Home > The Handmaid's Tale > Season 1 « TV Series Page The Handmaid's Tale: Season 1 (2017) SEASON: Season 1 Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 + WANT TO SEE Episode List Season 1 The Handmaid's Tale Critics Consensus Haunting and vivid, The Handmaid's Tale is an endlessly engrossing adaptation of Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel that's anchored by a terrific central performance from Elisabeth Moss. 94% TOMATOMETER Critic Ratings: 121 92% Audience Score User Ratings: 3347 NEW More Info × Close ADD YOUR RATING Share on Facebook Post Want to See Add Rating My Rating × Want to See Post Share on Facebook Episodes 1 100% Offred Air date: Apr 26, 2017 Offred, one the few fertile women known as Handmaids in the oppressive Republic of Gilead, struggles to survive as a reproductive surrogate for a powerful Commander and his resentful wife. More 2 100% Birth Day Air date: Apr 26, 2017 Offred and her fellow Handmaids assist with the delivery of Janine's baby, prompting Offred to recall her own daughter's birth. Offred draws closer to Ofglen while dreading a secret meeting with the Commander. More 3 83% Late Air date: Apr 26, 2017 Offred visits Janine's baby with Serena Joy and remembers the early days of the revolution before Gilead. Ofglen faces a difficult challenge. More 4 100% Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum Air date: May 3, 2017 Punished by Serena Joy, Offred begins to unravel and reflects on her time with Moira at the Red Center. A complication during the Ceremony threatens Offred's survival with the Commander and Serena Joy. More 5 92% Faithful Air date: May 10, 2017 Serena Joy makes Offred a surprising proposition. Offred remembers the unconventional beginnings of her relationship with her husband. More 6 100% A Woman's Place Air date: May 17, 2017 Mexican Ambassador visiting Gilead questions Offred about her life as a Handmaid. Serena Joy reflects on her marriage and the role she once played in Gilead's inception. More 7 75% The Other Side Air date: May 24, 2017 Remembering her family's treacherous escape attempt, a shocking revelation from life before Gilead provides a new perspective on Offred's life. More 8 70% Jezebels Air date: May 31, 2017 The Commander surprises Offred with a secret adventure in Gilead. Nick's troubled past leads to his recruitment by the Sons of Jacob. More 9 100% The Bridge Air date: Jun 7, 2017 Offred embarks on a dangerous mission for the resistance. Janine moves to a new posting. Serena Joy suspects the Commander's infidelity. More 10 89% Night Air date: Jun 14, 2017 Serena Joy confronts Offred and the Commander. Offred struggles with a complicated, life-changing revelation. The Handmaids face a brutal decision. More The Handmaid's Tale: Season 1 Videos 0:30 The Handmaid's Tale: Season 1 Trailer - My Name is Offred 1:30 The Handmaid's Tale: Season 1 Featurette - The Story 1:41 The Handmaid's Tale: Season 1 Trailer 2 View All Videos (3) The Handmaid's Tale: Season 1 Photos View All Photos (123) Tv Season Info Set in the dystopian future, this series follows a fertile woman who is forced into sexual servitude due to the world's plunging birthrate. Based on a novel by Margaret Atwood. Genre: Drama Network: Hulu Premiere Date: Apr 26, 2017 Exec. Producers: Daniel Wilson, Warren Littlefield, Fran Sears, Ilene Chaiken, Bruce Miller, Reed Morano Cast Elisabeth Moss as Offred Joseph Fiennes as Commander Fred Waterford Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy Alexis Bledel as Ofglen O.T. Fagbenle as Luke Samira Wiley as Moira Max Minghella as Nick Amanda Brugel as Rita Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia Madeline Brewer as Janine Show More Cast News & Interviews for The Handmaid's Tale: Season 1 13 TV Shows You Should Binge-Watch This June 12 TV Shows You Should Binge-Watch This April New On DVD in March: Thor: Ragnarok, Lady Bird, Jumanji and More View All The Handmaid's Tale: Season 1 News Episodes 1 100% Offred Air date: Apr 26, 2017 Offred, one the few fertile women known as Handmaids in the oppressive Republic of Gilead, struggles to survive as a reproductive surrogate for a powerful Commander and his resentful wife. More 2 100% Birth Day Air date: Apr 26, 2017 Offred and her fellow Handmaids assist with the delivery of Janine's baby, prompting Offred to recall her own daughter's birth. Offred draws closer to Ofglen while dreading a secret meeting with the Commander. More 3 83% Late Air date: Apr 26, 2017 Offred visits Janine's baby with Serena Joy and remembers the early days of the revolution before Gilead. Ofglen faces a difficult challenge. More 4 100% Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum Air date: May 3, 2017 Punished by Serena Joy, Offred begins to unravel and reflects on her time with Moira at the Red Center. A complication during the Ceremony threatens Offred's survival with the Commander and Serena Joy. More 5 92% Faithful Air date: May 10, 2017 Serena Joy makes Offred a surprising proposition. Offred remembers the unconventional beginnings of her relationship with her husband. More 6 100% A Woman's Place Air date: May 17, 2017 Mexican Ambassador visiting Gilead questions Offred about her life as a Handmaid. Serena Joy reflects on her marriage and the role she once played in Gilead's inception. More 7 75% The Other Side Air date: May 24, 2017 Remembering her family's treacherous escape attempt, a shocking revelation from life before Gilead provides a new perspective on Offred's life. More 8 70% Jezebels Air date: May 31, 2017 The Commander surprises Offred with a secret adventure in Gilead. Nick's troubled past leads to his recruitment by the Sons of Jacob. More 9 100% The Bridge Air date: Jun 7, 2017 Offred embarks on a dangerous mission for the resistance. Janine moves to a new posting. Serena Joy suspects the Commander's infidelity. More 10 89% Night Air date: Jun 14, 2017 Serena Joy confronts Offred and the Commander. Offred struggles with a complicated, life-changing revelation. The Handmaids face a brutal decision. More Critic Reviews for The Handmaid's Tale Season 1 All Critics (121) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (117) | Rotten (4) The Handmaid's Tale is a haunting confluence of tenses. It's also one of the best shows of the year so far, at times hard to watch but impossible to ignore. Apr 13, 2017 | Rating: A | Full Review… Liz Shannon Miller indieWire Top Critic The Handmaid's Tale raises Hulu's standing as a source of original drama content. And it raises the bar for what TV can accomplish, even in the middle of the medium's current golden era. Apr 24, 2017 | Full Review… Julie Hinds Detroit Free Press Top Critic Viewers and readers may understandably see The Handmaid's Tale as cautionary. Apr 21, 2017 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review… Gail Pennington St. Louis Post-Dispatch Top Critic For all the horror of the show, I did not find watching it to be an entirely hopeless experience. Apr 21, 2017 | Full Review… Willa Paskin Slate Top Critic Moss' character is at the center of it all, whether in flashbacks or at the mercy of her captors. Her performance is both touching and fierce, with basic sanity at stake in a world where one false move can close the door on everything. Apr 26, 2017 | Rating: B+ | Full Review… Ed Bark Uncle Barky Top Critic Hulu's excellent adaptation of Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel, The Handmaid's Tale, is a horror show unveiled in slow motion. Apr 26, 2017 | Full Review… Eric Deggans NPR Top Critic This television show could not be more timely. And luckily, it's also brilliant and terrifying. Dec 28, 2017 | Full Review… Shelagh Rowan-Legg ScreenAnarchy The show's refusal to engage with race renders it incapable of tackling the racialized ways an authoritative regime would interact with the bodies of black and brown women. Mar 9, 2019 | Full Review… Cate Young Cosmopolitan Don't get me wrong, what you watch is horrifying and grotesque at times. Yet the way in which Watkinson and White shoot the brutality, you can't help but be amazed. Oct 10, 2018 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review… Alan French AwardsCircuit.com The show's exquisitely staged imaginings of these scenarios are set in a fictional near future, but they are anchored in a profound understanding of the darkest corners of human nature. Sep 12, 2018 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review… Alison de Souza The Straits Times (Singapore) View All Critic Reviews (121) Audience Reviews for The Handmaid's Tale: Season 1 4h ago Handmaidens Tale. < Based on the best-selling novel by Margaret Atwood, this series is set in Gilead, a totalitarian society in what used to be part of the United States. Gilead is ruled by a fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state, and is faced with environmental disasters and a plummeting birth rate. In a desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world, the few remaining fertile women are forced into sexual servitude. One of these women, Offred, is determined to survive the terrifying world she lives in, and find the daughter that was taken from her. > Now to start my review! What wonderful writing and cinematography! Ever shot where the drama flares shows such a vivid display on the character's faces. They are so immersed it made me so happy seeing such dedication. The risque scenes really show the disasterous beginnings from our kind in the dark days. But that being said I have to give a rating! 4/5 Watch this and enjoy the next Series that will rival Game of Thrones in numbers and ratings!!! Losercuter S Jun 24, 2019 Makes you want to slit your wrists with a plastic fork! Pat R Jun 11, 2019 I read this book in the 80's for a college course and even back then I thought it was a ridiculous women's subjugation fantasy story. Right up there with 50 shades of grey. The only difference 30 years later is the liberal propaganda subtext, which was conveniently edited into the series. Very transparent, very predictable. Zuzana S Jun 08, 2019 Having read the book years ago in university to see it come to like in such a chilling fashion is both amazing and horrifying at the same time. Elizabeth is incredible. Jason R May 31, 2019 Amazing cinamatography. Amazing story. The adaption from book is absolutly NOT disappointing Krista C May 12, 2019 Amazing writing, raw and fearless acting, just brilliant all around. Somehow manages to deal with relevant social justice issues without preaching or shoving them down your throat, which is particularly brilliant considering the entire show revolves around them. Engrossing. Absolutely must-watch. Jayd S May 10, 2019 The handmaid's tale is an ANTI WHITE propaganda and smear campaign with completely laughable plot and is just made to make white women stop having kids with white men, and even though the story originally was inspired by the treatment of women in islam down to the female genital mutilation completely unheard of in Christianity the whole series is now put in a Christian context Apr 29, 2019 Watching The Handmaid's Tale is like swimming in a cold but beautiful lake. At first your whole body hates it but after a while you find that you want to stay. You realize after that you're a stronger person than you used to be. Mar 29, 2019 Superb adaptation of Margaret Atwood's classic novel about a dystopian society in which women are repressed to be hand maids, with the only purpose to give birth to children. The cast is superb across the board, with Elizabeth Moss shining as June/Offred, a handmaid trying her best just to survive and fight when she can. She balances her character completely, showing her flaws and strengths, and makes you understand every decision she makes is a human one. She gets fantastic support from the rest of the cast, particularly Joseph Fiennes and Yvonne Strahovski as Lord Commander and Mrs. Waterford, the couple Offred is 'assigned' to. Both actors are allowed to show traces of humanity, even when doing monstrous things (Lord Commander wishes for a better world, while his wife just wants a baby). Behind the camera, the show runners do a a superb job adapting the classic novel along with expanding forward (the first season is essentially the book, with the second being a completely original sequel). They do an excellent job showing how Gilead came to be (the plague that reduced birthrates is emphasized) along with showing how the society is already fraying. It makes for a realistic commentary for totalitarian societies and the dangers of venturing towards them. Simply put, one of the finest shows on television today and the one that put Hulu on the map. Johnathon W Mar 11, 2019 If I had to describe 2017, it would the year of #metoo. Because of that, The Handmaid's Tale is the definitive show of this era. Tino P See all Audience reviews News & Features 150 Erotic Movies Ranked worst to best! 2019's Most Anticipated 63 movies coming up this year 200 Essential Movies Chosen by RT staff! 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