The Handmaid's Tale Most Traumatizing Storyline Is Actually Not the Ceremony
It’s impossible to imagine it though.
There is an inexplicable love for all things dystopian, and most of it is for TV shows that belong to the genre. We think the reason for this is that such shows give us the chance to see the alternative reality we could end up in one day. Although, after watching some of the series, we wish we would never actually live in the worlds shown...
The first show that comes to mind is The Handmaid's Tale, the series so gripping that it’s actually impossible to watch it without covering your eyes from time to time. The show premiered in 2017 and became a fan favorite, although the premise is quite disturbing.
What Is The Handmaid's Tale About?
The show tells about a dystopian society called Gilead, where the commanders and their wives have special handmaids who serve the purpose of being a human to bear their child. All these women were kidnapped from their families and brought to Gilead to literally become sex slaves.
Their lives are so far from normal, they cannot say or do anything to make it easier because even a little action that is not by the rules of Gilead will threaten their lives. During the beginning of season 1 we find out about “the ceremony”: it is what they call the family-rape which they believe is a sacred process of conceiving a child.
The picture is very disturbing, and there will be times during the rest of the show when you will feel sick after watching some of those scenes. But there was one particular storyline that traumatized all the viewers without exception. The one that took place in season 3 and was about the DC handmaids.
The Handmaid's Tale Plotline Dubbed 'Physically Overwhelming' by Fans
In Washington, June meets some other local handmaids, as they are forced to live together, and then goes through a shocking revelation, when a handmaid pulls over her face mask. What June saw — made us all gasp in horror. There were actual metal rings that made it physically impossible for them to open their mouths.
Fans found it very disturbing, but also strange that a society that makes the handmaids’ health their top priority (they are pregnant with commanders’ children, after all) would do something to make it impossible for them to even eat…
“One of the most horrific parts of the show. It definitely felt physically overwhelming. One of the comments before me makes a good point about how the rings would negatively impact the health of the handmaid’s along with causing other health issues. But that’s the paradox of this story and forced labor oppression isn’t it?” Redditor Renaissance-Revolt57 said.
There are more questions to the storyline, like how would they brush their teeth or even sneeze? And why wasn’t it used as a powerful tool to crush Gilead later, when June and the girls were in Canada? There are no answers to these questions. But we guess it’s good that the image was never brought back to the show…
Where to Stream The Handmaid's Tale?
The Handmaid's Tale is available to stream on Hulu.