In a show with twists and turns turned to the highest degree, could fans expect anything but more great twists in the season four finale? For the final episode in the batch of ten, the entire show is turned over on its side by Elisabeth Moss’ (Mad Men) June Osborne, changing the entire landscape for seasons to come.
When The Handmaid’s Tale started its run in 2017, the overall goal the show was gradually heading towards was when would June escape from Gilead. The question was finally answered this season as a show earlier in the season ended with June stepping foot in Canada, freeing her from the atrocities that she had to endure. The step into Canada wrapped the first four seasons into a bow and left the already confirmed fifth season to start a new storyline. From beginning the show with June getting caught with her husband and daughter trying to flee to Canada, forcing her to become a Handmaid, to ending it with her in Canada, is perfect justice for supporters of the show.
With this goal being completed earlier in the season, the writers were left with one more important task. This goal was finished last night in the final episode with the death of Fred Waterford, played by Joseph Fiennes (American Horror Story). The Waterford’s have been a plague on fans as they have had to witness four seasons of them torturing the Handmaids under their care, including June Obsorne. In a masterful move, June is able to broker a deal with Commander Lawrence to have the jailed informant handed over to her and a group of Handmaids on the border of Canada and Gilead. The Handmaids then exact their revenge on the tyrant, killing him and leaving him on the wall as a warning to other Commanders. It is a great end for fans who have had to deal with the misogynistic demon plague the women of the show.
In an interview with The New York Times, Fiennes gave his thoughts on his character’s demise, “I’m just thrilled it happened at the finale…I think it’s great for the audience to have that catharsis.”
Catharsis is what all fans of the dark and demented show have been hoping for since the beginning. Now, with their heroine exacting revenge on one of her main enemies and free from the oppressive state, season five is looking even more optimistic.