In The Handmaid’s Tale, Roe v. Wade spotlighted Margaret Atwood’s dystopian vision. But this fifth season arc falls short at the moment, focusing on the hateful bond between June and Selina at the expense of pretty much everything else.
Enacted by June (Elizabeth Moss) at the end of season 4, the brutal and cathartic fate of Commander Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) is set against his widow and Gilead’s partner in crime, Selina (Yvonne Strahovski).
The show is often criticized for relying too heavily on torture porn to get its point across. But “Ballet” focuses on another kind of patriarchal atrocities. Beneath a thin veneer of chivalry hides the sickening psychological horror of being trapped in a world that only values what the body can offer men, and that public violence. You know, the kind of misogyny that might sound more familiar to you and me.
For those of you who were disappointed by the lack of time in Gilead in Episode 1, we’re happy to report that you’ll be spending most of Episode 2 in her Theocratic Fascist home of The Handmaid’s Tale. The main thing that happens in this episode is Janine’s return – back to her deficits and cognitive dissonance as a servant – a former child bride with June and the other fugitives hiding in the house to her left. The fourth season with the newly minted maid Esther.
Nice to see this bitch alive but sad to see her back in the hood. The achievement and comeback of The Handmaids Tale’s fascinating and often traumatic world, which bears a chilling resemblance to the current political climate, is celebrated.
Based on the 1985 dystopian novel of the same name by Margaret Atwoods, The Handmaid’s Tale debuted on TV in 2017, complete with state-sanctioned rape rituals and red robes.
Over the next few years and seasons, follow the journey of rebellious maid June Osborne, played fearlessly by Elisabeth Moss, as she fights like hell to destroy the totalitarians while trying to keep her children safe. We’re going to run a horror show where the fanatic is Gilead.
