Wow, just wow! Handmaid’s Tale Season five was released in October, I only got round to it last week and partly I’m glad that it means I’ll have shorter to wait for the final season but I also can’t believe that I didn’t watch it right away.
You can find the other reviews here if you’d like a recap. It’s been a series that I’ve really enjoyed, even though it’s certainly quite close to reality, at least in this day and age anyway. If you don’t know what it’s about it follows the lives of Handmaid’s, Wives and Commanders in Gilead a Theocratic Republic that has taken over America with their government in exile taking refuge in Canada. The Sons of Jacob are the religious fanatics that have taken over as a result of global declining fertility they have focused on a section of the bible in which one of Jacob’s Wives, Rachel, gives her servant Bilhah to Jacob “so that she may give birth on my behalf”. Hence the Handmaid’s role of bearing the children of their Commanders and the Commanders Wives.
*** Spoilers Ahead ***
The previous seasons, and this one as well, follows June Osborn (Elisabeth Moss) a woman whose crime is to have married a man who had been divorced. This is justification for Gilead to take away their daughter, to enslave her and to subject her to monthly rape known as “The Ceremony”. Junes main motivation to oppose Gilead throughout the series is her daughter, she constantly tries to save Hannah but it’s far more difficult than anticipated. She does however manage to save hundreds of children on the Angel Flight as well as several Handmaid’s. She becomes a symbol of resistance even managing to kill her former Commander while she is a refugee in Canada. Season Five covers a similar template but as with Season Four it also takes a greater look at the world outside of Gilead.
I’ve spoken before about Handmaid’s Tale being a scary reflection of the world at present, there’s easy comparisons such as the Taliban’s assault on women in Afghanistan, the reversal of Wade vs Roe in America an attempt to prevent women having control over their own bodies, the separation of children from their parents under Trumps immigration order. Season Five introduces a new theme reflective of the world today, racism. Certain segments of the Canadian population have reached boiling point at what they perceive as a failure of their government who have allowed these asylum seekers Canadian resource. Protests turn violent and there are even some segments that see the rising birth rate in Gilead, the only country in the world in which this is happening, as proof that God is on Gilead’s side, that Gilead’s methods are right and just, that Gilead’s way is the way to go.
Gilead is however locked out of the main world, it’s borders are closed both ways except for the political elite, it’s communist economy is faltering and there is real concern amongst some in the council that if Gilead is unable to join the global community it will fail irrespective of the success seen in it’s (For lack of a more accurate description) breeding program. One of June’s former Commanders, Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford), known as The Architect of Gilead being the founding father it, is trying to resolve this issue by creating an island he dubs “New Bethlehem” where those who have fled Gilead can return and live an almost normal life. His inspiration is Hong Kong to China (Although we know how that’s panning out at the moment) as he seeks to show the world that Gilead will look after its own no matter the beliefs as well as relieving the pressure on countries such as Canada to take in Gilead refugees.
One of the most fantastic bits about the series that is really brought to the fore in this season is the ability to demonstrate that life isn’t black and white, that life is filled with hypocrisy and self preservation. The Wife of the Commander which June killed sees the world in a weird light indeed. Fred (Joseph Fiennes) was another founding father of Gilead, he was essentially led into it by his wife Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) who believed a woman’s place was in the home, despite constantly trying to meddle in the political affairs of Gilead with ambitions that would clearly be in contradiction to her own beliefs. Initially believed to be baron she conceives Fred’s child in Season Four prior to his death. It’s not long before she really begins to experience what life is like as a Handmaid, despite her former position, and there is a situation in which her child is essentially taken by a Canadian family who follow the way of Gilead while Serena is forced into servitude for them. You find yourself rooting for Serena, hoping she comes out of everything okay knowing full well if she does she’s likely to go back to her old ways having learnt nothing from the experience. Well you assume so anyway.
This penultimate season has been filled with many moments like this, we’re even invested in the evolution of Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) who is perhaps in turmoil with herself as the Commanders are running rampant outside of what she deems to be the correct way. Her “girls” are suffering at the hands of the Commanders with Commander Putnam (Stephen Kunken) taking advantage of Ester (Mckenna Grace) and raping her before she has been “posted” at his home.
It’s clearly building up to an explosive finale. Season Six is likely to be released next year with trailers suspected to arrive (At the earliest) at the end of this year. It looks like it could go one way or the other, either the fall of Gilead or the spreading of their values worldwide. It’s going to be a fantastic conclusion I sincerely believe but if anything it also needs to be something that causes people to stop and reflect about the way the world is headed. This hyper-capitalism we’re currently living through (Gosh this blog is getting political this week) is not only unsustainable it’s actively destroying our society allowing extremism to flourish.
lockthelocks 