The Handmaid’s Tale Fails to Deliver on Its Early Promise

Hulu's adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale was met with widespread critical praise when it premiered in April. "At its best, it has a tension practically unmatched on television," I wrote in my review. "The more you learn about Offred, the more she looks like TV's great new heroine."

That much still rings true — Offred (Elisabeth Moss), a woman trapped in a dystopian society in which she's forced to serve as live-in sex slave for a brutish master, is a riveting character.