Adapted by television writer Bruce Miller from the novel by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale takes place in Gilead, a near-future New England controlled by Christian fundamentalists. As the series opens, Moss’ character (one of the few women who can still become pregnant) is captured by the government and enslaved as a “handmaid” — which means she’s forced to have sex with one of the regime’s commanders (Joseph Fiennes) in the hopes that she will bear his child.

Sounds pretty grim, right? The show certainly is bleak at times. But there are also moments of humor, particularly as you see the strange, absurd rituals of Gilead. And even when it gets dark, it isn’t a slog. It’s far too tense for that, as you wonder how things could possibly get worse for Offred and the other characters. (Almost inevitably, they do get worse.) At least once or twice each episode, I found myself shouting at my laptop and/or covering my eyes.

Moss is predictably great as Offred, giving us a woman whose life is full of fear and pain and degradation, but who remains determined to survive and find the daughter who was stolen from her. Ann Dowd also brings charm and conviction to the role of Aunt Lydia, the woman overseeing the handmaids. But the show’s MVP might be Yvonne Strahovski, who plays Serena, the commander’s wife. We see her inflict many petty torments on Offred, but we also see how Gilead imprisons and demeans Serena at the same time. The show never lets us forgets her complicity, while never making her seem less than human.