Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

Hulu has adapted Margaret Atwood's classic dystopian novel for streaming video.

We had a group discussion of The Handmaid's Tale earlier this year.

The video series stars Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men) as Offred.

The video adaptation debuts April 26 on Hulu (US).

I can't believe no one has commented on this yet. This was one of the best shows I've watched all year. It's not sci-fy nor is it fantasy (unless you're a religious zealot) but it is an alternative future which feels like it's just a couple of steps away from possible. Everyone I know is watching it.

I'm working my way through it, got two episodes left to go. Heard it was renewed for another season. Since I haven't gotten to the end yet (but I have read the book) not sure how it will work as a multi-season thing but guess I'll see soon enough how they wrap it up.

Must admit I kind of liked how in the book, because Offred doesn't really know what's going on, neither does the read. The TV series is filling in some of the blanks but there's also something to be said about the feeling one gets when one doesn't know what is happening beyond the small bubble of Offred's world, it's maybe even more disturbing that way. But with 10 episodes to fill, they needed to add something.

The great thing about this book having been turned into a series is the way it had been written. It never really had a resolution. You only ever know that the tyranny ended because of the anthropologists being stunned by Offred's diary and how she had to live. There is just so much the writers can do that doesn't take away from the book, it only adds to it.

Rose wrote: "I can't believe no one has commented on this yet...."

I've heard enough good things about it that I've convinced myself to sign up for Hulu and watch it..., just as soon as I clear a bunch of other series off my DVR.

The full season is only 10 episodes. Only 10 !! I remember when a season meant that a weekly show would start in September, get a couple weeks off at Christmas and continue until summer started. It followed the school year. I'm not quite old enough to remember walking 10 miles to school each day in four feet of snow, uphill both ways, but I remember what a TV season was like. I'm really getting disappointed in the shortening of series'.

It seems to have become common in the modern (not the original three) networks. Game of Thrones seasons are only ten seasons long, too. I'm not sure how many episodes are in a "Suits" season, but it's not the 21 common in the original networks. There are other examples, too.

Rose wrote: " I remember when a season meant that a weekly show would start in September, get a couple weeks off at Christmas and continue until summer started...."

CBS still thinks so, judging by their plans for streaming Star Trek: Discovery.

I like the shortened format. For shows that have a distinct story, or story-arc to tell, they can tell it and stop.

American Gods, Westworld 10, Expanse, Magicians, Dark Matter, Killjoys, Orphan Black, Legion, they all have 8-12 episode seasons. AMC's Walking Dead seems to run long with 16. Neflix seems to like ten episodes per "season", too.

I think these networks find it makes the "season" more of an event (people actually talk about when the next season of Game of Thrones or Walking Dead will start.)

The series got an Emmy nomination for best dramatic series.
Elizabeth Moss scored an Emmy nomination for best actress.
Ann Dowd, Samira Wiley, & Alexis Bledel got Emmy nominations for supporting roles.

Silvana wrote: "So, for those who watched The Handmaid's Tale...which is better, book or TV? which one is scarier? The book is pretty scary to me not sure if I could handle the TV version."

I'd have to say they are equally good. Now that they are adapting books to TV rather than just movie, they have the time to explore rather than cut. I would say the show is a bit scarier. I wasn't scared when I read this but I was very angry. I still have the anger when I watch but it just seems so much closer to becoming a possibility than it did back then and that's what's scary.

I'm probably going to subscribe to Hulu. They have a couple of other SF/F projects coming up as well. First I want to catch up on all the other series I'm behind on!

G33z3r wrote: "I'm probably going to subscribe to Hulu. They have a couple of other SF/F projects coming up as well. First I want to catch up on all the other series I'm behind on!"

How does Hulu compare to Netflix and Amazon Prime in terms of their selections/offerings?

Haaze wrote: "How does Hulu compare to Netflix and Amazon Prime in terms of their selections/offerings? ..."

Hulu is mostly old TV shows from its owner networks (ABC, Fox, NBC, with varying percentages.) Not as many movies. And unlike Netflix & Amazon, they do commercials.

The Handmaid's Tale is one of their very few originals, and the only show they currently have I'd care to watch. (I just don't do that much TV.)

Thanks G! I have heard very good things about The Handmaid's Tale. You mentioned that Hulu has a number of SF/F projects coming up. Could you direct me/us to information about those projects?

So, I finally broke down and subscribed to Hulu. (it was The Runaways that gave me two shows as an excuse.) Finished watching The Handmaid's Tale a few days ago.

So, anyone else both read The Handmaid's Tale and watched the Hulu show (1st season)?

They seem to stay pretty close to the book, especially in the early going. I don't think they ever actually diverged from the book in any significant way, but they did add some material, some inconsequential, some more so I think.


SPOILER WARNING


The novel is all diary like narration from Offred PoV; we get some new PoVs here, sometimes confirming Offred's opinions, sometimes just offering new material.

In the book Offred tells us Serena Joy, aka the Commander's Wife, used to be the Commander's partner in a televangelist network, and wonder's how she likes her new role. We get some of Serena Joy's PoV to confirm that she isn't entirely happy living in the patriarchy she's helped to create, and shapes that she no longer has any influence in the new order.

We confirm the suspicion that Offred's pre-Gilead name was June.

Significant Additions:

Offred's (June's) husband, Luke, apparently did manage to escape to Canada. (The book leaves it ambiguous as to whether he was alive or dead, and whether he was in Gilead or elsewhere.) Offred gets to exchange a couple of small notes with him through intermediaries, so she learns he's alive and he learns she's alive. Did anyone else feel this revelation changes Offred's situation from defeated complacency to something different?

Moira makes a second escape attempt, and in her PoV we learn she manages to get to Canada as a refugee, and is reunited with some of her family.

Offred becomes a bit of a revolutionary. She helped smuggle some documents around for the rather vague "Resistance", and actaully led the refusal to stone Janine. Offred's pregnancy gives her some small measure of safety. So, Offred has gone from a form of depressing despair to some kind of hope. "They shouldn't have given us uniforms if they didn't want us to be an army."

In Hulu's version, Serena Joy learns of her husband's, the Commander's, infidelity with Offred; the scrabble & the trip to the whorehouse. And so she reveals to Offred that she knows exactly where Offred's daughter, Hannah, is. In the novel, Serena Joy shows Offred a picture of Hannah, while in the Hulu version she actually takes Offred to see Hannah at a distance, and implies Hannah's safety depends on Offred's obedience.

*points to spoiler alert above*

I felt all the unknowns of the husband, daughter and friends made the story more impactful. You really felt how Offred was completely cut off, she had no idea really what was going on outside her little world. With the TV series filling in the holes it changed the feel quite a bit. Not saying it was a bad choice, but it was different. It's one thing to have hope/faith that someone is alive, versus having concrete evidence of it, will strengthen your will to fight back since you know for sure there's something worth fighting for.

I liked how the book ended, with us not knowing what happened to Offred, just finding some of her recordings after a kind of archaeological dig which seems to take place even after Gilead itself is gone. But I don't think TV viewers will be happy with Offred just hopping in that truck and driving off, where the first season ended...hence there's the second season starting soon. So I'm guessing we're actually going to see a revolution and a fall of Gilead which is only implied in the book.

Andrea wrote: "But I don't think TV viewers will be happy with Offred just hopping in that truck and driving off, where the first season ended....."

Yeah, the last scene getting into the truck (after Nick tells her to "trust him" and just go along, could have been the end of Offred's story as related in the book; but I'm sure they aren't going to drop Elisabeth Moss after the rave reviews she's gotten, so she can't get away! (Nor can she die!)

Season 2 of Handmaid's Tale is scheduled to premier April 25 on Hulu.

They've more than exhausted the book, so I'm curious where they go from here. Offred the revolutionary leader? Offred in a refugee center? Offred giving birth?

The first episode of Season 2 is now available. Since it's Hulu, it's one a week, so have to wait 2 months before I can binge it.

By the way, I noticed in the US you can buy Season 1 of Handmaid's Tale from Amazon Video (streaming with ownership) for $14.99 (which is less than 2 months of Hulu, even with the ads option.)

Hulu has bought a 3rd batch of Handmaid's Tale episodes.