Yvonne Strahovski was ready to say goodbye to her character … but the screenwriters thought differently

When it comes to controversial characters, Serena Joy Waterford takes the palm. His passage through The history of the waitress It was a Russian mountain of hatred, empathy, revenge and, surprisingly, redemption. And although many fans thought that the perfect end for her was a brutal and symbolic death, Even his interpreter, Yvonne Strahovski, saw him like this. However, the creative team of the series has decided to give it a less definitive release … and much more nuanced.

As the showrunner revealed Bruce MillerThe original plan was lethal: Serena would have been pushed by a running train at the beginning of season 6, dying anonymously, abandoned in a gutter. “I wanted to kill her“Miller confessed The Hollywood journalist. “It was so horrible that it deserved an end“But not all the team shared that vision.

Redemption or punishment? The debate between the screenwriters

El Co-Showrunner Eric Tuchman Miller had to convince that Serena had still anything else to say. “We had much more to explore with her“He explained.”And losing an actress like Yvonne in the last season would have been a big mistake“. AS, The character survived the fallAlthough not without wounds, opening the door to an unexpected development in the final episodes.

The decision divided the fansBut he offered the opportunity to close his narrative arc in a more reflective way. Tuchman summarized him in this way: “We built a trajectory for Serena who concludes her story in a really powerful way”. And so, against any forecast, The villain that many loved hatred to finish their story in a refugee camp, with his son in his arms and a pinch of hope in the background.

Yvonne Strahovski, “I thought I deserved to die”

The actress It was not opposed to the initial idea to kill her. In fact, he believed that a tragic and painful death would be a satisfactory conclusion for the public: “I thought it would have been appropriate. If it were dramatic, horrible and tragic, the public would have heard him as a clear punishment”.

But he also recognized that the real ending had its emotional value. “Where we finish it is a place that transmits more hope, inspiration and, at the same time, a very deep sadness”He explained. For Strahovski, that closure allows the public to experience more complex emotions of a simple bloody end.

The peaceful we have seen and the serene that could be

From the first episodes, Serena Joy consolidated himself as a ruthless and manipulative figureDirect complicity of the Gilead regime. But over time, the script gave him nuances, showing cracks in his faith, contradictions in his morality and even a humanity that many did not want to accept.

Therefore, the possibility of redemption divided the fandom: Do you deserve to live and have a new opportunity? Or should he pay with his life for his past crimes? The series, faithful to its style, has chosen an uncomfortable but powerful conclusionwhich does not offer easy answers, but open questions.

The future of the universe Handmaidwithout serene, but with the echoes of his inheritance

With the main series already closed, the immediate future passes through The testamentsthe adaptation of the sequel novel of Margaret Atwood. This new project will focus Aunt Lydiaanother morally ambiguous character and should be Serena does not have a direct presence in history.

However, His inheritance as a symbol of the regime and its contradictions will continue to resonateAbove all because it represents that thin line between the victim and executioner that has characterized the narration of the series so much.

The last word, Serena will live … in the memory of the fans

Even if he didn’t die as many expected, Serena Joy has reached a closure full of emotional ambiguityleaving the spectators with that characteristic feeling of The history of the waitress: Reflective discomfort. And this, perhaps, is more powerful than any shocking death scene.

Because if something taught us this series, it’s that The real battle is not only physical, but ideological, emotional and narrative. And in that field, Serena was one of the most disturbing and memorable characters of all the recent television fiction.