‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Ann Dowd Explains ‘Traitor’ Aunt Lydia & Teases Final Episodes
- In Episode 8 of The Handmaid's Tale final season, Aunt Lydia reaches a breaking point during Serena Joy and Gabriel Wharton's wedding in Boston.
- This moment depicts June, Moira, and the Boston Handmaids executing a plan to incapacitate Gilead's commanders by slipping a sedative into the cake served at the wedding.
- Aunt Lydia returns early from travels, discovers the conspiracy with help from Aunt Phoebe, and confronts the girls before June persuades her to release them.
- During her crisis, Lydia falls to her knees begging God for forgiveness, acknowledging that “rape is rape” and recognizing the Handmaid system's abuses.
- This pivotal moment signifies Lydia's transformation and lays the groundwork for The Testaments spinoff, which Ann Dowd stars in and is set approximately 4 to 5 years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale.
47 Articles
47 Articles

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Ann Dowd Explains ‘Traitor’ Aunt Lydia & Teases Final Episodes
Dowd explains the show's most pivotal Aunt Lydia scene, why she'll 'never be the same,' and how this affects 'The Testaments.'
La Servante écarlate : comment regarder la saison 6 gratuitement en streaming ?
When a series ends after years of dramatic tension, poignant struggles and unforgettable resistances, it is better not to miss the outcome. The Handmaids Tale, this dystopic fresco by Margaret Atwood, starts its last straight line with a sixth haletante season already begun. Since April 8, 2025, the first six episodes of the final season are online on Prime Video. The rest, it follows a weekly rhythm until episode 10, scheduled on May 27. And go…
Aunt Lydia’s Decision in The Handmaid’s Tale Is All Down to Love, Says Ann Dowd
Warning: contains spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale season six episode eight “Exodus”. In the early days of The Handmaid’s Tale, the pre-Gilead flashback episodes were eagerly awaited. Who was June Osborne before she was captured and enslaved? Who had Commander and Mrs Waterford been before they played a part in the coup that destroyed America? It took three seasons before we saw one of the show’s most anticipated flashbacks – that of Aunt Lydia.…
The Handmaid's Tale S06E08: What Happens to Commander Bell?
Photo Credit: Amazon MGM Studios Distribution In a blood-red wave of retribution, Gilead’s revolution finally erupted in The Handmaid’s Tale season 6, episode 8, where Commander Bell finally dies. The episode titled Exodus unveiled how the iconic crimson uniform of handmaids transformed from being symbols of oppression to battle flags as they orchestrated their vengeance against their oppressors. Commander Bell’s death at June Osborn’s hands mar…
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