The Handmaid's Tale. It's indulgent, more and more often shallow and dull, and spins its wheels ad infinitum. It has a tenuous handle on its own inconsistent worldbuilding. It undermines key thematic underpinnings of the text with oversimplification, contrived shuffling of plot-armoured characters across the chess board and undercooked efforts to appear intersectional or relevant. Arcs and plots have remained static and stale for some time now.
But it still delivers a few truly excellent scenes a season, the best of those being the ones that contain a compelling or cathartic character beat expertly performed by its talented ensemble, opposed to the jaw-dropping traumas it's known for. And for as much of a traumatic slog as it can be, it mines a surprising amount of comedy out of June and Serena's completely fucked up dynamic, and I'm essentially only still watching to see those two characters interact. Strahovski and Moss pull the best performances out of each other, too.
Away_Ad8907 t1_ja7q8xn wrote
Reply to What flawed show you just can't leave because it's really that good in certain parts despite its wrongs? by eidbio
The Handmaid's Tale. It's indulgent, more and more often shallow and dull, and spins its wheels ad infinitum. It has a tenuous handle on its own inconsistent worldbuilding. It undermines key thematic underpinnings of the text with oversimplification, contrived shuffling of plot-armoured characters across the chess board and undercooked efforts to appear intersectional or relevant. Arcs and plots have remained static and stale for some time now.
But it still delivers a few truly excellent scenes a season, the best of those being the ones that contain a compelling or cathartic character beat expertly performed by its talented ensemble, opposed to the jaw-dropping traumas it's known for. And for as much of a traumatic slog as it can be, it mines a surprising amount of comedy out of June and Serena's completely fucked up dynamic, and I'm essentially only still watching to see those two characters interact. Strahovski and Moss pull the best performances out of each other, too.