Ann Dowd Reveals Why Aunt Lydia Freed the Handmaids in Episode 8 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

The actress tells TheWrap about the critical scene with Elisabeth Moss and Madeline Brewer

Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia in Season 6 of “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu/Disney)

“The Handmaid’s Tale” star Ann Dowd said her character Aunt Lydia’s critical decision to let the rebelling group of handmaids go was mostly in part due to how much she loves and cares about Janine (Madeline Brewer).

“Without Janine coming in [into the room], I don’t think Aunt Lydia could have let go,” Dowd told TheWrap. “That’s the power of this relationship, the love that I know Lydia has for her, and I won’t speak for Janine, but there’s real love there.”

It’s true, Aunt Lydia has always had a sweet spot for Janine in her cold, prickly heart. As the saying goes, if you love something, let it go. And in Episode 8, titled “Exodus,” fans finally get to see Aunt Lydia prove how much she loves Janine. After giving the escaping handmaids a good holier than thou scolding, June (Elisabeth Moss) enters the room and gives Aunt Lydia a good ol’ anointed read right on back.

“If you think God wants this for us, for your girls, that God would allow all of this, or is there a God that would empower a woman like you to stand up for us to arc toward the light and to finally declare ‘Enough,’ because we, all of us, together, we’ve had enough,” June told Lydia in the climactic scene.

“The relationship with [Aunt Lydia and] June Osborne is a complicated one,” Dowd said. “As much as Lydia wants to take her and put her straight in prison for all that she’s done — and give her a good whipping before she does — she has tremendous respect and love for that character … And for [June] to show up in person and go over bit by bit, sentence by sentence, all that Lydia is guilty of, and she knows it.”

After June’s remarks, that’s when Janine, whom June just saved from the grips for Commander Bell (Timothy Simons), walked into the room.

“When my precious Janine comes in the room, that does it. That’s it, right there,” Dowd said.

Shortly after listening to Janine’s pain, Aunt Lydia made her decision. She told the Gilead eye to lower his gun, which triggers sighs of relief from the women across the room.

“I’m sorry he hurt you, dear,” Aunt Lydia told Janine as she pulls her into an embrace. Without further thought, the handmaids quickly flee from the room with their red, skirted dresses flying through the air right behind them.

The scene ends with Aunt Lydia praying for the Lord’s help.

“Oh God help me, God help me. Help. God help me,” a weeping Aunt Lydia plead as she falls to the ground in tears.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” releases new episodes Tuesdays on Hulu.

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Ann Dowd Reveals Why Aunt Lydia Freed the Handmaids in Episode 8 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

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