June Being In Canada Saves The Handmaid’s Tale From Its Violence Problem

June has escaped from Gilead and made it to Canada in The Handmaid’s Tale, which means the show is starting to fix its problems with violence and torture. The Hulu series has always been, by design, an uncomfortable watch. Given the subject matter, it’s right that it offers an unflinching portrayal of things, but at the same time there’s a sense The Handmaid’s Tale had started to go too far. The graphic violence and torture porn aesthetic started to dominate, suggesting the show was trading on shock factor rather than good storytelling and character work.

That’s something that’s continued in The Handmaid’s Tale season 4, which killed off several Handmaids and subjected June to all kinds of torture at the hands of Gilead. At its best, the show made this feel purposeful, but here it was starting to feel like it had become the show; the story was serving the violence, rather than the other way around. However, June escaping Gilead and making it to Canada is the biggest status quo change The Handmaid’s Tale has undergone yet, and that should be to its great benefit.

As The Handmaid’s Tale season 4, episode 7, “Home,” shows, there’s a real shift in the storytelling and tone, which is thanks to June being in Canada. The episode, which is the best of the season thus far by some margin, is still difficult, dark, and extremely emotional at times. Nonetheless, it also offers a sign of how things can change. With June free from Gilead, at least physically if not mentally or emotionally, then there’s a sense of hope in that she can begin to heal and move forward. It allows from some more moments of levity to be sprinkled through, but even where they’re lacking, it finds its power and shocking moments without the need for graphic violence.

The sequence between June and Serena Joy is a prime example. It’s a barnstorming moment; cathartic in a sense, yet full of pain at the same time, because so much of what June says to Serena reflects what she clearly feels about herself. It’s brilliantly done and emotionally charged, providing the kind of gripping drama that made The Handmaid’s Tale so popular in the first place, and crucially it doesn’t need to rely on being overly graphic. Instead, it lets its characters do the talking and the actors and script do the work. The sex scene with Luke and June is another example; it is essentially rape, and it’s difficult to watch. But this is very much driven by character, and being true to its narrative and those arcs. By being much more restrained, the show regains its sense of power, and it means when the violence does come it too will be more impactful, because it’s not as commonplace.

With June in Canada, then her bringing down Gilead is what will be her greatest action, landing blows more powerful than she ever could with fists. Likewise, Gilead’s own efforts at retribution have to become more tactical. There will presumably still be moments of true horror to come – especially in terms of whatever fate has befallen Janine, whose status is still unknown at this point. But by breaking the storytelling cycle it’s been stuck in, and with less need to show the goings-on in Gilead, it also breaks the wheel of violence, allowing The Handmaid’s Tale to move forward with a renewed sense of purpose and a different sense of style.

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James Hunt
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James is Screen Rant’s Movies Lead Editor, having started out as a writer for the site back in 2019. A Sports Journalism graduate, James quickly realized that supporting Sunderland AFC was painful enough without writing about it, and so decided to talk a load of rubbish about movies and TV instead. Formerly the TV editor at WhatCulture, he has a particular love of Star Wars (The Last Jedi was great), Game of Thrones (season 8 was good), and Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling…never mind) – y’know, all that really niche, nerdy stuff. Spending most of his days editing articles about or writing on movies and shows, James likes to really get away from work and unwind by, er, watching movies and shows. He’s fuelled by pint-sized cups of tea, peanut butter, more tea, and a quiet, constant anger (like the Hulk, only not green, or strong, or big).

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