Crystal Beach in many of first three episodes of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

The world has had access to the final season of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and its first three episodes since they became available on streaming services a few days ago.

But some like Jean Marchand already had an idea about the story and what some of the scenes would look like long before they hit the screen.

That’s because he’s a resident of the Crystal Beach Tennis and Yacht Club, a gated community that was transformed into New Bethlehem, a village in the fictional country of Gilead, a totalitarian regime that takes over the United States in the show, which is based on the book by Canadian author Margaret Atwood.

A number of scenes were shot for the critically-acclaimed and Emmy-winning show last fall in Crystal Beach, within the gates of the tennis and yacht club and on Derby Road.

Marchand, who has been told by many he resembles “Commander Lawrence,” played by actor Bradley Whitford, told Fort Erie Radio he has watched the first three episodes, and had a great time reminiscing about the time the cast and crew took over their private neighbourhood.

It was fun comparing what he saw behind the scenes to what the final cuts looked like on TV.

In the first episode, Commander Nick Blaine, played by Max Minghella, gets out of a car and lights a cigarette in a scene shot inside the tennis and yacht club.

A quick shot that added up to no more than five seconds of screen time, it took multiple takes before the director called it a wrap and moved on to the next scene, Marchand recalled about standing on the sidelines watching the production unfold.

“They must’ve done it 10 times,” he told Fort Erie Radio, adding it was “very cool” to see the final product this week.

In the first three episodes, there are several shots within the gated community that show Lake Erie as the backdrop, as well as the many properties in the neighbourhood that was once home to the former Crystal Beach Amusement Park, which closed in the late 1980s.

A couple of weeks after the cast and crew departed Crystal Beach, there was a local Halloween celebration along Derby and Erie Roads.

Due to Marchand already being considered a “doppelganger” to Whitford, he was Commander Lawrence in a group costume that consisted of several other “handmaids” dressed in long, maroon robes and bonnets, much like the ones worn in the show.

Marchand also had a chance to meet Whitford when the shooting was taking place.

“He was very gracious and accommodating,” said Marchand.

Another scene within the gated community is at a gazebo, which Marchand said the show’s crew built for the show and tore down when they left.

Marchand said other scenes that have yet to be seen were shot on the promenade along the lake, as well as a dancing scene involving character Serena Joy Waterford, played by Yvonne Strahovski.

He also said there should be an upcoming scene where a car pulls up to New Bethlehem and there is “somebody in the trunk.”

Another tidbit shared with Fort Erie Radio by Marchand is about Serena’s home in New Bethlehem.

The exterior is what stands in the tennis and yacht club, but its interior was meticulously replicated in a studio in Toronto, meaning the indoor scenes in that house were not shot in Crystal Beach.

“The whole thing was pretty cool,” he said.

Also in the first batch of episodes are scenes on Derby Road, the stretch commonly known by locals and many American seasonal residents who populate the area in the summer months as ‘Hot Dog Alley.’

The most time spent there so far involves a conversation between Serena and High Commander Wharton, played by Josh Charles.

They walk and stand in front of businesses such as Sublife and Planks Canada.

Phil Smith, a local Realtor and entrepreneur who owns most of the units on the road, told Fort Erie Radio months ago about the exhaustive process the show undertook, painting and converting facades of storefronts to look how they needed them for their scenes.

Speaking with Fort Erie Radio on Wednesday, Smith said he had yet to watch the start of the final and sixth season, but had seen posts on social media from friends who had. He’s excited to sit down and watch.

“It’s fun to see your little slice of the world on TV,” he said.

Smith also reflected about how meticulous people on the show were, as well as how many people were involved.

“It’s wild, the amount of coordination and detail that goes into every second,” said Smith.

A lifelong resident of Crystal Beach, Smith found irony when remembering the time a production came to the area when he was in high school.

This was when Canadian indie band Starkicker shot their music video for the song ‘Get Up’ in Hot Dog Alley in the mid-1990s, before the area had been revitalized to the bustling hotspot it is today.

The band was keen on using the street for its set because it reflected an “abandoned ghost town,” he recalled.

But with The Handmaid’s Tale, it was used as a “backdrop for a flourishing community in an international TV show.”

The Handmaid’s Tale, which streams on Hulu, is available in Canada on Crave.

It centres around lead actor Elizabeth Moss and her character June Osborn, a former handmaid who fights Gilead in an attempt to rescue her kidnapped daughter, Hannah.

The Handmaid’s Tale has won 15 Emmys and has been nominated for 76.

Scenes for season five were also shot in Crystal Beach, as well as in Port Colborne and Welland.

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