There are few episodes in television that have been so slow-paced, and yet so intriguing and intense as 'The Other Side' was. This brilliant episode fills in the blanks as to what happened to Luke, June/Offred's husband. While it features other characters, 'The Other Side' really is a spotlight on Luke.
Before this episode, the viewer doesn't really know what to think of Luke. We don't really know anything about him. The viewer really only knows that he was considered to be a kind person, but in this episode, we really get to learn about his overall personality.
The Handmaid's Tale is for the most part, a morbid drama, and while 'The Other Side' has it's fair share of gruesome moments, it really shows how friendly Luke was, and how willing he was to get back to his family.
While these are all phenomenal scenes, there is definitely a dreaded feeling throughout the very beginning of the episode. Luke spends a great deal of time wandering around, not really accomplishing anything. This, mixed in with the grim, ominous, snowbound location makes for a particularly tiresome first half of the episode. However, the pace really picks up when Luke finds several survivors, and goes on different, intriguing journies with them.
Overall, this episode once again proves incredibly successful because of it's content. It once again saves itself from being to boring by introducing and creating fantastic characters.
Episode 7: 'The Other Side' = 88%
-10 points taken off for being the slowest episode
-2 points taken off for having irritating characters
