Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale season three finale, “Mayday”.
Last night, American audiences were able to watch the thrilling finale for The Handmaid’s Tale season three.
The ambitious and daring episode saw June Osborne (played by Elisabeth Moss) successfully smuggle a bunch of children out of Gilead. Sadly, she is yet to get her own daughter, Hannah Bankole (Jordana Blake), out of the regime just yet.
June was shot in the process, and the final shots of episode 13 saw our hero being rescued by members of the resistance. Presumably, she’ll be alright.
While yes, the episode was thrilling and June made a serious breakthrough in the series, many fans have been left feeling a little underwhelming.
The problem with the season three finale is that it’s just all a little ridiculous now.
The Handmaid’s Tale started off as one of the most revolutionary and terrifying shows, but now, its potentially going a too far.
What was once shocking before, barely shakes the core. We’re three seasons in now, and June is unnecessarily untouchable.
Executive producer, Bruce Miller, recently spoke to Vanity Fair about whether June would ever be killed off, in a show where everyone – and anyone – could perish.
Now June’s life is apparently in danger, will season four open with her funeral? Absolutely not.
Bruce explained: “June has plot armour based on the fact that it’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and the premise of the show is the same as the premise of the book.
“That this is a recorded memoir that was, you know, found at some point in the future.
“This story only exists as long as June was alive to live it and write it down.
“So I think that June is our guide. When June dies, our guide dies, and our show dies.”
READ MORE: The Handmaid’s Tale season 3 ending explained: Is June Osborne dead?
But wouldn’t this be a good thing for The Handmaid’s Tale? Popular shows such as The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones performed so well with fans because of their ability to genuinely shock. Almost any character, whether they are A-list or not, could perish at any given time.
However, in The Handmaid’s Tale, a set number of characters are apparently invincible. While not the worst thing, it does undermine the series as fans can never truly be shocked.
What’s more, it seems a mistake from the part of the production team to actively say they won’t kill her off. Where’s the intrigue for season four?
Since the season ended last night, already the cast and crew are doing their best to hype up All Out War between Gilead and Canada.
Bruce added: “You can imagine, I mean, if one child getting out and going to Canada [became] an international incident… For Gilead, these kids were kidnapped from their homes.
“So I think they react like any other country would, but magnified because we’re living in a world where children are very rare.
“So are there going to be consequences more than [June] getting shot? Yes, absolutely.”
Bruce added to The Hollywood Reporter: “[People find [the show] unpredictable.
“I don’t try to make it unpredictable. In fact, I try to do the opposite: almost inevitably what you think would happen, is what happens — it’s just not what would happen on television.
“It’s what would happen in Gilead, to June.”
Great, so there’s a diplomatic issue coming… Who cares? The Handmaid’s Tale fans want to see June get out with her kids. They want to see her work towards a resolution.
The problem is the show is not unpredictable, in fact, it’s anything but. Now we know June will never die so long as the series is continuing, where does it go from here?
Sure, revolution takes a long time and Rome certainly wasn’t built overnight, but the stark reality of this is The Handmaid’s Tale is a TV show and we now reside in an era where our favourite shows (hello, The OA!) are being cancelled in their prime.
I’m a huge fan of the Margaret Atwood-based tale, and genuinely the worst thing that could happen to it is if it’s finished before the showrunners have realised their vision.
With season four confirmed, perhaps this is The Handmaid’s Tale walking towards something big, with this final war proving to be the downfall and collapse of Gilead.
With this in mind, why walk? Let’s run towards the glorious finale, picking up a pace similar to that seen in the first season.
The Handmaid’s Tale is so incredibly close to being perfect, and with its eerie and haunting social message becoming ever more pertinent, please give it a good send off – and not do a “Game of Thrones” on it.
The Handmaid’s Tale airs on Channel 4 every Sunday at 9pm.
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