05x07 - No Man's Land

[bunniefuu]

[JUNE] Previously on
The Handmaid's Tale...

[EZRA] For those
who are truly righteous,

He sometimes sends a refuge.

[SERENA] The Wheelers
arranged all of this?

[DR. LANDERS] Yeah, as soon as
they knew you might be staying.

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

[SERENA] I'm going for a walk.

[MRS. WHEELER] Absolutely not.

You need to rest.
Your baby needs to rest.

Go to your room.

[SOBBING]

Come on, come on. We can make it.

- It's right there.
- [AGENT] Get him!

[JUNE GROANING]

[JUNE] He's not fighting you!

Stop it! He's not f*cking fighting you!

I never gave up hope,

and you never gave up hope,

because we knew that
we would find each other again.

[MR. WHEELER] June Osborne
was apprehended

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

[AGENT] They don't want him. Dump 'im.

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

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

[SERENA] What's gonna happen to her?

[MR. WHEELER] I'm going to
send Ezra to No Man's Land

and have him deal with her there.

[SERENA] I want to go
with Ezra. Bear witness.

[BREATHING RAGGEDLY]

Serena, what the f*ck are you doing?

Just drive!

- Where the f*ck are we going?
- Just keep driving.

Where? To Toronto? To Gilead?

Is that what you're doing?

So they can f*cking
k*ll me there, Serena?

What about Luke, Serena?

What are those guys gonna do to him?

[GROANING]

- [g*n FIRES]
- [JUNE] f*ck!

Jesus Christ!

Oh, God! Oh, sh*t!

- I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
- You're f*ckin' sorry?

f*ck this!

[TIRES SCREECHING]

[SERENA] June.

June, I'm not going to sh**t you.

June, please. June!

[CAR APPROACHES]

[SERENA GROANING]

[CAR TIRES SPINNING]

[SERENA CONTINUES GROANING]

[JUNE] Jesus.

Are you in f*cking labor?

Of course you are.

- [BREATHING HEAVILY]
- 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?

[SERENA GROANING]

Okay, close. Do you have a phone?

- No.
- Okay, get out.

- Come on.
- What?

Get out of the f*cking 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 f*ck is gonna find you?

[ENGINE REVVING]

f*ck!

Oh, my God. Okay.

All right.

Who the f*ck was that guy?
Who was that guy you sh*t?

- [GROANING]
- Who was he?

Were you trying to get
away or something?

Okay, all right.

Ugh, f*ck.

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.

- [BREATHES DEEPLY]
- Just breathe. Okay.

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

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

Oh. Lovely.

Okay.

[SERENA CONTINUES GROANING]

[SERENA] 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.

[WIFE] Blessed be the fruit.

May the Lord open.

[WIFE] This way.

[HANDMAIDS] Push, push, push.

[HANDMAID GROANING]

[HANDMAIDS] Breathe, breathe, breathe.

Push, push, push.

Breathe, breathe, breathe.

Blessed day, Mrs. Waterford.

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

[HANDMAIDS] Breathe, breathe, breathe.

[HANDMAID GROANING]

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.

- [HANDMAIDS] Push.
- [HANDMAID GROANING]

[HANDMAIDS] Breathe, breathe, breathe.

[AUNT LYDIA] 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.

[GROANING]

[HANDMAIDS] Breathe, breathe, breathe.

And push, push, push.

There! Breathe, breathe, breathe.

- And push! Push!
- [HANDMAIDS] Push.

Breathe, breathe.

Breathe, Serena.

- Come on, breathe.
- [SERENA GROANING]

- Breathe.
- [GROANS]

There you go.

[SERENA GASPS]

Was that it?

[SCOFFS] No.

[SERENA BREATHING UNSTEADILY]

[SERENA] It's so cold.

[JUNE] Yeah, it's just gonna get colder.

It can be like this with the first one.

I was in labor with Hannah for hours,

and she almost broke my pelvis.

[SERENA SHIVERING]

Nichole was faster.

Of course that time I was alone.

[SHIVERING]

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.

[GASPING]

[CRYING]

[CONTINUES CRYING]

Okay.

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

- [SERENA] 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.

- [SOBBING]
- 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?

[SERENA GROANING]

Oh, God!

Get away from me.

I am trying to help you, Serena.

You're trying to k*ll me and my baby!

- You're going to k*ll my baby.
- Okay, fine.

You wanna do this on your own?
Do it the f*ck alone!

[GROANING]

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

[ENGINE STARTS]

[GRUNTS]

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

[HANDMAID] We're here with you.

[FOOTSTEPS RECEDING]

Gather close around your sister, girls.

Be there for Ofclarence
in her time of need.

We will recite
the Prayer of Purification.

[HANDMAIDS] Grant that I may

never cease grieving because of it.

- [DOCTOR] She's ready.
- [HANDMAIDS] Never be content...

Of course, do what you must.

- It is God's will.
- [HANDMAIDS] Never think that

I can reach a point of perfection.

Girls.

Girls.

[HANDMAIDS] k*ll 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.

[HANDMAIDS PRAYING INDISTINCTLY]

[BABY CRYING]

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

Okay. Okay.

'Kay.

[GRUNTING]

[ENGINE REVVING]

Come on.

f*ck.

f*ck.

[DOOR OPENING]

You came back.

- [SERENA GROANING]
- [JUNE] Okay.

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

- [SERENA GROANING]
- Here we go.

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six...

- [SERENA GROANING]
- Here we go. Five.

I can see his crown.

- [SERENA] Oh, you can?
- Yes.

- [SERENA LAUGHS]
- You wanna feel?

[SERENA] Oh.

- It's your baby's head.
- [LAUGHS]

- You feel that?
- Uh-huh. [LAUGHS]

[JUNE] I can see his hair.

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

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

- [SERENA GROANING]
- [JUNE] He's got brown hair.

- [SERENA] Oh, brown?
- Yeah.

[JUNE] You're almost there, okay?

[SERENA GROANING]

Here, we're gonna get the head out.

You can do this. Here we go.

[SERENA GROANING]

Breathe deep.

- Breathe low.
- [GROANING]

Nice and low. Low.

- Nice and low.
- [GROANING]

[SOBBING]

Oh, my God, it burns,
it burns, it burns.

I know. I know.

I feel so hot. I'm so hot.

It's okay. You're just tired.

- [GROANING]
- That's it.

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

Yes, you can. You can do this.
You're almost there, okay?

We just gotta get his head out.

He's right there.
Your baby's right there.

[SOBBING]

- [SCREAMING]
- There he is.

His head's out. You got his head out.

His head's out. Okay?

This is it, okay?
You just gotta do one more.

You gotta get his shoulders out,
all right?

Then it's all downhill from there, okay?

Okay, you can do this.

Here we go. You can do this. This is it.

[GROANING]

- [LAUGHING]
- [BABY CRYING]

He's here. He's here.

[SERENA LAUGHING]

[SERENA] Is he okay?

Is he okay?

He's perfect.

He's perfect.

Oh, hello, baby. I'm your mama.

Ah.

[LAUGHS]

Praise be.

[BABY CONTINUES CRYING]

Oh, my angel. [SHUSHING]

Praise be.

[SERENA] Oh, I know. You're so...

[AUNT LYDIA] Ofclarence has fulfilled

her duty in this world.

I know you will mourn her, girls,

but know that she is cherished.

God is the true judge,
and she is His vessel.

She has pleased Him,

and He has sent her to her final reward.

Praise be.

[HANDMAIDS] Praise be, Aunt Lydia.

Praise be, Aunt Lydia.

And now, let us
accompany our sister home.

[BABY COOS]

Little baby.

I'm going to call you Noah.

It's a nice name.

"The savior of humanity".

Baby Noah. I can't believe you're here.

I waited so long for you.
I wanted you so much.

Was it worth it?

Right now, I think it was.

How's his latch?

- It's strong, and he's hungry.
- Mmm. I bet.

Hannah had such a hard
time breastfeeding.

It was a tongue tie,
which we didn't know.

But I would just feed her and feed her,

and she was still hungry,
and I felt so guilty.

She used to get so many colds
when she was little,

and I thought that was my fault
because of the nursing.

But then it turned out she got colds

when she got older too, so...

Sometimes I'd have to stay home
from work with her and...

sometimes I couldn't
stay home from work.

Sometimes I didn't want
to stay home from work.

June.

Why didn't you k*ll me?

I don't...

You've been the one
waving the g*n around.

No, not today,
at the Information Center,

the protest.

You had a g*n.

Yeah.

Why didn't you k*ll me?
Why Fred and not me?

I didn't want to.

[BREATHING DEEPLY]

I imagined this moment so many times.

I always imagined that he would be here.

Fred.

He looks like him.

They...

say that they always
look like their dads at first.

It's evolutionary.

So that the dads don't
k*ll them, you know?

Evolution?

Do you think he's gonna be like him?

It depends.

On what?

On who raises him.

On what kind of person
they want him to become.

On what you teach him.

And on what you tell him is his...

to take.

I want him to have everything.

We all want that for them, Serena.

[BIRDS CALLING]

- Oh, is he okay?
- No, he's perfect.

It's funny how

every tiny baby you see
makes you feel like

you've never seen a baby before.

I tried to sleep.

You did sleep.

I just kept worrying
that I would smother him

in these blankets and things.

They're not supposed
to have bedding like this.

We have to get you both
somewhere inside, Serena, okay?

Somewhere where
they can take care of you.

No.

I told you I can't go to a hospital.

They'll find me there.

Who will find you?

The Wheelers.

The family that I've been staying with,

they were the ones looking for you.

They've been controlling me.

My every move. They're everywhere.

It's like I'm their Handmaid.

It's like I'm you.

[SCOFFS]

As awful as that sounds...

Yes. Which is why they can't find me,

and I can't let them get
their hands on my baby.

So you understand. I know that you do.

Serena, you have no water,
you have no food.

- It's freezing.
- But I'm so hot.

No, I know. That's because
you have a fever.

So we have to get you
the f*ck out of this barn

and take you somewhere
where they can take care of you.

Or you are both going to die.

And it will not be quick.

Do you want to watch your baby
slowly starve to death

in front of you while you die of sepsis?

No.

Maybe you should take him.

What are you talking about?

There's nothing left for me here.

I can't go to Canada.

I can't go back to Gilead.

It's over. I don't have a future.

But you have a future.
Maybe you could...

take him with you.

Serena, you, you don't know
what you're saying.

I know that I want what's best for him,

like what you did with Nichole,
with your daughter.

He would be safe with you.

You could care for him.

You and your husband. He's a good man.

He could teach Noah to be a good man.

The kind of man
who would never do the things

that his father did.

The things that I did.

No.

June, I think God sent you to me today.

You came after me.

What if He guided my hand to save you,

so that you could save my baby,
like an angel.

Bullshit.

There are avenging angels

that rain down sulfur and fire
from the Lord.

"Rejoice with Him, O heavens,

for He will avenge
the blood of His children

and take righteous vengeance
on His adversaries".

They're still angels.

Maybe that's what you are for me.

Is that what you think of me?

"And when she could no longer hide him,

she built for him an ark of bulrushes

and placed this child therein".

Maybe I'm the ark, June.

Maybe I'm the vessel.

I carried my baby.

I delivered him.

And I held him.

Maybe that's all that was
meant for me in this life.

Maybe it's God's will.

[NOAH FUSSES]

God's will.

A vessel.

That's what you thought I was.

What we were.

Who we were...

where we came from...

what we wanted...

none of that mattered to you.

To any of you.

I'm so sorry.

I don't care that you're sorry.

We mattered.

We were...

We are people.

We have lives.

And that's why I'm gonna
save yours, Serena.

Because this isn't Gilead.

And I am not you.

[SOBS] I don't deserve to be saved.

It's not for you.

It's for him.

Look at him.

Look at your baby.

You are the only person

in the whole world that he knows.

You are the only familiar smell.

You are the only voice he recognizes.

You love him.

And you wanted him so much.

[LAUGHS SOFTLY]

You're his mother.

And he belongs with you.

That is God's will.

Do you understand me?

Excuse me. Could you please help us?

- Immediate postpartum?
- [JUNE] Yes.

Um, six hours. Maybe eight. It's okay.

Page Maternity and NICU.
Let's get fluids in her.

It's gonna be fine. They'll help you.

Okay? I promise.

It's gonna be all right, Serena. Okay?

We're going to sit down. Here we go.

- [NURSE ] Any complications?
- No. They're doing just fine.

- June.
- [JUNE] It's gonna be okay.

Just go with them and do what they say.

It's gonna be fine.

They're gonna take care of him, okay?

I'm gonna be right here, okay?
It's gonna be okay.

[NURSE ] Let's get
the baby to the NICU.

Who's on call right now?

[NURSE ] Doctor's on her way.

[NURSE ] How are you feeling now?

[MAN ON PA SYSTEM]
OB to NICU, OB to NICU.

- Excuse me. Can I please...
- Were you in an accident?

... use your phone. I'm fine.

Can I just please use your phone?

- Please.
- Dial nine first.

[LINE RINGING]

[MOIRA] June?

[KNOCKING ON DOOR]

Hi.

They took Noah to the NICU.

That's okay.

Look, you had a fever,
right, so he's fine.

It's standard. They just...

They need to keep an eye on him.

Right. That's what they said.
It's just observation,

except he didn't have a fever.

He just was having trouble

regulating his, um... His temperature.

And they said, um, that
he might have, uh, jaundice.

But they're not sure
so they have to run some tests.

Yeah, that's all very normal.

That's what they keep saying.
It's just all so, um...

impersonal and...

I don't know. Very... medical.

How are you feeling?

Uh, my fever is down.

They gave me antibiotics.

I guess they don't trust anything

to resolve naturally here.

They're not letting me feed him.

They're waiting for us both
to be fully hydrated again.

- That's good.
- They're giving him formula.

He'll be fine.

Promise.

I just want to go home.

There is no home, Serena.

There's just wherever you are.

No Man's Land.

Yeah.

June.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Luke.

You're here. Moira said they let you go.

[LUKE] At the border.

I'm so happy to see your face.

June, we did it.

Tuello's got the USB.
He's working on it.

Oh, thank you.

Oh, thank you.

Are you okay? Did she hurt you?

No. She, she had her baby.

While you were there?

Yeah.

It's, um... It's a boy.

And he's healthy. Well, healthy enough.

He, he may have jaundice, but that's...

You know, that's completely
normal for babies, right?

So, they may just put him
under one of those little lamps.

All right. June, June, June.
What's going on with Serena?

She's fine.

She's, she's fine?

Yeah. Let's, um...

I'll tell you later. Let's go home.

Oh. Hold on. Give me a sec.

[CAPTAIN] Serena Waterford's room?

. Down the hall.

What's going on?

[INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER POLICE COMMS]

Don't worry. They're not here for us.

Come on.

Oh, what's...

[WOMAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY
OVER PA SYSTEM]

Serena Waterford?
We are Canadian Immigration.

You are being detained.

Detained?

[JUNE] Hey!

Um, I'd like to speak with a lawyer.

[CAPTAIN] As an undocumented person,

you have no immediate right to counsel.

- Your phone call...
- What is going on?

Illegal border crossing.
Lack of immigration status.

[SERENA] There must be some mistake.

- Please.
- You called them?

She gave up her diplomatic visa

when she left that
little Visitors Center.

What about my baby?

[CAPTAIN] The detention
facility has no infant care.

Well, what does that mean?

Where is my baby right now?

The Child Protection Unit
is already here.

They'll oversee his care.
That's all I can tell you.

[SOBBING] No, you can't do that.

No, please! Please, wait, wait!

Oh, please, don't take my baby!

At last she knows what it feels like.

[SERENA] Oh, please, stop!

Please! Please!

June!

June, don't let them
take my baby, please!

- [LUKE] Justice. Right?
- [SERENA] June, help me!

- Right.
- [SERENA] Help me, please!

Please don't let them take him from me!

Please stop!

Please help me!

Please help me, June!

June, do something!

June, please!