How Esther Keyes became a handmaid in The Handmaid’s Tale
Esther Keyes (Mckenna Grace) was a former wife turned maid at Hulu The story of the maid. How did she end up being in the Red Center with other prospective maids? Here’s a refresher on Esther’s journey from wife to maid.
[SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers ahead regarding The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Episodes 1-3.]
Esther poisoned her husband, Commander Keyes, until he became senile
Like many of the women of Gilead, 14-year-old Esther had an arranged marriage to Commander Keyes (Bill MacDonald). In Season 4 of The story of the maid, it turns out that Commander Keyes cannot perform sexually. However, he still wants to have a child with Esther. So he had her raped by various guards, eyes and other commanders. As a result, Esther began poisoning Commander Keyes with nightshade and he slowly began to go senile.
Esther is arrested by Guardians in Season 4 and taken to the Red Center
During Season 4, Esther is an ally of June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) and the other escaped maids. She allows them to remain on the commander’s property and hide, wearing Martha outfits to disguise themselves from the drones looking for maids.
Esther slowly questions June’s motives, asking why she freed all 86 children if she didn’t want to stand up and fight against the commanders of Gilead. In “Nightshade,” June realizes the steps Esther took to rebel against Gilead, including poisoning Commander Keyes and others at Jezebel’s.
Later, June plans to move to another safe house and take Esther with her, but guards ambush the farm before they can escape. In the episode “The Crossing” we find out that Esther has been arrested, and in “Progress” Janine (Madeline Brewer), who has been working at the Red Center since Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) handed her over, discovers Esther-in-training maid. At Janine’s urging, Esther slowly begins to submit to Aunt Lydia’s (Ann Dowd) rules The story of the maid season 4
Esther is still a handmaid-in-training in season 5 of “The Handmaid’s Tale”.
Esther appears first The story of the maid Season 5 episode “Ballet”. With Gilead having lost 86 children in the June rebellion, Esther is quickly pushed through the Red Center to be considered as the Putnam’s next servant.
Despite Janine’s encouragement, Esther is not the most docile trainee. Despite this, Commander Putnam (Stephen Michael Kunken) takes a liking to Esther and subsequently feeds her sensual chocolate. Per Janine’s advice to Esther, who doesn’t want to receive posts: “Get your commander to like you. You’ll get pregnant quicker.”
However, Esther has no plans to conceive or post on the matter. At the end of The story of the maid Season 5 Episode 2, Esther consumes poisoned chocolates which she shares with Janine. The two are coughing up blood uncontrollably when Aunt Lydia finds them.
Episode 3 reveals that both Janine and Esther survive their suicide attempt. Janine eventually awakens from her coma, but Esther’s fate in Season 5 is unclear. Will Gilead keep her alive long enough to serve as a handmaid, or will she escape one way or another?
Watch new episodes of The story of the maid Season 5 on Hulu. New episodes appear weekly on Wednesdays.
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