‘It normalises the abhorrent’: is The Handmaid’s Tale the most frustrating show on TV?

As the world edges ever closer to authoritarianism, it would be incredible to watch June fight back against a hellish, misogynistic dystopia. And yet, the final season is as bleak as ever. Where’s the hope we all need?Great timing! For those who are finding the second season of The Last of Us too upbeat, too optimistic, just too damn cheerful, here comes The Handmaid’s Tale, returning for a final run of utter despair and soul-destroying misery. The Emmy-winning take on Margaret Atwood’s novel is back for a sixth and last season, having remarkably stretched out the first novel from a semi-faithful adaptation into a sprawling dystopian hellhole that never lets anyone win.I find it one of the most frustrating series on television. It is well made, well acted and sits on the foundations of important conversations, particularly as the western world continues its steady turn towards authoritarianism. The first season’s most unforgettable scene is the one in which, prior to being forced into a life of reproductive servitude, June (Elisabeth Moss) and Moira (Samira Wiley) attend a protest, marching against the removal of women’s rights to their own finances. To an eerie remix of Blondie’s Heart of Glass, the soldiers begin to beat those at the front, before turning their guns on the civilians. Just as the novel is rooted only in acts of violence, corruption and autocracy that had already taken place, the show was a compelling horror because it offered a vision of a near-future that seemed, or seems, ever closer. Continue reading...

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