When a dystopian series comes to an end, you expect to see the dark regime pulled down. With a revolution in place, you expect to see the good guys win. Well, that can’t happen in The Handmaid’s Tale, and it has me worried about the way the series is going to end.
Caution: We’re going into some SPOILERS for The Handmaid’s Tale season 6, episode 8.
We know The Testaments is happening, and this is a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. Just taking the book by Margaret Atwood into account, we know that Aunt Lydia is still in Gilead, and she is there leading young women into their lives as adults in the world of Gilead. While most of them are set to become Wives, there are some who are able to become Aunts.
The Handmaid’s Tale won’t end with the fall of Gilead
The TV series isn’t necessarily going to follow the full book, but we know that some of the details are the same. After all, casting makes it clear that Gilead is still standing. Some of the characters announced are young women of Gilead who have grown up believing in the regime. They are too young to ever remember a time before Gilead, and that means they are indoctrinated into the way of the society.
With this in mind, the revolution is going to fail in The Handmaid’s Tale’s final episodes. There are just two to go, and so far, the revolution has started, and it looks like it will succeed. Some of the Handmaids have managed to kill their Commanders thanks to Rita putting sleeping powder into the cake. Commander Bell is one of those who met an end that was a bit of an eyeful.
There has to be a turn of events, though. I do know that there was a mass hanging scene filming in Cambridge, Ontario, which is set to air in one of the final two episodes. That hanging scene was spotted in one of the trailers, so it looks like the Handmaids who are pushing for the revolution right now are going to be caught and hanged for their crimes.
June won’t even get out of Gilead with Hannah in The Handmaid’s Tale
To make me even more worried for the fate of the characters, casting for The Testaments makes it clear that Hannah won’t get out. The Handmaid’s Tale season 6 has seen Luke finally admit his guilt for just stepping back after getting to Canada. He didn’t try to fight for June or Hannah, benefitting from the safety of another country. Now that he’s part of May Day, he wants to do his part to save his daughter.
Yet, it’s June who has gone back in. While she went in to save Janine, she will also have Hannah on her mind. The Testaments has cast Chase Infiniti as Agnes, who we know is actually Hannah. Agnes was the name she was given under the Gilead regime.
Even if The Handmaid’s Tale doesn’t end with Gilead falling, there was hope that Luke and June would get Hannah back, but it’s clear that isn’t going to happen either. A series like this needs to end with some sort of hope, but it doesn’t look like that’s possible, and it has me worried that the connection to the series and the hope for a revolution is going to be for nothing.
The Handmaid’s Tale airs on Tuesdays on Hulu.