One year after The Handmaid’s Tale came to an end, Hulu has taken us back into Gilead with The Testaments. The new series adapts Margaret Atwood’s book of the same name, and shifts its focus to a younger generation, one being raised as future Wives, not Handmaids. That means the characters and storylines feel fresh for the most part, but there are still some clear parallels between the major players from the two shows, including the setup for what seems like it’ll be the new version of June Osborne and Nick Blaine’s romance. Warning: SPOILERS ahead for The Testaments Season 1, Episodes 1-3, plus mild book spoilers.
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June and Nick’s doomed love story was a major part of The Handmaid’s Tale, from the early stages to them having a child together, working to get her out of Gilead, and, eventually, Nick’s shocking death at the end of Season 6, as a major blow was struck against the Commanders. Now, with The Testaments‘ timeline picking things up four years later, we might be getting a similar story with June’s daughter, Hannah, the real identity of Agnes MacKenzie in the series.
Agnes & Garth’s Potential Romance In The Testaments Is Repeating June & Nick’s Story
Agnes may not be a Handmaid, but there are still some parallels between her and June, and not just because she’s her daughter. She’s stuck in a house with a Commander’s Wife whom she hates, and who hates her back. She’s followed the rules, but is starting to show flickers of a rebellious spirit that could grow into something more. And she has a driver where a potential romance looms. This is most notable in Episode 2, where Agnes beams after Garth helps her out of the car, the pair act awkward around one another, and her narration is all about “wanting” things.
It seems certain that the show is teasing some relationship between the two, and it does make sense. Agnes is a teenager who is being trained to become the perfect, dutiful Wife, almost certainly for a much older Commander. There is, of course, so much more to this show and world than romance, and richer themes and darker stories to explore. Nonetheless, her having a crush on the nice boy closer to her own age is understandable and feels authentic. It also helps add to the YA flavor this series has, which comes with it being so teen-centric and focusing on their friendships and feuds, something that helps it stand apart from its predecessor.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to imagine any sort of happiness for the pair. Garth is both a Guardian and a Mayday spy, so he’s already walking a very dangerous line that puts him in constant danger. Agnes, as mentioned, will be expected to marry a Commander of high standing. Even if the feelings are more than a simple crush, this isn’t a world where they could really be together.
If that’s true of them, it’s even more so of Becka and Agnes. The hints of their own romance haven’t been quite as overt, but there is definitely a sign that Becka, at least, has some feelings of attraction towards Agnes, ones made all the more complicated by the fact that they’ve been raised in a totalitarian regime that deems homosexuality a sin. An LGBTQ+ romance in this show would be a fascinating move that could add even more depth to its coming-of-age story, so it’ll be interesting to see how much it plays on that, and how much it does with Agnes and Garth.
New episodes of The Testaments release on Wednesdays on Hulu.
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