REVIEWED: SEASON 3 (EPISODES 1-7) | WHERE TO WATCH: ALL 4, APPLE, GOOGLE PLAY, PRIME VIDEO
The repercussions of the startling conclusion to Season 2 reverberate right across these opening episodes of the patriarchal dystopia, making for some tense and riveting drama that foreshadows the explosions to come.
Gilead’s cocooned sense of security has been rocked by the night-time revolt that enabled June to aid Emily’s escape with her young baby. It’s an act of rebellion that cost the lives of many of the Marthas, and of others who supported their symbolic act of defiance. But exposing the vulnerability of the status quo upsets the order of the Waterfords’ house, fractures the relationship between Serena and The Commander, and empowers June to seek out new co-conspirators willing to undermine the tyranny of Gilead.
Opening episode Night is a breathless thriller, which tracks Emily’s heart-stopping escape into Canada with baby Nichole, and shows June saving the life of the suicidal Serena; before her reassignment to Commander Lawrence, a renegade whose loyalties are far from clear. It’s a fantastic opener, that’s immediately bettered by second episode Mary and Martha, which shows June drawn into the work of a clandestine resistance cell based in the Lawrence household with his grudging tolerance. It’s a compelling story, which reinforces the scale of the challenge that rebels face and the costs that accrue to resistance. Useful and God Bless the Child show June using her persuasive and manipulative skills to find powerful allies within Gilead that she can ensure “owe her”.
The cast of The Handmaid’s Tale has always delivered extraordinary performances, but the fact that the main characters are forced out of their comfort zones by events gives actors of this calibre the opportunity to explore new sides of their nature. Yvonne Strahovski is first-rate as the now emotionally traumatised Serena, rocked by the loss of “her” child and her husband’s betrayal; Joseph Fiennes exudes frustration and disbelief as the Commander’s reputation is tarnished, and his standing damaged by the fallout from the rebellion; and, of course, Elizabeth Moss is simply spellbinding as the newly empowered ‘Ofjoseph’, building the networks of resistance at enormous risk, and challenging Lawrence’s moral equivocation. June’s response to the unconscionable choice that her Commander confronts her with in the third episode (which five prisoners to save from certain death) demonstrates the strength of her new resolve.
Season 3 further increases the amount of screentime spent outside the claustrophobia of Gilead. Emily’s reunion with her partner Sylvia and their son Oliver in Bless the Child is incredibly moving; while the meeting between Serena and June’s husband Luke at a Toronto airport in Unknown Caller is emotionally harrowing for entirely different reasons.
When June is able to build a working alliance with Swiss officials during a visit to Washington in Household, and reconnect with former lover Nick, events seem to be moving her way. But the appalling regime she encounters indicates how far the authorities are determined to push back, and when Gilead demands the return of her child from an alarmingly co-operative Canada, all of June’s calculations risk ending in calamity.
With Margaret Atwood’s source material now left far behind, The Handmaid’s Tale continues to excel as one of the most inventive, thought-provoking and never-less-than-plausible dystopian dramas to reach our screens in decades. With a fourth series renewal now confirmed, this remains essential, unmissable TV.
