Based on the best-selling novel by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale follows the character of Offred in the oppressive, dystopian world of Gilead.
“It is the story of a young Handmaid trying to survive the oppressive regime, find her freedom and the family she lost.”
Set in an unspecified future, the novel and show depicts a Christian theocratic regime formed as a response to a fertility crisis caused by environmental disasters. In a desperate attempt to repopulate the world, the constitution is suspended and all remaining fertile women are enslaved and forced into sexual servitude.
It is the story of a young Handmaid trying to survive the oppressive regime, find her freedom and the family she lost.
So far three seasons have aired, with the fourth season arriving in April after delays to production and filming caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
What can we expect from the new season?
Elisabeth Moss is returning to her role as June, as is Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley, Alexis Bledel, Ann Dowd, Max Minghella, Madeline Brewer, O-T Fagbenle, Amanda Brugel, Bradley Whitford and Sam Jaeger.
“The season will consist of 10 episodes.”
Most major plot details have been kept quiet, but Elisabeth Moss, speaking to Deadline in January, teased: “I will say that the first half of this season is definitely bigger than we’ve ever done.’”
Executive producer Bruce Miller said that Nick’s backstory will also be explored more in this season.
The season will consist of 10 episodes.
Hulu’s teaser, that was dropped on the same day that the release date was revealed, says: ‘Global sanctions on Gilead are mounting as the latest wave of violence continues. No matter where the war finds you today, just remember, we are still here’, one of the voices of Radio Free America says.
The ongoing influence the book has on the show
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Miller spoke about the book and its influence on the series.
“My arc is still very much the arc of the novel, which is the arc of this one woman’s experience in Gilead at this time and her recollections that paint this picture of what it was like and what the experience of this world was like, which really is still the book.”
“People talk about how we are beyond the book, but we’re not really. The book starts, then jumps 200 years with an academic discussion at the end of it, about what’s happened in those intervening 200 years. It’s maybe handled in an outline, but it’s still there in Margaret Atwood’s novel. We’re not going beyond the novel, we’re just covering territory she covered quickly, a bit more slowly.”
One viewer said that she enjoyed the first two seasons of the show and agreed ‘100%’ that it was better when it followed the book. “I actually stopped watching because it deviated from the book too much.”
Another viewer said that despite the show no longer following the book, they “liked the direction that it was going in” and so would still watch it.
Gilead and our Covid-19 world
Miller also said that the show will draw parallels with the pandemic, which begs the question: will it have the same number of viewers?
“I feel like the biggest thing I think is a lot of season four is about freedom, and also about snapping back and how quickly things will go back to normal in a lot of different ways.”
“I think that’s what the country is going through. I think the country feels like things are so up in the air, they’re waiting for them to ‘go back to normal’. Part of the lesson is that they never do. Whatever trauma you’ve gone through in that episode, you settle into a post-trauma world. It doesn’t go away.”
For many, they enjoy the show too much for the pandemic to impact their decision to watch it. One viewer told me that she is “still going to watch it. I love it too much.” This seems to be a popular opinion, with another saying he will “definitely watch the new season” despite parallels with our current reality.
Whilst many say they will still watch, a lot of viewers do agree that the impact of Covid would change the way they watch the show, but they still will. One viewer told me that she would watch the next season once lockdown was lifted as she preferred more upbeat viewing at the moment.
“The idea of trauma remaining after the hardest peak is over is something we can all heavily relate to”
https://twitter.com/Charlottelders/status/1367621638276198404
The idea of trauma remaining after the hardest peak is over is something we can all heavily relate to as one year on from the first lockdown, we continue to battle the effects of Covid-19 on people, the economy, education and our freedom- just a few of the parallels that can be drawn between Gilead and our world today.
For the most part, it would seem that the show’s deviation from the original novel and its frightening parallels to our society today is not deterring most viewers from enjoying the show and following Offred’s story.
The Handmaid’s Tale season four is presumed to air in the UK on Channel Four, as with previous seasons.
Praise Be.
Amelia Cutting
Featured image courtesy of Victoria Pickering via flickr. Image licence found here. No changes were made to the image.
Amelia Cutting
I'm Amelia- a graduate from the University of Leeds and current NCTJ Level 5 Diploma student!