After a three-year hiatus and with the promise of concluding the journey beginning in 2017 under the direction of Tim Miller, season 6 of the adaptation of Margaret Atwood's novels returns to OCS via Canal+ or Prime Video. The Handmaid's Tale is in the final stretch and ten episodes constitute its grand finale. So close to the end, one might have thought that it would have been careful not to add new characters to its already well-stocked gallery. However, from these first three chapters, a protagonist mentioned in the previous salvos of episodes makes a first appearance. He could be of capital importance. We take stock.
In the upper spheres
Since season 4, Nick Blaine has been a Commander and... a husband. As per the rules of Gilead, each eye who wishes to gain rank must marry. It was during the touching reunion between the characters played by Max Minghella and Elisabeth Moss in season 4 that viewers learned this. They will have to wait until season 5 to learn more about the lucky one. Nick intends to start a family with a young woman named Rose.
The first time she intervenes, she is pregnant. Little was known about her at the time, except that she has a condition that requires her to use a cane. This is an unusual situation in Gilead, where the “purity” of the population is a priority. With her fragile health, Rose should not have been entrusted with the responsibility of giving a child to a Commander. But Rose isn't just anyone; we later learn that her father is an important High Commander.
In season 5, Nick will be told that Nick is actively monitoring him. This season 6 finally shows him, in the guise of Josh Charles. The actor, best known for his role in The Good Wife, plays the enigmatic High Commander Wharton. While it is not yet clear what role he will play in the fall or survival of Gilead, his presence serves to underscore Nick's growing importance within the regime and to emphasize the establishment of a quasi-monarchical power. With no son to whom he can pass his responsibilities upon his death, Commander Wharton has the ambition to make Nick his spiritual heir. Within the totalitarian regime, decisions and wealth are in the hands of a few. Nick is now part of it.
Under his watch?
The arrival of Commander Wharton is also a new risk for the man who plays on many fronts. Nick's love for June has pushed him to question his place within Gilead. He also doesn't hesitate to break the rules to help the mother of his child, to put himself in danger to protect her. Wharton could thus precipitate his fall in the hierarchy or force him to truly make a choice. If there are only seven episodes left to the series to conclude Nick Blaine's journey, we can already bet that Wharton will have a role to play in one way or the other. Will the lack of a father figure in Nick's past tip the scales?
As a reminder, Wharton does not exist in Margaret Atwood's book. While The Handmaid's Tale barely mentioned the Commanders, the series had to invent about them to build its story and escape the introspective nature of Offred's adventures. In the pages, Waterford is the only one mentioned and the only one that matters to the heroine. But June having become a rebel, rather than a narrator with acerbic internal remarks, The Handmaid’s Tale could only tell the story of Gilead through the character of Fred.
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