The Handmaid’s Tale
By Sioph W. Leal
The Handmaid's Tale returns for its sixth and final season, bringing June Osborne (Elizabeth Moss) to the forefront of the fight to take down Gilead. Luke (O-T Fagbenle) and Moira (Samira Wiley) fully join the resistance while Serena-Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) is intent on reforming Gilead into a more tolerant country, while Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) and Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) must face the very thing they have wrought. Nick Blaine (Max Minghella) faces impending fatherhood while undergoing tests of his character.
Ending an eight-year-long series is no easy feat, especially given how there are so many storylines to wrap up. While some characters shine, the struggle to find a strong person amid this last season is evident within The Handmaid’s Tale’s original villain, Serena Joy. While there is a lot that we can’t talk about (due to the embargo list), long-standing fans of the series will be frustrated with Serena Joy’s confusing arc. While Strahovski's performance is as strong as ever, it’s the writing that lets her down, as they clearly do not know what direction they want for her character. Her purpose and sense of beliefs and morals are inconsistent, her worldview changing either every scene or every two episodes she is in. It’s almost as if the writers don’t want to fully immerse Serena Joy into the villain she is, especially when her main plot this season feels the most disconnected. Her entire plot seems like a rushed attempt to reform her in an effort to get the audience on her side and to do this they make her finally see Handmaidens as people, but it feels so far from her character that it comes almost out of the blue.
One of the major issues of this final season, apart from the writing, is the pacing. The episodes tend to skip over important developments while characters like Nick and June try to summarise the entire series on a number of occasions. Add to that multiple flashbacks, short time skips and every episode having a big, emotional confrontation scene that is quickly resolved, and you can’t help but feel like the main storyline has stagnated, partly because the writers are clinging onto June and Serena Joy’s story. Whenever there is a big moment, the cinematography does a lot of the heavy lifting, while the score can sometimes feel like it’s trying too hard to help elevate the emotional, hard-hitting moments that fall flat. Add to the repeating and rushing past storylines from pivotal moments from the series; this final season often feels repetitive and disjointed.
It's not all bad. Thankfully there are intriguing storylines, and no one shines better in this season than Janine (Madeline Brewer), though we can’t talk about it in the review. Brewer is one of three that delivers a compelling performance as she puts everything into every scene she is in, which only makes you wonder why The Handmaid’s Tale didn’t transition to have Janine at the forefront of the season instead of forcing the story to continue with Serena Joy and June who repeat the same stories of previous seasons. Commander Lawrence and Aunt Lydia don’t share much in terms of screen time, but they both make their presence known. Given the announcement of The Testaments, a spin-off series, this final season could have been better served giving Aunt Lydia more of an imposing storyline; instead, it seems that the writers have all but forgotten her and other key characters until episode five.
Overall, the first five episodes leave a lot to be desired; with Serena Joy’s inconsistent character development and June’s repetitive storylines, the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale feels like an underwhelming end to a long-running series. Had this final season pivoted more to focus on the Aunts and other handmaids, it could have offered a fresh perspective that could have led to The Testaments.
The final season of The Handmaid’s Tale will premier on April 08th 2025, on Hulu.