‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Final Season Is ‘Full-Scale Rebellion’: Showrunner Teases Gilead War

The sixth and final season of the award-winning Hulu drama will be a “love letter” to fans who’ve stuck with it through five grueling seasons of often agonizing events, showrunner Yahlin Chang promised: “It’s no secret that The Handmaid’s Tale can sometimes be a very hard watch,” she told TV Insider. “We have the best, most loyal fans in the world. And it’s really wonderful how they stuck on this journey with us. And so we thought that they deserved some feel-good episodes of real reward and satisfaction.”

As June Osborne’s (Elisabeth Moss) final fight against the oppressive Gilead regime commences, she won’t be working alone. In fact, she’ll have more allies than ever this time around.

“This is the season where our characters and the people of Gilead — and specifically the women of Gilead — have had enough,” Chang said. “They stand up and declare, ‘No more.’ They’ve been through trauma. They’ve been through hell. But they really find the strength in themselves to really take it to the man and to fight back. … They’re pushed to the limit, and they’re going to rise up and rebel. So the theme is rebellion. We finally, finally get to full-scale rebellion.”

The fifth season finale saw June heading off on a train west with baby Nichole while Luke (O-T Fagbenle) got himself arrested to draw attention away from her. There, she ran into Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) and baby Noah, who were also fleeing the increasingly hostile-to-refugees Canada. As the trailer for the new season shows, though, June and Luke will be reunited, and Serena will somehow make her way back to Gilead — where it looks like she’ll marry a new commander.

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According to Chang, knowing this was the final season gave them the creative freedom to make some new narrative choices. “It was really kind of a wish-fulfillment season for us. It was our chance to do everything we’ve always wanted to see and haven’t yet had. We wanted it to be extremely rewarding,” she explained.

Disney / Steve Wilkie

There will still be some open ends, of course, with the spinoff The Testaments now in production. “For sure, there will be cliffhangers for The Testaments, so it doesn’t conclude everything,” Chang explained. “So any fans that are left wanting more are going to get more in The Testaments, which will be great for them. But it does conclude in some very satisfying ways many of the storylines, but not every single one.”

The Handmaid’s Tale, Season 6 Premiere, Tuesday, April 8, Hulu

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