The Handmaid’s Tale Showrunner on Bringing More Backstory to One of Its Most Complicated Characters

Watching The Handmaid’s Tale for the archetypal time, the inevitable question soon rises: however did a spot arsenic oppressive and cruel arsenic Gilead travel to be? Over six seasons, we’ve learned the Gilead root communicative done flashbacks sprinkled into the main narrative—something that feels progressively similar a cautionary tale for American viewers successful 2025—and the Hulu amusement has besides filled successful blanks for its main players. But successful a caller episode, it gave america different caller glimpse into 1 character’s beingness “before.”

We’ve agelong been fascinated with Serena Joy Waterford, deftly played by Yvonne Strahovski arsenic a pistillate who backed Gilead’s right-wing Christian docket from the commencement and joined Fred Waterford, who became the almighty Commander Waterford erstwhile the United States underwent its forced transformation. Though Serena was erstwhile a fashionable writer and governmental speaker, she willingly enactment her vocation speech and became a dutiful wife—for a time.

As The Handmaid’s Tale has progressed, we’ve learned Serena is acold from a one-note zealot. Her tendency to go a parent guided immoderate of her astir odious actions, but she yet proved she wasn’t excessively rigid to recognize her failings arsenic a quality being—and began to consciousness heavy regret astir her portion successful turning the satellite upside down.

In occurrence two, “Exile,” viewers got to conscionable Serena’s begetter for the archetypal time. (Her mother, who lives successful Gilead, made an unpleasant content backmost successful play 3 and hasn’t been seen since.) There are 2 flashbacks successful the episode, which successful the show’s contiguous time follows Serena’s determination to instrumentality to Gilead—specifically, the much reformed New Bethlehem region, wherever she thinks she’ll beryllium capable to easiness her guilt and get backmost connected the way God has envisioned for her.

Her narration with her father, a pastor, is simply a portion of the Serena puzzle the show’s been wanting to explore, according to The Handmaid’s Tale creator Bruce Miller. Speaking to the Wrap, helium explained, “We’ve learned astir her, but this is truly interesting, due to the fact that it’s not astir a narration she chose, similar with Fred … Here, you’re like, however did you go the pistillate you are? I deliberation that’s the truly absorbing question now, due to the fact that you’ve plumbed the depths of Serena to cognize what’s there, you cognize the pistillate that’s there. So erstwhile you get to play six, you’re asking the question of, what was her begetter like? And I don’t deliberation you are astatine the beginning, due to the fact that I deliberation she has a cardinal relationships successful her life, but that 1 gets overmuch much absorbing erstwhile you recognize however overmuch alloy she has.”

The 2 scenes with Serena’s begetter unfold a fewer years apart; successful the archetypal one, she’s conscionable met Fred and her begetter is congratulating her connected her publication tour. In the second, her father—who is overmuch older and much frail-looking—listens arsenic she excitedly tells him “We’re astir to alteration the country!”

At that constituent she thinks she’s making bully connected her father’s earlier urgings to beryllium a beacon for the movement—but of people we cognize her matrimony to Fred volition beryllium filled with misery, and the “changes” she helped spearhead volition bring fearfulness and tragedy, not “a caller Garden of Eden” arsenic she envisions. Perhaps she’s hoping New Bethlehem volition beryllium that instead? You tin ne'er foretell what Serena volition do, but she does person an astonishing mode of ever landing connected her feet.

You tin ticker caller episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale Tuesdays connected Hulu.

Want much io9 news? Check retired erstwhile to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s adjacent for the DC Universe connected movie and TV, and everything you request to cognize astir the aboriginal of Doctor Who.