'The Handmaid's Tale' Recap: 'First Blood'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

I think it is safe to say at this point, that The Handmaid’s Tale is a series that likes to toy with its audience. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because taking a ride on an emotional rollercoaster is part of enjoying a great story. But therein lies the problem if you will with the show. Because at some point, the story is supposed to reward the audience, to give them something special and worthwhile for enduring such a tough ride and really, this series really hasn’t taken the time the time to do such a thing.
 
Granted, it flirted with the notion of a reward early on in season two, since we did get to see June escape the clutches of Gilead for a time, only to find herself back where she started and while that’s downtrodden and harrowing enough in its own right, the series took things a step further by allowing for us to witness June’s near psychological breakdown and really, at the end of last week’s episode, I was genuinely wondering if this series was ever going to give us something positive when it comes to this harrowing tale.
 
Well as it turns out, last night’s episode of the show, ‘First Blood’, is the story that will likely go down as a turning point for this storied saga, since it did indeed provide a reward for the audience after all this time, in stunning fashion for that matter as well. But of course, as this series is wont to do, such rewards don’t come easy and this story did force us to sit through more uncomfortable injustices in this world before finally giving us what we want. Like the whole matter with Nick and his newfound bride, wherein we saw Gilead’s fanaticism come into play since Eden was ready to turn her husband in as a Gender Traitor for not sleeping with her right away and well…that moment, and the fact that Nick eventually did consummate his marriage was just plain screwed up because the girl is only fifteen years old, but that is this world, where nothing matters but ‘God’ and what man has deemed His word, and now a new generation subscribes to this garbage and that’s downright disturbing.

---

In fact, so were Serena’s actions in this tale since she tried desperately to play nice with June for a change, that is until June asked nicely to see Hannah and quickly saw Serena turn on her despite the understanding they were finally coming to and well, it would seem that Serena’s disdain for June stems from the fact that she is and will forever be a non-believer in Gilead’s cause. Because thinking about her former life proves that little has changed in June’s mind and this oddly enough tied into that fanaticism as well since we were privy to a few flashbacks from Serena’s past, wherein we saw how hard she pushed to be heard in America and how she and Fred gamed the system as it suited them in order to get their way and how they will take whatever measures necessary to make people understand just how important Gilead is to them, as was evidenced by Commander Waterford’s hunt and subsequent execution of the man who shot his wife…
 
But, with this kind of darkness surrounding the story, it seems as though that a reward is simply not possible, but there was one believe it not, and it wasn’t the act of kindness that Commander Waterford sent June’s way by giving her a current picture of Hannah. No instead, this one came right out of left field in that, while Waterford was dedicating a new training facility for future Handmaids, Ofglen decided to surprise everyone by stepping into the meeting room, distracting everyone briefly before she revealed that she had a trigger in her hand, and before the Guardians could tackle her to the ground, the explosives wrapped around her body detonated in the room, sending Handmaids outside flying, and likely sending many of Gilead’s top officials to their graves and well…just like that, Mayday struck one hell of a blow, and the audience finally got something they’ve been desperate to experience, comeuppance for the monsters that run Gilead.
 
If anything, that last minute surprise was truly unexpected in every way imaginable, because Mayday has been silent since June was returned to the Waterford home. But it’s obvious an opportunity to cripple Gilead’s leadership was too good to pass up, and what’s equally as surprising here is that Ofglen was ready and willing to die for the cause and clearly, she had enough of what she’s seen and had done to her and her sacrifice truly signals a big change for this story. Because this kind of attack shows how serious Mayday is about toppling Gilead, which means that the fight is on, Gilead’s days may be numbered, and you know what? It’s about damn time. 

---