The Handmaids Tale Season 4 - TV Series Review

The Handmaids Tale Season 4 - TV Series Review

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Posted 2021-06-28 by Marisa Quinn-Haisufollow

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Praise Be. The Handmaid's Tale returned on 28 April 2021 with a brand-new season starring Elisabeth Moss, Max Minghella, Alexis Bledel, O.T. Fagbenle, Madeline Brewer, Samira Wiley, Ann Dowd, Yvonne Strahovski, Amanda Brugel, and Joseph Fiennes. Mckenna Grace, Zawe Ashton, and Reed Birney joined the cast as new characters.


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There was a 20-month hiatus between the finale of season three and the premiere of season four due to filming delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Season three ended with June striking back at Gilead for all of the pain they have caused by recruiting Marthas, Handmaids and her Commander into helping her smuggle 86 children out of the country on a flight bound for Canada. The episode ended with the flight arriving safely in Canada with its precious cargo and June being shot by a Guardian in Gilead. In season four June survives her gunshot wound and becomes a fugitive Handmaid on the run from Gilead. She takes dangerous risks and draws on all of her resources and rage to plot revenge against Gilead and those who have hurt her. The following will contain spoilers for season four of The Handmaid's Tale.


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One of the most shocking episodes of the season for me was episode three, "The Crossing", which was directed by Elisabeth Moss. After smuggling 86 children out of Gilead at the end of season three, June is captured after spending nineteen days on the run, and taken to a maximum-security prison to be tortured for information about the whereabouts of the other fugitive Handmaids. After June arrives at the prison, Lydia slaps her and calls her a wicked girl for kidnapping the children and causing a lot of pain. June smirks, unafraid, and taunts Lydia by telling her how easy it was to get the other Handmaids to turn against her. She accuses Lydia of failing to keep the Handmaids safe and not doing enough to protect them from being raped, beaten and humiliated. She shouts "Your fault! Your fault!" at Lydia, which upsets her.

"The Crossing" marked the start of an interesting character journey for Aunt Lydia this season where we start to see her question her past actions and if she has a habit of acting violent and cruel toward others. I am really interested to see how Aunt Lydia will grow as a character over the course of season five and if she is on the start of a redemption arc.

"The Crossing" had me on edge the entire time. There were so many shocking moments. Elisabeth Moss did an amazing job directing it. The best part of the episode for me was the final act. June and the fugitive Handmaids are sitting in the back of a van with Aunt Lydia on their way to be taken to the Colonies. The tension in the back of the car is high. Street Spirit (Fade Out) by Radio Head starts to play in the background. The guardian driving the van pauses at a railway crossing and steps out to use the toilet. June attacks Aunt Lydia giving the Handmaids a chance to run. As the women flee, Aunt Lydia screams for them to stop and the guardian shoots at them, killing two of them. June and Janine make it across the crossing seconds before a train passes. Alma and Brianna, two of the other Handmaids, get hit by the train as they attempt to run across. June and Janine grab at each other in shock, then turn and run, leaving the crossing far behind them. A heartbreaking, shocking scene.


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%%June: " Why are you here? "

Moira: " Hey, shh, I came back. "

June: " Why? "

Moira: " I came back for you. I came back to help you, and I fucking found you. "

June: "It's not safe Moira. You shouldn't be here. "

Moira: "I fucking found you. I fucking found you. "

June: "You're so crazy. You shouldn't be here. "

Moira: "No, I found you. I'm going to take care of you. I got you. I got you. "%%

Moira vows to keep June safe, "Vows", The Handmaid's Tale

There were some amazing performances from Samira Wiley as Moira and Elisabeth Moss as June this season. I thought Samira Wiley was really impressive in episode six "Vows". The episode begins with Moira arriving in Chicago with a foreign aid group and discovering June alive after surviving a bombing from Gilead. Moira tries to help her, but June is in shock, and doesn't recognize her. Moira manages to get June onto the back of a truck and takes her back to the aide camp to be checked out by the medical team. June's shock fades and she recognizes her for the first time. Moira is overwhelmed with joy that she remembers her and rocks her lovingly in her arms. June calls her crazy for coming back, but Moira just shakes her head, and tells her that she will take care of her. This scene made me tear up. Samira's performance was very emotional. We all need a friend like Moira in our lives.

Moira takes June back to an aide camp and tells June that they will have to sneak her back onto the boat to get her to Canada. June tells her that she can't make her leave without Hannah. Moira loses her patience with her and screams at her to get on the boat for the sake of her youngest daughter, Nichole, who is safe in Canada with her husband Luke. June agrees to get on the boat and go to Canada for Nichole. Later in the episode, she regrets her decision, and tries to steal a lifeboat to go back to Gilead to rescue Hannah. When Moira demands to know what she is doing, June accuses her of tricking her into leaving Hannah behind in Gilead. She then starts crying and tells Moira that she failed as a mother and is afraid to face Luke without Hannah. Moira tells her to have faith in Luke and the people that love her. June agrees to stay onboard the boat.Elisabeth Moss and Samira Wiley both killed it in this episode. Elisabeth's breakdown as June when she sobs that she failed as a mother was some of the best acting I have ever seen her do on this show.


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Bradley Whitford returns in season four as Commander Joseph Lawrence. Commander Lawrence is a high-ranking Gilead official and Sons of Jacob member who has been one of my favourite characters since his introduction in season two. There are so many layers to Commander Lawrence. He is an academic who joined the Sons of Jacob not because he was a true religious believer, but because he saw an opportunity to seize political power for himself. He is willing to break and bend the rules to keep himself from getting bored and decided to help June smuggle children out of Gilead after the unexpected suicide of his wife made him feel guilt over his involvement in the rise of Gilead.

In season four, we see him team up with Nick, who uses his influence to keep Lawrence from being executed for his role in Angels' Flight. In return, Nick urges Lawrence to do what he can to keep June from being executed. We also see him have several scenes with Aunt Lydia, who reveals to him she is aware of his involvement in Angel's Flight, and tries to blackmail him. The relationship between these two was really interesting one to watch develop. Commander Lawrence loves to manipulate people and Aunt Lydia was an easy target for him. He was like a cat playing with a mouse. I can't wait to see what will happen between them next season and what thoughts he will plant in her head.


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There has been some discussion this season about whether fans of The Handmaid's Tale have a toxic shipping problem and after this season I agree. Many viewers of the show are divided into two camps "Team Luke" and "Team Nick". For them the biggest question that needs to be answered is who will June end up with romantically? Her husband Luke or her boyfriend Nick? Luke (played by O. T. Fagbenle) was June's husband before Gilead. The two of them were separated at the border in season one. Nick Blaine (played by Max Minghella) was a driver working in Commander Waterford's household in Gilead when he met June as a Handmaid. Nick and June started having a consensual affair together after Serena Joy forces them to start having sex to try and get June pregnant.

I've been "Team Luke" for a while. After watching three seasons of The Handmaid's Tale, I was convinced that June would choose Luke and that her relationship with Nick would not survive outside of Gilead. In season four, June makes it to Canada, and we finally get to see her reunite with Luke. It wasn't the romantic reunion I was hoping it would be. After being held prisoner in Gilead for years, June is no longer the same person that Luke knew from before. She doesn't know how to process her trauma or talk to Luke about what she suffered through and it puts a big strain on their relationship. How does Luke respond to his severely traumatised wife? He tries to balance her rage with being calm and rational, but also struggles with feelings of guilt and grief at seeing his wife so broken, and confesses to Moira that she feels like a stranger to him. After watching season four, I no longer think that Luke and June's relationship is going to survive. They have been separated for too long and the trauma they've been through is too much of an emotional chasm between them.

I am uncomfortable with "Team Nick". Nick is a Commander and June is a Handmaid. There is too much of a power imbalance between them. Nick professes to love June and Nichole and claims he will do anything for them, but he could put June on the wall and steal Nichole. He also keeps finding excuses to stay in Gilead and uphold their laws, instead of running away with June or defecting to Canada to join the resistance. Nick is war criminal and a willing soldier for Gilead, but all some fans seem to care about is that he has nice eyebrows. June and Nichole both deserve better. As for which team I am now, I would describe myself as "Team June". I think both ships are problematic and undermine June's autonomy. I think the best thing for June moving forward would be for her to be on her own. She doesn't need a man in her life for her to live happily ever after.


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The Handmaid's Tale has been criticised for being excessively violent and failing to progress the plot enough. For three seasons, we saw June be tortured, raped and beaten, while the prospect of "Will she escape to Canada?" was always kept dangling over her head. In season four, the showrunners finally delivered on that promise, and a lot more. The plot picks up speed and moves forward in a new direction and it was so exciting. It almost felt like the showrunners had been keeping note of all the things that had been frustrating fans and were ticking them off a big list this season to please everyone. The biggest and most cathartic moment of the season for me was when June FINALLY gets revenge against Commander Fred Waterford for raping her.

In the tenth and final episode of season four, "The Wilderness", June draws on her influence and all of her bargaining power to arrange a prisoner exchange that delivers Commander Waterford into her hands so she can punish him. In one of the most exciting scenes in the whole series, we see Commander Waterford be arrested, thrown in the back of a truck, marched back into Gilead, put into chains and taken to a dark forest by Nick where he is greeted by June and a group of former Handmaids. The women chase the Commander through the woods, surround him, and beat him to death. It was a violent and very disturbing scene, but at the same time oh so great to watch, because Commander Waterford had it coming BIG TIME. This internet meme sums up how I feel about his death pretty well:


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A lot of people have criticised June's rage this season and commented that her lust for vengeance made them feel uncomfortable. They felt that as a wife and a mother, June should've forgiven Fred, and moved on for the sake of Luke and her daughters. June even says that in the show as well. She tells Emily she wants to let go but she can't and she feels like that makes her a bad mother. I don't think June is a bad mother for doing what she did. Her feelings towards Fred were understandable and completely justified. Fred didn't deserve to walk free after what he did to her. He deserved to be held accountable to the laws in Gilead that helped write and that's just what June did.

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84113 - 2023-06-11 06:50:05

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