This post contains spoilers from The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6, Episode 9. Proceed accordingly.

One of the most enigmatic — and frustrating — characters in The Handmaid’s Tale met his end in this week’s episode.

Nick Blaine was killed when his plane blew up, courtesy of a bomb that High Commander Lawrence placed in order to kill a bunch of Gilead leaders. A shocked June watched as the explosion, which also ended the lives of Lawrence and High Commander Wharton, lit up the skies over Boston. (Read a full episode recap here.)

Nick, played by Max Minghella, started the series as the Waterfords’ driver but ascended to commander over the course of six seasons. His relationship with Elisabeth Moss’ June was a complicated matter that involved fathering one of her children, assisting her efforts to escape from/bring down Gilead and then betraying her at a crucial point in the rebellion. When I spoke with Minghella about that relationship-ending duplicity earlier this season, we also discussed Nick’s final moments. And now that his alter ego has been killed on-screen, I’m able to share. Read on for Minghella’s thoughts on his last scenes in the series, which will come to its conclusion next week.

This post contains spoilers from The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6, Episode 9. Proceed accordingly.

One of the most enigmatic — and frustrating — characters in The Handmaid’s Tale met his end in this week’s episode.

Nick Blaine was killed when his plane blew up, courtesy of a bomb that High Commander Lawrence placed in order to kill a bunch of Gilead leaders. A shocked June watched as the explosion, which also ended the lives of Lawrence and High Commander Wharton, lit up the skies over Boston. (Read a full episode recap here.)

Nick, played by Max Minghella, started the series as the Waterfords’ driver but ascended to commander over the course of six seasons. His relationship with Elisabeth Moss’ June was a complicated matter that involved fathering one of her children, assisting her efforts to escape from/bring down Gilead and then betraying her at a crucial point in the rebellion. When I spoke with Minghella about that relationship-ending duplicity earlier this season, we also discussed Nick’s final moments. And now that his alter ego has been killed on-screen, I’m able to share. Read on for Minghella’s thoughts on his last scenes in the series, which will come to its conclusion next week.

TVLINE | In Episode 9, Nick is getting on the plane, and he pauses, but he does not see June hiding in the hangar. Did you guys shoot a version where they did make eye contact?
MAX MINGHELLA | No, we we didn’t. But it’s definitely supposed to be a moment of, like sort of a slightly telepathic moment. There’s a word — I’m not smart enough to know what the word is. [Laughs] But human beings can actually sense when they’re being watched, like we actually do sort of have eyes in the back of our heads. So I think that’s all it is. It’s a sense, a presence. I thought it was a really interesting idea from Lizzie (Moss, who directed the episode) to do that.

TVLINE | When did you know that Nick wasn’t going to make it out of the series alive?
Well, you know what? Normally on The Handmaid’s Tale, I don’t have any idea what’s going to happen episode to episode. I’ve always been quite happy to be blind to it and go with the flow. This year, I happened to work on a project with Lizzie in between seasons. [Editor’s note: The project was Shell, a comedic horror film that Minghella directed and in which Moss starred.] So we were together a lot, and just from hanging out, I ended up hearing a lot of it. So this year, I did sort of know quite a lot of the arc of the character. But it was just circumstantial — it wasn’t for any other reason.

TVLINE | No spoilers here, but before the series ends, a character tells June that Nick would’ve chosen her if he ever truly had a choice. I’m interested in what you think of that.
His relationship to June is the only sunshine in his life, and it’s his motive for everything. And so, I think that’s absolutely right.

Got thoughts on Nick’s death? Hit the comments!