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Set in a dystopian future, a woman is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship.
A year ago when “The Handmaid’s Tale” made its debut as an original Hulu series, no one imagined that the stories of these Ill-fated women, would end up with a cult-like following and turn out to be an Emmy award-winning drama series. Creator Bruce Miller adapts the literary work of Margaret Atwood, a best-selling author, and presents us with a story of women in a totalitarian society whose fertility would be the dynamic in getting them set up for sexual servitude.
The entire series is centered around the main character Offred’s (Elisabeth Moss) relationship with the married Commander (Joseph Fiennes), his resentful wife, and the ensuing responsibility that Offred has of maintaining a generous offering of Handmaids who are available to bear children in order to overcome its population deficit and maintain a societal need for self-preservation. Amongst the handmaids themselves, a brutal case for survival unfolds as each is challenged with mitigating factors that make them all vulnerable to one another and to a society that has little use for them other than their ability to reproduce. The setting, which is in the Republic of Gilead, lends its own resistance to the plot by the societal values that it imposes on its citizens and the unrelenting political and socioeconomic factors that keep it from being progressive and open to change.
Season One is comprised of ten episodes of melodramatic sufferage that includes the following titles: Offred, Birth Day, Late, Nolite Te Bastardes, Faithful, A Woman’s Place, The Other Side, Jezebels, The Bridge and Night. The highlights of the series are the birth of Janine’s baby, Serena Joy’s (Yvonne Strahovski) proposition, The Commander’s secrets, Offred’s loyalty, Nick’s (Max Minghella) outside interests and the changing of the guard within the Handmaid’s society.
If you’re not caught up on Season One, it would be advisable as Season Two promises to pick up with all the frailties and evil convictions of Season One, along with more interesting twists and turns within the Republic and within the Handmaid’s ranks. The diverse cast which also includes Samira Wiley (Moira), Amanda Brugel (Rita), Madeline Brewer (Ofwarren), Ann Dowd (Aunt Lydia), O. T. Fagbenle (Luke Bankole) and Alexis Bledel (Ofglen), make for generous episodes of pleasureful, addictive and eerily fascinating entertainment at its best!
Now available on Blu-ray & DVD
