June's pain and rage only increase in season 4, episode 8 of The Handmaid's Tale, but does she take things too far with Emily and her old Aunt? The episode further illustrates the understandable bitterness and animosity that bubbles to the surface during the long, arduous road to healing after being victimized. Since arriving in Canada, boiling anger is the main emotion that June (Elisabeth Moss) has been expressing as she processes everything that's happened. But everyone deals with and moves on from pain and turmoil in their own way. And whether it's her personality or where she is on her recovery timeline, Emily's (Alexis Bledel) emotional reactions are starkly different than June's.
So, in the latest episode of The Handmaid's Tale, when an old Aunt of Emily's shows up at one of the Gilead-centered, group-based trauma therapy sessions led by Moira, she's not as keen on confronting the ex-tormenter. Emily doesn't want to see her at first, but June brings Irene to another meeting, forcing Emily to deal with her past in front of everyone. It turns out that, in Gilead, the woman's name was Aunt Irene and she was the one who tipped off the Eyes about Emily's relationship with a Martha. Of course, the other woman was executed and Emily was mutilated to discourage her from sexual and/or romantic activity. Now, Irene is guilt-stricken for what she did to Emily and her partner. To her disappointment, however, Emily tells her that there's nothing she can do to atone for her actions at this point, that what's done is done. Shortly after the interaction, Emily discovers that Irene took her own life, seemingly out of unbearable guilt.
This component of the episode is complicated, and there's a great deal to unpack. Initially, June's insistence on Emily confronting Irene is out of line; it's not her own trauma, and Emily needs to deal with it in her own way and on her own schedule. June is riddled with rage, as all the Gilead survivors in the group are, and they have every right to be. But June's anger is distorting her view of reality and causing her to act in ways that are potentially damaging to others, specifically Luke and Emily. Though Emily isn't too visibly triggered by the incident, it still wasn't something she wanted to deal with yet. June wants the other survivors around her to "let out their rage," but, at times, it seems more like a way to internally validate her own fury while avoiding more outwardly vulnerable pain.
On the other hand, June's tactics in the Handmaid's Tale episode do produce results. When she finally asks Emily how she feels about Irene's suicide, there's a shocking twist where Emily actually seems pleased, even saying that she "feels amazing." This reaction is incredibly understandable, as well. After being enslaved, routinely abused, and treated as though her sexuality is a sinful crime, Emily is finally free and received a measure of catharsis from Irene's apology. Additionally, in a darkly karmic way, the Aunt who had her partner killed is now dead, as well. Technically, thanks to June, Emily and the entire group get to tap into their rage.
All of the emotions swirling around in episode 8 are justified and necessary. And that makes it difficult to find too much fault with June's actions, especially after everything that she's been through during the four seasons of The Handmaid's Tale. Still, she crossed the line with Emily. To a degree, as is captured in her unnerving smile while the other characters start unloading their own rage, some of June's behavior is self-serving and self-validating–even if she and others believe that it's solely for a good and necessary cause.