Morning

Another absolute travesty of an episode, if this is the first one then I dread what the next nine are going to be like. It follows directly on from the traumatic, violent events of season four's climax, but as is all too often the case with this show these days, there's next to nothing happening. A lot of the regulars show up to remind us who they are, there's an excruciating scene of people eating in a restaurant, massive misunderstandings of political workings and international law, and long, drawn-out moments just focusing on people's faces again as they pull sorrowful expressions. Incredible that Moss was brought back to direct here...

They really should've just let the series end at the end of season four. Moss has proven to be a poor director. As many others have said here, she spends a good portion of this episode - even more than in others - on extreme close-ups, where she practices as many different facial expressions as she can. All the other actors get their turns at the close shots also so we get to count their pores. The plot has now become a chaotic, emotional roller coaster that really goes nowhere and doesn't make any sense. I lost interest after the first 10 minutes and have no desire to finish the season. Too bad. Her character, and the story, started out so interesting and went downhill after the first few seasons.

Are the people who make this once great show in a game of chicken with Hulu or its fans, to see how bad they can make it before they get canceled or fans stop watching? I just wrote a review earlier today praising The Americans for making engaging entertainment without resorting to constant fights, chases, or emotional outbursts, but with Handmaid's Tale they've taken it to the extreme of hardly anything of note ever happening, and it has become so boring. Whoever is writing this is hyper-focused on conveying emotion via fascial expressions, sacrificing plot and realistic details in the process. You can't make a show that is 90% Wayne's World unnecessarily extreme close-ups of June or Serena's face, 9% dialog that sounds like the actors were told about the scene seconds before shooting it and had to improvise every word, and 1% stuff actually happening. This episode was awful. Remember that thing that happened in the past? Here's 5 minutes of June thinking about and her facial expressions as she gets emotional. Now here's 2 minutes of Serena thinking about it and her face as she gets emotional. Oh, and Season 4's absurd Canadian government behavior continues, & they hold prisoners in cushy resorts, letting prisoners meet with each other as they please or as it fits the writer's needs.

Season 1 was pretty good. Season 2 was ok. Season 3 it started tanking and the plot began meandering aimlessly. Season 4 was horrendous. Season 5 is looking abysmal. While I'm griping, from a past episode, I still can't believe the tank on a truck transporting milk would have interior lighting, or an interior liquid release valve.

I have missed this series! In my opinion, one of the most important and strongest social dramas ever filmed. Although it is so hard to see and take in. After the last episode of the previous season ended with the biggest climax so far; June's final showdown with Fred Waterford, where she was the angel of vengeance.

The series picks up where the previous season left off, but in a toned down tone. June appears traumatized in her new free life. She is driven by revenge and hatred, and struggles with the terrible traumas that have been inflicted on her. This is perfectly communicated by Elisabeth Moss. It's clear that screenwriter Bruce Miller wants to take us inside June's troubled mind. Revenge and hatred, but also loss and trauma are so well conveyed. But those who wanted a grand dramatic battle against Gilead in the first episode will be disappointed. The episode spends its time portraying June's fierce inner struggle in her new free life in Canada.

I still think that Bruce Miller and the rest of the cast in the series will have to "gear up" going forward in this series. We have been informed that next season will be the last. Then, in my opinion, season 5 must set the stage for the final showdown with Gilead, Aunt Lydia and not least Mrs. Waterford and her supporters.

Finally, the series is still beautifully filmed and is still in a class of its own.

Wow, so that was the opening the producers came up with to keep us engaged? The storyline has devolved from a psychological drama showing what could happen if a country's moral compass becomes perverted to a revenge crusade that predominantly features close up shots of a seething Elisabeth Moss. Is anyone else tired of these June zoom-ins?? I literally had to fast forward through these drawn out head-shots of her angry or teary eyed face in order to try to find some semblance of a story line. We get it, she is pissed off, but enough of the June outrage and close-ups already.

I haven't given up on the series just yet but am close. The only thing that keeps me tuned in is the hope of a payoff in seeing aunt Lydia meet her demise and hanging from the wall.