Cry of the week: Offred loses her family on 'The Handmaid's Tale'

There's a lot to admire about The Handmaid's Tale, Hulu's adaptation of Margaret Atwood's chilling novel. For months, the show promised a rich dystopia punctured by seeds of resistance -- but what we didn't count on was the emotional punch of seeing how things got so bad in the first place.

In the pilot episode, Offred (Elizabeth Moss) flashes back to the beginnings of the society she now inhabits. She's on the run with her husband Luke and daughter Hannah, and a harrowing opening sequence shows them fleeing to safety -- and failing, as they inevitably must.

It's Luke who separates from the pack first, sending the other two into the woods while he stays by the road with the car. Though we've spent close to no time with them, the implicit trust and desperation of this family show us how close they are, how badly we want them to survive. He buys his wife and child some time with the chivalry of James Potter -- but a gunshot shatters the air.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Hannah and Offred (though that wasn't her name then) peel through the woods, putting as much distance as they can between their pursuers. Eventually, they're hidden beneath a massive rock, barely breathing to stay silent and unseen. For a moment, the safety and freedom feel possible, before they are immediately snatched away again.

In the final sequence, Moss unleashes herself as an actor, as faceless men with weapons tear Hannah away from her. She screams and squirms, hell-bent on getting free -- a haunting contrast with the rest of the episode's pious obedience.

The Handmaid's Tale's first episodes are now streaming on Hulu.