WARNING: Spoilers for The Handmaid's Tale season 5 below.
After a thrilling start, The Handmaid's Tale season 5 is slowing down when it should be picking up, repeating a problem that the series has faced throughout its run. After The Handmaid's Tale surpassed Margaret Atwood's source material at the end of season 1, there was no telling where the series would go. This turned out to be both good and bad for the hit Hulu show. While the series got to explore the world Atwood created in more depth, it also found itself spinning its wheels at times as June Osborne found herself rebelling against the Waterfords and nearly escaping time and time again before ending up back in the same place.
The Handmaid's Tale season 4 looked set to do the same - June was on the run once again before being captured and escaping again. It was a microcosmic version of what the show had been cycling through since season 2. That all changed when June escaped Gilead. June's journey to Toronto and her reunion with Luke and Moira proved the show could explore new emotional ground in exciting ways. Similarly, the Waterfords finding themselves in Canada and facing the consequences of their actions was an exciting prospect after watching them torment so many people.
The Handmaid's Tale season 5 got off to a strong start - June is dealing with the fallout from her murdering Fred, and she has entered a will-they-won't-they game of revenge with Serena. The latest episode seems like the show could be falling back into old patterns, though. While there are interesting developments in small ways, it seems like June, despite her desire to kill Serena, has reached a stalemate with her former tormentor. Someone has to make a move, but both seem hesitant to. The Handmaid's Tale season 5, episode 4 is undoubtedly a table-setting episode, but so were episodes 2 and 3, arguably. This kind of movement, or lack thereof, proves that the show ending sooner rather than later is for the best, despite its recent highs.
The Handmaid's Tales Problems Prove It Should End Sooner Rather Than Later
The Handmaid's Tale can't go on forever, and it was recently revealed that the show will be ending with season 6, putting this latest season in a tough position. Penultimate seasons are essentially table-setting seasons, but, not one to make things easy, The Handmaid's Tale's final season will be all about setup as well. The final season will presumably lead directly into The Testaments, the show based on Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale sequel novel. There's a way that the show can do this, though, without facing the pacing issue it has long suffered from.
Since The Handmaid's Tale is exploring an era that is unwritten, the show shouldn't be pulling its punches. As it nears its conclusion, The Handmaid's Tale needs a go-for-broke mentality. June murdering Fred felt like a taste of that, but the show has pulled back from that precipice once more, playing it safe early on in season 5. With the ending coming and a new series on the horizon, The Handmaid's Tale has no time to waste.
New episodes of The Handmaid's Tale premiere Wednesdays on Hulu.