The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 Review

*Warning: the post contains spoilers about the end of the third season. Read at your own risk if you are still catching up.

The anticipated release of a new season of a favorite television series is both exciting and nerve wracking. It has to build on the narrative of the previous seasons while opening the door to wherever the new season may go.

The 4th season of The Handmaid’s Tale premiered on Wednesday on Hulu.

The first episode starts off right where the 3rd season ended. The plane full of women and children has safely landed in Canada. In Gilead, the repercussions of June/Offred’s (Elisabeth Moss) rebellion have created a ripple effect. She has become a Moses like figure to the fugitive handmaids who are desperate for freedom. The authorities in Gilead have a different take on her actions and have deemed her to be enemy #1.

In Canada, Commander and Serena Joy Waterford (Joseph Fiennes and Yvonne Strahovski) are in the custody of the government and bickering. Meanwhile, June/Offred’s husband, Luke Bankhole (O-T Fagbenle) and her friends who are refugees, are dealing with the consequences of her actions from another angle.

So far, the first three episodes are fantastic. It is dark, gripping, and completely intoxicating. Next Wednesday and episode 4 cannot come soon enough.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

The Handmaid’s Tale is available for streaming on Hulu. New episodes are released every Wednesday.

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The Passover Story is Nothing Without the Women

It is not uncommon to open a history book and see a complete profile of a man. A woman, however is at best given a paragraph or a footnote and at worst, ignored completely.

The Jewish holiday of Passover starts this weekend. Though Moses is the protagonist of the story, his story would be nothing without the women around him. Given the many dangers around them, the easier thing would have been to say and do nothing. But instead, they stepped up, helping Moses to succeed and paving the way for Jewish women to do the same in their own eras.

• Shifra and Puah: Shifra and Puah are the midwives who were responsible for bringing Hebrew children into the world. Brought before Pharaoh, they are told to kill every male newborn. They claim that they are unable to do this because by the time they get to the mother, the baby has already arrived.
• Yocheved: Moses’s mother was facing a parent’s worst nightmare. Infant boys, when discovered by Pharaoh’s soldiers, were taken to the Nile and drowned. The only way she can save her son is to put him in a basket, send it floating down the Nile and pray that he would survive.
• Bithia or Batya (sometimes referred to as the Egyptian Princess): Finding baby Moses in his basket as she washes up in the river, it is obvious that this child is of the Hebrew faith. Instead of reporting this discovery and sending him to his death, she adopts Moses and raises him as her own.
• Miriam: Miriam is Yocheved’s only daughter. Not only does she watch over her baby brother, but she approaches the Princess, asking if she needs a wet nurse. That wet nurse is her mother. Years later, when Hebrews are wandering through the desert, it is Miriam who leads the former slaves via song to get to the promised land.

• Tziporah: Tziporah is Moses’s wife. Though she is Midianite Princess and not of the Hebrew faith, she embraces his heritage as her own. Traveling with him back to Egypt, she encourages Moses to face his destiny and become the man who will lead his people to freedom.

To everyone who celebrates, have a Happy Passover.

Throwback Thursday Passover Edition-A Rugrats Passover (1995)

There is something about a holiday special that is done right. If it is well balanced with tradition and family without being too schmaltzy, it can last years, if not generations.

Back in 1995, A Rugrats Passover aired. It tells the Passover story as only the Rugrats can. In a nutshell, the children are told the story by Grandpa Boris. As the tale begins, Tommy imagines himself as Moses and Angelica as Pharaoh.

When it initially aired, I was not the target audience. But looking back, I can see why this episode is as beloved as it is. It is charming, funny and talks directly to the children watching as only a program of this nature can.

I recommend it.

Belated Flashback Friday-Passover Edition-The Ten Commandments (1956)

It’s that time of year. The snow is gone (hopefully), the plants and flowers are starting to grow and the Seder plate is on the table.

It’s Passover.

What is Passover without the retelling of the Passover story, a la, Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956)?

Moses (Charlton Heston) believes himself to be a son of Egypt and a member of the royal family. But he is not. He is the son of a Jewish slave. When Pharaoh decreed that the infant sons of Jewish slaves were to be killed, Moses’s mother put her son in a basket. Sending the basket with her son down the Nile, she prayed that her son would be found. The person who found the basket was the Egyptian princess, who raised Moses as her own. As an adult, Moses discovers his true heritage and must goes against his brother, the Pharaoh Rameses (Yul Brynner) to free his people.

This movie, for it’s era is incredible.  The special effects are a marvel. While it’s true that the cast is all Caucasian and the acting a little over the top for my taste, the movie still is a wonder to behold.

I recommend it.

A Biblical Movie Done Right-The Prince Of Egypt

We all know the story of Moses. He is the infant son of Hebrew slaves living in Egypt. A rumor is spreading that among this new generation of sons born to the Hebrew slaves, one will grow up and free the slaves.  Pharaoh sends his soldiers to kill all of the male infants. Yochoved is one of many women who has just brought another son into the world. Willing to do anything to save her son, she puts him in a basket and puts the basket in the Nile. The basket stops at the watery doorstep of the Egyptian princess, who raises the infant as her own. Years later, Moses experiences a crisis of faith and must discover who he is meant to be.

In 1998, The Prince Of Egypt premiered. The actors who lent their voices included Val Kilmer (G-d/Moses), Ralph Fiennes (Rameses) and Michelle Pfeiffer (Tzipporah).

This was a biblical movie done right, for several reasons.

First is that it reflected the rainbow of skin colors that exist in the Middle East, unlike the upcoming Exodus: Gods and Kings or the 1956 The Ten Commandments movie. Second is that there was a spiritual aspect to this movie. It was respectful of the biblical and religious aspect without becoming a spectacle or becoming a romanticized, Hollywoodized story that the 1956 movie is.

Biblical stories are tricky to transfer from the page to the screen. But this was done right.

The Times Are a Changing-Hollywood is Not

Bob Dylan once wrote that the times are changing.

While the times are constantly changing, Hollywood seems stuck in the film stone age.

A new film adaptation of the Exodus will be premiering in December. Exodus: Gods and Kings star Christian Bale as Moses and Joel Edgerton as Ramses.

Am I the only one who thinks Hollywood is still colorblind? Joel Edgerton and Christian Bale are good actors, but they are Caucasian. Personally, I don’t think it would have hurt to have a more diversified cast. Prince of Egypt, even though it was an animated film, the characters were not all Caucasian.

I think we can give some allowances for Cleopatra and The Ten Commandments.

But that was then and this is now. It’s time to expand Hollywood’s horizons and let us see more diverse actors on screen.