The penultimate episode of The Handmaid's Tale, "Execution," was everything that longtime viewers have been waiting years to see. June Osborne and the women rising against the Gilead government finally make their voices heard as they enact a violent killing spree across Boston's Gilead Commanders. Among the voices that finally stood up against the oppressive government that has done nothing but hurt women were Aunt Lydia and Serena, whose involvement acted as a longtime wish to see two of the women who had once been so faithful to Gilead help bring it down. "Execution" ends on a note of finality as an airplane with the most extremist Commanders explodes, which gives June and the rebellion a chance to take back Boston and return it to being an American land. What follows in the series finale does not keep up the momentum, but drags it down in a reflective hour that refuses to commit to its greatest possible conclusion due to its upcoming spinoff sequel, The Testaments.
As a novel, the storyline in "The Testaments" made more sense, as it followed up on the conclusion of June being taken from the Waterford house to an uncertain fate that took place at the end of the Hulu show's novel counterpart. The book ended with Gilead still very much alive, as the Hulu series had expanded on that ending, crafting multiple seasons that further developed the Handmaids, Marthas, Wives, Commanders, Gilead, and rebellion as a whole. The Handmaid's Tale as a series deserved to witness the finality of a broken Gilead and the feeling that while not everyone experiences a "happily ever after" ending, the series could at least end with the longtime villainous oppressive government falling to its knees. However, for The Testaments to work, which takes place after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, Gilead as a setting still needs to exist. The Handmaid's Tale series finale prevents itself from committing to its well-deserved ending to make room for a spinoff, which is perhaps the most devastating thing about it.
The Handmaid's Tale, especially in its middle seasons, struggled in its pacing to push the story forward, often caught in a revolving door of June attempting to escape, getting captured, and then escaping again until she finally made it to Canada. During its middle seasons, The Handmaid's Tale moved at a snail's pace as it seemed at times that the storyline would never actually build up to reaching the revolution that desperately needed to take place. Unfortunately, by not actively taking down Gilead for good in its series finale, it almost takes away from that journey. The series finale does successfully free Boston and implies that the rebellion will grow to free the remainder of Gilead. Yet, all the series finale needed to do was include a line of dialogue toward the end that could have confirmed Gilead's demise as a whole, which still would have allowed for June's more focused ending of thinking back on her time as a Handmaid.
The aspect of a slower and more reflective series finale is not the problem here. June certainly deserved the time to breathe after all that she had gone through and really determine how to move forward. The Handmaid's Tale honors how these events have changed people and how their relationships are impacted by all they have underwent, such as how June and Luke acknowledge how each of them have changed individually, as well as June's ability to forgive Serena for all she had done and Serena's admission of shame for the role she played and how her actions impacted June. June's return to the Waterford house even acts as a way to mirror the series premiere, offering a connection to the show's beginning while simultaneously being able to witness how far June has come since the show began.
In the end, the characters within The Handmaid's Tale, as well as the audience who had strapped in for the ride since the series began, deserved a stronger ending, one that showed that this journey had been worth it. June does not get to reunite with Hannah. There is no real inkling of how the land that had been Gilead rebuilds itself as America. In order to keep certain characters and settings alive for The Testaments, The Handmaid's Tale was not able to truly develop a sense of stakes and follow through that the series had built and deserved on its own merit. Holding back its own series for a continuing story is not the way The Handmaid's Tale should have ended, and it takes away from the storylines and characters that deserved stronger conclusions and a better goodbye. For all of its build-up, The Handmaid's Tale's series finale never actually offers the real chance at witnessing the spark it so desperately wants to light.