The Handmaid's Tale

Previously on The Handmaid's Tale...

For those who are truly righteous,

He sometimes sends a refuge.

The Wheelers arranged all of this?

Yeah, as soon as they knew you might be staying.

Isn't it incredible? It's a full birthing suite.

I'm going for a walk.

Absolutely not.

You need to rest. Your baby needs to rest.

Go to your room.

Come on, come on. We can make it.

- It's right there. - Get him!

He's not fighting you!

Stop it! He's not fucking fighting you!

I never gave up hope,

and you never gave up hope,

because we knew that we would find each other again.

June Osborne was apprehended

by one of my teams in No Man's Land.

They don't want him. Dump 'im.

- No, no, no. No, we stay toge-- - What?

No, no! Where are you taking him? No!

What's gonna happen to her?

I'm going to send Ezra to No Man's Land

and have him deal with her there.

I want to go with Ezra. Bear witness.

Serena, what the fuck are you doing?

Just drive!

- Where the fuck are we going? - Just keep driving.

Where? To Toronto? To Gilead?

Is that what you're doing?

So they can fucking kill me there, Serena?

What about Luke, Serena?

What are those guys gonna do to him?

Fuck!

Jesus Christ!

Oh, God! Oh, shit!

- I'm sorry, I'm sorry. - You're fuckin' sorry?

Fuck this!

June.

June, I'm not going to shoot you.

June, please. June!

Jesus.

Are you in fucking labor?

Of course you are.

Jesus Christ!

Would you give this to me? Waving it around.

When did it start?

- I don't know. A while ago. - Okay.

- Has your water broken? - Mmm-hmm.

Um, how far apart are the contractions?

Okay, close. Do you have a phone?

- No. - Okay, get out.

- Come on. - What?

Get out of the fucking car, please.

Oh, God. Why? What are you gonna do?

I'm gonna try to get us out of here. Okay?

Get you to a doctor.

No.

Yes, Serena. You're gonna have to go to a hospital.

No hospital. They're gonna find me there.

Who the fuck is gonna find you?

Fuck!

Oh, my God. Okay.

All right.

Who the fuck was that guy? Who was that guy you shot?

Who was he?

Were you trying to get away or something?

Okay, all right.

Ugh, fuck.

Okay. Okay.

Come with me.

- We gotta get you inside. - Where?

We're gonna take you to that barn.

- A barn? - Yes, a barn.

- You have a better idea, Serena? - No. No, no, no.

- Yeah, I didn't think so. - Okay, wait, wait.

Just breathe. Okay.

- There you go. There you go. - Okay, okay.

All right. Maybe it'll have a manger, huh?

Oh. Lovely.

Okay.

Thank you.

I'm so sorry to be late.

Fred needed some encouragement

before his address to the Council.

You know how men can be.

We understand completely.

May I present to you our new Handmaid, Offred.

Blessed be the fruit.

May the Lord open.

This way.

Push, push, push.

Breathe, breathe, breathe.

Push, push, push.

Breathe, breathe, breathe.

Blessed day, Mrs. Waterford.

- Blessed day, Aunt Lydia. - Indeed. The most blessed.

Breathe, breathe, breathe.

Breathe. And push, push.

Glory be His name.

We have now reached the most sacred part

of the birthing process,

the one in which God truly makes His glorious presence known.

This vessel of God is ready

to bring the fruits of His love into the world.

Push.

Breathe, breathe, breathe.

But the Gates of Heaven

do not open without extraordinary effort.

Do they, girls?

We must beckon this new soul forward.

Support your sister in her labors.

Pray for her strength and success.

Breathe, breathe, breathe.

And push, push, push.

There! Breathe, breathe, breathe.

- And push! Push! - Push.

Breathe, breathe.

Breathe, Serena.

Come on, breathe.

Breathe.

There you go.

Was that it?

No.

It's so cold.

Yeah, it's just gonna get colder.

It can be like this with the first one.

I was in labor with Hannah for 19 hours,

and she almost broke my pelvis.

Nichole was faster.

Of course that time I was alone.

I remember thinking that if anything went wrong,

we would die,

and no one would even know.

No one would come looking for us.

It would be like we never existed.

Okay.

It's a big one. It's a big one. I need you to breathe.

- I can't. - Good. Yes, you can.

You can do this. You have to do this, okay?

- I can't. - Yes, you can.

Yes, you can. Breathe, Serena.

There you go.

Okay, I need to check something. All right?

- Check what? - I need to check the cervix.

I need to check to see if I can feel the baby's head.

Okay?

Oh, God!

Get away from me.

I am trying to help you, Serena.

You're trying to kill me and my baby!

- You're going to kill my baby. - Okay, fine.

You wanna do this on your own? Do it the fuck alone!

We're here with you.

Gather close around your sister, girls.

Be there for Ofclarence in her time of need.

We will recite the Prayer of Purification.

Grant that I may

never cease grieving because of it.

- She's ready. - Never be content...

Of course, do what you must.

- It is God's will. - Never think that

I can reach a point of perfection.

Girls.

Girls.

Kill my envy, command my tongue,

trample down self.

Deliver me from attachments to things unclean.

From wrong associations, from the sugar of sin.

Offred. Pray.

Pray for the life of the child.

Okay. Okay.

'Kay.

Come on.

Fuck.

Fuck.

You came back.

Okay.

You're gonna count down from ten now, okay?

Here we go.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six--

Here we go. Five.

I can see his crown.

- Oh, you can? - Yes.

You wanna feel?

Oh.

It's your baby's head.

- You feel that? - Uh-huh.

I can see his hair.

- What color is it? - It's a little, uh, brownish.

It's-- There's some blood, but he's coming.

He's got brown hair.

- Oh, brown? - Yeah.

You're almost there, okay?

Here, we're gonna get the head out.

You can do this. Here we go.

Breathe deep.

Breathe low.

Nice and low. Low.