The last season of The Handmaid’s Tale has found time to introduce a new romance — but not everyone is thrilled with the addition.
During the Tuesday, April 15, episode of the hit Hulu series, Serena (Yvonne Strahovski), and Rose’s (Carey Cox) father, Commander Wharton (Josh Charles), crossed paths again. Their meal together turned into a late night stroll, and before parting ways, Wharton put the moves on Serena by asking her to dance in the middle of the street, which is when Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) interrupted them.
Some viewers weren’t thrilled by Serena and Wharton’s moment being cut short — while others wore more than here for it.
“They are really pushing a Serena love story in this state of the world,” wrote an audience member via X while another added, “IDK how she does it, but Serena always got a man interested.”
Others questioned if Serena was “being played” by Charles’ mysterious new character. Regardless of Wharton’s intentions, fans were entertained by Serena finding a way to “get herself a man” again after the death of her husband, Commander Waterford (Joseph Fiennes).
For those who might need a refresher, Serena’s husband was murdered in the season 4 finale by June (Elisabeth Moss) and other former Handmaids in No Man’s Land. Serena subsequently struggled to find her place in Gilead, which is how she ended up in Canada as Gilead’s global ambassador and reuniting with June.
Serena, who is now a mother, was headed to Hawaii to seek asylum with baby Noah on a train that also happened to be carrying her former handmaid. The only problem? The other refugees on board her discovered Serena’s real identity so June had to push her off the train (saving her from what was sure to be a brutal death like her husband suffered). Serena found a place to stay at a safe house for women and children and created a fake identity. Serena’s escape from Gilead was short-lived, though, because Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) found her and told her she was now the spokeswoman for New Bethlehem.
While Elisabeth Moss and other The Handmaid’s Tale stars play characters with tumultuous relationships, they have managed to find love offscreen. Moss made headlines when she started dating Fred Armisen after they met through Saturday Night Live. Three months after the actress appeared in a sketch with her Mad Men costar Jon Hamm, she revealed […]
As of episode four, Serena is living her best life in New Bethlehem with a new man and a job that she claims God intended her to have — but is this the beginning of her living happily ever after?
“The ultimate question with this character this season is, will she or won’t she redeem herself, and is it going to be that black and white? It never is,” Strahovski, 42, told IndieWire earlier this month about Serena’s upcoming journey. “It’s really cool to be a part of something that isn’t just entertainment — it’s a point of discussion for so many people for so many reasons.”
She added: “It’s been hard to put aside your empathy for the other characters, primarily June, and just try to lean into a no-judgment space with Serena and try to get to [the place of] where her heart is, without the judgment.”
The Handmaid’s Tale airs Tuesdays and new episodes will be streaming on Hulu.
