Episode Nine of Season Two of The Handmaid’s Tale proves once again that the Hulu original dystopian dramatic series is without a doubt the best dramaon television period.
I have one criticism about Gilead and that is no one is happy there. For any government to function, one has to believe in it enthusiastically whether it is legitimately welcomed by the people of Gilead or not, I can understand how Huxley’s Brave New World works. I can understand how George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four works. I can even understand how Terry Gilliam’s Brazil works, but everyone in Gilead is miserable. The Commanders are just as likely to frame each other as commit the other atrocities they do on the show, but outside of the fear of death, which even that can be overcome as seen on the show if death feels like a release, I can’t see how a republic like Gilead would endure because from the top of the heap to the bottom of the barrel, everyone in Gilead is miserable. So as sick as this may sound, they need to show people of different levels of stratification actually believe Gilead is better because if I was a Commander from Gilead in Canada, I would defect in a heartbeat and not go back to that miserable dying country again.
This brings me to the main plot of episode nine, which is the Commander takes his Wife and former Driver with him on a diplomatic mission to Canada, which is in part to convince the Canadian government to return the illegal expatriates that successfully escaped Gilead. We get to see what life is like outside and about Canada and even learn that the United States still exists in some form. If that is the case though then why are the Canadians holding onto them as refugees? Why not return them to what is left of America or is the remains of the American government also in Xilinx in Canada. I am not sure how clear the series makes it either way. The subplot revolves around the driver’s mission to deliver the handwritten letters given to him by Offred to her husband in Canada without being detected.
I still wonder whether the season finale will involve some kind of attack on Canada or false flag attack on Gilead, giving the Commanders an excuse to invade? Is that coming? Or will Offred give birth? Perhaps both will occur? I have no idea and if I am given the opportunity to review the second season finale, I could not say what is going on regardless.
Season Two, Episode Nine Of The Handmaid’s Tale will debut on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 streaming on demand on Hulu.
(C) Copyright 2018 By Mark A. Rivera
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