‘The Handmaid's Tale’ Season 6 Review - Struggles to End its Own Story

After almost a three-year break, The Handmaid’s Tale returns for its long-awaited final season. If you’re worried that you’ve forgotten what happened, don’t be. Throughout the eight episodes screened for review, nearly every character gives a detailed rundown, and sometimes it happens multiple times an episode. Given that this is the final season, so much time is wasted on rehashing the past, and far too much time is spent on side plots that give little or no relevance to the main plot. It all feels like a trudge to get through. Some series can pull off slow burn, but the final installment of The Handmaid’s Tale wastes what time it has left and offers no development to the story or its main characters.

Again, June (Elisabeth Moss) wants to take down Gilead while Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) wants to reform it…. very similar to the season before. The final chapter of June’s journey is meant to be about the importance of hope, solidarity, and resilience, but it forgets all of this for the majority of the episodes provided for review. Up until episode 6, things don’t really come together because there is too much time spent on new romantic interests, side plots that go nowhere, and reveals from previous seasons repeated but with new music and gorgeous cinematography that does its best to lift the stagnated plot.

It quickly becomes clear that the show is struggling to end, and part of that is because it won’t let go of June or Serena as the lead. Serena used to be a formidable villain, so evil to her very soul, but that made her a great character. Now, the series makes extra effort to try and turn her into a victim and a feminist icon fighting for women’s rights in Gilead. There’s even a scene how she stands up for the Handmaidens, which seems so out of character and clearly a desperate move on the writers’ part to get the audience on her side. It doesn’t work. The only characters that have anything of substance and feel developed this season are Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd), Janine (Madeline Brewer), and Joseph Lawrence (Bradley Whitford). When they are on screen, or when the show remembers them, it brings much-needed life to the series and character progression that carries the series' main messages of resilience and atonement. There’s a lot to talk about with these characters, but most are prohibited from mentioning due to the embargo. Janine, in particular, does more for the season than any other character, with Madeline Brewer giving more emotion and depth shown than any other character. Every part of her scenes shows that this season should have focused more on her, but instead, time was wasted on Moira’s attempt at relevance and using any opportunity to belittle June and any other Gilead victim and survivor in some off-putting attempt at competition.

Although only given the first eight out of ten episodes, it is clear this season took too long to come out, its writing is rushed, and the episode count is too long. There are elements from the first four or five that could have been condensed down and shortened the series to six episodes, but The Handmaid’s Tale shows it struggles to end its own story.

Final Score- [6/10]
Reviewed by - Leigh Doyle
Note: The first eight episodes of Season 6 are screened for this review.
Premiere Date: April 8, 2025, on Hulu