A Change Of Pace: Thoughts On Handmaid’s Tale Season 2, Episodes 2 & 3

I want to start off by saying how absolutely impressed I was with the premiere of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2. I had just as much excitement for this new season as I felt when I was watching the first. While the second episode didn’t leave me with quite the same feeling, I enjoyed the fact that other characters’ backstories were being shown. After watching the third episode, my opinion has changed a bit.
[WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE HANDMAID’S TALE BELOW]

The pacing of the show has definitely slowed down over episodes two and three. I felt interested in the ways that the settings in Gilead were being presented to us. It was captivating to see the colonies, and then to see the destruction of cities, and how they were rebuilt to fit the mold of this new world. Other than that, I was pretty bored. I kept waiting for certain tense moments to explode like they did in the first season, but it fell flat many times. I enjoy Offred’s character, but I don’t enjoy watching her constantly move around. It’s not enough. I wanted more of that powerful inner dialogue that made her so captivating in the first season.
That all changed at the end of the episode, of course. We are led to believe that Offred has made it to the plane that will take her out of Gilead into Canada. Unfortunately, she doesn’t make it. That scene tugged at my heartstrings and gave me a rejuvenating lift for what’s to come. As twisted as it sounds, I think part of what makes The Handmaid’s Tale so good is the intensity of these situations. When that is present, the show blows my mind. Without it, I get bored.
Here’s what some other fans had to say:

https://twitter.com/tacotayshhh/status/991858737416585216

https://twitter.com/HelenLuvsVSPink/status/991786456891850757
New episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale premiere every Wednesday on Hulu.