The Handmaid’s Tale “Testimony” was written by Kira Snyder and was directed by star Elisabeth Moss (June). As always, she does a wonderful job, eliciting fantastic performances from her fellow actors. Of course, the show’s own well-established visual palette is also in full view. The episode sees almost all of our characters experiencing transitions – and they may not all be good. Actions have consequences, and those that have been long simmering find an outlet in this episode.
The opening song in this episode is telling and helps to put the rest of the episode into perspective. The song is “Glory Box” by Portishead. The lyrics declare the singer has been a “temptress for too long” and she’s going to “leave it to the other girls to play.” She wants a reason to love someone, but she just wants to be a woman. “From this time, unchained/We’re all looking at a different picture” – and June has broken free from Gilead – but has she broken free from her emotional chains? Of course, as the music plays, June is cutting her hair – and that really reminded me of Samson and Delila. The Handmaid’s are not allowed to cut their hair, and it was one of the first things June did when she first escaped and hid at the Boston Tribune. She’s made herself less feminine – at least according to Gilead standards. The song goes on to ask “move over, and give us some room,” and asks men to see it from their point of view as women. It’s the perfect song for this show! The scene shows June sensually cutting her hair and ends with a close up of her face and eyes – she even smiles slightly, but she’s upside down to the camera…