The penultimate season of the dystopian drama The Handmaid’s Tale opens with characters compelled to react to the stunning events of the season four finale. As it explores the reverberations of that act of righteous retaliation, Morning also does an impressive job in introducing what seem certain to be the defining themes of this latest set of ten episodes. It’s strongly implied that the acceleration towards a final reckoning between the freed handmaid June Osborne and her former captor Serena Waterford, and the determination of the most committed Gilead escapees to launch an insurgency against the religious tyranny, will together shape this season’s story arc.
Season four ended with a prisoner exchange, arranged at June’s instigation by Commander Nick Blaine and government official Mark Tuello. In return for the release of imprisoned Gilead rebels, Commander Fred Waterford was forcibly removed from Canada. Abandoned alone in woodland at night, Waterford was hunted down and brutally killed by June and a group of other ex-handmaids. While the experience proved cathartic, the murder has left June unsure if her insatiable rage has rendered her incapable of living as a partner and mother in the sanctuary of Canada.
That’s made immediately clear when, the following morning, June flees from her family home, still heavily stained with the Commander’s blood and deaf to the pleas of her friend Moira and husband Luke. It’s emotionally distressing stuff, not least because it’s unclear what might become of her: for a time it seems as if the price of retribution might be a life as a solitary fugitive, probing the borders of the Gilead regime. She’s quickly in conflict with her accomplices, who now want to escalate a campaign of violence against the Gilead oppressors. June is instead reconciled to the reality that she must pay for her crime, but finds that handing herself into the authorities does not end in the way that she expects.
The emergence of an armed gang of vengeful women is not an idea explored on the show before, and there’s a clear sense of their determination (even as they jettison June) to bring havoc and pain down on the heads of Gilead. On the other side of the conflict, there’s also reorientation. While she was estranged from her husband, Serena is sickened by his killing and begins to consider how she might use unexpected public empathy to extract political advantage from her mourning.
The ensemble of The Handmaid’s Tale has always been impressive, and remains so here. But the reinforced character dynamic established in Morning now pivots on the unique relationship between Serena and June. As June, Elizabeth Moss remains extraordinary as her character again begins a fascinating and unpredictable new journey; something that is matched by the emergence of Serena from the shadow of her deceased husband Fred. Yvonne Strahovski is simply a joy to watch here, and there’s already a palpable sense of anticipation about the inevitable showdown between the show’s two female leads. Back in the director’s chair, Moss delivers some striking visuals and makes great use of wordless close-ups of characters’ faces to surface hidden emotions.
Alexis Bledel, who played the role of the empathic and resilient Emily Malek, had made clear her desire to quit the show at the end of the previous season. Emily’s story arc had reached a suitable conclusion, and there’s something approaching a reset of that in Bruce Miller’s script – which reveals that Emily has returned to Gilead on a personal revenge mission, possibly targeting Aunt Lydia. This could be intended to establish a path to redemption that June may ultimately feel compelled to follow.
There was a risk that the bloody resolution of June’s quest for freedom and for restorative justice might leave the show with nowhere to go. A few disgruntled reviewers have attempted to make exactly that case, arguing that The Handmaid’s Tale has now exhausted its original premise. Yet the potent and promising drama of Morning suggests something entirely different. ‘Praise be’, indeed.
New episodes of THE HANDMAID’S TALE – SEASON 5 premiere Sundays in the UK on CHANNEL 4
