The Handmaid’s Tale season 3 – how did season 2 end, what to expect in season 3 and reasons to watch Channel 4’s dark drama
THE Handmaid’s Tale is back for a third season and fans can’t wait to see what happens next in the gripping drama. But what can we expect from the new series and why should people tune in? We’ve got the lowdown below… What is going to happen in season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale? Executive […]
THE Handmaid’s Tale is back for a third season and fans can’t wait to see what happens next in the gripping drama.
But what can we expect from the new series and why should people tune in? We’ve got the lowdown below…
What is going to happen in season 3 of The Handmaid’s Tale?
Executive producer Warren Littlefield told USA Today that we will follow June (Elizabeth Moss) back into Gilead as the new series picks up ten minutes after the finale of season two.
He said: “We’ll also pick up with Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) and where is she, what happens to her with the knowledge that Nicole, who she considers her baby, has gone off to Canada, but not with June.
“And so that has really far-reaching ramifications, and Nicole becomes a multinational (interest). Everybody wants Nicole. And the question is who legally and morally presides over that.”
And showrunner Bruce Miller says the series will continue to stay true to the original Margaret Atwood novel. He said: “I roughed it out to about 10 seasons when I was first working on it. I see a world beyond [the current one]. I would watch an episode about the Nuremberg trials after Gilead falls. There are lots of worlds you think of.”
He added: “But my arc is still very much the arc of the novel, which is the arc of this one woman’s experience in Gilead at this time. And her recollections that paint this picture of what it was like and what the experience of this world was like, which really is still the book.
“People talk about how we’re beyond the book, but we’re not really. The book starts, then jumps 200 years with an academic discussion at the end of it, about what’s happened in those intervening 200 years.”
Bruce continued: “It’s maybe handled in an outline, but it’s still there in Margaret’s novel. We’re not going beyond the novel; we’re just covering territory she covered quickly, a bit more slowly.”
He hasn’t revealed too many of the specifics of what will happen in season three but he confirmed: “The season is about resistance – June resisting and June fighting. After a couple of seasons of being beaten down, she’s had quite enough. She’s finding ways to rebel.”
When is The Handmaid’s Tale series 3 out in the UK?
The Handmaid’s Tale season three came back to your screens on June 9.
Every episode will be available to watch at 9pm on Channel 4 at the same time each week.
And if you miss it you’ll be able to catch up on 4OD.
The series is not available on Netflix, but Americans can watch it on streaming service, Hulu.
How did season 2 of The Handmaid’s Tale end?
Season Two deviated from the 1985 Margaret Atwood novel it was based on and saw a lot of rape, murder and torture befall a lot of characters.
Emily enacted revenge on Aunt Lydia by stabbing her and kicking her down the stairs.
June stays behind n Gilead to search for her older daughter Hannah, while giving her newborn baby to Emily – who is taking the chance to escape.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Elizabeth explained her take on the season finale and the game-changing decision for June to stick around in Gilead.
“She just discovered that there’s a legitimate and strong underground network of Marthas working for the resistance. The wives led by Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) just rebelled against the men and government of Gilead. They are starting to resist. And she just saw a commander (Lawrence, played by Bradley Whitford) help his handmaid and her dear friend Emily escape. A commander.”
Elizabeth added: “How deep does this underground network of resistance go? She knows now she isn’t alone. She doesn’t want to leave Hannah, but when she sees Emily and the commander, she realizes she can get her baby Holly out and stay to try to do the same for Hannah. And she doesn’t have a lot of time to make that decision. She does the riskier thing, which is stay, but she literally cannot leave Hannah in that place.”
MORE ON THE HANDMAID'S TALE
What are the reason to watch The Handmaid’s Tale?
The cast is exceptional
Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss, American Horror Story’s Joseph Fiennes, Chuck’s Yvonne Strahovski and Gilmore Girls’ Alexis Bledel star in the series.
Alongside Orange Is The New Black’s Samira Wiley, The Mindy Project’s Max Minghelle, and The Leftovers’ Ann Dowd.
It has a lot of feminist content
The show may be about a society where a woman’s worth is determined by childbearing abilities, but it also shows the ways in which these women are resisting oppression.
Fierce characters fight the system for their own lives and for their families, and it’s a pretty accurate reflection of some of the battles being fought in the real world today.
Plus, the show very much passes the Bechdel Test.
It’s a dystopian future that you can believe
While we live in a world were the global birth rate is actually too high, the show makes it easy to see how a series of decisions can slowly lead to a future that is far from fair.
And it also highlights how hard it is to change things once they become the norm.
There is some romance despite the bleak setting
The show is set in a world where sexual intercourse for pleasure is banned but there are definitely a few great couples to root for.
Nick and June are one of the few couples who get to enjoy a true romance – and some very racy sex scenes.
The ‘no pleasure sex’ ban isn’t upheld as much as the rule makers would hope it is!