The Handmaid’s Tale‘s sixth and final season found time for romance, murder and more.
Hulu released the first three episodes on Tuesday, April 8, which picked up with June (Elisabeth Moss) and Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) reuniting on a train to Canada. Despite having the same goal — a fresh start for their kids — the duo were at odds until the other refugees discovered Serena’s real identity.
June helped save Serena and her newborn son’s life by kicking her off the train. That led Serena to a safe house for women and children escaping Gilead while June ended up in Alaska, where she reunited with her mother, Holly (Cherry Jones).
Neither June nor Serena remained at peace because, two months later, June found out that Luke (O-T Fagbenle) — who got arrested so she could escape with baby Nichole — went on a mission with Moira (Samira Wiley) to No Man’s Land. A simple task of picking up a bag ended with Moira and Luke going missing, which is where Nick (Max Minghella) fit in.
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Mark (Sam Jaeger) asked June to use her connection with Nick to rescue Moira and Luke. They pulled that off but not before Nick killed two Guardians — and declared his love for June again. Nick is still working undercover to help Mark, but that proved to be difficult with the introduction of Rose’s (Carey Cox) father, Commander Wharton, who is played by Josh Charles.
Commander Wharton, however, might be too busy flirting with Serena to catch onto Nick’s secret activities. Yes, you read that right. Serena’s escape from Gilead was short-lived because just one visit from Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) has her becoming the spokeswoman for New Bethlehem.
Elsewhere in the three-part premiere, Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) tracked down Janine (Madeline Brewer), who is now part of the Jezebels. Aunt Lydia’s attempts to save Janine — and the other women — aren’t successful considering Commander Lawrence and Naomi (Ever Carradine) want nothing to do with her.
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The season premiere not only threw Us straight into the action, The Handmaid’s Tale was subtly setting up The Testaments. Hulu already ordered The Testaments to series, which is based on Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name.
The Testaments, which is set 15 years later, is narrated by Aunt Lydia as viewers are thrust back into the dystopian future with characters such as Agnes from Gilead and Daisy from Canada — as they secretly gather and smuggle incriminating information about Gilead’s regime out of the country. Agnes and Daisy pose as “Pearl Girls” to infiltrate Canada, while Aunt Lydia acts as a covert source within Gilead.
“There are people who return and the same thing in the Testaments. We’re gonna bring characters from The Handmaid’s Tale to that world as well,” creator Bruce Miller exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month. “So there are people who show up — but to tell you who they are will take away all the fun.”
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According to Miller, viewers should expect some surprises during The Handmaid’s Tale to The Testaments transition.
“I hope [the audience has] questions when the show ends. I think this book is way too complicated to tie up neatly, and when I read the book I had a million questions at the end,” he added. “So I hope if we’re doing justice to the story we told in the book, certainly you’ll have questions at the end.”
The Handmaid’s Tale airs Tuesdays and new episodes will be streaming on Hulu.
