The Handmaid's Tale: Baggage (2018)
Season 2, Episode 3
1/10
Subverting expectations as a modus operandi
3 April 2020
It was still during the first season that I came to the conclusion that this show would use this mechanic plentiful, as I saw the same situation occurring over and over. Ex. a maid would stand against the system and would face consequences, always some kind of horrific torture. In the first episodes this was necessary to explain to the viewer how brutal the system in fact was and how awful punishments were. However, quickly this turns into the series modus operandi. There's no true development to the story. Just isolated character development. The story itself has stayed the same since the beginning. Characters will do something against the system and the system punishes the transgression with more torture. This is pretty much what we were getting. The first episode of season 2 brought us a welcoming breath of fresh air, as our maid finally sees the light at end of the tunnel. The whole first 2 episodes elaborate the situation, leading us to a 3rd episode exclusively dedicated to an escape sequence. The unnecessary frequent cuts on the action, insisting on more or less interesting flashbacks, pave way to a "subverting expectations" apotheosis, where everything goes back to the same point where the first episode starts. If this is what they call storytelling nowadays, I prefer sticking with the classics. If you like masochism, this is the right tv show for you. I'm done with it.
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