Offred’s plane to Canada gets stopped on the runway. (We’ll get back to this, because… well, I need time to speak more calmly about other things that happened first.) Between those brief fugitive stints and an episode set in Canada where Moira and Luke help to foil Commander Waterford’s treaty negotiations, there was some sense of unexpected optimism to be found – only for it to be bluntly snatched away each time. June manages to escape her captors three different times over the course of the season – first hiding out in the abandoned Boston Globe newsroom then left alone in a well-provisioned country home after Nick had a run-in with some overzealous Guardians then given a chance to flee to Canada with her baby and Emily with the help of the Marthas and Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford, playing to both recent and old type at the same time) – yet inevitably winds up not making it over the border. Season Two seemed unsure of which path to follow, and at times tried both.
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Singer Paulette McWilliams on Her Years With Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, and Steely Dan
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But to suggest the possibility of hope – of escape and/or revolution for June and Emily and the others – would risk undercutting the very power, and unfortunate timeliness, of this particular tale.
HANDMAID'S TALE SEASON FINALE SERIAL
Continue dramatizing the enslavement and serial rape of the Handmaids of Gilead with the rawness and artistry of the first season, and the experience risks becoming unbearable in a hurry. Going beyond the source material isn’t inherently a bad thing – The Leftovers only improved once it finished dramatizing the book – but this particular show seemed to be caught between a narrative rock and an emotional hard place. Handmaid’s Season One adapted most of the plot of Margaret Atwood’s novel, leaving open the question of what showrunner Bruce Miller and company would be able to do in later seasons.
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Unfortunately, the people who tell stories for television don’t always know the difference. Some stories are meant to be told, and enjoyed, for a very long time.
HANDMAID'S TALE SEASON FINALE FULL
Thoughts on the finale, and the season as a whole - with full spoilers throughout - coming up just as soon as I listen to Oprah Winfrey and Bruce Springsteen on my car stereo… The Handmaid’s Tale just concluded its second season in incredibly frustrating fashion.