Thesixth seasonof Hulu’sThe Handmaid ’s Talearrives in April , bringing its rivulet to an endwhile also presumably setting upsequel seriesThe Testaments , itself add up to Hulu soon . For all the show ’s initial acclaim , many fans had sort of forgotten about it ; not alone surprising , since season five wrapped up all the fashion back in 2022 . With its final installment on the elbow room , we determine to wait back at thatfiery first time of year — and realized just how chillingly believable its bleak alt - reality has become .
WhenThe Handmaid ’s Talefirst arrive on Hulu in April 2017 , at least half of America was prim out and ready for a dystopian serial limn a worst - sheath - scenario for the country . President Donald Trump had been inaugurated into his first term a few months prior , and everyone who ’d voted for Hillary Clinton ( or uncollectible , apathetically sit out the election ) had already start to contort into the cringe - ball posture they ’d ofttimes recover themselves in over the next four years .
The Handmaid ’s Tale , with its themes of feminist passion in the side of extreme subjugation , bug into frustration that many politically progressive people felt that outflow . The show provided a frisson - inducement but often cathartic showing experience ; hebdomad to hebdomad , June — or “ Offred , ” as Elisabeth Moss ’ theatrical role is first introduced , having been forced to take the name of the human beings who has enslave her as a fostering watercraft — adapted to her grim young normal while wordlessly plotting retaliation or psyching herself up to survive .
Elisabeth Moss and Alexis Bledel both won Emmys for their season one performances.© Hulu
In the world ofThe Handmaid ’s Tale , the United States is now called “ Gilead . ” It ’s a society rule by far - good Christian Conservative , where paranoia and suspiciousness channelize every conversation , and man with auto guns and ignominious vans roam the streets depend for protester … or really , anyone who dare to baffle a toe out of furrow . Violence is the genu - jerk reaction to any infraction , with cruelty layered in to verify anyone with rebellious idea becomes too terrified to play on them .
The linguistic tics of Gilead—”Under his eye , ” “ Praise be , ” “ May the Lord open , ” and so on — and the violent dress and white ceiling worn by June and her fellow handmaids immediately took their place in pop polish , with the distinctive costumes popping up at women ’s rights objection , particularly when generative right hand were need , but also in more lighthearted contexts , including among cosplayers at San Diego Comic - Con .
The Handmaid ’s Tale , in other word , was an quick hit ; at the 2017 Emmys , it became the first cyclosis release to be name Outstanding Drama Series , alongside wins for Moss and her co - lead Ann Dowd and Alexis Bledel , as well as for the show ’s writing , take , motion-picture photography , and production blueprint .
June and her family try to escape. © Hulu
The opening view ofThe Handmaid ’s Tale‘s first episode , “ Offred , ” follows June , her husband , and their immature girl as they ’re frantically sample to escape the gun - add up human being who are chasing them . “ What did they do ? ” is the natural interview chemical reaction , until it becomes vindicated that they ’re being hound because in a world where fertility rates have nearly bottomed out , children are seen as rare award , and adult female who ’ve given birth to healthy nipper are imprisoned as handmaidens , raped over and over until they conceive again .
Once this initial horror sump in , viewer realizeThe Handmaid ’s Taleis in fact a parade of horrors , with rights rend away from everyone who does n’t conform to Gilead ’s stern moral standards . June may not be able-bodied to convey herself outwardly , but her voice - overs let us know her true feelings , and we get worthful circumstance from the frequent flashbacks to her life story before everything around her was jammed into a twisted embracing of “ traditional values . ”
Some of these memory are well-chosen — time expend with her kinfolk and friends , including Moira ( Samira Wiley ) , who turn a loss her own pardner in the “ dyke purges ” and ends up in handmaid training camp alongside June . We learn that some mass , include the married woman and child of another tribade handmaid , Alexis Bledel ’s Emily , managed to scat to Canada when matter started getting bad , and Canada emerges as an important 2nd location through the series .
Just another day in Gilead. © Hulu
There ’s an unionized ohmic resistance that embark on off slowly in this first season , as well as an challenging character in Serena Joy ( Yvonne Strahovski ) , the wife in the base where June is made to serve . We learn she was a powerful bourgeois leader and author in the “ before , ” but was swiftly shunt into a instrumental role in the finish she helped make . She ’s both poignant and repulsive , and therefore systematically bewitching .
The essence ofThe Handmaid ’s Tale , however , is always June , and through her we learn how Gilead drive its way into universe . First the government was rase through an onset fault on terrorists — it ’s imply this was a lie — that result to the suspension of the make-up . Martial law was enacted , including in what was once Boston , where June hold out . Gradually , things that felt like well - entrenched part of casual life begin to switch . One day , June ’s debit notice was declined at the local coffee store , and she memorize women were no longer allowed to have coin bank story or own property . Armed men barged into her office and draw her genus Bos to rent all the distaff employee go .
“ They ca n’t justdothis , ” June says to Moira , but indeed They can , and They do . “ Now I ’m awake to the earth , ” Gilead - earned run average June narrates from the nightmare of her new realism . “ I was asleep before . That ’s how we let it happen . ”
Aunt Lydia (at right) with Janine (Madeline Brewer), who loses an eye for being too outspoken. © Hulu
Does n’t find quite as antic as it once did , does it ? Still … it could never really find , right?Right ?
you could watch seasons 1 - 5 ofThe Handmaid ’s Taleon Hulu and on Hulu on Disney+ . Season six go far April 8 .
Want more io9 word ? Check out when to expect the latestMarvel , Star Wars , andStar Trekreleases , what ’s next for theDC Universe on picture show and boob tube , and everything you need to recognise about the future ofDoctor Who .
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