Hulu's new makes an impact.
Peak TV means that in this final week of April, 2017, not one but two new series based on decades-old, critically acclaimed novels packed with so-called "timely" and "relevant" themes will debut. American Gods, which bows on Starz April 30, and The Handmaid's Tale, which premieres its first three episodes on Hulu on April 26.
Then again, any TV series with a tangentially controversial theme might be considered "timely" in the current polarizing political climate. And while Neil Gaiman's American Gods, released in 2001, touches on immigration and religion, it's also a fantasy involving ancient mythology and supernatural creatures. The Handmaid's Tale, on the other hand, might have felt like an improbably dystopian far-future when Margaret Atwood wrote the novel in 1985. But as each day of 2017 brings another, more unbelievable headline, the events of the series feels more and more metaphorical.
"Blessed are the meek," quotes Offred (Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss) in the first episode of The Handmaid's Tale, which comes from series creator Bruce Miller (The 4400, Alphas, The 100). She's living in a USA taken over by a theocratic dictatorship after a military coup. In her terrifying new world, women have zero agency of their own and are assigned roles within a rigidly patriarchal society. A fertility issue plagues the country, and few women are able to conceive. There are Marthas, a.k.a. the domestic staff of each wealthy household. There are Wives, the monied women in high-status positions (but still no power, really, other than ordering around their staffs). And there are Handmaids, the women tasked with bearing the children of the Wives' husbands — sex slaves cursed by their own fertility.
The Handmaids wear red cloaks and large white bonnets (all the better to shield the innocent male gaze from their female forms, you see) and speak to each other in Biblical verse. Their previous identities are erased as they're forced to procreate for their oppressors. Gilead is a creepy, blue-filtered version of New England, making the Handmaids' red cloaks all the more distinct.
Offred, our narrator, seems like a model servant. She's flatly submissive in all encounters, though her voiceover reveals that she's barely suppressing her disobedient, revolutionary thoughts. Through flashbacks, we learn that Offred was on the run with her husband and daughter when she was captured, but she was able to briefly reunite with her college friend, Moira (Samira Wiley), as they trained to become Handmaids together. Moira is nowhere to be found in the present day. Dead, probably, suggests one of their fellow trainees.
There's plenty of ground impressively covered in the first three episodes, which will all be released at once. They get progressively more bleak and terrifying as the story progresses. It's not just theoretical oppression the residents of Gilead are facing, as there are brutally violent consequences for every action. A woman's eye is removed when she acts out, and a rapist is beaten to death — in a government-sanctioned ceremony, no less — by a group of Handmaids. At one point, a "gender traitor" is executed.
It's the third episode that cuts especially close to present-day politics, as a flashback reveals the events that set this story in motion, resulting in feminist protests in the street — filmed long before January's worldwide Women's March.
Moss is predictably excellent as Offred, beaten-down in the present day but still harboring a spark of the fun, contributing member of society she was before. And Wiley is just as mesmerizing as she was in Orange Is the New Black. It's Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls) as Moss's neighbor Handmaid, Ofglen, who's the real surprise. As the layered, complicated Ofglen — seemingly another obedient servant of Gilead, but actually a gender traitor (Gilead-speak for gay) member of the resistance — she reveals much more depth than you might have expected from the pop culture-spouting Rory Gilmore.
Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck, 24) is mysterious and chilling as the quiet, cold wife of the commander to whom Offred is assigned (played by Joseph Fiennes). She's clearly resentful of Offred's role in her marriage, though how could she not be?
The pacing of the story is both deliberately slow and white-knuckle suspenseful, allowing the story to gradually unfold before you can exhale the breath you might not have realized you were holding. The show might be timely, but remember: This is a 30-year-old story. That the current political climate is so tense just ups the sense of urgency to a critical degree.
The Handmaid's tale is a warning against the dangers of complacency, but also perhaps a call to action. Offred might be playing along for now, but she doesn't forget the world in which she lived before. There's a second part to that Bible quote, after all. "Blessed are the meek," she says. "They always leave out the part about inheriting the Earth."
The Verdict
A scary, important, and yes — timely — series, this faithful adaptation The Handmaid's Tale expands on a 30-year-old story to serve as a warning of sorts. Don't miss it.
The first three episodes of The Handmaid's Tale debut April 26th on Hulu.
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