The Handmaid's Tale is an American web television series created by Bruce Miller, based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. It was ordered by streaming service Hulu with a straight-to-series order of 10 episodes, with the production beginning in late 2016. The plot follows a dystopian future following a Second American Civil War where women, called "Handmaids", are forced into sexual and child-bearing servitude.
The first three episodes of the series premiered on April 26, 2017, with the subsequent seven episodes added on a weekly basis every Wednesday. In May 2017, it was renewed for a second season to premiere on April 25, 2018. The Handmaid's Tale received widespread critical acclaim and won eight Primetime Emmy Awards from thirteen nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series, becoming the first series on a streaming platform to win an Emmy for Outstanding Series. It has also won Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series - Drama and Best Actress for Elisabeth Moss.
Video The Handmaid's Tale (TV series)
Plot
In the near future, human fertility rates collapse as a result of sexually transmitted diseases and environmental pollution. With this chaos in place, the totalitarian, Christian 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 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 a Biblical account. They are assigned to the homes of the ruling elite, where they must submit to ritualized rape with their male masters in order to become pregnant and bear children for those men and their wives.
Alongside the red-clad 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 specifically colored dress in a similar style. Handmaids wear red, Marthas wear green, and Wives wear blue. Econowives, the lower-class women who still have minimal agency, are sort of a mixture of all these categories, so they wear stripes. Wives are expected to run their households, Marthas are housekeepers and cooks, Aunts train and oversee the Handmaids; 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 prostitutes in secret brothels catering to the elite ruling class.
June Osborne, renamed Offred (Elisabeth Moss), is the Handmaid assigned to the home of Gileadan Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) and his wife Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski). She is subject to the strictest 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 like all Handmaids, can remember the "time before", when she was married, had a daughter and had her own name and identity, but all she can safely do now is follow the rules of Gilead in the hope that she can someday live free and be reunited with her 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
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 becomes 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 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, June's shopping partner. Although June is initially wary of her, it is revealed she is not as pious as she seems and the two become friends. She 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 she was spared, due to her fertility. She is later captured and 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, 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, her 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; they name her "Angela" but Janine insists that her name is "Charlotte". She is later reassigned and becomes "Ofdaniel".
- Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia, a woman in charge of overseeing the handmaids in their education and duty. 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, even going so far as to address her by her given name on occasion.
- O. T. Fagbenle as Luke Bankole, June's husband from before Gilead. As June is his second wife, their union is considered invalid in the new society and Hannah is considered illegitimate. Initially June believes him to have been killed, but it is later revealed that he 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, 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 again.
- Amanda Brugel as Rita, a Martha at the Waterford home. She had a son who died fighting in the civil war when he was nineteen years old.
Recurring
- Ever Carradine as Naomi Putnam, Commander Warren Putnam's wife. She views her baby largely as a status symbol and has no sympathy for the handmaids.
- Kristen Gutoskie as Beth, a Martha at Jezebel's. She has an arrangement with Nick where 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.
- Tattiawna Jones as Ofglen #2, who replaces Emily in the position after she's captured by the Eyes. She follows the rules and does not wish to upset the status quo, but this is because she believes her life as a handmaid to be better than the difficult, impoverished life she led prior to Gilead, rather than out of religious piety.
- Nina Kiri as Alma, another handmaid who trained at the Red Center with June, Moira and Janine. She is frank and chatty, often trading gossip and news with June. She is also involved with Mayday and becomes June's first contact with the resistance group.
- Jenessa Grant as Ofsamuel, a local handmaid with a friendly and talkative nature.
- Jordana Blake as Hannah Osborne, June's daughter.
- Erin Way as Erin, a young mute woman who was being trained to become a handmaid but managed to escape.
- Sydney Sweeney as Eden (season 2), a pious and obedient girl who dreams of one day being a Commander's wife.
- Bradley Whitford as Commander Joseph Lawrence (season 2), the architect of Gilead's economy, who is gruff and intimidating, with a disheveled mad genius vibe. His sly humor and flashes of kindness make him a confusing, mysterious presence for his newest Handmaid.
Guest stars
- Marisa Tomei as TBA (season 2)
- Cherry Jones as Holly Osborne (season 2), June's mother.
- Clea DuVall as Sylvia (season 2), Emily's wife.
Episodes
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 or modernizes the book. She also co-wrote every episode and also had 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 will 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 will consist of 13 episodes and began filming in fall 2017. Alexis Bledel will return as a series regular. Showrunner Bruce Miller stated that he envisioned ten 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."
Broadcast and release
The first three episodes of the series premiered on April 26, 2017, with the subsequent seven episodes added on a weekly basis. In Canada, the series is broadcast by Bravo, beginning with the first two episodes premiering on April 30. 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.
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 will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 13, 2018.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 95% based on 103 reviews, with an average rating of 8.59/10. 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 40 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter called it "probably the spring's best new show and certainly its most important". 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 following Donald Trump's and Mike Pence's election as President of the United States and Vice President of the United States, respectively. A comparison has also been made to the Salafi/Wahabbi extremism of ISIL, in which enslaved women of religious minorities are passed around and utilized as sex objects and vessels to bear new jihadis.
Accolades
See also
- List of original programs distributed by Hulu
References
External links
- Official website
- The Handmaid's Tale on IMDb
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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