The Handmaid’s Tale is still churning through its darker second season, but viewers can find a glimmer of hope in a familiar presence that makes a cameo appearance in the latest episode. Series superfan Oprah Winfrey lent her powerful and reassuring voice to a resistance radio station called Radio Free America, and Elizabeth Moss’ June finds comfort in the following message:
“The American government in Anchorage received promises of economic aid from India and China. In the United Kingdom, additional sanctions on Gilead were announced, as well as plans to raise the cap on American refugees relocating from Canada … Now a tune to remind everyone who’s listening — American patriot or Gilead traitor — that we are still here. Stars and stripes forever, baby.”
Winfrey’s character is an uncredited one with no name, and after her lines, Bruce Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart” arrives to lend an even more powerful mood to the scene. The Handmaid’s Tale creator and showrunner, Bruce Miller, told Hollywood Reporter that the segment was meant to evoke WWII free radio shows from the Allies, and he had heard all about Winfrey’s enthusiasm for the series, so he sent in a request, to which Winfrey enthusiastically accepted.
Not incidentally, Winfrey also presented the Emmy to the Handmaid’s Tale for Outstanding Drama Series in 2017, and even though she shut down all those rumors that she’d run for president, at least Hulu viewers are getting an earful of patriotism from the former queen of daytime TV.
(Via Hollywood Reporter)
