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Introduced in season 5 of The Handmaid's Tale, Alanis and Ryan Wheeler bring a new level of ideological tension and conflict to the series. As wealthy Canadian sympathizers to Gilead, the Wheelers offer a deep insight into how authoritarian ideologies can root beyond Gilead's boundaries, even within democratic environments.
Their arrival significantly affects Serena Joy Waterford's plot, reframing her character and exposing how Gilead's power extends far beyond America.
While many of the show's earlier antagonists were closely tied to Gilead's political machinery, the Wheelers are outsiders who actively commit to its principles.
Their actions bring a domestic form of extremism and pose fresh questions about complicity, power, and control in an alleged free society. In the way they treat Serena and try to impose Gilead's social structure on Canada, Alanis and Ryan Wheeler serve as unofficial agents of its repressive ideology.
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In The Handmaid’s Tale season 5, the Wheelers are wealthy Canadian Gilead sympathizers who take Serena Joy into their home and impose Gilead-like control over her.
Exploring in detail the characters Alanis and Ryan Wheeler from The Handmaid's Tale
Alanis and Ryan Wheeler are a wealthy Canadian couple featured in season 5 of The Handmaid's Tale. Portrayed by Genevieve Angelson and Lucas Neff, the couple resides close to the Gilead-Canada border and is openly sympathetic to Gilead's totalitarian regime, despite residing in a democratic nation.
Their remote lifestyle and ample resources enable them to function relatively free from observation, providing them with the liberty to support Gilead's causes from a distance.
The Wheelers are neither government leaders nor commanders, yet their ideological loyalty to Gilead is demonstrated in their domestic life and social behaviors.
Alanis strictly complies with the religious traditions and social norms of Gilead, whereas Ryan seems more intrigued by the authoritarian power the regime provides its male leaders. Despite appearing as an ally to Gilead and its exiled allies, they are driven by control, status, and preservation of their notion of order.
What did the Wheelers do in The Handmaid's Tale?
The Wheelers take center stage in season 5 as Serena Joy Waterford, who is widowed and pregnant, is resettled in Canada. Following the shutdown of the Gilead Cultural Center, Serena is welcomed into the Wheelers' home, where they provide her shelter and protection.
Alanis initially welcomes Serena with respect, considering her a representation of Gilead's morals and womanhood. Serena is made part of religious practices, and Alanis blesses her pregnancy by hosting prayer sessions and dinners.
However, Serena's efforts to return to professional autonomy and participate in Gilead's diplomatic forays are quickly brought to a halt. The Wheelers start limiting her activity and contact, withholding her access to a telephone, and taking charge of her medical treatment.
When Serena requests assistance in opening up a fertility clinic she had proposed, Ryan Wheeler rebuffs her, saying that her pregnancy must be treated with bed rest and that her own goals are subservient to the child's interests. These are reflective of Gilead's treatment of Handmaids, steadily diminishing Serena's status to vessel status as opposed to someone who has control.
The dynamic grows more coercive. Serena is kept at home; her participation in political or public life is under close surveillance. When she gives birth to her son, Noah, later, in stressful conditions, the Wheelers assume the baby. Alanis starts taking care of Noah under strict parentage, with the notorious cry-it-out method being one of the practices, contrary to Serena's wishes.
Even once Serena returns from being detained to care for her child, she is treated as a caregiver rather than the mother of the baby.
More details on The Handmaid's Tale explored
Produced by Bruce Miller and adapted from Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel, The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian TV series set in a future where a theocratic regime named Gilead has overthrown the U.S. government. In this society, fertile women, called Handmaids, are coerced into reproductive labor as the government attempts to address falling birth rates.
The series debuted on Hulu in 2017 and has been critically praised, earning both Emmy and Golden Globe awards.
The introduction of characters such as the Wheelers in subsequent seasons expands the story's purview, showing how ideological control can endure even in a context that professes to eschew it.
By blurring the lines between Gilead and the outside world, The Handmaid's Tale compels audiences to think about how and where oppression begins and who facilitates it.
Interested viewers can watch the latest season of The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu.
