Research has shown that long-term, repeated exposure to trauma can alter the way the brain functions. Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale brings this to light as once-captive characters attempt to navigate post-Gilead life.
Warning: this post contains spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Episode 5.
Season five follows June Osborne—the show’s protagonist played by Elisabeth Moss—as she tries to readjust to life outside Gilead. Even though she is free, protected as a refugee in Canada, she struggles to reestablish a sense of safety. For much of the time, her system is still on high alert, prepared to defend herself, and her family, from attack.
Brain-based research on trauma puts this into perspective.
A Brief Explanation of the Brain and Trauma
The amygdala—an almond-shaped section of the brain—is responsible for identifying threats and mobilizing the human body into action. It keeps us alive, flooding the body with the necessary hormones—like adrenaline—that allow us to fight or flee from a dangerous situation.
Long-term exposure to trauma, such as in combat, captivity, or child abuse—or seven years spent living in Gilead—can send the amygdala into overdrive. The overactive amygdala misinterprets signals from the environment and perceives safe situations as threats. As a result, the body maintains a state of hypervigilance, always on alert and ready for attack.
What it looks like
For nearly a decade, June lived in captivity under constant surveillance, her life in constant danger. In Gilead, hypervigilance was necessary for survival. But in Canada, it prevents June from enjoying her freedom.
In season five, episode five, June and Luke (played by O-T Fagbenle) cross the border into No Man’s Land—the lawless area between Canada and Gilead—hoping to gather information about their daughter, Hannah, who at age 12 is already preparing to be a wife. The two meet a Guardian (Gilead’s armed guards and secret service agents) who brings them to a secure location—an abandoned bowling alley.
The scene is not only a stellar display of how setting can enhance a mood, but it’s also a perfect example of an over-active amygdala in action.
Inside the Alley
Luke, who escaped Gilead in the early days and lived in Canada while June was in captivity, is relatively well-adjusted, all things considered. His amygdala is able to scan a situation with clarity, to distinguish danger from safety. June, on the other hand, sees danger almost everywhere.
In the bowling alley, after Jaeden, the Guardian (played by Owen Painter), hands over the information they came for, June and Luke turn to leave.
“You can’t go yet… it’s really not safe,” Jaeden warns. Luke suggests they stay. June is hesitant but ultimately agrees.
After a break, the scene reopens to Jaeden and Luke in the middle of a raucous game of bowling. The two are acting like old buddies, yelling and cheering each other on while June sits aside, looking at the door, looking around, waiting for attack. It’s uncertain whether they’re still in No Man’s Land or if they’ve crossed into Gilead, but either way, they aren’t in Canada and they aren’t safe.
Luke has no problem letting go and enjoying himself, but June remains guarded, questioning the situation at every turn.
“No one ever hears you?” June asks after Jaeden cups his hands on either side of his mouth and lets out a long yell. Her eyes are watery, her arms are crossed, and she’s clearly in distress.
Luke ratchets up the danger by casually asking the Guardian for his name, then offers his own. June pointedly doesn’t identify herself. Eagle-eyed viewers will remember Lily, member of Mayday, warning them before the mission that names are too dangerous. Luke has either forgotten or doesn’t care. He trusts Jaeden after a few rounds on the lanes.
After the name exchange, Jaeden announces he has beer in a cooler and disappears behind the counter. June is practically jumping out of her skin at this point. “Where’d he get beer?” she demands.
Luke says evenly, almost as if June’s a child, “He’s got beer in a cooler because… bowling and beer.”
“But where did he get it?” repeats June.
“Now we need music,” Luke interjects, dismissing her fear.
“I don’t think we need music.”
Yes, June, you do.
Luke crosses to a keyboard decked out in Christmas lights, sits down, and begins playing simple tunes—Yankee Doodle and Oh Susanna. Then he segues into a tender version of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together.”
I’m so in love with you, whatever you want to do, that’s alright with me, he croons, before adding, “And also I don’t have much choice.”
Despite herself, June giggles. She turns to Jaeden, who is quiet, and quickly composes herself again. But the moment is enough to loosen her tension and as Luke continues singing, she relaxes. After a few verses, the two stand up and slow dance while Jaeden shines a light on them.
The song choice was no accident.
Gilead changed June. Throughout season five, Luke’s been coming to terms with the fact that she isn’t the woman he married. And after all she’s lived through, June isn’t sure she can stay with Luke. The push-pull of their relationship finally comes together in the impromptu slow dance, in an abandoned bowling alley, somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
It’s the first time we’ve really seen them come together in tenderness—the after-violence sex they’ve had is something different altogether, and the closeness they felt following the ballet was cut short by their still-captive daughter being broadcast across TVs in the city center.
The slow dance, and their choice to stay together, sets the stage for the heartbreak of their separation at the end of the episode.
Toward Healing
Part of what makes the bowling alley scene so powerful is that it not only shows the effects of trauma—the near constant state of high-alert that June finds herself in—but it also shows that relief is possible. June is capable of letting her guard down, even if only for a few moments.
Loving, stable, safe relationships can help a person recover after a traumatic incident or series of incidents. Whether she realizes it or not, Luke—and Moira and Rita and Nicole—are helping June to heal.
For those who don’t have a steadfast Luke or sharp-shooting Moira in their lives, episode five highlights another healing resource that most everyone has access to—music. Listening to music has been shown to lower heart rate and blood pressure and reduce stress—the things that are activated when the amygdala perceives threat.
Music can also bring back memories, including positive ones from before the trauma occurred. It’s not explained in the episode, but there’s a good chance “Let’s Stay Together,” is a song from Luke and June’s pre-Gilead past.
Maybe he’s sung it to her before, maybe it was their first dance or their wedding song, regardless, the music itself, and the memory it triggers, allows June’s body to relax. She lets her guard down and is finally able to see the situation in the bowling alley for what it is—safe.
We’ve seen June go through so much, seen her question her ability to live free, and although she’s not out of danger, the bowling alley scene provides a much-needed reminder that even in times of extreme stress, even following horrific trauma, the body is capable of coming to rest.
Relate to feelings of overactivation and hypervigilance? Is there a song you’ve listened to that has helped you heal? Leave it in the comments below.
1 thought on “The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Episode 5 and the Enduring Effects of Trauma”