The Handmaid's Tale (TV Series) No Man's Land (2022) User Reviews

June and Serena

[critic-97-417657 · 9/10 · 20 October 2022]

June's relationship with Serena has always been complex. At her base, Serena had sought power and position. To get her way at all costs, she has resorted to evil acts with little remorse. Yet, over the years, she has shown glimmers of a conscience and humanity. The flashback scenes of the birthing ceremony reminds us she isn't entirely selfish and unfeeling. But we always see her return to her base.

June has had to do some horrible things to survive. What she's had to go through lead her to cross the line and torture and murder Fred, something that haunts her. But she's mostly followed a certain moral code. As much as she wants to hate Serena - as much as Serena deserves this hate and all the horrible things June fantasies about doing yo her - June's moral compass usually guides her to do the right thing. She's reminded of the times Serena showed glimmers of compassion.

It's poignant that Serena helps June to find true self, albeit unintentionally. The mercy, compassion, and humanity June showed Serena realigns June, reminding her who she is, despite what she did to Fred. It's an evolution of their relationship.

And then BAM!!! Luke blows it all to bits.

This season is going up, Finally.

[avivikoreni · 10/10 · 19 October 2022]

It's amazing how when it's bad, it's bad.

But when it,s good, it makes you cry.

For me, This Episode was a piece of art of acting, A 45 min of dialogue betwen Serena and june.

Finally the creators gave us a good written episode which remind us that The handmaid's tale is actually a good series.

For my opinion, The brave choices of the new storyline could save the lack of the first episodes of this season.

How lucky The Handmaid's tale for having Elisabeth Moss and Yvonne Strahovski. With a good script, they are shining.

The relationship between those two is just a fascinating TV and art. I'm looking forward for the last episodes of this season, Hopefully for more brave choices and acting.

Best episode in a long time

[Dannyboi94 · 10/10 · 20 October 2022]

Season 5 has been a little slow. The last episode was great, but overall, it has been a little disappointing. This episode, however has been the best the series has produced in a long time. It was very well directed, written and acted - especially by Yvonne. It was also very emotional in some parts, which surprised me. I wasn't expecting to feel sympathy for Serena.

The flashback scenes were amazing, which reminded me for a better time in the series.

The last 10 minutes or so were very dark, i was not expecting that kind of ruthlessness from someone like Luke. It was very unexpected, yet also deserved.

I hope the rest of the season keeps up with this kind of quality.

Best episode yet!

[lisacarnahan · 10/10 · 20 October 2022]

When I thought it couldn't get any better The Handmaids Take delivered the best hour of TV I've seen in a very long time.

The connection between June and Serena is palpable. The direction was beautiful! Backlighting from the sun and warm colors from the barn added to the purity of the scene. And filming the two facing each other was so intimate. I could feel the relationship between the two change as they bonded over the shared delivery of Noah.

It was hands down the best birth scene ever filmed.

Yvonne Stravinsky and Elizabeth Moss were both spectacular. They left it all there and should both get Emmys.

Got me glued in front of the TV

[sthinaulfhielm · 9/10 · 19 October 2022]

This is exactly what I've been waiting for. It got me glued in front of the TV throughout the whole episode. I completely LOVED the flashbacks of Serena and June exchanging small glances and smiles, where they actually seemed to get along.

And I'm totally obsessed of the ethical and moral dilemmas both of them are facing. Revenge or what's right. And that Serena is facing some of the things she put June through, but at the same time, June chooses to be the bigger person. I don't know, it was so powerful and mighty..

Don't want to spoil too much. Just watch it! You won't regret it, I promise.

Redemption for June but not Serena

[cheryl-y-oconnor · 9/10 · 19 October 2022]

This episode shows June finally let go of the hate for Serena that has consumed her since she got to Canada. However it spells trouble for her marriage to Luke when she discovers he alerted authorities to Serena's whereabouts in the hospital after June delivered the baby in a derelict barn after escaping in a car in no man's land. The tables are turned on Serena who now faces deportation to Gilead and losing her baby as well. It looks like June might jeopardize her relationship with Luke to help Serena escape deportation.

This was an emotional episode, allowing June and Serena to make some semblance of peace for the sake of the baby. It is anyone's guess how this will play out but it was excellent acting from these two female characters and makes much more sense than at the beginning of this season of The Handmaid's Tale.

Sublime.

[dashwilson-40000 · 10/10 · 26 October 2022]

Say what you want about this show but that episode I just watched is brilliant tv. This is SUCH a step up from season 4. Anyone who says otherwise isn't watching the same thing.

Poetic, beautiful, complex, real. And talk about acting. If this season is eligible for Emmy's, this should be the submission for Yvonne and Elisabeth. For a show 5 and a half seasons in to produce this after many have given up watching says ALOT about the last 13 ish episodes left of the whole thing.

It may not be as good as season 1 and 2 but honestly name a more complex and interesting tv series about issues that affect us all.

Exception television.

The best episode of a TV show I've ever seen

[r-fontoura · 10/10 · 16 April 2023]

I really liked season 4. This season was a bit calm until here, the same things going on, nothing to be expected. I didn't finish Season 5 yet. Now I'm very curious to know what forwards this and it surprised me when I just knew there will be a 6th season.

I'm 40, have more than 1000 movies rated here on IMDb, and watched less series than I wanted (more than 20 until the end, maybe 25), including very good ones such as Breaking Bad or Mr. Robot.

The acting from Yvonne Strahovsky and Elisabeth Moss are impeccable, but the screenplay is really above the bars. This episode really got me. This is the best episode I've watched on a TV show. That's all I got to say.

We're finally getting there!

[bethwade-60337 · 8/10 · 20 October 2022]

This episode is everything this season has been building up to, I wish it was longer!

After everything Serena has put June through over the years, you can't help but feel sorry for Serena and hope that this is her redemption. A fantastic episode in my opinion. We see some flashbacks of June & Serena that shows that at some point, there was a sense of understanding between the two. While watching, you hope June makes a point of Serena now knowing what it could possibly be like to know what it feels like to have your child ripped from you, and it's shown from an unlikely source. Great pacing & now looking forward to how this story progresses.

A true Natalia Leite's masterpiece

[marionevesdasilva · 10/10 · 27 December 2022]

We can all agree that season 5 started a bit slow, following the wreck that was season 4. Until this episode.

Everyone wanted a June vs Serena showdown moment, only one coming out alive, but their stories are so intertwined that it won't happen so soon.

Choosing to have Natalia Leite directing this episode (and the next one) was the best decision this show had made recently. This whole episode, wether you agree with the plot or not, is a masterpiece of storytelling, emotion portrayal and cinematography. The script was great, the scenery was great, the lighting was great, and Elizabeth's and Yvonne's performances were absolutely phenomenal, really worthy of being nominated.

The whole dilemma June was facing, the silent but perceptible truss between June and Serena, the flashbacks, everything was so well done. Kept us on the edge of our seats, feeling sorry for Serena, which is something that we would never think would happen! Everyone wants to see Serena suffer but now we are kind of sympathizing with her, which shows the tremendous acting skills shown by Yvonne, how can we hate her so much in one minute and then the other we want to see her getting forgiven.

This episode reminds everyone why this series is fantastic and necessary. The series lost their way a little bit on season 4 but they got it back with this episode and after watching the season finale I can say that season 6 is definitely going to be amazing.

Amazing job done by director Natalia Leite, Elizabeth and Yvonne. 10/10!

Digs at a moms heart

[kellyjtmorgan · 10/10 · 20 October 2022]

The emotional roller coaster of this episode just tore at my heart. Serena in labor was so real! It was kind of slow at the start and then the end the role reversal just crashes down on you in one wave after the next! Grab the tissues. You will need them! The writing and directing gets better with each episode. Something I wasn't sure we'd get this many seasons in but they keep pulling it off! It was good to see some "before" scenes. They really played well into this episode. Looking forward to next week! Only wish there was a preview after each episode! Whew after thta I need a drink! Cheers!

Episode 507

[bobcobb301 · 7/10 · 13 March 2023]

"No Man's Land" was a clear Emmy bait episode if you have ever seen one, and while both of the female leads are talented actresses, I don't think the material was there to get them one of those tiny little statues for this. Just not a compelling enough story, and we did not even get a tease of June stealing the baby or something like that.

We do need to appreciate the situation and the irony of what they did here with a handmaid helping her abuser have a baby of her own, but while it was good, it was good in comparison to the current level and position the series is in, and not in the grand scheme of TV.

Full of nonsenses and Who is the enemy now?

[armandogpa · 1/10 · 23 October 2022]

Questions:

Why the captors caught Luke just to beat him and then release him? Why the car accident if June fix it in 2 scenes?

Why not bringing Serenna to a Toronto hospital to deliver her baby?

What is Serena's fear about being found in Canada as if the Wheelers were almighty and could take her prisoner again from a hospital despite the authorities?

Why the flashbacks from Gilead showing us a complicity between Serena and June, they even smile at each other making fun of Gilead's born ceremony!!!???

The time June was in Gilead never had any kind of complicity with Serena AT ALL!!!

Why the surrealistic conversation about that the baby looks like his father and June explanation that it is evolutive "in order parents don't kill their babies"!?

Why the Serena's question about if the baby would be like his father as if she didn't want him to?

In what moment of the serie Serena expressed dislike about Fred!'s way of being?

Why the stupid conversation about June is taking Serena's baby like if Serena couldn't live as a refugee in Canada with her baby like June does with Nicole?

And the end of the episode is simply stupid and nonsense, when Emily crossed the border from Gilead to Canada with Nicole she just had to ask for protection and she was received as a hero, Can't Serena ask for the very same protection instead of being treated like an ilegal inmigrant!?

Above all, the Luke's explanation about Serena gave up her diplomatic status when she abandoned her residence (because June was shooting a gun) is not only incongruent but false to the bones. No diplomatic loose his status no matter where they go within the country that has given them their status.

Final Reflexion:

Where is this story heading to?

Serena now admires and loves June as much as to give her the baby, she even thinks June is an angel!

Aunt Lidya is now regreting her actions and wants to fight for the handmaids' rights Puttman is dead.

Fred is dead.

Who is the enemy now?

Amazing

[fuad_tarin_58 · 9/10 · 20 October 2022]

What an amazing episode!

The acting first of all from Serena in this epsiode is worthy of an Oscar. It litteraly looks like she is pregnant with a baby and the pain in her feels 100% real.

June also is amazing here and i was allways hoping to see these two somehow come back togheter because i allways knew deep inside they feel for eachother.

Serena aint evil but just to stupid and easy manipulated. And even tho i felt sorry for her at the end she did somehow deserve it.

Now she know how all the other handmaidens felt.

June clearly didnt want it to happen because she is a good and kind hearted person.

Amazing season till now.

One of the most satifying episodic endings ever!

[j-siegel · 10/10 · 23 October 2022]

The ending of "No Man's Land" could easily been the Series Finale and I would have been satisfied.

Just when you think June is finally in an ideal position to blast pregnant Serena Joy into another network, the whole story takes a shift into one where June drinks the Kool-Aid and becomes a card carrying Gileadite.

Finally succumbing to the "Blessed-Be-The-Fruit" dogma, June goes down the rabbit hole and loses her resolve to destroy Serena. Even Serena is totally thrown for a loop as June actually helps her with the birth of her child and gets them to a Canadian hospital for care and safety. June is able to make a call to Luke from a Nurse's station and you wonder how Luke is going to deal with this shadow of the June Osborne we've grown to love and root for.

June actually consoles Serena while her new-born is off somewhere being cared for. It is at this point you think you are witnessing one of the most disgusting possible outcomes of the whole story line, but before you totally lose it and throw something at your TV, the Canadian Authorities show up, hand-cuff Serena to her hospital bed, and inform her that she will never be able to be with her child. There is a God. As Serena wails and screams her par pancreas loose, we learn that Luke had tipped off the authorities.

So what is to come? As I said I would have been satisfied with this as the Series Finale - but there are more episodes and yet another final season coming.

I guess next is how to de-program June as Luke takes the reins.

Brilliant!

The Bumpy Road to Redemption

[badeclerck · 10/10 · 3 March 2024]

In the tumultuous seventh episode of The Handmaid's Tale Season 5, Serena's ill-conceived attempt at escape culminates in a car crash, forcing June to grudgingly come to her aid amidst the chaos. Serena's covert labor pains, initially mistaken for anxiety-induced hyperventilation, lead to a makeshift delivery in a nearby barn, where June reluctantly assists in the birth of Serena's son, Noah.

As the gravity of their situation sinks in, Serena faces the harsh reality of her uncertain future: she's unwanted in both Gilead and Canada and hunted by the relentless Wheeler family. Despite Serena's plea for abandonment, June refuses to leave her behind, driven by a newfound sense of empathy and the refusal to perpetuate the cycle of maternal separation she endured.

Their journey to the hospital, fraught with tension and uncertainty, underscores the complexities of their relationship and the moral ambiguity of their circumstances. Serena's fears for Noah's health, compounded by the trauma of her past actions, prompt June to offer reassurance, blurring the lines between adversary and ally.

As they seek refuge in the hospital, June's call to Moira and Luke heralds a reunion tinged with both relief and apprehension. However, Luke's misguided attempt to involve the authorities in Serena's capture exposes a fundamental misunderstanding of June's motives, further complicating their fraught dynamic.

Serena's inevitable detainment and separation from Noah serve as a poignant reminder of the systemic injustices perpetuated by both Gilead and its adversaries, challenging June's resolve and highlighting the ethical dilemmas inherent in their struggle for justice and redemption.

In this episode, The Handmaid's Tale confronts themes of forgiveness, redemption, and the enduring bonds of motherhood, offering a nuanced exploration of the complexities of human nature amidst the backdrop of a dystopian world.

This episode did not affect the plot even in the slightest

[charasereti-46824 · 7/10 · 26 October 2022]

We spent an hour watching Serena giving birth. Sorry but I don't care. I do not think Serena deserves a redemption arc. I thought that this season would have been a final showdown between June and Serena. The show itself creates this expectation (during Fred's funeral). However, the worst part of this episode is that it is inconsequential. Having watched episode 8, Serena went back to being our new favorite handmaid and June realized that she will never forgive Serena or help her at this point. I don't know if they bonded but I do not think anything else will come out from this episode except for the baby.

Sooooo slow

[thenerdygoods · 5/10 · 19 October 2022]

The scenes in the barn are incredibly slow. So slow that both me and my wife agreed to put the speed to 150% because it was unbearable to go through it at a normal pace.

In fact this whole season is slow, boring and at times very predictable. Please just wrap this series up so we can end this chapter after having invested time watching it up till this point.

It's also hard to believe that, after everything that Serena has done to June, June suddenly/seemingly is starting to lose her resolve because she formed a bond over the labor.

She helps Serena, and not a single question about Hannah, where to find her, how to get her out of Gilead, etc?

Yawn...

[Leofwine_draca · 1/10 · 7 December 2022]

So this one's a two-hander of an episode and of course anyone with the slightest inkling or knowledge of the show at this point will have seen this coming a long time ago. Not to mention it's entirely contrived, even ridiculous, to have the characters in this situation in the first place. A ten-minute sequence in another show is dragged out to hour-plus episode length, with long scenes of nothing and quarrelling really testing the viewer's patience. Serena's acting is as bad as the rest, there are pointless flashbacks to season one events to pad out yet more screen time, and of course the obligatory twist ending. Yawn!