20 Best TV Episodes Of 2018

18. Smart Power - The Handmaid's Tale

The second season of The Handmaid's Tale was a bleak, uncompromising follow-up that once again focused on the dark oppression of Gilead, but one crucial difference it made was an increased role of Serena Joy.

While Offred remained the centre of the narrative, Serena Joy rose up to become almost as important to the plot, and even more important to how it tells its story. She's a more interesting character because not only does she face oppression, but she's doing so in a world of her own creation, and Smart Power explores the ramifications of that to the full.

On a diplomatic trip to Canada, we get a true juxtaposition of the freedoms afforded north of the border and the control Gilead holds over those who lie south of it, including, it turns out, Serena Joy herself, with Yvonne Strahovski giving her best performances yet as she grapples with the tragically ironic duality of her existence, and the monumental choices she's faced with.

The Waterfords' trip to Canada is a means of having characters make long-awaited meetings, of hammering home just how relevant it is, but above all of capturing the sense of powerlessness felt by all but a very select few.