'The Handmaid's Tale' season 3 promised rebellion and its lack of focus on Mayday's resistance is not a good sign
'The Handmaid's Tale' season 3 was expected to be all about rebellion, revolting against the regime of Gilead and the handmaids coming together, but it hasn't happened so far. We are five episodes in already and all we have seen so far is June and the Marthas at Commander Lawrence's residence trying to help a chemistry teacher move further into the resistance. After that bright, exciting moment where June was brought into the workings of the resistance, there hasn't been much in terms of plotting or planning the fall of Gilead.
This is problematic considering the time and effort that has gone into setting up the central theme of this season as a rebellion. Even as audiences expected to see June fight, it felt like she was abandoned to deal with the whims and fancies of Serena Joy at this point. The set up of forming allies worked initially, and when June and Serena sat together to smoke a cigarette, it was powerful.
Without a follow-up to this tenuous connection and by merely making June a victim in episode 5, as she is caught off-guard by Serena's decision to join hands with Fred, that powerful moment disappears. It also leaves viewers weary, because at this point, how much more can you drag it all out really?
The conversation between Luke and June, followed by the recording that June had Serena deliver to Luke, was all that remained memorable of the 50-minute episode. There is not much else and it is tiring really to watch June end up in the same state of affairs over three seasons, especially when some fans are wary and suspicious of how Hulu might actually be trying to cash in on the popularity of the show. Many were unhappy June decided to stay back in Gilead after all the torture she went through.
While June needing to stay back for the sake of her elder daughter Hannah is convincing, even as she ensured the safety of her newborn baby Nichole, what followed was not organically fascinating like the first couple of episodes of the current season. What we really want is for June to actually become actively involved in the Mayday resistance.
At the beginning of the season, in a voiceover, June is heard saying, "Mom's got some work" and we want to see her do that work; not get caught up in how Gilead is set to brainwash the world into thinking that their commander's baby has been kidnapped, as this only spells trouble for her. Instead, she needs to come at them with the help of the Mayday resistance and save Luke and Nichole.
'The Handmaid's Tale' season 3 episode 6 will air June 26 on Hulu.