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The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Episode 5 Recap “Fairytale”

Don’t miss Celebrity Myxer’s recap of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Episode 5 “Fairytale.” June and Luke embark on a dangerous quest. Serena gets to know her new hosts. Here’s what you missed!

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Watch The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Episode 5 “Fairytale”

Previously on The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Episode 4, June fights her need for violent revenge as Serena settles into her new role in Toronto. Rattled by Janine, Aunt Lydia makes a surprising suggestion to Lawrence.

Warning… Spoilers below!

On The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Episode 5, Luke and June make a daring trek into No Man’s Land to get information on Hannah. Meanwhile, Serena begins to lose a hold on the power she thought she had.

A Wake-Up Call

June wakes up to a call from Lily, who tells her that a Guardian is coming across the border with information about wife schools in Gilead. While Moira, Luke, and June are driving up there, they see Canadian protestors who want the Americans to go back to their country.

Ezra gives Serena flowers that were left for her by supporters. Serena asks him where Mr. Wheeler is, because she still has yet to meet him and thank him, but Ezra says he’s usually busy. Serena has breakfast with Mrs. Wheeler, and Serena tells her they’re going to try and get the Center back up and running, despite it possibly being shut down.

Get Up and Fight

Luke, Moira, and June arrive at Lily’s camp, but she tells them that the guy they’re waiting on can’t get across; the Canadian border patrol has increased. Lily apologizes that they made the trip for nothing, but when Luke sees June staring into the woods toward the border, he tells them all that he’s going across. He can’t just go home and sit around when information on Hannah is so close. Lily tells him that she can let someone know he’s coming, that they have a meeting spot in No Man’s Land. June tells Luke she’s going with him, and Luke doesn’t object. Lily gives Luke a bag with supplies to bring with him, and Lily gives them a map of trails to take to avoid the patrols to get to the meeting spot. Moira says goodbye, and Luke and June head off into No Man’s Land.

While walking through the woods, June is hit with flashbacks of when they first got caught trying to escape, when Hannah was taken away from her. But she’s determined to keep moving. When they run into a man hanging from a tree with the word “rapist” across his chest, June tells Luke that wasn’t Gilead, but they have to keep going.

Back at the camp, Moira worries about her friends. She talks with Lily about how Luke and June keep fighting for each other despite everything that’s happened. Moira talks with Lily about where the Mayday outpost is going next, but she’s drinking and they just start joking around.

Looking Back

Mrs. Wheeler introduces Serena to a group of other women, who are all in awe of her miracle pregnancy. The baby starts kicking, and all the women put their hands on her stomach and praise her.

Serena has a flashback to when her and Naomi watched a group of children who had been taken from their mothers. They talked about how they need to be put in good homes. Serena asked Naomi if she’s considered having a Handmaid, but they both say they haven’t. Serena told Naomi that she and Fred were going to keep trying, that she knew that they’d be blessed with a baby some day.

Suspicious Meetings

June and Luke find the meeting spot, and after a Guardian with a gun comes out, they give him the safe word. June is about to give him the supplies, but the Guardian tells them to follow him, they can’t do it there. Luke objects, nobody said anything about going anywhere else. But the Guardian tells them it’s not safe during the day to talk, and he has to go. With no other option, Luke and June follow him.

A New Approach

When Serena is about to get on a call with Gilead, she invites Mrs. Wheeler to join in on the call, too. Mrs. Wheeler says wives shouldn’t be a part of business, so she excuses herself. When Serena calls Lawrence, Commander Putnam is also on the call. Putnam calls out Serena for not doing her job of showing Gilead’s “true purpose,” especially after the incident at the Center. Serena suggests that someone should deal with June, because she’s the main cause of it all.

Serena tells the Commanders that maybe focusing on Gilead at the Gilead Information Center isn’t the right call. When Lawrence is confused, Serena clarifies that maybe instead they should focus on fertility and conception, since that’s what it’s really about, and that’s what people want to hear about. She claims that a center focused on Gilead will always be a magnet for attacks, but a fertility clinic that’s opened to everyone would be a welcoming place. Lawrence thinks it’s an interesting idea, but Putnam just interrupts Serena, saying they’ll consider it, and hangs up on her as she’s in the middle of a sentence.

Putnam mentions a new plan of Lawrence’s called New Bethlehem. Putnam thinks that it’ll be the death of them all, and Gilead. Apparently, Lawrence wants to apparently welcome people back into Gilead. Putnam says the Commanders wouldn’t go for that, they can’t have the whole world poking around in their business. But Lawrence objects, saying if their walls stay up and borders stay closed, Gilead will die, and all of this would have been for nothing. Putnam laughs it off, saying his speech won’t work, but that he’s welcome to try it.

A Bright Light in a Dark Time

June and Luke follow the Guardian to an abandoned bowling alley, where he says he spends his shifts when it’s too cold outside. They trade backpacks full of supplies, and then the Guardian mentions the Plums, the Wives in training. He says the schools are guarded, but the girls don’t stay there long, it’s a quick process so they can get matched up and married as soon as possible. The Guardian says he doesn’t know where the schools are, it’s a new system, but he gives them a flash drive and says it’s everything that they do know. June and Luke prepare to head out, but the Guardian stops them, saying they shouldn’t cross during the day. He says he’ll help them get across the border once the sun sets. June and Luke talk it over, and they agree to wait until it’s safer.

Luke and the Guardian bowl and have a good time. However, the mood darkens when the Guardian starts to talk about before, how he thinks he used to like bowling, but can’t remember much before Gilead. He says it’s not so bad, but when June reminds him that he’s working to take it down, he says that people should be able to see their families and do whatever they want.  June and Luke agree, and June tells Luke she’s shocked because she’s never seen anyone in Gilead as pure as this Guardian. He reveals his name is Jaden.

Jaden grabs them all beers, and Luke starts playing on the keyboard. Luke serenades June, and then brings her into a dance. Jaden shines a light on the disco ball as they dance.

Getting A Taste of Her Own Medicine

Serena meets Ezra at the gate to the house, where the guards are turning away a supporter bringing Serena flowers. Serena just wants to talk to the woman, claiming she’s harmless, but Ezra tells Serena that Mr. Wheeler gave him specific instructions to not open the gate.

Serena has another flashback of meeting with Aunt Lydia to talk about getting a Handmaid posted at their house. Aunt Lydia brought different profiles of hand-picked Handmaids for Serena to look through to make her decision. Serena only looked at two before picking one.

Mr. Wheeler finally meets Serena, and wants to follow up about Serena’s proposal to the Commanders. He tells her that they’re going to move forward with the fertility center. When Serena says she’s eager to help and get to work, Mr. Wheeler tells her they have plenty of people already on it. Serena says it was her idea, but Mr. Wheeler says that since Serena is pregnant, it’ll come with bed rest, and they can’t be too careful and have her running around. He says her baby’s needs come before any ambition or initiative of hers. Mr. Wheeler also hands her water and some vitamins and watches as she takes them. Before he leaves, Serena asks if she can at least have a cell phone so she can conduct business from there, but Mr. Wheeler says that there’s too many security concerns.

Running for Their Lives… Again

Jaden leads June and Luke through the woods, but stops suddenly when he realizes he stepped on a mine. Jaden assures them it’s okay, but seconds later the mine goes off, knocking them all down. Jaden is still alive, and when Luke and June get over to him, they see his leg has been blown off. Jaden tells them they need to run, but June stops the bleeding in his leg. They see flashlights and hear yelling from other Guardians, so June and Luke have to leave Jaden, taking off toward the border.

Luke and June are so close to crossing back into Canada when a car pulls right up to them and people start chasing them. June has flashbacks of all the times she’s ran for her life before. However, they’re not fast enough, and the people get a hold of both Luke and June and drag them away from each other.

What did you think of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Episode 5? Let’s talk about The Handmaid’s Tale in the comments below! Missed any of the episodes? Catch up with our recaps!

Air Date: October 5, 2022.

The Handmaid’s Tale Cast

  • Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne / Offred
  • Max Minghella as Nick Blaine
  • Joseph Fiennes as Commander Fred Waterford
  • O-T Fagbenle as Luke Bankole
  • Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia
  • Alexis Bledel as Emily / Ofglen / Ofsteven
  • Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy Waterford
  • Samira Wiley as Moira
  • Madeline Brewer as Janine / Ofwarren / Ofdaniel

Catch a new episode each week on Hulu, check out listings dates below. Stay right here, stay mixed in because The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Episode 6, stay tuned! Drop your email to get insights into your inbox…

The Handmade's Tale Season 5 Episode Guide

Season Episode Title Air Date
5 10 “Safe” The Handmade's Tale Season 5 Finale November 9, 2022
5 9 “Allegiance” November 2, 2022
5 8 “Motherland” October 26, 2022
5 7 “No Man’s Land” October 19, 2022
5 6 “Together” October 12, 2022
5 5 Fairytale October 5, 2022
5 4 Dear Offred September 28, 2022
5 3 Maypole September 21, 2022
5 2 Ballet September 14, 2022
5 1 Morning” The Handmade's Tale Season 5 Premiere September 14, 2022

Photo credit: Hulu

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Jordan is a Content Writer at Celebrity Myxer! She's passionate about writing, movies, and TV, and loves combining them all in her work! Jordan is also an author and has both a novel and a poem published.

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