If Gilead’s rebels could put her face on t-shirts, they would.Ī potential problem for season four is that symbols don’t make compelling characters. She’s Che Guevara, a symbol of revolution. More than that, she’s become a celebrity in this world – a figurehead for everybody who wants to see Gilead burn. She’s no longer one of them, but their leader – a resistance hero in command of an underground revolt.

When they were dancing like teenagers in the barn, she only looked on. Despite barely being able to walk, June insisted on approaching the safe house alone, signalling to them when it was safe to follow. In her numbed, feverish state, June conflated the two girls and called Esther by her daughter’s nickname in that final “I love you too, Banana,” scene.Įsther isn’t June’s only adoptive daughter, our lead is also the protector of Janine and all the other former Handmaids. Specifically, she’s the story June fears will become Hannah’s in the near future. Mrs Keyes (played with remarkable self-possession by 14-year-old actor McKenna Grace), is one awful story among thousands. Esther’s story of a bloody act of revenge inspired by child sexual abuse would have been a rare depth plumbed, the culmination of a whole-series crime mystery, or a long-held simmering character secret. In any other show, episode one’s pain would have been been extreme. The Handmaid’s Tale has been away for almost two years, and now it’s back, are we ready for the pain? Of course not, but it’s happening. “No,” she said, but they jabbed her anyway. “Are you ready?” they asked June, holding a red hot cauteriser over her bleeding gunshot wound.

This The Handmaid’s Tale review contains spoilers.

The act episode 1