Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Handmaid's Tale series finale!

Serena Joy's original The Handmaid's Tale series finale, and after hearing what the writers' original plans were, I'm glad Serena got the ending she has.

The Handmaid's Tale season 6, episode 10 is the finale of the Hulu series, wrapping it up after eight years. The episode acts as an epilogue to June's epic attack on Gilead in episodes 8 and 9, with her mostly saying her goodbyes to her friends and preparing for the next battle. Although June, Luke, and several other The Handmaid's Tale characters end the series by staying in Gilead to continue the fight, Serena Joy flees, heading to a refugee camp. There is a lot of dramatic irony in Serena Joy's ending, but things could have been much worse.

Why The Handmaid's Tale Creator Considered Killing Serena Joy

He Thought Death Was Fitting

As it turns out, The Handmaid's Tale creator Bruce Miller originally wanted to kill Serena Joy early in season 6. In an interview with THR, Miller explains that he originally wanted to see Serena Joy die, with him believing that it would be fitting for her to have been pushed off the refugee train at the beginning of season 6. He compared Serena Joy to Eva Braun, and he also compared Serena's son Noah to the child of Hitler. Because of this, he wanted to throw both of them off the train, leaving them dead and on the side of the road in complete anonymity.

MILLER I don’t believe “what people deserve” and all that stuff, but I wanted to kill her. Because I think she was such a horrible person and being dead on the side of the road completely anonymously [after she was pushed from the train in the beginning of the season] would have been a fitting end. I had to be convinced not to throw her off that train, along with the kid.

Elisabeth Moss, the actress who plays June, also directed The Handmaid's Tale series finale. In the same interview, she explains that she was hesitant when she first heard about Miller's plan for Serena Joy's death. However, Miller was eventually convinced not to kill the characters off. Instead, Serena Joy apologizes to June and heads to the refugee camp, which shows how far she has fallen. According to Miller, Serena is never going to it that she did wrong, but lying to herself is getting more and more difficult.

MOSS Bruce did tell me his thoughts and he told me that he was toying with certain things. I’m not the writer, and I respect the role of the writer very much. So he told me what he was thinking and I thought, “Okay, that’s interesting. Wow, that would be kind of crazy if she didn’t make it.” But in my heart, I really wanted to see her survive because I’m Serena’s biggest fan. I’m her biggest er and defender. I want her to live. I just think she deserves that, and I think Noah [her son] deserves that.

MILLER If it was Eva Braun and it was Hitler’s kid, what would you do? I don’t think anybody would hesitate. But I love what we ended up doing because what I really wanted for most of the characters is to get exactly what they wanted and see what happened. June got a ton of what she wanted and a ton of stuff she didn’t expect, including Emily[‘s return], including reuniting with Luke, who she thought was dead at the beginning of the show. Serena’s story really feels like the end of Serena’s story, that she is someone who’s never going to it that she did wrong. But you can see how holding onto the illusion that she did right is getting very, very difficult. I love Serena. I love her to the point where I’m so much more mad at her because she should know better.

The Handmaid's Tale Killing Serena Joy Wouldn't Have Worked

Based On Her Redemption Arc

Although the instinct to want Serena Joy dead is understandable, killing her wouldn't have worked. This storyline has already been done with Fred, and having her get killed by vengeful refugees would have played too similarly to his death. Plus, if Serena truly died at the beginning of season 6, this would have made Serena's redemption arc in season 5 pointless. She was already starting to grow as a person, so killing her off so suddenly would have been a letdown. However, it could be that the train death is just hypothetical, and Miller could have originally wanted to kill her off at a different point.

The Serena death would have worked even less if the show truly killed off her son alongside her. Serena Joy undoubtedly did monstrous things in The Handmaid's Tale, but her son is just a baby. It is possible that killing both characters off together could have made for an interesting juxtapositional theme about the dangers of mob justice. However, this would have conflicted with the positivity that revolution is treated with throughout The Handmaid's Tale, meaning that it wouldn't quite fit in.

Serena Joy Got The Right Ending In The Handmaid's Tale

She Has Fallen, But She Can Still Change

Luckily, the ending that Serena Joy got in The Handmaid's Tale finale is the right one. Serena was forgiven by June and is on the path to becoming a better person, meaning that there is always the possibility of redemption in the future. However, audiences also get the schadenfreude of seeing Serena Joy have to live with her guilt, as well as the dramatic irony of her losing all of her power and influence and ending up in a refugee camp at the end of The Handmaid's Tale.