Handmaid’s Tale
Hulu
Hulu may not be top of mind when we’re talking about some of the best shows in streaming all that often, and when we do, it’s all its FX-linked programming. I’d say Only Murders in the Building is the main exception here. But now there’s another series racking up a perfect critic score in what will be its final season, about to air this week.
That would be The Handmaid’s Tale, which will return April 8 for its sixth and final season. It’s the one that has gotten this perfect 100% score with a dozen or so critics having seen it already, and that’s higher than it’s ever been, even more so than the groundbreaking season 1 back when this was one of the most talked-about series of 2017. We can compare all those scores below:
- The Handmaid’s Tale season 1 – 94% critic, 90% audience
- The Handmaid’s Tale season 2 – 89% critic, 83% audience
- The Handmaid’s Tale season 3 – 82% critic, 57% audience
- The Handmaid’s Tale season 4 – 70% critic, 38% audience
- The Handmaid’s Tale season 5 – 80% critic, 21% audience
- The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 – 100% critic, N/A audience
Handmaid’s Tale
Hulu
Well, I was wondering why this series fell out of favor and essentially everyone stopped talking about it, and I think it’s pretty clear why from those figures. Critic scores dipped, but not that much, but audience scores absolutely crashed as the series went on. I legitimately thought that the series ended when (spoilers) the Commander was killed back in season 4 in 2021, but apparently that was not the case. It looks like I shouldn’t have stayed around for season 5, given those audience scores. I did feel like the show got worse in time, but that’s a pretty stunning figure.
The show just has zero buzz anymore when back in season 1 and even 2 it was the talk of the town. The only time I hear it brought up anymore is conceptually, as a reference to Donald Trump’s policies like his influence in getting Roe V. Wade overturned, for one, through the Supreme Court.
The question now is A) if these 100% scores will stick or drop when more critic reviews come in and B) if audiences will return for the finale and stop hating the show like they have for apparently the last few seasons. I would normally say this may be some sort of “woke/DEI” culture review bombing, but I don’t think so because the show is so low-profile now I don’t know who would bother. But we’ll see how the final season goes starting on Tuesday.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
