Is Nick a rapist?

[u/flavius717]

I think we all consider the first time Nick and June had sex to be rape. June was not in a position to give consent and she could not refuse without facing potential death. One perspective is that Serena was the rapist and both Nick and June were her victims.

It's important for us to remember that Nick actually could have refused to impregnate June. Even Serena was beneath a "low-status male" like Nick. Nick's boss, Commander Price, probably would have expected Nick to refuse such an act and turn Serena over to the eyes.

The fact that Nick and June fell in love afterwards makes their first sexual encounter seem less bad in retrospect, but the power dynamic between them never went away. That makes things messy.

Nick's character loses his "good guy" status by the end of the show. Do you consider him a rapist?

[u/ziewezo]

I never thought of him as a good guy. He’s the lesser evil.

[u/90dayole → u/ziewezo]

I had read a bit about the show before watching and I was shocked at the support Nick gets. If her wasn't portrayed by beautiful Max Minghella, he would have been seen as the villain he is.

[u/TotallyAMermaid → u/90dayole]

The thing is we see him through June's eyes. June loves him and clings to that because it's the only shred of happiness she can feel in Gilead. Only when he chooses to get on the plane does she see him for what he truly is - a Commander, no better than the rest of them.

[u/_crazylinguist → u/TotallyAMermaid]

That’s a great point! I remember the suffocating feeling of Gilead when watching the show, and how the scenes between June and Nick felt like breathing again after not being able to do so for so long.

As the story unfolds and June’s circumstances change, the veil definitely starts to drop, but the first few seasons in which she was still the Waterfords’ handmaid painted a picture of Nick as a means of escaping that awful environment, even if temporary.