The Handmaid's Tale

After the first season, I was basically satisfied. The theme was great, I enjoyed the story, and I was looking forward to the next season. Imagine my disappointment after that. Season 2 very quickly ruined everything I liked about the show and focused mostly on emotional blackmail and constant close-ups of Offred's face, which was torture. The development of the characters got stuck in a loop (the personality traits of the characters lacked any kind of nuance). Logic, atmosphere and pace of the story went AWOL, and after Season 2, I’m going to follow suit. (03.10.2018)

I have mixed feelings about the first season. I'm willing to say that Elisabeth Moss is a good actress. On the other hand, I also have to admit I'm not exactly thrilled by the sight of her. As if to spite me, there was a large number of excruciatingly long close-ups of her face, which I could certainly do without. Although it was obvious early on that this was a feminist thing, I didn't mind it in any way. I never thought women were supposed to stick to a well-trodden path between the kitchen and the bedroom. On the contrary, I quite understand the mood of the show, as some American conservative politicians would love to take women's rights back to the Stone Age. It annoyed me that the final two episodes, from which I expected the most, showed certain flaws. It was slightly disappointing. Anyway, my favorite character was Serena Joy Waterford played by Yvonne Strahovski, who was nice to look at. She was also absolutely convincing as a cutthroat bitch. (20.09.2017)

As usual, I went into this show without much preparation, only skimming a brief summary. It was a step into the unknown, but so far, no regrets. The filmmakers' vision of a dystopian future is intriguing. First, we had Panem, and now we have Gilead — things are definitely getting darker. After the first episode, I'm quite satisfied. The show has a paranoid, depressive atmosphere, and the villains have twisted the Lebensborn program to suit their needs. I'm curious to see how this develops. (18.09.2017)

Good thing I'm not a chauvinist, or I'd be throwing out one-star reviews! The previous two episodes had a light touch of feminism, but this one was drenched in it. Fortunately, I'm a realist and recognize that conservative congressmen would love to pass similar laws tomorrow. So, bring it on. (18.09.2017)

Another heavily feminist episode, but honestly, I'd take feminists over religious zealots any day. I do have a bigger issue, though. I never quite warmed up to Elisabeth Moss in Mad Men, and I'm having the same problem here. She's a great actress, but I've never found her to be a sexual object; she always reminds me of a frog. On the other hand, Yvonne Strahovski plays the bossy villain exceptionally well, and I find her incredibly likable. (18.09.2017)

And here it is — sin always finds a way. In the Waterford household, forbidden practices are coming to light. This episode kept up the excellent, tense atmosphere and general sense of despair, which is exactly what makes the show so compelling. (19.09.2017)

I can't imagine what the author went through, but she must have had some terrible experiences with men. Watching this episode, I almost felt like apologizing for being one! Seriously though, given how some men in the U.S. reacted to women getting the vote, I get the frustration. The story remains gripping, and Yvonne Strahovski is still fantastic. I just wish some furious assassin would take out Commander Waterford already. Unlike his brother, I really can't stand him. (19.09.2017)

The seventh episode was annoyingly redundant. Any reasonably intelligent viewer could have figured out the events leading up to the first episode. So, I spent 45 minutes watching Luke's suffering, which I honestly didn't care about. (19.09.2017)

I just can't give this episode more stars. The whole time, I was supposed to believe that Offred is breathtakingly beautiful, but to me, it felt like being handed a lemon and told to pretend it's sweet. No, I couldn't buy into that at all. (20.09.2017)

The ninth episode got back on track with the story, definitely an improvement over the last one. Everything seems to be heading towards a big finale, but I'm a bit worried the ending might let me down. Guess we'll see. (20.09.2017)

The triumphant march home after the big moment of defiance really annoyed me — it felt so cheap. All it needed were cheesy cheers from the crowd. What won me over were the powerful moments from Mrs. Waterford. She's the perfect ice queen, and once again, I'm leaning toward the dark side. (20.09.2017)

I wasn't exactly thrilled about the first season, but I was satisfied. The second one, on the other hand, seemed like a blow to the head. With the exception of two episodes, the story was awfully stretched out, the creators forgot about the atmosphere that had been so great in the first season, as well as about logic, and bet everything on playing on emotions and filling the screen with close-ups of Elisabeth Moss's face. A crashing bore. (03.10.2018)

The first episode of season two left me with mixed feelings, mostly leaning towards the negative. It felt like all the focus was on Offred/June, reinforced by the extremely long close-ups of her face. No offense to Elisabeth Moss, but she's not exactly my type, so I could do without those shots. Overall, I didn’t learn anything new, and the episodes from the previous season seemed much more engaging. (01.10.2018)

Well, that's what I get. I criticized the previous episode for not revealing anything new, and this time, I saw things I wasn't interested in at all. The Confederation of Political Prisoners should consider filing an official protest if this shovel-scraping is what they call hard labor — it’s an insult to those who endured real hardships. To sum it up: it was boring, the colonies were laughable, and the main character's sex scene was just disturbing. (01.10.2018)

The quality really took a nosedive. If I could empathize more with the female characters, I'd probably need someone to throw a noose over a beam in the attic because I couldn't live with how terrible we men are portrayed. The plot was weak, and the ending was the final nail in the coffin. (01.10.2018)

Returning to Aunt Lydia and the Waterfords brought back some of the first season's atmosphere, but I was disappointed by how much time was spent on the pre-birth ceremonies — I've seen them all before. The most striking moment for me was the terrifying close-up of Offred's face in one of the opening scenes. These shots appeared multiple times throughout the episode, so I’m honestly glad I don’t have a plasma screen where her expression could be permanently burned in to haunt me every day. (01.10.2018)

Fred's scheming intrigued me (especially with his "I'm just reading the paper" act) and his clever move to both get rid of and keep Nick around. However, that’s where the positives ended. The visits to the colonies felt like a waste of time — an unknown woman breaks down, Emily loses a tooth, a wedding between two unknown women, a funeral for a woman I’ve seen three times but still don’t care about. Offred’s situation was dull; even if she cut off her hand, I'd still be bored because it would take forever, and we’d get endless static shots of her face, making me worry my DVD player had frozen. (02.10.2018)

Finally an episode that I really enjoyed. It brought back the great atmosphere of the first season, and I appreciated the flashbacks for focusing on the intriguing events surrounding the Waterfords rather than tugging at my heartstrings. Surprisingly, I wasn't bored by the scenes with Offred and Serena either. The ending was a definite highlight — too bad Ofglen couldn’t shout out a striking anti-government slogan. (02.10.2018)

This one was a major letdown. There was so much potential to build on the last episode’s ending, but instead, the creators chose to bury all my hopes. The storyline with Cushing was the only part that had any substance; the rest felt like pointless filler. (02.10.2018)

If I weren't such a cynic, I might have been moved by the storyline about the sick child, but it felt like a blatant attempt to tug at the heartstrings of more sensitive viewers. I had a hunch about how it would end, and I was right. Watching Serena soften bit by bit was disappointing; I preferred her as the ice queen. And let's not forget the dreadful frozen close-up of Offred's face after leaving Fred's room, just so we could appreciate every single detail. (02.10.2018)