The Handmaid’s Tale review: A whole new world

The Handmaid’s Tale slows everything down this week in an episode that sets up the endgame of the entire season, for better or worse.

June’s back in Boston for this week of The Handmaid’s Tale, and we get to learn that color-coding for handmaids goes all the way down to the ropes they haul on to raise execution platforms and drop the trapdoors to hang three people. The cowls of last week are spreading up north, getting named veils instead.

But in a well-executed shot, June and a Martha talk about how to see Hannah again, moving between refrigerated cases to continue their conversation. Even though they’re just alternating cases, the noise of the doors opening and closing as well as that movement helps give some action to the shot. Seeing June through the lens of something — shelves, usually — reappears over and over in this episode, and I’m not sure why.

What does appear is June’s ability to manipulate, as she coaxes Eleanor Lawrence into “going for a walk” to head down to Hannah’s school (although she gives in and tells her why on the walk over). “I’m so glad she didn’t die,” Eleanor repeats to a baby they meet along the way. The off-putting behavior gets something of an explanation: Eleanor and Joseph did try and have children, but weren’t successful.

Speaking of unsuccessful things, though, June doesn’t get to go into Hannah’s school, even with Eleanor’s attempt at assistance. June runs along the wall surrounding the school, only able to hear the girls inside laughing. Again, there’s another great aerial shot of June and the girls, separated by such a thin wall, and then Eleanor gets upset.

So what does this mean? It’s still not clear. If there’s going to be a payoff, then it needs to happen soon, or viewers will only get more frustrated if this strings out into a fourth season.

However, not everyone has returned to Boston. Serena, as she promised in last week’s episode, is still in D.C., getting shown a home by Olivia Winslow. The house is “unrestored,” to use Olivia’s word, which is a nice way of saying it’s been abandoned and the detritus of the former owners’ life is everywhere, down to newspapers yellowing on the table.

In another throwback to a time gone by, Fred and Serena later dance to an orchestra on the floor, with some insinuations of a tango instead of the less-scandalous waltz. Reconciliation is their theme right now.

Meanwhile, in Canada, Emily — Dr. Malek — is talking to the Swiss woman again, explaining some of the things she did in Gilead. We learn that politically, there’s potential for an extradition treaty, one that needs Nichole still in Canada for a little while (thanks to Fred’s brief scene). Moira and Emily also get to share a scene, talking about women they knew and Emily’s willingness to go protest with Moira. They then get arrested for it, which is basically a bonding activity since Emily talks about her time in the Colonies.

The episode ends in the same way it ended: an execution, this time of the Martha who was helping June and with the information that the Mackenzies — the people who have Hannah — are missing, only to learn Ofmatthew betrayed her. Unfortunately, she then pushes and scares Ofmatthew, which might end poorly considering that child endangerment is now the “most vile act” in Gilead.

All in all, this feels like an episode of transition from the midgame of the season to the endgame. There are just a few episodes remaining, so it’s time to wrap up storylines. This isn’t a bad thing, either, but it’s just a thing that makes us hope that something will come to fruition in the final episodes.