The Handmaid’s Tale returns for season 4 testing June’s limits

New year of the series arrives in Brazil this Sunday (02), by Paramount +

Those who watch The Handmaid’s Tale often wonder how long the protagonist June (Elizabeth Moss) will continue to suffer in Gilead. And the fourth season of the series, which arrives in Brazil this Sunday (02) by Paramount +, begins by testing the young woman’s physical and psychological limits – and, consequently, those of the public as well.

The first three chapters take place immediately after the third season, when June is injured after being able to take several children out of Gilead. As expected, she survives and, alongside other maids, begins to live in hiding to continue with her plans to weaken the system and find her daughter again. In this context, a new character is presented, Mrs. Keyes, played by Mckenna Grace (Me, Tonya, The Curse of the Hill Residence).

While June wages this fight on one side, on the other it is shown how Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) and Fred (Joseph Fiennes) are dealing with new life outside the continent, and what the protagonist’s allies are doing to help her as well. As expected, Strahovski and Fiennes deliver memorable and meaningful dialogues, without ever leaving aside the somber air of those who lived in Gilead. The show is also quite successful in showing that June’s friends are unable to help her as they would like and that not everything goes as planned after the arrival of the children. Again, these are difficult times to watch, but very true and are responsible for making the series so thought-provoking.

The visual part of The Handmaid’s Tale remains impeccable and the production uses it to its advantage in sequences that are beautiful and full of meaning, including even other styles, such as terror, used to show how fear has become one of the regime’s greatest allies oppressor. There is symbolism and care in everything that is put on the scene and this is one of the points that puts production at a high level of quality.

With the fifth year already confirmed, The Handmaid’s Tale continues a powerful series. Although there is the impression that the story of June and co. it is spreading more than it should, there is no denying that, unfortunately, there is still a lot of injustice that can be shown in Gilead and it remains for the fans to hope that the protagonist has the victory and the rest that she so deserves.

Now 14, the actress adds an even darker layer to what happens in Gilead and all the first three episodes echo this idea: if the series’ already released seasons showed cruelty, the level brought to the fourth year is even higher. As a result, it is particularly painful to watch some sequences, while the importance of what is on screen is clear: the physical and mental violence of The Handmaid’s Tale serves the purpose of making us think about today’s society. And there is a greater weight when this happens during a pandemic such as that of COVID-19, which opens up what the series has shown for a long time: when society has problems, the most affected are women.