Warning: This article contains spoilers about Wednesday’s season 4 finale ofThe Handmaid’s Tale.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let’s start with the scene between Mark Tuello and Serena Joy.
BRUCE MILLER:I think it’s reading too much into it; it’s reading into the chemistry.
His job is to make her very, very comfortable with him, and he does it very well.
This is his job, to make her comfortable and to trust him.
So yes, they have a very interesting, complicated relationship.
you could’t help but be impressed by someone like Serena in that way.
So is she impressive to him?
But Fred is the father.
The other scene that really stood out to me early on was the first scene between June and Fred.
Why do you think June went to see him?
Was she looking for an apology?
I think June went to see Fred to be able to let him go.
That’s why she went.
“I’m gonna let him go.
I’m going to be a good mother.
I’m not going to let him control my life anymore.”
When they realized their abuser knew all along it was wrong from the very beginning.
So that’s the moment where June decides he should not be on the earth anymore.
When did you know Fred would die?
Actually, I was talking to Joe Fiennes [who plays Fred] the other day.
And he was saying he remembered me bringing it up at the end of season 2.
The death of Fred was, as everything is, a natural continuation of June’s story.
So it’s really a question of, what would June do if she got free?
Does she take it or not?
They’re not somebody else’s, and she has to live with them.
Do we know where she’s going to go?
Well, I don’t know if she’s gonna leave.Shefeels like she has to.
And he doesn’t know what happened yet.
Don’t worry, I love whatever you turn into."
In this moment, she’s saying, “Yeah, remember when he said that?
This is obviously not true.
So I’ll go.”
But he may come back and say, “No, no, no, no.”
She’s been up all night, and this horrible thing happened.
He wakes up in the morning.
I mean, it could not be a more fraught moment.
So does she feel like she has irreparably broken her marriage and her role as a mother?
Will she feel that way tomorrow?
I don’t know.
I’m dying to talk about Fred’s final moments and that whole ending.
Like what’s left of Fred?
[Laughs]
Sure, let’s start there.
There’s parts of Fred that are left.
I think they act upon him in the way in which he acted upon them.
I like how the finger sticks in the envelope because it’s sticky.
That was just such a great detail, like, shake it out!
So how is Gilead going to react to this?
Because on their end, they thought they were getting Fred in exchange for these women.
Are Commander Lawrence and Nick in trouble?
My sense is that they wanted Fred gone.
They don’t care if Fred’s back; they want him to stop talking.
I mean, it seems like they wanted him gone, and he’s gone.
If Lawrence gained a little goodwill with the Americans by doing it, awesome.
That’s an open line of communication that they can have.
It felt like the beginning of another story.
But it needs to be the end of a story that introduces a new story.
And not just killed him but tore him apart in the way that Gilead taught her to be vicious.
It wasn’t enough that he would just die.
It was a nice touch having Nick there and spouting Bible verses at Fred.
And I thought it was ironic that Fred kept calling him “son” over and over.
Yeah, I thought it was fascinating.
I think Fred is a convincer as a person.
He does it a lot with Serena, certainly a lot with June.
What was it like shooting Fred’s last scene, or was it even Fred’s last scene?
Could we see him again in a flashback?
I mean, I would die if I didn’t see Joe [Fiennes] again.
He’s the most lovely man, generous actor, such a professional.
He is the nicest man stuck playing the most horrible person.
I think at the end of every season, he shaves that beard off quite quickly.
He’s an absolutely lovely man whose two adorable little daughters both call me sir.
So he’s 100 percent in my book.
He just loves it so much.
I mean, he has such affection for the group.
What can we expect from next season?
So that’s really interesting.
I think moving forward, there’s really a couple of things.
And that’s where June is right now.
She’s done this terrible thing, or what she feels like is irredeemable.
Can she snap back?
How do you keep those fights worthy?
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
