The Handmaid’s Story Showrunner on Bringing Extra Backstory to Certainly one of 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 realized the Gilead origin story by way of 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 foremost gamers. However in a current 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 grew to become the highly effective Commander Waterford as soon as america underwent its pressured transformation. Although Serena was as soon as a preferred 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 realized Serena is much from a one-note zealot. Her want to grow to be a mom guided a few of her most odious actions, however she finally proved she wasn’t too inflexible to appreciate 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 received to fulfill 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 determination 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 along with her father, a pastor, is part of the Serena puzzle the present’s been desirous to discover, in accordance with The Handmaid’s Story creator Bruce Miller. Talking to 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 grow to be the lady 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 realize the lady 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 might be firstly, 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 notice how a lot metal she has.”

The 2 scenes with Serena’s father unfold a number 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 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 in fact we all know her marriage to Fred can be stuffed with distress, and the “modifications” she helped spearhead will convey horror and tragedy, not “a brand new Backyard of Eden” as she envisions. Maybe she’s hoping New Bethlehem can be that as an alternative? You’ll be able to by no means predict what Serena will do, however she does have an incredible method 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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