Content warning: The following article contains spoilers for the Hulu show “The Handmaid’s Tale.”The dystopian drama has had a great success in its five seasons The Handmaid’s Tale has taken a harrowing look at a disturbing dystopia in which women are forced to have children for the ruling class in order to remedy the declining birth rate of the country now called Gilead. The series premiered in 2017 and is based on the novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. Season 6 will be TThe Handmaid’s Taleis the last and is scheduled to air in 2025, three years after season 5. The sequel, The Testamentsis also in development for Hulu.

The Handmaid’s Tale has delivered a number of outstanding episodes detailing the harsh realities of life in Gilead, particularly June. But for every critically acclaimed, top-rated episode, there’s another that gets overlooked, despite being just as intense and emotional. Like the best episodes of the series, the most underrated episodes also provide insightful insight into the characters.

10 “Heroic”

Season 3, Episode 9

In “Heroic” Junes (Elizabeth Moss) her mental state became unstable when she was forced to kneel on the floor of her walking partner Natalie’s hospital room (Ashleigh LaThrop), also known as Ofmatthew, who was brain dead but kept alive to carry her pregnancy to term. June’s punishment was to last until the baby was born and had already been underway for a month at the start of the episode. After an encounter with Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski), June reconsidered her actions.

Much of what Gilead did to people amounted to psychological torture, such as June’s imprisonment in Heroic. Star Elisabeth Moss consistently delivered fantastic performances in Heroic. The Handmaid’s Taleand this was a great example of June unraveling. It was also a crucial episode for June’s character. Yet despite its emotional impact, it is one of the series’ lowest-rated episodes on IMDb, possibly in part due to negative fan reactions to the deaths of the two women of color.

9 “The word”

Season 2, Episode 13

After Edens (played by Sydney Sweeney) death, June searched through her belongings in the season two finale “The Word” and found a Bible with marginal notes suggesting that Eden could read and write – even though Gilead’s laws prohibited women from doing so. The incident motivated Serena and the other women to try to make changes. Meanwhile, Emily (Alexis Bledel) met her new commander, who turned out to be not as cruel as his colleagues.

“The Word” was a reminder of what the women of Gilead had lost – all women, not just the handmaidens. It was also a compelling episode about a mother’s love and willingness to do anything for her child – when June, in the middle of an escape, entrusted baby Nichole to others and chose to stay behind to find and rescue her other daughter Hannah, while Serena came to terms with what life in Gilead would be like for Nichole and willingly handed her over.

8 “The place of a woman”

Season 1, Episode 6

The Ambassador to Mexico visited Gilead in “A Woman’s Place” and Commander Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) hoped to arrange a trade agreement between the two countries. During the visit, the ambassador interviewed the handmaidens. Meanwhile, through flashbacks, the episode revealed the role Serena played in the founding of Gilead and showed a very different version of her – she was an outspoken activist and writer, a far cry from the submissive housewife she became in Gilead.

“A Woman’s Place” is an essential episode of The Handmaid’s Tale – It showed how other countries viewed Gilead and the lengths those in power would go to present Gilead’s best image, proving that they were aware of their cruelty. And for the first time in the series, it focused on a character other than June, giving a glimpse into Serena’s past life. The insight into her character made the episode a must-see.

7 “Home”

Season 4, Episode 7

In “Home,” June finally made it to Canada, where Luke (OT Fagbenle) and Moira (Samira Wiley) and raised Nichole, officially requesting asylum for her safety. She began adjusting to her new life and experienced a number of conflicting emotions about the change. She was reunited with Luke and after some initial awkwardness, he apologized for not getting her and Hannah out, while June expressed her guilt over Hannah not being with her. Later, June confronted Serena.

After June was so close to escaping Gilead so many times, It was great to see that she finally made it – and confront Serena about it. “Home” helped show how different life was in Gilead from life outside of it, and the impact it had on June and Luke both individually and as a couple. The emotional moments between the two were some of the best in the episode, and helped make it a compelling episode overall.

6 “Faithful”

Season 1, Episode 5

In “Faithful,” Serena suspected that Fred was infertile and made a plan for Nick (Max Minghella), to sleep with June in the hope of impregnating June. Meanwhile, June and Fred spent more and more time together in his office, mostly playing Scrabble, and June was inspired by Emily’s rebellious act. In addition, flashbacks showed the beginning of June’s relationship with Luke – he was married to another woman when they met.

“Faithful” was the beginning of June’s relationship with Nick, which would ultimately have a huge impact on the continuation of the seriesand also showed a softer, more human side of Fred. While the series mainly focuses on June, it does occasionally offer a glimpse into the lives of other handmaids, among the most interesting being Emily, who had some great moments in this episode, particularly her violent rebellion.

5 “Holly”

Season 2, Episode 11

In “Holly,” June was left alone in an abandoned house after a brief meeting with Hannah arranged by Fred – although she was accompanied by Nick, he was shot and taken away by guards, leaving June heavily pregnant and alone with no one seemingly coming to pick her up. After spending some time searching the house, she eventually went into labor and gave birth to a daughter, whom she named Holly.

“Holly” was a gripping episode that contrasted the births of June’s two daughtersHannah and Holly – named after June’s mother and later renamed Nichole by Serena – show the very different circumstances in which they came into the world. And because birth in Gilead involved a ceremony for the wives, June was delighted that Serena was denied the experience. Moss delivered one of her best performances of the series in this episode.

4 “The Crossing”

Season 4, Episode 3

After June was captured by Gilead in “The Crossing,” she was taken to prison by an angry Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd). In the meantime, Nick and Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) worked together to help June as best they could. In the final moments of the episode, the handmaids attempted to escape across the train tracks, but several of them were struck and killed by an oncoming train. The episode was also notable for being Moss’ directorial debut.

Aunt Lydia is one of the cruelest characters in the series, if not the cruelest – but Dowd is fantastic in the role, and “The Crossing” presented Dowd at her best and Lydia at her worstor almost, from executing other Handmaids to using Hannah to get June to cooperate. And after all the trauma Janine had to endure, it was hard to watch her after the Handmaids died.

3 “Late”

Season 1, Episode 3

In “Late,” June visited Janine (Madeline Brewer) Baby. Meanwhile, Emily was arrested and faced the cruel punishment of genital mutilation for having an affair with Martha, who was executed. Elsewhere, June met the new Ofglen, who acted as if Emily had never existed. June’s flashbacks showed the early days of the revolution that led to the founding of Gilead, where women were denied entry to corporations based on their clothing – in Moira and June’s case, workout clothes.

“Late”, especially Emily’s storyline, is one of the most disturbing episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale and can be difficult to observebut that’s what makes the episode so gripping. In addition to showing an unimaginable punishment, the episode also shows the bizarre way in which handmaids – especially more compliant ones – were stripped of their identities, and trivializes some of Gilead’s worst crimes. Some of the episode’s best scenes, however, are the flashbacks that show how the changes in what would become Gilead were small at first.

2 “Household”

Season 3, Episode 6

In “Household,” June traveled to DC with Serena and Fred to attend a public prayer ceremony aimed at urging the Canadian government to return baby Nichole to Gilead. During their stay, they stayed in the large, beautiful home of the powerful Winslow family, a large family of six children – most presumably kidnapped by their real parents – led by Commander George (Christopher Meloni), who was believed to be gay, another crime in Gilead.

The Handmaid’s Tale focused almost exclusively on one particular location, but in “Household,” the series offered a glimpse into how other parts of Gilead work, particularly DC – and somehow it was even worse than what was shown before. It was shocking to see how the Gilead government had completely taken over the city, from turning the Washington Monument into a cross to the far more disturbing handmaidens with their mouths sewn shut.

1 “Vow”

Season 4, Episode 6

In “Vows,” after emerging from the rubble of a Gilead-backed air raid on Chicago, June was almost immediately reunited with Moira, who worked as a laborer and offered June a chance at freedom. As a result, June made it to Canada and was also reunited with Luke – and she worried that he would never forgive her for not being able to get Hannah out of Gilead, too.

“Vows” was a turning point for The Handmaid’s Tale. Moira’s return was very welcome – she’s a great character and great to watch no matter what she does. Her reunion with June was understandably emotional and the episode presented a touching focus on their friendship, somehow managing to survive America’s descent into Gilead and the horrors it inflicted on them. But one of the best and most emotional moments was June’s tearful statement to Luke that Hannah was not with her..

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