We Really Turned It Up To 11

April 11, 2025

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Warning: The following contains spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale season 6, episodes 1-3.Madeline Brewer, who plays Janine in The Handmaid’s Tale, talks about how her character has changed in season 6. The season’s three-episode premiere returns to the dystopian world of Gilead and takes a look at where Janine is now following her cliffhanger last scene at the end of The Handmaid’s Tale season 5, as she was being taken away on the orders of Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) after she refused to apologize to Naomi Putnam. It turns out that Janine not only survived, but she ended up in Jezebels, a brothel in Gilead.

While talking to ScreenRant, Brewer discussed what to expect from Janine in The Handmaid’s Tale season 6, revealing that she was “thrilled” to be in Jezebels, and that there will be more to know about what happened to Janine after her season 5 fate. Brewer explained that this season finds Janine “a little rougher now,” but she’s “making the best of a bad situation” and having “the most freedom” she had in Gilead. The actor explained that the character has gone full circle and “becomes of real use to the resistance” in season 6. Check out her comments below:

I was really stoked! I was thrilled to be in Jezebels this season. I remember watching it in previous seasons and just feeling like, “God, now that’s something I want to see more of. I want to know more about this world and why it is this way.” And I think we really turned it up to 11 this season with the content of what’s happening there.

Janine does this wherever she is; she does it in the Red Center, when she’s placed in a house; she does it in Chicago, and now she’s doing it again at Jezebel’s. She makes the best of a bad situation. For Janine, that’s the women. She finds the friendships, she finds a way to help. That’s her purpose. That’s where we’ve met Janine here: she’s making the best of a bad situation.

I think Jezebels, ironically, is the most freedom Janine has had while still within the walls of Gilead. And I really wanted to keep this while we were shooting this stuff. She can be a little rougher now and bring back some of that early Janine that we saw in episode 1. She’s a hot girl! I think that she is a little bit jaded and a little bit hardened. It is just that she’s come 360. She started tough; she started real in-your-face. That’s the Jersey girl in me, and she’s gone everywhere you could take a person’s mind, I think. We’ve brought her right back around, and that’s where she becomes of real use to the resistance.

Janine Has An Important Part To Play In The Fight For Freedom

Brewer has previously confirmed that Janine will be reunited with June in The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 and a continuation of their sisterhood. She also explained that schemes and plans follow June wherever the character goes, so whatever June is planning to do this season, Janine will be able to put her knowledge and experience within the walls of Gilead to “real use.”

The Handmaid’s Tale season 6, episode 1 ends with the return of a major character, one who June hasn’t seen since before Gilead took over.

The actor’s comments also hint that, despite Janine telling Aunt Lydia to forget about her, this season will take a relatively deeper dive into the dark corners of Gilead in a way that the previous seasons haven’t been able to. The Handmaid’s Tale has seen Janine being punished for her rebellious behavior until she’s broken, but now, it seems that Janine has arrived at a place where she’s mentally stronger and tougher than ever to leave her real mark on the rebellion.

Our Take On Janine In The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6

Janine Will Take Care Of Herself And Others

Image via Hulu

The season 6 premiere features an unexpected reunion as Aunt Lydia finds out about Janine’s fate in The Handmaid’s Tale. While the Aunt still wanted to save Janine, she seemed to have found her own footing in Jezebels, being effortless in the situation, and as Brewer pointed out, she wasn’t alone there. She was surrounded by women like her.

Janine may be seen as pessimistic during her exchange with Aunt Lydia, but Brewer’s comment suggests that the character had only grown tougher in the gap between seasons 5 and 6. Though she may have been mentally broken in the show, Janine didn’t allow what happened to her in Gilead to change who she is, which makes her one of the toughest fighters in The Handmaid’s Tale.

New episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 are released on Hulu every Tuesday at 12 a.m. ET/9 p.m. PT.