By MARK
O’CALLAGHAN
Staff Writer
When Hulu premiered the first three episodes of “The Handmaid’s Tale” last year, the buzz around it was huge. I tried to watch it but the show felt too real with Donald Trump just winning the election and the environment around it. It wasn’t until December that I gave it another go and finally got invested in it. With the season two premiering soon, it’s the perfect time to catch up with season one.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” is set in the near future where pollution and STD’s have dramatically lowered the birth rate with panic around the world. Our government gets overthrown by a militant regime called Gilead that forces a conservative state of affairs. All women have their basic rights stripped away and get divided into different classes. The most important to society are the handmaids that are tasked with trying to give birth.
Each handmaid lives with a commander that forcibly impregnates them. The series follows Offred (Elizabeth Moss) who recently became a handmaid and is trying to survive in this harsh society.
Let’s get this out of the world, this isn’t an easy show to watch. You can’t just casually watch it. They go to great lengths to show what kind of world this is. It’s a horrible sexist world where women are literal objects and have no rights. There are moments that are triggering like the “The Ceremony” which is rape and how most of the women become like cattle.
While that’s scary alone, it feels even more frightening in our current times. What’s effective is the flashbacks that are from pre-Gilead days. This isn’t set decades ago but presumed to be just a couple of years ago. The downfall of our government and basic rights are shell shocking. The moment I stopped watching is the flashback involving a peaceful protest. In one second, the police open fire on a crowd as people look on to see freedom go away. It left me numb and cold but during my second watch, I noticed one big element I missed.
Along with the horror, there are moments of hope. They might not be big moments but when they appear, they’re powerful. As the season goes on, hope gets stronger as perseverance becomes one of the main themes. Offred and the other characters try to navigate through Gilead and not only hope for survival but freedom as well.
Besides being the biggest show last year, “The Handmaid’s Tale” has taken home many awards from directing to acting. The acting is top notch with every single actor bringing their A game. Elizabeth Moss deserves all of the attention she’s been getting. Seeing the restraint in her performance as her character can’t truly be herself in Gideon. Top that with the narration she gives, Offred has been one of the best new characters from last year.
Combine that with the direction makes this show a compelling watch. It isn’t something where you could casually watch an episode every now and again, you need to immediately watch the next episode. The music and costume design really stand out to me. Everything is coordinate so beautifully including the actual Handmaid’s design. Even when you see the horror on screen, at least there’s some beauty in the actual scene.
While “The Handmaid’s Tale” can be very hard to watch, it’s very rewarding as the show was one of the best of 2017. Everything from the acting, costume design and direction really make this a great freshman season. Hulu will put out the first three episodes of season two on Wednesday, April 25.
