20 biggest TV moments of 2018 we’ll never forget
By Sundi Rose
Serena Waterford reads the Bible – The Handmaid’s Tale
What happened: The Handmaid’s Tale has very few moments of victory for its characters. It’s a bleak look at not-too-distant future, and it can get grim. However, there were a few moments of (short-lived) hope in season 2 of the dystopian Hulu drama.
One such moment is when Commander Waterford’s wife, a former academic and activist, decides to rebel against Gilead’s rule against women reading. She appears before the council, on which her husband sits, and reads from the Bible.
Why it’s important: Hulu’s adaptation of the Margaret Atwood novel landed in a moment in America that feels scary to a lot of women. Gilead is an ultra-conservative and extremely evangelical society in which women have been robbed of their rights, and where some still-fertile women are kept as sexual slaves. The parallels are taken to an extreme place, but you can draw them pretty easily.
Serena’s rebellion marks a strong theme in the series and in modern America. She speaks out for women’s rights, which feels empowering at first. But The Handmaid’s Tale does what it does, and quickly punishes her in a gruesome and humiliating way. Serena winds up having to sacrifice her finger for her boldness, but it also marks an awakening for her.
How to watch it: Both seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale are available on Hulu now. Serena’s big moment and epiphany are in the last few episodes of season 2.