The Handmaid’s Tale is a compelling series that many people have found they simply can’t get enough of. If you’re looking for something that is just a little bit different from the typical fare you might find on television, yet you want an interesting story that will make you feel all kinds of different emotions, this is something that you really shouldn’t be missing. In fact, the first season was so successful that the show was renewed for a second season. By all accounts, the second season has been even more interesting than the first.
If you have a habit of not being able to get into a television show until they really start throwing some curveballs at you, you should love this one. In season two alone, producers have surprised audience members on several different occasions. Below are five of the best ones.
1. The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2, Episode 1 – June and Nick Reunion
Here you have all kinds of things going on at the same time. You have an old flame that’s come back to complicate things, whether that was the intention or not. You have a person that’s dealing with an extremely difficult decision they were forced to make and now they have to deal with all the fallout that happens as a result of that decision. As if all of this weren’t enough, there’s also a lot of angst involved about how all of these decisions will affect the future. Suffice it to say, just when you think you’ve got this show figured out, you don’t.
2. The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2, Episode 4 – Other Woman
You wouldn’t think that something as simple as attending a baby shower could open up an entire can of worms, but that’s exactly what happens in Offred’s case. She’s always struggled somewhat with the idea of becoming a handmaid and when she attends the baby shower of a friend, this decision is thrust right into her face. It’s almost more than she can take and it doesn’t do a lot to help her friendship with this particular individual, either. In what initially seems like a relatively routine episode, you find that there are all kinds of surprises that are hidden deep down inside, many of them so deep that the lead character didn’t even realize she was wrestling with these things until she was confronted with it face to face.
3. The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2, Episode 2 – Unwomen
There are so many surprises in this episode that it’s hard to keep up. First and foremost, you have the ongoing struggles of Offred as she is forced to deal with learning to handle a way of life that she simply isn’t accustomed to. You have the rise of Gilead, and you get a first-hand account of how this destroys a family from the inside out. Just when you think you can’t take any more, somebody completely unexpected shows up at the camp and disrupts pretty much everything going on there.
4. The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2, Episode 3 – Baggage
With an episode entitled Baggage, you know there are going to be a lot of surprises and none of them are going to be very pleasant. Here, you find out why Offred has such a difficult time with certain things. It all goes back to her rather tumultuous relationship with her mother. You also get to see how some of the struggles affect one of her closest friends. This episode provides a glimpse into some of the most unpleasant surprises that can happen to a person, involving certain realizations about people that are close to them. Unfortunately, it’s also something that people frequently go through in the real world.
5. The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2, Episode 5 – Seeds
Just when you think poor Offred is finally going to be able to pull at least some parts of her personal life together, you see how a rather standard ceremony completely disrupts her relationship with Nick. The biggest surprise is when you realize that without him, she’s not nearly as strong as she wants everyone to believe she is. You see this first-hand when she completely spirals out of control.
