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SEASON 1

The Handmaid's Tale · Season 1

The Handmaid's Tale Season 1 quotes

73 quotes · page 3 of 5

S1 E15Unfinished Business

Stuart Williston: We won't be conducting this morning's session, Mr. Waterford. You can go directly to the airport. We'll have your luggage brought down.

Fred Waterford: I don't understand.

Minister Kevin McConnell: You and your wife are no longer welcome in Canada.

Fred Waterford: Forgive me, is there an issue?

Stuart Williston: Last night, someone uploaded a series of letters from women in your country, and the public reaction here in Canada has been overwhelming.

Fred Waterford: Are you really going to cancel an entire agenda based on some anonymous slander?

Stuart Williston: We believe the women.

Fred Waterford: Yesterday you believed me.

Stuart Williston: Our former position is no longer sustainable.

Offred: I'm sorry there is so much pain in this story. I'm sorry it's in fragments, like a body caught in crossfire or pulled apart by force. But there's nothing I can do to change it.

Fred Waterford: If you'd shown that girl one ounce of kindness, she would never have left!

Serena Joy Waterford: Kindness? You raped her yesterday.

Fred Waterford: That was your idea! I did this to fix your mess!

Offred: I keep going with this limping and mutilated story because I want you to hear it. As I will hear yours, too if I ever get the chance, if I meet you or if you escape, in the future or in heaven. By telling you anything at all, I'm believing in you. I believe you into being. Because I'm telling you this story, I will your existence. I tell. Therefore, you are.

June Osborne: This is all she leaves behind. There won't be a marker anywhere. Heretics don't get to rest in peace. Here, they use them as animal feed. Aunt Lydia told us that at The Red Center. Waste not, want not. All we leave behind is the uniform. Wife. Handmaid. Martha. Mother. Daughter. Girlfriend. Queen. Bitch. Criminal. Sinner. Heretic. Prisoner.

June Osborne: Please, God, watch over her. Protect her. Because this isn't the place with the still waters and green pastures, if you haven't noticed. This is the valley of death. And there's a fuck-ton of evil to fear. Please. Get her the hell out of here. If she gets out, will she remember me? Will she know that I gave her away? I have reasons. There are always reasons. I'm sorry, baby girl. Mom's got work.

Serena Joy Waterford: Did you give her to Ofjoseph?

June Osborne: I did what was best for her, Serena.

Serena Joy Waterford: Did you give my baby to Ofjoseph?

June Osborne: You wanted a better life for her, and that is what a mother does for her child.

Serena Joy Waterford: You gave her to a murderer! You killed my baby! You've killed my baby. How could you take her away from me?

June Osborne: Because I have another daughter! You chased us in the woods, and you hunted us down with dogs. And when you pulled her away, she screamed. My baby screamed for her mother! And I hope this feels like that.

June Osborne: I used to be bad at waiting. "They also serve who stand and wait," Aunt Lydia said. She also said, "Not all of you will make it through. Some of you will fall on dry ground or thorns. Some of you are shallow-rooted. Think of yourselves as seeds. What kind of seed will you be, girls?" I pretend I'm a tree. And I wait.

June Osborne: Heresy. That's what they're hanging for. Not for being part of the Resistance because officially, there is no resistance. Not for helping people escape because officially, there is no such thing as escape. They hang for being heretics, not martyrs. Martyrs inspire. Heretics are just stupid. Was I being stupid?

June Osborne: To be a man watched by women, it must be entirely strange. To have them watching him all the time. To have them flinch when he moves. To have them wondering, "What is he going to do next? Does he like me? Will he keep me? Am I safe here?" Cora wasn't.

Joseph Lawrence: I think I care more about your daughter than you do. I'm saving the planet for her. I'm replenishing the human race for her. What are you doing?

June Osborne: I am trying to be her mother!

Joseph Lawrence: She has a mother. You met Mrs. Mackenzie. She's a lovely woman. She never stole anybody's husband. Do you know that she organized a thousand food baskets for orphans in Africa back when there were orphans? What did you ever do to help anyone? Except edit esoteric, useless books that no one was ever gonna read instead of picking up your sick daughter from school. Useless.

June Osborne: You wrote esoteric books. You did that. God, it must be scary. Huh? Seeing the numbers on those spreadsheets turn into real people? Real people being executed? Knowing that if no one had read your books, we would all be better off. It must be hell being a man like that. Far worse than useless. You know what? I get it. I get why you would do this. I suppose you would hole yourself up in a house like this, playing games with people's heads, doing a good deed or two every once in a while, so that you can fucking sleep at night.

Joseph Lawrence: [after a long silence] How tempting it is to invent a humanity for anyone at all.

June Osborne: Mother, I think, wherever you may be, can you hear me? You wanted a women's culture. Well, now there is one. It isn't what you meant, but it exists. And here's what we do. We watch them. The men. We study them. We feed them. We please them. We can make them feel strong or weak. We know them that well. We know their worst nightmares. And, with a bit of practice, that's what we'll become. Nightmares. One day, when we're ready, we're coming for you. Just wait.

June Osborne: She's out. She's safe. She's with Luke. May He and His goodness bless us with miracles, for we are weary and weak of faith. Maybe it's not a miracle. A miracle is beyond human powers. I did this. We. It's a dream. The only dream for a Handmaid in Gilead. My baby is free.

Serena Joy Waterford: [handing Luke a box] I'd like for Nichole to have this. This was a gift from my father, God rest his soul.

Luke Bankole: I don't know what it is that you tell yourself so that, you know, you can sleep at night, but Nichole is gonna know exactly where she came from, and how brave her mother was for getting her here. That's her story. All right? You're never gonna be anything to her.

Serena Joy Waterford: You wanna know what I tell myself? That she was my miracle, and that I let her go. Because I wanted a better life for her, and so did your wife. Okay? So if you can't honor my wishes, then honor hers. Please give this to Nichole and let her draw her own conclusions.

June Osborne: [in a recording smuggled to Luke] This is so weird. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry about that. But there are some things that I need to tell you that I couldn't before. I can't imagine what you thought when you met Nichole. But you were probably thinking a lot less about her journey across the border and more about her journey into the world. It's not easy to tell you this 'cause I am ashamed. I had to build a life here. Of a sort. And you should, too. You deserve a life, a full life, Luke. You deserve love. And you'll always have ... You'll always have mine. But I understand if you maybe need more than that. I need you to know that Nichole ... She was born out of love. Her real name's Holly. And her ... her father's a driver named Nick. You met him. He helped me to survive. I need to believe that you can forgive me. I'm not the woman you remember. She's part of me. But I'm doing what I need to ... to survive. You should, too. No, you ... You have to. You have to for Hannah. It's all for her, Luke. This is all for her. I promise you, I am trying to get to her. I promise. I love you.

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