The Handmaid's Tale

I didn't expect an action packed finale, but this felt incredibly lazy. June going to the Waterford house and then it's just nearly five minutes of her looking at it, entering and then sitting down before she finally speaks. More of these filler moments across the episode, flashbacks that are sentimental but ultimately don't contribute to wrapping up the series.

There's very few meaningful dialogues. Almost nothing of value really happens and the few things that do aren't worked out well, they happen without explanation, without lingering on it and then we've already moved on. It would've been better if the previous episode had been the finale, barely any developments have been made since the events of that episode anyway. The stuff that has happened is not shown but rather just summarized in literally a few sentences.

They should've just made the previous episode longer, with better pacing and add some elements (but going deeper with them) of what they call the finale and wrap it up there. This episode felt incredibly forced, absolutely no way to wrap up a tv show. Redemption all around all of a sudden.. (just not for Nick), nothing makes sense. I didn't expect everything to be tied up, there's going to be a spinoff after all but wow this was a whole lot of nothing.

So I finished Handmaid's Tale and slept on it. Their hands were kind of tied with The Testaments spinoff in the works but the actual finale was pretty lame. The second to last episode made a better ending. They attempted to tie up the loose ends of characters not in Testament but it was literally 20-30% June's face.

The pacing was also weird this season... like super slow and drawn out and then stuff suddenly happens and it's like what? Why? Which means anything with anyone other than June is rushed. I was really hoping for more with Janine this season and had a few shining moments but was ultimately overshadowed. Always. Thanks, June.

I think the series really should've ended 2-3 seasons ago before I could get sick of June's face and her becoming a master tactician and spy.

After the last episode(S6-9), is this all you give your fans? As a long time quirky nerd when it comes to movies, it takes a lot to watch series to be truly honest. But sometimes a series come along that is worth my time. A handmaid's tale is one of them. And oh my, episode 9 of the final season was somewhat epic! It had it all: tension, nerve, surprises, build-up and a cliffhanger out of proportion.

I can see why ending a great show is difficult. But hell, the season AND show finale was such a total disappointment words cannot describe..... And this is all we get when times are so terrifying relevant to the series?

Where is our future headed?

What is the deal with Elisabeth Moss's egocentrism in the close-up shots in this episode?

What kind of finale is this? I'm a regular, empathetic person so where are the emotions in this episode? Slow motion... of what, exactly? What was Elisabeth Moss really trying to convey through her direction?

I'm totally disappointed. I was genuinely expecting something deeper, more emotionally resonant from this show especially in a finale.

Instead, what we got felt empty and disconnected.

As someone who usually connects with the characters and storytelling, I kept waiting for that emotional payoff... but it never came. The slow motion, the close-ups they seemed more like stylistic filler than meaningful choices. I don't know what Elisabeth Moss was aiming for in directing this episode, but whatever it was, it didn't land for me. I expected so much more.

Should have just found a way to end it on Episode 9. I have raved about this season to people. I loved the music choices this season, and felt super amped up during a lot of the "girl power" scenes. For this last episode, it seems the writers wanted to give each character their happy ending in and it just felt completely rushed. Trying to go full circle connecting back to the book was just so staged and did not at all feel authentic to me. Everyone telling June "oh, you should write a book" and "you really have to record your story for all to hear". I've never hopped on here to write a review before - I'm that mad! Haha.