It’s that time of year again: We’re heading back to Gilead to see just what incredible events will occur that prevents June and her fellow handmaids from escaping the clutches of Gilead (and the series from forcing the narrative forward). Ok, that might sound a bit harsh – and there is, in fact, some forward plot movement late in the season – but after literally years of waiting for the series to admit that it has been treading water, here we are, still stuck in the same position.
When we last left June, she had been shot during an escape attempt. Unfortunately, the series didn’t take my advice and kill her off (which would allow her to become a martyr for the cause and allow supporting characters more of a chance to shine). So, season four, like seasons two and three before it, falls into the same cycles we’ve seen before. After all, a series built on characters struggling for their freedom is forced to completely restructure its narrative once those characters achieve their initial goal – and we can’t risk people not wanting to tune in to see how June and her fellow handmaids will be tracked, captured, and tortured again. There are escapes, captures, torture, lather, rinse, repeat. Perhaps the show is trying to provide some larger statement about how hard it can be to break the cycle of abuse? Nah, it just doesn’t want to let go of the narrative darkness that setting some of the series within Gilead can provide.*
*Back in season three, I worried that an increasingly Canada-focused show would make the story more fractured, forcing the series to jump back and forth into storylines that didn’t directly link to one another. With season four, the narrative structure of the series is certainly far more fractured and the show has a hard time continuing to justify several characters remaining focal points of the series – save for the fact they have a connection to June. And that appears to be the show’s answer to the geographical shifts: Everything comes back to June. Which, as you’ll see, isn’t the strongest strategy.
And, more importantly, it doesn’t want to cede its narrative focus from June and onto others within the story. The promise of The Handmaid’s Tale from the jump was that if the audience could stomach the horrors of Gilead, we would get the satisfaction of watching June and her friends dismantle the institutions that violated them. But that promise has shifted in the most recent episodes – and clearly within season four – to a promise of watching June and June alone dismantle the institutions that violated her. Because in season four, everything is all about June. And based on what we see of June’s leadership style and her single-minded focus to do what she thinks is right, well, I’m not sure I particularly want to see June be the one to deliver the death blow to Gilead. Because here’s the major issue with the series in season four: June is so convinced she’s the one to save everyone that she no longer listens to those around her. She’s bought into her own cult of personality and genuinely believes she knows what’s best – and what’s best is giving into her anger and burning the place to the ground.
Now, what’s wrong with that? I mean, I definitely want to see Gilead burn, the Commanders punished, their complicit wives and aunts given what they deserve. Well, the problem is that the series doesn’t seem to know if it wants June’s type of vengeance – or if June needs some perspective. The one thing that I cannot stand in writing is dithering around with the narrative. If June is your perfect heroine, make her that. If she’s someone you want to audience to be slightly wary of, be sure to make that clear. But here, the writers want to have it both ways. They’ve spent three seasons building the character of June up as a woman who has gone through hell and now has the charisma and internal strength to lead a revolution. But they’ve also shown her to have a single-minded focus at times, which has led to her losing out on chances to flee or allowing others to be injured or killed due to her inability to see the big picture. At best, she’s a flawed, but strong leader. At worst, well, she’s the character we get this season. Here, June is presented as the steadfast leader, who knows what’s best, and who cannot seem to listen to alternative viewpoints. It’s her way or the highway.
And when you are leading a group of traumatized women who have just escaped a society where they were treated with a similar dictate, well, you get into some murky moral territory – which is fine, if the writers have nuance in their work and want to take the time to look deeper into this juxtaposition. But, if you’ve watched the first three seasons, you know that these writers lack the deft touch necessary to really dig deep into any emotionally wrought storyline and present a complete picture of trauma and its deep impact. So, June, our hero, bulldozes ahead, leading her troops. She tells Janine, who starts to show signs that she might be emerging from her trauma and coming out the other side, that she won’t survive with her leadership. She forces another traumatized handmaid to directly confront her abuser – in a public setting with other former handmaids watching – while the woman is giving off every possible sign that this is the last thing she actually wants to be doing. And in each situation, the woman ultimately tells June she’s right and reinforces that June is the Spartacus for the series. Every time a character complains about June’s tactics (and several due – both to June and behind her back), they eventually risk everything to stay with her and support her. It’s almost as if the writers are attempting to show us all arguments against June before telling us that they are all wrong and June really is the hero we need.
The show has bought into the idea of June as the hero so strongly that it’s willing to overlook her troubling tendencies to push those around her into uncomfortable situations – and it couches it as something she does for their own good. She makes them better by making them confront their trauma and their fears. And she’s the leader they need – that the world needs – to take down Gilead once and for all. So what if several BIPOC characters end up dead throughout the course of the season due to her? Or that a supporting character of color loses her life’s work and cannot help refugees within Gilead because of June? They died so that June’s campaign against Gilead can live on and June will save all the refugees, so what’s one person’s work?
And with June as the central hero, all of the show’s additional supporting characters now fully revolve around her and her actions. The Canada portion of the show is full of discussions about June – where she is, how to find her, if the Waterfords will be tried, what to do with Nichole, what to do with the children she freed. The remaining non-June Gilead portions of the show are also all about her – Aunt Lydia’s vendetta against June for costing her so much, Nick trying to find and protect her, Commander Lawrence trying to get out from under punishment for letting her escape (while also occasionally trying to protect her as much as he can – until the show remembers they need villains and they try to flip the script on him). Everything is about June and how she alone can bring Gilead down. Which is a bit nuts, when you think about it. But that’s the story we’ve got.
For those wondering, the acting is still exceptional. Despite the disappointing writing, Elisabeth Moss, Yvonne Strahovski, Ann Dowd, and Madeline Brewer are just sensational and continue to make the show watchable. Brewer, in particular, really gets a chance to shine, as Janine begins to (finally) come into her own in the latter portion of the season. I honestly wouldn’t mind if she ultimately became the titular handmaid down the line – but I think we all know that won’t be the case.
Ultimately, the season as a whole feels empty. For a show that was so focused, so complex, so layered in its first season (likely largely because it had the original novel to build off of – it’s always harder to chart your own path, as we’ve seen a lot on TV in the past several years) to fall into such deep narrative ruts and be unwilling to escape them is sad to see. Yes, we get some narrative movement, which excited me, but there’s a lack of a cohesive vision for the what the future of the series will be. And there’s a troubling lack of attention being paid to the cost of trauma and how long it takes to recover from what has been inflicted on many of these characters. The characters will discuss trauma, but the show doesn’t want to put in the time and do the work when it comes to confronting that trauma – which is a dangerous message to send on a series that is so very quick to inflict pain on vulnerable characters.
The Handmaid’s Tale’s fourth season premieres on Wednesday, April 28th on Hulu, with the release of the first three episodes. New episodes will be released every Wednesday.
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