Six episodes in, three things are becoming clear about why The Handmaid’s Tale is such an incredible piece of TV. All of them are represented in this episode.

The first is the show’s willingness to move outside Offred’s frame of reference. We clearly get an entire episode of that shortly, given the revelation at the end of this one, but here it’s done in two immensely effective ways. The first is the use of Ambassador Castillo to sketch in details of the world around Gilead. The second is Serena Joy.

Serena Joy is a monstrous human being. We’ve seen that consistently up to now with her treatment of Offred but here we get context for it and it’s, if anything, even worse than we first thought.

Because Serena Joy isn’t just evil due to her beliefs, she’s evil because of how little gain she’s had from them. As this episode unfolds we see her as a religious zealot, constantly steering Fred Waterford and ensuring that the most extreme elements of their hyper-Christian philosophy are put into practice. This leads to moments of almost alien, insectile horror as you realize that the pair of them are deeply, intensely disturbing people. The first is a frantic sex scene where they swap scripture. The second is the pair of them, surrounded by cheerfully multi-racial and gay couples at the cinema, accepting the news that the attacks destined to kill America have been approved.

Subtle? There’s an argument that it isn’t certainly. Effective? Absolutely.

Yvonne Strahovski excels throughout the episode, constantly showing us the woman Serena Joy is, not the obedient Wife she pretends to be. She’s a radical, a firebrand and she helped build a world that has trapped her in a gilded cage forever. That should give us some pleasure, but all it’s done is made her even crueller. Serena Joy is furious and that makes her cruel and the only person further down the food chain than her is Offred. Every time she gets kicked, she kicks down.

And Offred is starting to kick back.

No one on this show is static and that’s its greatest strength. Waterford, this episode, moves from the slightly bland, banal evil of the season’s first half to something driven by guilt and shame. He knows Serena Joy is the power behind the throne. He tells himself that he wants her to be recognized for it. He’s lying. Fred Waterford likes power and the grotesque bully is always just beneath the surface of the urbane politician. Likewise Nick, who is still one of the least developed characters on the show, is rapidly coming into his own. Nick likes being with Offred on his own terms. He likes having secrets. He likes being allowed to win and as a result he’s much more, and much less, than just an Eye.

And then there’s Offred. Elizabeth Moss must surely be the front runner for Performance Most Deserving Of An Emmy Nod That Will Undoubtedly Be Overlooked this year and this episode is a masterclass from her. The visceral disgust on her face as Offred psychs herself up to apologize to Waterford is amazing. The closing sequence, and the way she transitions from rage to calm, to despair to hope and guilt is staggering. No one is standing still in Gilead, no one is moving in the same direction and Offred is no exception.

But it’s what she finds out from the outside world this week that provides the show’s third strength. The willingness to use the original text as a foundation rather than a destination is paying off every single week. We’re seeing more and more of the world outside Gilead and it’s fascinating and horrible and somewhere I’m looking forward to spending more time. Especially given the twin hammer blows that close this episode. The fact that Mexico is trading for Handmaids, that Gilead society looks like a viable alternative to the outside world, is nauseating. The fact that Offred gets word about Luke shows she is not alone in that knowledge. The world is very different, very dangerous, but not without hope. The question then becomes; does Offred feel she deserves it?

Verdict: This is the best piece of English language drama on TV right now. Savagely intelligent, endlessly horrifying and packed with the best performances you’ll see this year. An unmissable horror, one to hold to the light, at arm’s length. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart