The Handmaid's Tale Season 2: 8 Ups And 2 Downs From 'First Blood'

3. Serena's Backstory

The Handmaid's Tale took us back to the beginning to fill in another bit of the story of how Gilead came to be. What's interesting about the flashbacks in this episode is that we get to see just how instrumental Serena's involvement was in the creation of this new world.

But her ideas made her public enemy number one, and ultimately got her shot. The wonderful writing of the show juxtaposes these scenes with the present day version of Serena asking June what's it like to carry a baby, so it's likely that her inability to have children is due to injuries sustained from the gunshot.

Considering Serena was the driving force behind Gilead, it's no surprise that she discouraged her husband from showing emotion, but it was unusual to see Serena command her husband when in present day we're used to seeing the opposite.