Joseph Fiennes discusses The Handmaid's Tale season 4 finale | EW.com - Entertainment Weekly News

I think it sets up season 5 wonderfully, in a powerful, complex way.

So any information prior to getting the scripts is really helpful, so you can sort of filter in your head the kind of general arc of that season.

He doesn't give too much away, but I interpreted the conversation we had at the end of season 2, and this might just be my interpretation of what he said, it felt to me that he had indicated it was possibly season 3 would be the demise of Fred.

And then we had a conversation at the end of season 3 and he said, "I think we're pretty much [killing Fred] in season 4." And that was a pretty concrete kind of suggestion, there was not much else to interpret off of that conversation?

No, I think it had to be brutal for Fred because he's put people like June and other handmaids through such a hell and torment and fear in his creepy, pathetic, sadistic fashion.

I think over and above his death, however brutal that might have been for Fred, I think it's the journey to the gallows that he has to experience.

It's so important those tables have turned and to get a form of justice, because June has been so spectacularly let down by the justice system in Canada.

So it's a kind of poetic, paradoxical, complicated justice, but justice nonetheless, and it's deserved?

It's my favorite scene, too - of the season, not just the episode - because it's quite a few pages, and because of COVID restrictions mostly this season has been two actors in the room, and what better actors than Lizzie or Yvonne or any of the cast [to do that with].

She's seeking to kind of unravel some form of justice in her mind.

And Fred is seeking nothing from her, I think he's surprised to see her.

I think Fred is as a sort of serial, kind of repeat offender in a sort of predatory fashion seeking to almost realign the narrative to excuse himself of his past transgressions, if you'd like.

I think he is, as genuine as Fred can get, I think it's more about him being able to wipe the slate clean in order to move on and feel good with himself.

I think he's got a sense of having a son and how important that is to him, but it's important through a sort of Gilead lens, not through a sort of humanitarian lens.

So I think it's kind of meaningful to a degree, but I think it's so off-cue, as you might expect from Fred.

So I felt I got a glimpse of what Fred was feeling at that moment, and it's not a great place to be.

And it was a lovely, sad, bittersweet goodbye to all those people that I've adored working with and moments that I've cherished, and it's a series which has huge, resounding parallels in our real world.

It's vital and important and tough to watch, but it's a conversation that needs to be had, especially around women's rights and the fragility of democracy.

So I just felt like I've been a part of quite a powerful show with some extraordinarily talented people.

I felt like I've come to the end of the road with Fred.

He is the face in many ways of the regime, and there are so many regimes through history full of people like Fred and they don't seem to change.