Warning: Spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 finale.
A handful of things are left in the air at the end of the season 4 finale of The Handmaid’s Tale, and amongst them is what Commander Lawrence really wants for Gilead, and what his exact role is in Fred Waterford’s death. The episode mostly revolves around June’s (Elisabeth Moss) struggle to accept that Fred and Serena might get away with all of the atrocities they committed while in Gilead. And, of course, the most notable plot development from the finale is the bombshell at the very end: Fred is killed by June and other Handmaids in a darkly karmic moment.
Another character who has a few brief scenes in the Handmaid’s Tale episode is the ever-hard-to-pin-down Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford). Early on, he and June seem to be working together to convince Mark Tuello to help them in sending Fred back to Gilead. As usual, Lawrence puts on a good poker face, never revealing his true wishes or feelings. This is no surprise, as the Commander’s nature has always been shown as outwardly calm, cuttingly sarcastic, and analytical. That nature is showcased when he aptly tells June, before she leaves the diner after the meeting, that no matter what vengeance she wields against Fred, it will never be enough to satisfy her.
Despite this, Lawrence still has a hand in Fred’s brutal Handmaid’s Tale death. After getting him back via a prisoner exchange with the Canadian government, Lawrence swiftly hands him over to Nick without any qualms at all. It’s clear he’s in on it. Though he’s a higher-up in Gilead, he seems to have a similarly unsympathetic view of the disgraced Commander’s fate, because – as Nick articulates with a Bible quote to Fred in No Man’s Land – “For whatever man sows, so shall he reap.” After all, everyone knows what Fred has put June and other women through. But Lawrence’s full motivations are not entirely clear, as his character is one that is tough to read. From when he was first introduced, he has helped June multiple times when able to. He didn’t subject her to The Ceremony (excluding the one time he was forced to), he aided her in smuggling Nichole out of Gilead, and he also helped facilitate the operation where June got an additional 86 children out of the country.
Despite all this, it still can’t be said that Lawrence is on June’s side. Though he seems to abhor some of Gilead’s current ways and practices, he still helped mold the nation. In addition, he was willing to push for the bombing in Chicago despite knowing that June was in the area, because the play was going to benefit Gilead’s trade with other nations. He also gave Janine to Aunt Lydia and told June that he couldn’t help her and Luke attempt to get Hannah out of the country. Granted, a large component of the latter example is that he clearly knew such a feat could never be pulled off, especially without there being hell to pay from his bosses.
But, even so, for every time he helps June or seems to be one of the “good” Commanders, Lawrence will do something that seems to go against what she, and viewers, want. On a practical level, it’s a credit to both the show’s writing and Whitmore’s acting that he’s so nuanced and difficult to pin down as a character. At this point, it’s unclear exactly what Lawrence wants for Gilead. He seems to retain some sort of allegiance to the nation, but that could also be a matter of self-preservation. Overall, he’s not clearly Team June or Team Gilead. Joseph Lawrence seems to be looking out for his own best interest on The Handmaid’s Tale, and given his precarious position, it’s partially hard to blame him.
