The Handmaid’s Tale “Home” was written by Yahlin Chang and was directed by Richard Shepard. As the title suggests, the episode focuses on June’s (Elisabeth Moss) return ‘home’ – or at least to a home with Luke (O-T Fagbenle) and Nicole and Moira (Samira Wiley). Acting kudos for this episode have to go to Moss, Fagbenle and Yvonne Strahovski (Serena), who once again manages to suck everyone in, including the audience, before revealing her true feelings and emotions… The episode once again begins exactly where we left off, with June stepping off the gangway of the ship that brought her onto the soil of Canada. There is a terrific shot of her breath which you can see in the cold air. Here is this woman, who has been an unseen presence finally becoming manifest. Can she live up to the legend she has become? Could anyone? I love that the show has shown us that June is far from perfect – and has also shown us an outside view of what others think based upon their mo
The Handmaid’s Tale “The Crossing” was written by Bruce Miller and was directed by none other than Elisabeth Moss (June) – doing double duty again! This was a truly horrific episode both for the torture that June undergoes and for the high body count of all those we lose in this episode. Moss throws in some wonderful homages to horror films and also incorporates a number of images that resonate with previous episodes. As the episode opens, all we hear is June’s breathing. Then we get a close up of her face – and all we can see are her eyes as she’s in the gag we’ve seen before on Handmaids before – perfect for filming during Covid! She’s in the back of a truck, chained by her neck and feet in place. We get the usual aerial shot and see that she’s being taken to a large facility, well out in the country. The truck stops, and Nick (Max Minghella) gets in.