Review: Season One of The Handmaid’s Tale
The first season of the critically acclaimed show has come to a close, but did it live up to the hype?
The finale of The Handmaid’s Tale truly delivered after its rave reviews all season. The penultimate episode was utterly miserable. Every scene and the final instalment started out the same way but ended with a rare touch of defiance in a reality seeped in oppression.
No show has explored the depths of darkness quite like The Handmaid’s Tale. Women are pointed at and told that being raped was their fault, their bodies are mutilated when they refuse to comply with the oppressive order and Janine wasn’t even allowed to escape all that she had endured; her attempt at suicide stopped not by a friendly Samaritan, but by misogynists who weren’t done with abusing her yet. Janine’s story has been the most heart-breaking. We finally saw towards the end of the final episode, where the handmaids were gathered and told to stone Janine to death for jeopardising the life of a child when she attempted suicide. It resulted in the most powerful scene yet with the handmaid’s refusing to turn on one of their own; there was, at last, a chance at solidarity. It was a poignant, gut wrenching, beautiful moment that Janine finally was able to receive some sign of affection and ultimately, value that was sincere and not based around her reproductive system.
“there was, at last, a chance at solidarity”
The Handmaid’s Tale has been compelling and disturbing from the beginning. Its undoubtedly captivated so many because of the political climate of our times. In the US, the Christian right is looking to curtail abortion any way it can and in the UK the DUP are propping up the Government and they’re as inherently misogynistic as the worst of the GOP. The Handmaid’s Tale presents a future where our worst fears are confirmed.
There is nothing too brutal or sinister in this show. Sorry, but Game of Thrones just doesn’t reach the levels of shock that The Handmaid’s Tale does because this is a story about oppression women fear. It isn’t fantasy. In history, and across the world, it has at times actually been reality. The horror of the politics of Gilead aren’t unbelievable and that’s what made each episode so powerful.
The show was ground-breaking with how it examined how women are targeted for their lust towards other women. Women who have relationships with women are often talked about as gentle, and loving. Rarely is lust ever discussed. In history, even though queer women have been subjected to “corrective rape” (even under the Nazis), mutilated, murdered, abused and harassed their stories are never told. The focus is predominantly on men. The Handmaid’s Tale finally challenged that. Emily was brutalised, and had her clitoris removed, as she was viewed as a “gender traitor” for having an affair with a woman. Her partner, Martha, was hanged from a lamppost while Emily was left to watch. Emily was only spared this fate because she could become pregnant.
“The show was ground-breaking with how it examined how women are targeted for their lust towards other women”
Emily’s moment of rebellion at stealing a car (and ploughing it into a guard) was one of the only moments to take any heart in an incredibly oppressive world. The misery is relentless. Small shoots of hope are rarely offered.
Yvonne Strahovski plays Serena Joy incredibly, leaving the audience to wonder just whether there is any regret when her own books were thrown out with the trash in order for her vision of The Republic of Gilead to be executed. Perhaps an analogy for the number of white women who voted for Trump. At least until the last episode where finally, it seemed there was to be no redemption for Serena. Her selfish pious nature was revealed at its most terrifying, as she forced June to watch her child from afar and gave a cold threat that Hannah would only be safe if June delivered a healthy baby. Serena Joy is arguably one of the most chilling characters ever to have been created.
The Handmaid’s Tale however, has not escaped the white feminist problems that the book itself yielded. It was always a story where white women were put through what women slaves were and therefore was a story of women of colour stolen by white women. The show tries to combat this with, well, one woman of colour who is close to June but Moira barely features. The centre of the story is still about the oppression of white women.
There cannot be hope for better; it must be expected. If a show is to be radical and progressive then it must do so. There’s still work to be done for season two. The first season however, was undoubtedly some of the best TV delivered in recent years.
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