Margaret Atwood published her dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, set in Gilead, a repressive theocratic version of the United States, in 1985, as Republican president Ronald Reagan nudged the United States into the neoliberalism that would rule for decades. She published a sequel, The Testaments, in 2019 – make of that what you will. And now, the television spinoff of Atwood’s world is drawing to its conclusion after an eight-year run that has coincided with profound challenges to America’s social fabric. As the curtain falls on Gilead, is Channel 4’s drama too close to the bone?
In the opening moments of season six, both June (Elisabeth Moss) and Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) are on a train, heading for the last outpost of the United States in Alaska. “You are one exceptionally tough woman,” Serena admits, but soon their paths will diverge again. Across the border in Gilead, Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) is pushing ahead with New Bethlehem – his liberalised community within Gilead’s borders – and Nick (Max Minghella) has become an influential lieutenant. But his relationship with June, which has turned him into a double agent against the regime, is being tested by the presence of her husband, Luke (O-T Fagbenle), who has joined the Mayday rebels alongside June’s old friend Moira (Samira Wiley).
