ends up with Nick or returns to the ever-faithful Luke by the end of the season (we admit it, we're Team Nick.)
We know the show isn't very good at delivering happy endings, but should the long-suffering Janine die during the final outing, we'll be rioting. We're also putting New Bethlehem on our mood board of travel destinations - the real location, not the actual Gilead settlement - because it just looks so dreamy.
But let's put all of that to one side for a moment, because June just did what in the opening episode? Ending up on a refugee train with Serena Joy could've been the perfect opportunity for June to get some revenge, yet she chooses to defend Serena in a move nobody saw coming - why did she do it?
The following content contains major spoilers for The Handmaid's Tale season 6 episode 1.
Why did June push Serena off the train?
June pushes Serena from the train as a visual way to sum up the pair's relationship. It was a deliberate, creative move by the writers to convey everything their interconnection has been about. But first, some context.
June and Serena's dynamic on the train is very jarring - June begins by being helpful to Serena, almost reverting to a Handmaid-style position. She holds Noah while Serena goes to the bathroom, and when thanked by her former mistress, answers, "It was my pleasure."
All she needed was to throw in a "Blessed day" afterwards, and we'd definitely be suggesting she'd been fully taken over by Stockholm Syndrome. Then, there's a shift.
The niceties are done with, and there's a distinct role reversal. June is tired, in a lot of physical pain, and doesn't have everything she needs for herself and Nicole. Yet, she angrily brushes off every way Serena tries to help - and it seems Serena is actually falling over herself in a bid to help June out.
It's Serena who ends up chastened and apologising on the receiving end of June's brutal rebuffals. Still, despite her desperation to help June, the narcissist that is Serena still drops "praise be"s here and "may God heal you"s there, despite being surrounded by Gilead survivors.
Despite June's terse whispers for her to shut the heck up - she doesn't want an architect of Gilead outed on a train full of broken men and women fleeing the regime. But Serena can't stay quiet, and then she's recognised by the train's doctor, who formerly worked as a doctor in Gilead.
Slavering like a mob of rabid dogs once her identity is made very public, the women on the train don't hold back in moving straight in to throw punches and kicks - and it looks like it'll be to the death. This is when June inextricably steps in to forcibly halt the train and make sure Serena and Noah get off, pushing a reluctant Serena to make sure it happens.
Series showrunner Yahlin Chang knew viewers were going to be divided by June's decision, and he also knew it would be challenging to convey just why she did it - and it's all about their intertwined relationship.
"We wanted to do justice to the evolution of their relationship," Chang explained to TV Insider adding, "These two women probably had the most complicated relationship of any two women in the history of our show - maybe in the history of the world - in terms of everything they’ve gone through."
She added, "There’s a bit of craziness in June in terms of the patience and the generosity that she continues to show Serena. It is an example of her extreme empathy. The thing about these two women is that they’re so intertwined. They’ve been through so much together, and they’re so tied to each other that June kind of just can’t let her go."
The showrunner added even more depth to her explanation of June's actions, continuing, "When push comes to shove, June has to save her. But even in that gesture, she saves her by pushing her off the train, a moving train. Already, it’s a dual-edged gesture.
"So I remember pitching back to Bruce [Miller, the series creator] that June pushes Serena off the train, and it seemed like a wonderful encapsulation of their relationship because June hates Serena, loves Serena, saves her life by pushing her off the same train."
