The last time we visited Gilead was way back in November 2022. It’s been a long gap, enough that casual viewers and even fans have allowed The Handmaid’s Tale, once an Emmy-dominating must-watch, slide off the radar.
But The Handmaid’s Tale is back for one final season, and the timing is eerily perfect. Its themes feel unnervingly relevant again in our current political climate—and it channels plenty of energy and rage into its fierce final installment.
(io9 watched the first eight episodes from the 10-episode season, but this review will not contain spoilers.)
“Final” is key, because unlike in previous seasons that felt a bit like they were running in place, season six lands with the weight of a show that’s making every minute count. It’s suspenseful, building to its do-or-die climax, and is punctuated by moments of real catharsis that balance out The Handmaid’s Tale’s familiar doses of anguish. Its characters experience well-earned moments of self-realization that highlight just how far they’ve come.
As you might expect, the show’s history has never been more important. You could probably tune in and follow along well enough—Hulu’s “previously on” segments do an admirable sum-up job—but newcomers won’t experience the hefty emotional beats the same way that seasoned watchers will. It’s the last season, so we get it all: reunions, light-bulb moments, long-simmering resentments that finally explode, and more than one scene where someone turns to June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) and asks her why she is the way she is.
The audience has wondered that too over the years. On a show as filled with cruelty and sudden violence as The Handmaid’s Tale, it’s miraculous that June, a repeat offender rabble-rouser, has made it this long. It’s also miraculous that after all the horrors she’s endured, she willingly puts herself in danger again and again—something the viewer has come to expect, as have June’s loved ones, to their increasing concern and sometimes annoyance.
But at the start of the season, at least, it seems like maybe June has chosen a quieter path. The Handmaid’s Tale picks up immediately where it left off at the end of season five, when June and baby Nichole unexpectedly encountered Serena Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski) and baby Noah riding the same crowded train out of Toronto.
Both women are fleeing with hopes of resettling in what’s left of the United States, but for different reasons. Serena’s dealing with immigration issues due to her restricted status as a Gilead diplomat living in Canada, and she’s also trying to get her son away from his foster parents, who’ve been angling to snatch him into their own family. (There’s still a worldwide fertility crisis going on—one of the reasons Gilead was created in the first place, and the whole purpose behind its Handmaids—and children remain a much-coveted prize.) June, meanwhile, decided it was time to move on after nearly being assassinated by a Gilead loyalist.
The season’s first two episodes are directed by Moss (she also helms the final two), and deploy careful pacing that makes room for some exciting scenes and necessary character moments. They also clearly realize the need to wrap up season five’s cliffhangers and engage ASAP with season six’s narrative threads. We don’t have to wait terribly long for “two months later,” which sees Serena and June’s stories find the paths they’ll take for the rest of the season.
Other characters beyond these two—while June is still the lead, Serena has long hovered just below co-protagonist, and that’s the case more than ever now—also come to the fore. That includes June’s steadfast but increasingly impatient husband, Luke (O-T Fagbenle), who’s caught between his love for his wife, his hatred for Gilead, and his frustration over not being able to rescue Hannah, his daughter with June. She was kidnapped at the very start of season one and has been behind enemy lines ever since; in season five, we learned she was being groomed for a Gilead marriage, which makes saving her even more urgent.
Samira Wiley’s Moira, June’s best friend from “before” and a former Handmaid herself, is right up there with Luke when it comes to supporting June, but also much like Luke, she’s growing weary of constantly having to play that role. June’s relationships with both Luke and Moira feel authentically lived-in; we’ve seen them go through hell separately and together, and The Handmaid’s Tale does a good job exploring how trauma can test even the strongest bonds among loved ones.
In Gilead, as terrible a place as ever, we also get plenty of Nick (Max Minghella), Nichole’s father and a part of June’s life in Gilead she just can’t leave behind. Nick was once a lowly driver for the Waterfords, but he’s now a Commander on the rise thanks to his father-in-law, High Commander Wharton—a new character this season played by Josh Charles. Nick’s enduring love for June both frustrates and empowers him, and guides his actions even when he wishes it wouldn’t.
We also spend time with Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) and her favorite Handmaid, Janine (Madeline Brewer), who have their own complicated relationship to deal with. Like everyone on The Handmaid’s Tale, they’ve gone through a lot together, but there’s precious little trust or understanding between them, with Lydia never quite able to realize—or admit to herself, more likely—that she’s in cahoots with the villains, even with Janine’s suffering constantly on display.
Since The Handmaid’s Tale debuted, we’ve seen small rebellions and been made aware of an organized resistance—it’s long been implied that eventually, a full-scale revolution will tear Gilead’s oppressive, viciously misogynistic regime to shreds. But maybe the most intriguing part of season six’s approach to that promise is the New Bethlehem storyline.
Last season, Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford)—one of Gilead’s founders, though he’s come to regret the barbaric thing he helped create—convinced the other Commanders to allow a section of Gilead that’s a bit, well, less of a dystopian nightmare. It’s still Gilead, so it’s still problematic. But it’s progressive enough to allow women to have more of a voice; they can read and write, and there are no Handmaids. It’s also, it must be noted, an idyllic, sun-dappled island town with a gazebo instead of a hanging wall at its center.
The opportunity to be a leader again, instead of a trophy wife who lost a finger when she dared to challenge her husband (nobody misses you, Fred Waterford), is irresistible for Serena, and she joins Lawrence in his quest to popularize New Bethlehem. Serena’s arc has long been the show’s most complex and fascinating; she’s constantly torn between her deep faith, her commitment to Gilead’s cause, and the actual human part of her that very much knows the difference between right and wrong. That continues in season six—we actually see her continue to grow and change, sometimes clumsily, with June playing a reluctant but crucial part of that journey.
Gilead’s still a stain on the world. But season six emphasizes that it has actually made strides in raising fertility rates thanks to its efforts to undo environmental damage. It also hints that the rest of the world, filled with couples desperate to be parents, might look past Gilead’s blatant human-rights violations and embrace New Bethlehem as an alternative. Maybe the ways of New Bethlehem might even influence greater Gilead to consider reforms.
It’s a hopeful scenario. But much as Lawrence and Serena believe in their new home, we also see the dark side of Gilead is still very much in power. Can you really have a kinder, gentler version of such a horrifying regime? The Handmaid’s Tale makes it crystal clear why there’s no acceptable trade-off for allowing fascism to take root and thrive.
But as we follow June and her allies toward that long-promised final face-off—the season’s tagline is literally “the revolution is here”—The Handmaid’s Tale reminds us again and again that while some things are quite clearly black and white, and that certain characters are indeed purely evil, shades of grey do bleed around the edges. That’s especially the case when relationships are tested, ruined, and reaffirmed as that final reckoning looms.
Watch the first three episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale season three on Hulu April 8; there’ll then be a weekly rollout Tuesdays until the May 27 finale.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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