The Handmaid’s Story Showrunner on Bringing Extra Backstory to One among Its Most Difficult 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 discovered the Gilead origin story by flashbacks sprinkled into the primary 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 principal gamers. However in a latest episode, it gave us one other recent look into one character’s life “earlier than.”

We’ve lengthy been fascinated with Serena Joy Waterford, deftly performed by Yvonne Strahovski as a girl who backed Gilead’s right-wing Christian agenda from the beginning and married Fred Waterford, who turned the highly effective Commander Waterford as soon as america underwent its compelled transformation. Although Serena was as soon as a well-liked creator 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 discovered Serena is much from a one-note zealot. Her want to develop into a mom guided a few of her most odious actions, however she ultimately proved she wasn’t too inflexible to comprehend her failings as a human being—and started to really feel deep remorse about her half in turning the world the other way up.

In episode two, “Exile,” viewers acquired 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 resolution to return to Gilead—particularly, the extra reformed New Bethlehem area, the place she thinks she’ll be capable of 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 desirous to discover, in keeping with The Handmaid’s Story creator Bruce Miller. Talking to the Wrap, he defined, “We’ve discovered about her, however that is actually attention-grabbing, as a result of it’s not a couple of relationship she selected, like with Fred … Right here, you’re like, how did you develop into the girl you might be? I believe that’s the actually attention-grabbing query now, since you’ve plumbed the depths of Serena to know what’s there, you recognize the girl that’s there. So while you get to season six, you’re asking the query of, what was her father like? And I don’t assume you might be initially, as a result of I believe she has 1,000,000 relationships in her life, however that one will get way more attention-grabbing while you notice how a lot metal she has.”

The 2 scenes with Serena’s father unfold just a few years aside; within the first one, she’s simply met Fred and her father is congratulating her on her e book tour. Within the second, her father—who is far 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 after all we all know her marriage to Fred shall be stuffed with distress, and the “adjustments” 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 a substitute? You’ll be able to by no means predict what Serena will do, however she does have a tremendous manner of all the time touchdown on her toes.

You’ll be able to watch new episodes of The Handmaid’s Story Tuesdays on Hulu.

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