Warning! SPOILERS for The Handmaid's Tale season 5, episode 3.Mayday always represented hope for those inside Gilead who weren't actively part of the regime, and The Handmaid's Tale season 5, episode 3's developments showed that Mayday may have a similar presence in Canada. After The Handmaid's Tale season 5, episode 2 ended with Fred's grandiose funeral and Serena Joy's (Yvonne Strahovski) use of it to threaten June (Elisabeth Moss) by showing how her reach in Gilead brought her once again close to Hannah, June was rightfully distraught. However, Moira's (Samira Wiley) revelation that a group of women was operating at the border between Canada and No Man's Land gave June hope, as she learned more about Hannah and Mayday.
For as long as June was involved in the resistance against Gilead, Mayday was always whispered about and searched for by her, Janine (Madeline Brewer), and the other Handmaids. The Handmaid's Tale season 4 even showed June and Janine running west in the hope of getting to Mayday, and when they found resistance groups that fought against Gilead and realized they weren't Mayday, June wanted to continue moving further west. Yet, despite all the heroics June, the other Handmaids, and various Marthas achieved against Gilead, June never stopped holding out hope for Mayday, halting her search for it only after she reached Canada.
While her meeting with Lily (Christine Ko) provided June with the answers she needed, it also revealed that Mayday not only existed and wasn't just a story those inside Gilead told themselves to help them survive, but that factions of it were also working against Gilead from Canada. Considering how The Handmaid's Tale season 5 continued to detail some people's increasing of Serena, Mayday's Canadian operation is particularly important, as it works in stark opposition to those sympathizing with the Waterfords. Although Gilead's sympathizers in Canada could potentially mean more people outside of Gilead are seeing the theocracy favorably, a powerful alternative to Gilead's power would also be situated in Canada and ready to act against them - that is if extremist groups are willing to threaten people's rights there.
Will Mayday's Efforts Be Enough? Could Gilead Gain More Influence In Canada?!
Although The Handmaid's Tale season 5, episode 3 ended ominously for Serena with June's stern warning about staying away from Hannah, it also inexorably showed how more people were willing to Serena. As Serena's new role as Gilead ambassador was precisely created to exploit the links between the Republic of Gilead and its potential ers abroad, the risk that Gilead could gain influence in Canada, as well as other countries otherwise opposed to the theocracy, isn't entirely unfounded. However, The Handmaid's Tale season 5, episode 3 likewise proved both Mayday's existence and its considerable reach, as they were able to get in touch with Nick (Max Minghella) relatively quickly despite him being an up-and-coming Commander. Considering also how long June had heard about Mayday without discovering much, even sometimes doubting its existence, it's likely that it's always been a very well-protected network, therefore Mayday could easily and successfully work against Gilead both inside its borders and in Canada.
Whether Gilead's reach outside the theocracy's borders will be stopped by Mayday or others is still unclear. However, if that's the direction The Handmaid's Tale season 5 is going, a significant conflict between the two will likely happen sooner rather than later. If that's the case, The Handmaid's Tale's latest season could actually live up to the hype of being "one of the wilder rides," as Moss described it.
New Episodes of The Handmaid's Tale release every Wednesday on Hulu.