The Handmaid's Tale is an American dystopian drama web television series created by Bruce Miller, based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. It was ordered by the streaming service Hulu as a straight-to-series order of 10 episodes, for which production began in late 2016. The plot features a dystopian future following a Second American Civil War wherein a totalitarian society subjects fertile women, called "Handmaids", into child-bearing servitude.
The first three episodes of the series premiered on April 26, 2017; the subsequent seven episodes aired on a weekly basis every Wednesday. In May 2017, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on April 25, 2018.
The Handmaid's Tale has received widespread critical acclaim and its first season won eight Primetime Emmy Awards from thirteen nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series. It is the first show produced by Hulu to win a major award as well as the first series on a streaming service to win an Emmy for Outstanding Series. It also became the first streaming series to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Drama. Elisabeth Moss was also awarded the Golden Globe for Best Actress.
In May 2018, Hulu announced that the series had been renewed for a third season.
Video The Handmaid's Tale (TV series)
Plot
In the near future, fertility rates collapse as a result of sexually transmitted diseases and environmental pollution. With this chaos, the totalitarian, theonomic government of "Gilead" establishes rule in the former United States in the aftermath of a civil war. Society is organized by power-hungry leaders along with a new, militarized, hierarchical regime of fanaticism and newly created social classes, in which women are brutally subjugated, and by law are not allowed to work, own property, handle money, or read.
Worldwide infertility has resulted in the conscription of the few remaining fertile women in Gilead, called "Handmaids", according to an extremist interpretation of the Biblical account of Bilhah. They are assigned to the homes of the ruling elite, where they must submit to ritualized rape by their male masters in order to become pregnant and bear children for those men and their wives.
Alongside the Handmaids, much of society is now grouped into classes that dictate their freedoms and duties. Women are divided into a small range of social categories, each one signified by a plain dress in a specific color: Handmaids wear red, Marthas (who are housekeepers and cooks, named after the biblical figure) wear green, and Wives (who are expected to run their households) wear blue and turquoise.
Econowives, the lower-class women who still have minimal agency, are a sort of mixture of all these categories, and they wear gray (a departure from the book in which Econowives wear clothing striped with the aforementioned colors). Women prisoners are called Unwomen and are worked to death clearing toxic waste in the Colonies.
Another class of women, Aunts (who train and oversee the Handmaids), wear brown. Additionally, the Eyes are a secret police watching over the general populace for signs of rebellion, Hunters track down people attempting to flee the country, and Jezebels are sex workers in secret brothels catering to the elite ruling class.
June Osborne, renamed Offred (Elisabeth Moss), is the Handmaid assigned to the home of the Gileadan Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) and his wife Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski). Offred is subject to strict rules and constant scrutiny; an improper word or deed on her part can lead to brutal punishment.
Offred, who is named after her male master ("Of Fred") like all Handmaids, was married and had a daughter, a job, a bank account, and her own name and identity in the "time before", but all she can safely do now is follow the rules of Gilead in hopes that she can someday live free again and be reunited with her husband and daughter. The Waterfords, key players in the rise of Gilead, have their own conflicts with the realities of the society they have helped create.
Maps The Handmaid's Tale (TV series)
Cast and characters
Main
- Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne / Offred, a woman who was captured while attempting to escape to Canada with her husband, Luke, and daughter, Hannah. Due to her fertility, she is made a Handmaid to Commander Fred Waterford and his wife, Serena Joy, and is named "Offred".
- Joseph Fiennes as Commander Fred Waterford, a high-ranking government official and June's master. Both he and his wife played an instrumental role in Gilead's founding. He wishes to have more contact with June outside of what is lawful between a Handmaid and her master, and starts inviting her to play nightly games of Scrabble.
- Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy Waterford, Fred's wife and a former conservative cultural activist. She appears to have accepted her new role in a society that she helped create. She is poised and deeply religious, but capable of great cruelty and is often callous to June. She is desperate to become a mother.
- Alexis Bledel as Emily / Ofglen / Ofsteven, June's shopping partner. Although June is initially wary of her, it is revealed Ofglen is not as pious as she seems, and the two become friends. Ofglen had a wife and son, and was a university lecturer in cellular biology. Being homosexual is punishable by death in Gilead, and most university professors are sent to labour camps, but Ofglen was spared and made a Handmaid, due to her fertility. She is later captured and cruelly punished for her relationship with a Martha, and is sent to another household where she becomes "Ofsteven". She is involved with a resistance movement called "Mayday".
- Madeline Brewer as Janine / Ofwarren / Ofdaniel, a Handmaid who entered the Red Center for training at the same time as June and considers June a friend due to her kind treatment. Initially non-compliant, Janine's right eye is removed as a punishment. She becomes mentally unstable due to her treatment and often behaves in temperamental or childlike ways. She gives birth to a child for Warren and Naomi Putnam, whom they name "Angela", but Janine insists the baby's name is "Charlotte". Janine is later reassigned and becomes "Ofdaniel". She was temporarily assigned to the Colonies until a bombing at the new Rachel and Leah Center.
- Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia, a woman in charge of overseeing the Handmaids in their sexual reeducation and duties. She is brutal and subjects insubordinate Handmaids to harsh physical punishment, but she also cares for her charges and believes deeply in the Gileadean mission and doctrine. She appears to have a soft spot for Janine, and even goes so far as to address her by her given name on occasion.
- O. T. Fagbenle as Lucas "Luke" Bankole, June's husband from before Gilead. Because he and June began their relationship before his divorce from his first wife, their union is considered invalid in the new society. June is considered an adulteress and their daughter, Hannah, is considered illegitimate. Initially, June believes he has been killed, but it is later revealed Luke managed to escape to Canada.
- Max Minghella as Nick Blaine, Commander Waterford's driver and a former drifter from Michigan who has feelings for June. June and Nick develop an intimate relationship and she eventually discovers that he is an Eye, a spy for Gilead.
- Samira Wiley as Moira / Ruby, June's best friend since college. She is already at the Red Center when June enters Handmaid training but escapes before being assigned to a home. She is recaptured and becomes "Ruby", a Jezebel. She seems to have given up hope of ever being free, but on meeting June again regains the conviction to escape.
- Amanda Brugel as Rita (recurring season 1, main season 2-present), a Martha at the Waterford home. She had a son who died fighting in the civil war when he was 19 years old.
- Bradley Whitford as Commander Joseph Lawrence (recurring season 2, main season 3), the founder of the Colonies.
Recurring
- Ever Carradine as Naomi Putnam, Commander Warren Putnam's wife.
- Tattiawna Jones as Lillie Fuller / Ofglen No. 2, who replaces Emily in the position after Emily is captured by the Eyes. She initially follows the rules and does not wish to upset the status quo, but this is because she believes her life as a Handmaid is better than the difficult, impoverished life she led prior to Gilead, rather than out of religious piety.
- Nina Kiri as Alma / Ofrobert, another Handmaid who trained at the Red Center with June, Moira, and Janine. She is frank and chatty, and often trades gossip and news with June. She is also involved with Mayday and becomes June's first contact with the resistance group.
- Jenessa Grant as Dolores / Ofsamuel, a local Handmaid with a friendly and talkative nature.
- Bahia Watson as Brianna / Oferic, another local Handmaid who is friends with June.
- Jordana Blake as Hannah Bankole, June and Luke's daughter. She is later renamed Agnes.
- Erin Way as Erin, a young, apparently mute, woman who was being trained to become a Handmaid but managed to escape to Canada.
- Sydney Sweeney as Eden Spencer (season 2), a pious and obedient girl who was Nick's wife.
- Greg Bryk as Commander Ray Cushing (season 2)
- Rohan Mead as Isaac (season 2), a Guardian assigned to the Waterford home.
- Julie Dretzin as Eleanor Lawrence (season 2), Joseph's wife.
Guest
- Kristen Gutoskie as Beth (season 1), a Martha at Jezebel's. She has an arrangement with Nick whereby she trades illegal alcohol and other contraband for drugs, which the Jezebels use. She has a casual sexual relationship with him and is aware that he is an Eye.
- Marisa Tomei as Mrs. O'Conner (season 2), a Commander's wife who is sent to the colonies as punishment for having sex with another man.
- Cherry Jones as Holly Maddox (season 2), June's mother, an outspoken feminist.
- Clea DuVall as Sylvia (season 2), Emily's wife.
- Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Omar (season 2) a man who helps June attempt to escape.
- John Carroll Lynch as Dan (season 2), Emily's boss at the university where she worked.
- Kelly Jenrette as Annie (season 2), Luke's ex-wife.
- Rebecca Rittenhouse as Odette (season 2), a Doctor and Moira's fiancée.
- Sam Jaeger as Mark Tuello (season 2), a mysterious stranger who Serena encounters in Canada.
- Oprah Winfrey (uncredited) as Newsreader (season 2) on a car radio.
Episodes
Series overview
Season 1 (2017)
Season 2 (2018)
Production
A straight-to-series order by Hulu of The Handmaid's Tale was announced in April 2016, with Elisabeth Moss set to star. Based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood, the series was created by Bruce Miller, who is also an executive producer with Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears, and Warren Littlefield. Atwood serves as consulting producer, giving feedback on some of the areas where the series expands upon or modernizes the book. She also played a small cameo role in the first episode. Moss is also a producer. In June 2016, Reed Morano was announced as director of the series. Samira Wiley, Max Minghella, and Ann Dowd joined the cast in July 2016. Joseph Fiennes, Madeline Brewer, and Yvonne Strahovski were cast in August 2016, followed by O. T. Fagbenle and Amanda Brugel in September 2016. In October 2016, Ever Carradine joined the cast, and Alexis Bledel was added in January 2017.
Filming on the series took place in Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton, Oakville, and Cambridge, Ontario, from September 2016 to February 2017. The first full trailer of the TV series was released by Hulu on YouTube on March 23, 2017. The series premiered on April 26, 2017.
On May 3, 2017, The Handmaid's Tale was renewed for a second season to premiere in 2018. Moss told the news media that the subsequent episodes would cover further developments in the story, filling in some of the unanswered questions and continuing the narrative already "finished" in the book. The second season consists of 13 episodes and began filming in fall 2017. Alexis Bledel returned as a series regular. Showrunner Bruce Miller stated that he envisioned 10 seasons of the show, stating, "Well, you know, honestly, when I started, I tried to game out in my head what would ten seasons be like? If you hit a home run, you want energy to go around the bases, you want enough story to keep going, if you can hook the audience to care about these people enough that they're actually crying at the finale."
Season 2 was filmed primarily in Toronto, Ontario, but some scenes were shot in Hamilton, Ontario and in Cambridge, Ontario. Season 3 is to start production in Toronto in October 2018.
Broadcast and release
The first three episodes of the series premiered on April 26, 2017; the subsequent seven episodes were released on a weekly basis. In Canada, the series is broadcast weekly by Bravo and the streaming service CraveTV; the first two episodes premiered on April 30, 2017. In Scandinavia, the series is available on HBO Nordic. In the United Kingdom, the series premiered on May 28, 2017, on Channel 4. In Ireland, the series premiered on February 5, 2018 on RTÉ2, with a showing of the first two episodes. RTÉ also became the first broadcaster in Europe to debut Season 2 following its broadcast in the US and Canada. In the Brazil, the series premiered on March 7, 2018, on Paramount Channel.
In New Zealand, the series was released on the subscription video on demand service Lightbox on June 8, 2017. In Australia, the series premiered on the TV channel SBS's video streaming service SBS on Demand, on July 6, 2017.
The first season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 13, 2018.
Reception
Critical response
Season 1
On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 95% based on 107 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Haunting and vivid, The Handmaid's Tale is an endlessly engrossing adaptation of Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel that's anchored by a terrific central performance from Elisabeth Moss." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 92 out of 100 based on 41 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter called it "probably the spring's best new show". Jen Chaney of Vulture gave it a highly positive review, and wrote that it is "A faithful adaptation of the book that also brings new layers to Atwood's totalitarian, sexist world of forced surrogate motherhood" and that "this series is meticulously paced, brutal, visually stunning, and so suspenseful from moment to moment that only at the end of each hour will you feel fully at liberty to exhale".
There was much debate on whether parallels could be drawn between the series (and by extension, the book it is based on) and American society during the Presidency of Donald Trump. A comparison has also been made to the Salafi/Wahabbi extremism of ISIL, under which enslaved women of religious minorities are passed around and utilized as sex objects and vessels to bear new jihadis.
Season 2
On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an approval rating of 92% based on 74 reviews, with an average rating of 8.31/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Beautifully shot but dishearteningly relevant, The Handmaid's Tale centers its sophomore season tightly around its compelling cast of characters, making room for broader social commentary through more intimate lenses." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
However, the second season of the show received criticism for being excessive in its depictions of violence with critics questioning whether it was merely "torture porn" and going too far. The Atlantic's Sophie Gilbert wrote: "There came a point during the first episode where, for me, it became too much." Lisa Miller of The Cut wrote: "I have pressed mute and fast forward so often this season, I am forced to wonder: 'Why am I watching this'? It all feels so gratuitous, like a beating that never ends." And The Daily Telegraph's Rebecca Reid admitted she had an anxiety attack watching an episode of the show.
Awards
See also
- List of original programs distributed by Hulu
References
External links
- The Handmaid's Tale - official site at Hulu
- The Handmaid's Tale on IMDb
Source of article : Wikipedia
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