Season 6 of The Handmaid’s Tale is devoid of most of the violence that set the tone in the show’s first instalment – a wise choice given the real-life heaviness that viewers are encountering nowadays.Crave/Supplied
The Handmaid’s Tale has always been a cautionary one. When Margaret Atwood began writing the dystopian 1985 novel she was living in West Berlin, and the wall was still intact. She decided every “fictional” aspect of the story had to be based on something that had either happened or was taking place in some part of the world. Thus, the tale of women who were forced into reproductive slavery was born.
The Handmaid’s Tale showrunners know why Trump might want to annex Canada: to prevent Americans escaping
When show creator Bruce Miller first dramatized the series for streaming in 2017, he adhered to the same principles. The series’ writers took inspiration from real-life events as they extended the world of Gilead and its Handmaids, Commanders, Eyes, Wives, Aunts and Marthas beyond the book’s original end point. They enhanced the power struggles and fight for survival and humanized it all through the story of June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) and her struggles to escape and find her daughter.
As art imitated life, the reverse was also true. Those iconic red costumes have become a real-world symbol of resistance and rebellion in a Western world that seems to move backward when it comes to female health care and reproductive rights. Add in struggles between America and Canada, children being ripped from their parents at the borders, and the current dismantling of important agencies and departments in the United States, and it all hits a little too close to home.
Handmaid‘s showrunners have always been aware of its relevance (and, at times, prescience). I visited the Toronto set the same week Donald Trump was first elected as U.S. President in 2016, and various executive producers and actors told me the same thing: this show couldn’t come at a better time.
Fast-forward to 2025, and Trump is back in power as the show wraps its six-season run. This time around, the same cast members and executive producers admit the journey feels full-circle, but this time there’s a key difference: hope, resistance and rebellion are the anchor points wrapping June’s story.
The sixth season debuts its first three episodes on Tuesday on Crave, and picks up where the fifth season left off.Crave/Supplied
The sixth season debuts its first three episodes on Tuesday on Crave, and picks up where the fifth season left off, with June and Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) coming face-to-face on the train out of Toronto. Tensions between Canada and America are at an all-time high, and Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) continues to endorse his vision for New Gilead – a place where refugees can return and live under a set of different rules to appease international relations.
Revealing how any of this unfolds in the eight of 10 episodes made available in advance would be a spoiler, particularly since, well, a lot happens. One thing new co-showrunners Eric Tuchman and Yahlin Chang, along with Miller (who stepped back from The Handmaid’s Tale this year to focus on the upcoming spinoff The Testaments), have said is that although this season is the end of June’s story, it’s not necessarily the end of Gilead.
As with previous seasons, that doesn’t mean some characters won’t try to take down the totalitarian regime, or bend the rules to their own will. The season introduces The Good Wife‘s Josh Charles in a key role that adds more context to the overall structure of Gilead, as well as Veep‘s Timothy Simons in a recurring guest role.
For all of the real-life connections, the season still features many of the same frustrating plot holes from previous chapters. Certain characters continue to narrowly escape; the rules change depending on who the story follows; and viewers are required to suspend disbelief in order for certain storylines to work. However, the memorable acting, beautiful cinematography and emotions the show continues to evoke make up for those moments.
Season 6 is also devoid of most of the violence that set the tone in the show’s first instalment – a wise choice given the real-life heaviness that viewers are encountering nowadays. That isn’t to say horrific things don’t happen in the series: there is one terrifying event in a later episode that shatters the reprieve, but that moment is the exception, not the norm.
Also of interest in the final season is the show’s exploration of the various ways people fight for change. There are changes within and outside of Gilead that place certain characters at a crossroads, and they must decide which future is worth fighting for.
Also of interest in the final season is the show’s exploration of the various ways people fight for change.Crave/Supplied
Although June remains the central figure, this season allows the supporting characters to figure out their contributions in meaningful ways, while exploring the potential consequences that could arise if Gilead continues its status quo. There are still good guys, bad guys and bad guys who are slightly less bad. Who you root for will definitely change.
At a time when complacency could mean complicity, the story raises relevant threads about how and why action matters. In turn, that also provides the sixth season with a surprisingly hopeful tone, one that stands out against the rest of the series and its dark material. If that first season was a warning to citizens to put down the phones and open their eyes, the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale is a call to action and a reminder to never lose one’s fire.
If you’ve followed this show from the beginning, you’ll probably agree that’s exactly the tone June Osborne would want to go out on.
