The best TV episodes of 2017
By Sarah Baye
The Handmaid’s Tale — Pilot:” Offred”
Hulu’s new series is the much-anticipated adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel. For the readers and fans of the book, the introductory episode to that theocratic American society where women are reduced to servants and surrogate mothers is a given; but for those who hadn’t read the read the book —like myself— it is a daunting immersion into a gruesome universe.
Although the series counts far more memorable and shocking scenes in later episodes, the pilot does an incredible job of introducing us slowly to protagonist Offred’s world through her eyes.
It takes a long time, and a succession of cleverly spaced shocking revelations, for the viewer to fully grasp what they are in for, akin to a frog standing in a gradually boiling water. By the time the major stakes of the series have been laid out, the audience is too far involved to step back, trapped in this universe the same way the characters are.
The protagonist’s internal monologues create a dichotomy between her two personas as subdued handmaid Offred and insurgent free woman June and also gives us an insight into the character’s thoughts. On top of which, the flashbacks promise us to unravel the events that led to the situation we are given to witness.
In a year that was marked by silence breaking on sexual harassment and oppression, The Handmaid’s Tale rang very much as a meaningful activist voice on women’s condition and probably was one of the reasons that made it win two Golden Globes, including Best Drama series.
Season 2 will be available in 2019 on Hulu.