'The Handmaid's Tale' Cast on Aunt Lydia's Change of Heart After Janine Was Poisoned by Esther (Exclusive)
unfolds, life in Gilead continues to drive Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) and Janine (Madeline Brewer) back together. Especially in season 5, after Janine was unable to escape across the Canadian border and is once again a handmaid under the watchful eye of Lydia. While the two characters have always had a fraught mother-daughter dynamic, they find themselves needing each other now more than ever as Janine recovers from Esther’s (Mckenna Grace) attempted poisoning and Lydia’s concern over the way the handmaids are being treated by their commanders. Reflecting on what’s happened, Brewer tells ET that it “sets up something very important.” And now that episode four (“Dear Offred”) is streaming, she and Dowd open up about the two coming together.