The Handmaid's Tale in the time of COVID-19
Friday, September 18, 2020 at 10:00AM 
Perfect gloomy day to film red coats #handmaidstale @WhatsFilmingON pic.twitter.com/6GMfXxDCz5
— michelle dimech (@elladime) September 9, 2020
Blessed be the fruit.
The hit Hulu series The Handmaid’s Tale resumed production last week, becoming one of the earliest major productions to return to filming in Canada after filming was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During an interview for TV Line, Emmy winner Bradley Whitford said that the production underwent two weeks of “hardcore quarantine” before they could even pick up where they left off last march.
Emmy history, Season 3 recap, and personal resonances follow after the jump...
The third season centers on June (Elisabeth Moss) finding ways to get to her daughter Hannah while staying with her new commander Joseph Lawrence (Bradley Whitford). Her other daughter Nichole/Holly finds her way into Canada after Emily (Alexis Bledel) escapes with her baby. What happens next is an international custody battle between Gilead and Canada, orchestrated by the Waterfords (Yvonne Strahovski and Joseph Fiennes). Meanwhile June’s plan to save Hannah backfires, causing her daughter to go missing. To exact revenge, June stages a plan to smuggle more than 52 boys and girls, the stolen children of Gilead.
Earning an accumulative haul of 44 nominations and 14 wins for its first two seasons, the show returns to the 2020 Emmys with ten nominations. Quite impressive since the third season premiered way back in June last year. Not quite impressive since this is the lowest nomination count for the show in a single season (its three “orphaned” episodes from season two received more nominations than the entirety of the third season). Glaring snubs include Elisabeth Moss for Actress, Yvonne Strahovski and/or Ann Dowd for Supporting Actress, and Directing and Writing for its acclaimed finale “Mayday”.
While I was deeply rooting for the show to do well again during this year’s Emmys, I already had some trepidations on whether people would be willing to watch a dystopian series about a worldwide health crisis coinciding with the rise of fascism during a worldwide health crisis coinciding with the rise of fascism. One would probably assume that the demand for escapist entertainment would rise as a way of coping with our horrifying reality. Surprisingly enough, then, Hulu has reported that the show was one of their most-watched shows during the coronavirus pandemic.
That piece of information might look bizarre, especially for a series that is known to be ‘hard to watch’ or ‘close to home’. However, we have also heard the news of how Contagion, a film about a respiratory disease pandemic, suddenly became one of the most-downloaded, most-streamed, even most-torrented films during this pandemic. The connection is pretty obvious on that one.
However, the pandemic also saw the rise of countries increasing militarization, quelling free speech, or even turning into full-blown dictatorships. The Black Lives Matter movement of this year and the highly militarized police response show us the institutionalization of violence once authority is questioned. Other countries and territories with political unrest are, but not limited to, Brazil, Hungary, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom.
The same can be said with the Philippines that saw a massive increase in arrests of quarantine violators, political opponents, and threats of silencing dissent through the recently passed Anti-Terror Law. Being a Filipino living in one of the countries worst-ravished by COVID-19 in Southeast Asia, I am a witness to how this pandemic has been weaponized to institute rules and decisions that yield to gross human rights violations.
I would opine that shows like The Handmaid’s Tale probably do well during this pandemic because they actually help us deal with the harsh realities of life by letting us see a worst-case scenario.
On a personal note.
Since its first season in 2017, the show has easily become my favorite TV show ever. With stunning visuals, powerful score, amazing cast, and terrifying social commentary (intentional or not), the show has become a helpful way to deal with the 2016-craziness that has since enveloped the world. This series was my introduction to Elisabeth Moss, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley, and Alexis Bledel. Meanwhile, I had a new perspective on the works of Ann Dowd and Joseph Fiennes having only seeing them in films before.
I have been influenced by this show in many ways. That may sound weird coming from a cisgendered man living in a third world country. But with the help of watching the show, I have become more comfortable in speaking out my opinions, especially political critique (well, at least before the Anti-Terror Law). The show has been with me especially when I hit rock bottom in 2018. And then when the pandemic struck the world, the show helped me again.
Our current situation has really challenged my mental health, gave me really complicated emotions, and brought out the worst fears in me. However, rewatching episodes of the show has given me a weird comfort and the necessary push to keep going. The show turned me into fight mode in a time where survival is key. I even had a reassessment of its third season during this pandemic and found myself identifying with a very specific scene or two from each episode.
SPOILERS AHEAD. SEASON 3 RECAP THROUGH ESPECIALLY RESONANT SCENES
Episode 01: “Night”
Scene: Emily (Bledel) manages to escape Gilead after suffering repeated rape, genital mutilation, and forced labor under heavy radiation in the Colonies. The confused expression that she had when she is welcomed in the hospital in Canada is especially tear-inducing.
Personal Connection: I especially felt that urgency to leave my country when things quickly went south in my country in the middle of the pandemic. With minimal income and threats of arrests and murders happening in my country on a daily basis, notwithstanding the poor handling of the virus, there were nights when I could not sleep just because of thinking about leaving my family.
Episode 02: “Mary and Martha”
Scene: June (Moss) dresses up as a Martha. As she crosses the checking area where passes are to be presented, she was especially nervous on the fears of being found out and being apprehended.
Personal Connection: During the enhanced community quarantine in my country, quarantine passes were required every time you go out of the house. You are most likely going to be arrested if you go out without the pass. I forgot my pass during one time while crossing a checkpoint. Just imagine my nervousness.
Episode 03: “Useful”
Scene: Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) brings June to a holding area where women about to be sent to the Colonies are encaged. He forces her to make the tough decision of choosing five women to be saved and be turned as Marthas.
Personal Connection: I have found myself making tough decisions during this pandemic, especially with regards to my family’s safety. While not as huge as June’s ordeal in the scene, there were definitely moments where I just had to choose the lesser evil between two options for survival.
Episode 04: “God Bless the Child”
Scene: June’s voiceover: “Who can be persuaded? Who can be turned, ignited, to burn this sh*t place to the ground? / June watches her husband Luke (O-T Fagbenle) in a protest video held in Canada.
Personal Connection: For the first one, ‘nuff said. For the second one, I was regularly tearing up, feeling overwhelmed while I was watching the Black Lives Matter protests in different countries. They were tears of joy, support, and envy because I was seeing my friends practicing their freedom of speech and right to assembly. Meanwhile, we cannot do that here. Protesters here were arrested, even during Pride marches.
Episode 05: “Unknown Child”
Scene: Set to “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, June looks at the camera angrily as the Waterfords (Yvonne Strahovski and Joseph Fiennes) film a request to the Canadian government to return her baby.
Personal Connection: Seeing Elisabeth Moss stare in fury, with very subtle shaking to indicate intense anger, while we hear the lyrics of the U2 song “I can’t believe the news today”. F*ck yeah, I can’t.
Episode 06: “Household”
Scene: June is forced to participate in a filmed prayer rally in the Washington with a multitude of muffled handmaids pray in silence.
Personal Connection: Just to see a sea of handmaids with their mask-like mouth covering (and mouth rings underneath) is deeply unnerving. The freedom of speech and the agency of the individual is palpable, all while a misogynistic male leader’s voice echoes. Sounds familiar.
Episode 07: “Under His Eye”
Scene: June attacks and shouts at Ofmatthew (Ashleigh LaThrop) after finding out that she ratted her daughter's Martha, leading to her execution.
Personal Connection: The concept of betraying someone because of sheer belief in the government is so evident now. Authoritarian regimes are really good at making its citizens distrust each other. I see people online still defending our country’s poor response to the pandemic just because of their fervent fanaticism. It deeply frustrates me that lower-to-middle class citizens, even friends and relatives, are having online warfare while the elite few are actually benefiting from our lack of unity to demand better from our governments.
Episode 08: “Unfit”
Scene: Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) breaks a mirror in deep shame after making out with her colleague. After that, she reports a student’s mother to the authorities on the grounds of “moral weakness”.
Personal Connection: I am a believer and I choose to be one. That is probably why I am extremely fascinated by the religious critique in this show. In this episode, we see how a true believer feels religious guilt after doing what is deemed a sin. That tendency to over-correct a sin to the point of alienating others is heartbreakingly spot-on. Honestly, I've had those moments.
Episode 09: “Heroic”
Scene: June is stuck inside a hospital room as he watched Ofmatthew’s slow death. Basically, the entire episode.
Personal Connection: Where to begin? June’s emotional and psychological breakdown due to being forced to stay in a confined space is basically a shared experience now. Stress, depression, and anxiety are prevalent. I live with my family so that helps, but it can still seep in from time to time due to the extended period of quarantine. Also, I was confined in a hospital for seven days earlier this year (not COVID-related, thankfully). I probably had a lot of voiceover moments there too.
Episode 10: “Bear Witness”
Scene: Commander Lawrence, his wife Eleanor, (Julie Dretzin) and June are forced to perform the ceremony while the Waterfords and Commander Winslow (Christopher Meloni) ‘witness’ them.
Personal Commitment: Last June, several Facebook accounts using names of real Filipinos were created simultaneously. Four accounts were even named after me. Some of my friends suddenly had 20-50 accounts. This was at the peak of the aforementioned Anti-Terror Law. Because surveillance was part of that law and the paranoia over these accounts exploded (some even received death threats from accounts named after them), the idea of being watched over at the time was particularly strong. Well, until now.
Episode 11: “Liars”
Scene: June kills Commander Winslow at the Jezebels.
Personal Connection: Taking down a misogynistic and abusive male leader? Yes please.
Episode 12: “Sacrifice”
Scene: June decides to not save Eleanor after attempting suicide via drug overdose so she could not interfere with her plan of smuggling the children.
Personal Connection: Just in general, this pandemic has really made us go through a series of tough decisions, hopefully for our better and the better of the people around us. Family members separated due to quarantine restrictions, COVID-19 patients dying alone because of safety precautions, not being able to see our friends to avoid infection, staying inside the house to the point of cabin fever because of our worries. We do all of these sacrifices these days.
Episode 13: “Mayday”
Scene: In a flashback, after she is captured, June witnesses how people with disabilities and women are harshly segregated by the Guardians, presumably to be killed.
Personal Connection: That scene just gutted me, especially having a brother with special needs. This ‘cleansing’ of handicapped people has happened before in history, particularly during the Holocaust. This visualisation of that horror made me physically sick. That the scene actually has real-life counterparts has shaken me to my core. To this day, I still skip that scene when I rewatch that episode. It is too much but it is necessary to show us the horrors of authoritarian regimes.
Hulu released a teaser for season 4 last June with a tagline “Unite to Fight”. It showed us brief glimpses of what was shot during the first 2-3 weeks of production before they shot down and interspersed clips from the previous seasons with a new voice-over from Moss.
With this teaser, the show owns its place as a call to action against the injustices that we see in our society. While it may have started as an emblem of the women’s rights movements as early as in 2017, this show now takes new form as a reminder that we must fight back to any signs of authoritarianism and dictatorship that will rise henceforth. As for me, it is a powerful message to send this time when we must take action in whatever way we can.
The show may not be as popular as it was before, but The Handmaid’s Tale remains one of the most vital shows airing. Three seasons in and I am still a huge fan. I even dream of directing an episode one day. Despite its flaws and imperfections, its powerful filmmaking and message astound to this day.
While they film season four in Canada, take this time to check out its first three seasons on Hulu. Season 4 will premiere in 2021.
Reader Comments (5)
This is a terrific piece. It’s fascinating to explore the themes and scenes of this show this way. This show really is strong, even its third season, and I eagerly await what’s sure to be a sobering and powerful fourth season.
Great piece, Juan Carlos! What a nice change of pace: a very personal opinion rather than a cynical review of a typical critic.
I too think the show is still fantastic and can't wait to see season 4. Even in this Peak TV era there are not many shows this ambitious and so well acted.
Terrific work, thank you for your article. I live in Canada, and have met Margaret Atwood several times at writer's festivals. I am extremely proud of Atwood's critique and more than a little dismayed at how "The Handmaid's Tale" has become more and more relevant since it was first published. How extraordinary that this series has reached so many people around the world.
I hope it has a strong season 4, and it maintains it's popularity.
Btw. I always thought "Contagion" was under-appreciated when it came out. Back in March when this pandemic first hit, I re-watched Contagion twice! It calmed me down.
Hello, everyone! I am thrilled to see fellow fans of the show. Thank you for your kind words. I just did my best to honor my personal connection with the show.
I am glad that the film crew succeeded, so now we can see the results of their fantastic work. I started watching this TV show when I was assigned to write a paper about Margaret Atwood's novel. It turned out to be a difficult task, but I completed my work with the help of valuable sources. One such source was the essay examples I found at https://eduzaurus.com/free-essay-samples/the-handmaids-tale/ which helped me understand various aspects of the book and gave me clear direction on how to approach writing my own paper. These examples gave me valuable insight into the literary devices used in the book and allowed me to delve deeper into the themes and motifs. This is a fantastic book, and the series from Hulu is an example of an excellent adaptation.