SEASON PREMIERE: Many series these days return from hiatus between seasons having jumped ahead in their narrative time lines – a year later, three years later, or, in the case of Roseanne, many, many years later. But The Handmaid’s Tale, fresh from its Emmy win as Outstanding Drama Series, returns by picking up right where it left off: With our oppressed heroine, played so powerfully by Elisabeth Moss, being escorted by force from the home where she was assigned (i.e. imprisoned) as a sexual surrogate, and being carted away to an initially undisclosed location. Her destination is disclosed almost immediately as Season 2 begins, and involves her being muzzled and herded, with other rebellious Handmaids, to a familiar Boston landmark, a raised platform, and a string of nooses. Out of the frying pan – and into the new season, in which flashbacks are key and illuminating, and our heroine, June, begins to embrace not only her “old” name, but her new destiny. For my full review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, visit the Fresh Air website. And for another full review, see David Hinckley’s All Along the Watchtower.

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