Morning

They really should've just let the series end at the end of season four. Moss has proven to be a poor director. As many others have said here, she spends a good portion of this episode - even more than in others - on extreme close-ups, where she practices as many different facial expressions as she can. All the other actors get their turns at the close shots also so we get to count their pores. The plot has now become a chaotic, emotional roller coaster that really goes nowhere and doesn't make any sense. I lost interest after the first 10 minutes and have no desire to finish the season. Too bad. Her character, and the story, started out so interesting and went downhill after the first few seasons.

This episode was really bad and I hope it's not a sign of what's to come. I'd decided to finally watch this show and binged watched it up to the end of season 4. I did notice it was becoming a bit of a slog to get through episodes, usually when too much focus on June, but I still stuck with it.

Now, first episode of season 5 and it looks like they've decided to double down on June with all the closeups, the faux emotions, etc. Maybe I'll come back later and try to finish but definitely need a break after how terrible that was. I understand she is the titular character but, for me, she is the weakest link on this show as there are some really good performances by everyone else.

I stopped watching The Handmaids Tale in the middle of season 4 when the writing got so bad I couldn't watch it any longer.

Well, I got bored and thought I'd give season 5 a try and episode 1 was worse than season 4, so I'm giving up on this series. It's not worth the money nor my time.

All of episode 1 seems to consist of Elizabeth Moss (June) channeling her inner Clint Eastwood. Walking around scowling and reciting lines. At least the Clint Eastwood movies were more engaging and interesting.

The plot and dialog were so mind-numbing that it was hard to follow what was going on. Though a person could walk away from the show, for a beer or snack, come back 10 minutes later and missed nothing.

Wow, so that was the opening the producers came up with to keep us engaged? The storyline has devolved from a psychological drama showing what could happen if a country's moral compass becomes perverted to a revenge crusade that predominantly features close up shots of a seething Elisabeth Moss. Is anyone else tired of these June zoom-ins?? I literally had to fast forward through these drawn out head-shots of her angry or teary eyed face in order to try to find some semblance of a story line. We get it, she is pissed off, but enough of the June outrage and close-ups already.

I haven't given up on the series just yet but am close. The only thing that keeps me tuned in is the hope of a payoff in seeing aunt Lydia meet her demise and hanging from the wall.

Are the people who make this once great show in a game of chicken with Hulu or its fans, to see how bad they can make it before they get canceled or fans stop watching? I just wrote a review earlier today praising The Americans for making engaging entertainment without resorting to constant fights, chases, or emotional outbursts, but with Handmaid's Tale they've taken it to the extreme of hardly anything of note ever happening, and it has become so boring. Whoever is writing this is hyper-focused on conveying emotion via fascial expressions, sacrificing plot and realistic details in the process. You can't make a show that is 90% Wayne's World unnecessarily extreme close-ups of June or Serena's face, 9% dialog that sounds like the actors were told about the scene seconds before shooting it and had to improvise every word, and 1% stuff actually happening. This episode was awful. Remember that thing that happened in the past? Here's 5 minutes of June thinking about and her facial expressions as she gets emotional. Now here's 2 minutes of Serena thinking about it and her face as she gets emotional. Oh, and Season 4's absurd Canadian government behavior continues, & they hold prisoners in cushy resorts, letting prisoners meet with each other as they please or as it fits the writer's needs.

Season 1 was pretty good. Season 2 was ok. Season 3 it started tanking and the plot began meandering aimlessly. Season 4 was horrendous. Season 5 is looking abysmal. While I'm griping, from a past episode, I still can't believe the tank on a truck transporting milk would have interior lighting, or an interior liquid release valve.