The Handmaid’s Story Showrunner on Bringing Extra Backstory to Certainly one of Its Most Sophisticated Characters

Watching The Handmaid’s Tale for the primary time, the inevitable query quickly rises: how did a spot as oppressive and merciless as Gilead come to be? Over six seasons, we’ve realized the Gilead origin story by way of flashbacks sprinkled into the principle narrative—one thing that feels more and more like a cautionary tale for American viewers in 2025—and the Hulu present has additionally crammed in blanks for its predominant gamers. However in a latest episode, it gave us one other contemporary look into one character’s life “earlier than.”

We’ve lengthy been fascinated with Serena Joy Waterford, deftly performed by Yvonne Strahovski as a lady who backed Gilead’s right-wing Christian agenda from the beginning and married Fred Waterford, who grew to become the highly effective Commander Waterford as soon as the US underwent its compelled transformation. Although Serena was as soon as a well-liked writer and political speaker, she willingly put her profession apart and have become a dutiful spouse—for a time.

As The Handmaid’s Story has progressed, we’ve realized Serena is much from a one-note zealot. Her need to develop into a mom guided a few of her most odious actions, however she finally proved she wasn’t too inflexible to comprehend her failings as a human being—and commenced to really feel deep remorse about her half in turning the world the other way up.

In episode two, “Exile,” viewers obtained to satisfy Serena’s father for the primary time. (Her mom, who lives in Gilead, made an disagreeable impression again in season three and hasn’t been seen since.) There are two flashbacks within the episode, which within the present’s current day follows Serena’s choice to return to Gilead—particularly, the extra reformed New Bethlehem area, the place she thinks she’ll have the ability to ease her guilt and get again on the trail God has envisioned for her.

Her relationship together with her father, a pastor, is part of the Serena puzzle the present’s been eager to discover, in response to The Handmaid’s Story creator Bruce Miller. Chatting with the Wrap, he defined, “We’ve realized about her, however that is actually attention-grabbing, as a result of it’s not a few relationship she selected, like with Fred … Right here, you’re like, how did you develop into the girl you’re? I believe that’s the actually attention-grabbing query now, since you’ve plumbed the depths of Serena to know what’s there, you realize the girl that’s there. So whenever you get to season six, you’re asking the query of, what was her father like? And I don’t assume you’re in the beginning, as a result of I believe she has one million relationships in her life, however that one will get far more attention-grabbing whenever you understand how a lot metal she has.”

The 2 scenes with Serena’s father unfold a couple of years aside; within the first one, she’s simply met Fred and her father is congratulating her on her guide tour. Within the second, her father—who is way older and extra frail-looking—listens as she excitedly tells him “We’re about to alter the nation!”

At that time she thinks she’s making good on her father’s earlier urgings to be a beacon for the motion—however in fact we all know her marriage to Fred shall be crammed with distress, and the “modifications” she helped spearhead will deliver horror and tragedy, not “a brand new Backyard of Eden” as she envisions. Maybe she’s hoping New Bethlehem shall be that as an alternative? You possibly can by no means predict what Serena will do, however she does have an incredible manner of all the time touchdown on her ft.

You possibly can watch new episodes of The Handmaid’s Story Tuesdays on Hulu.

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