There were many callbacks to earlier episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale in the series finale. While the locations are somewhat easy to get, it’s not always that easy to get former cast members. Well, the series did it, and was able to keep these cameos a complete surprise — even from those of us who saw some of the filming!
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for The Handmaid’s Tale series finale.
The final episode quickly picked up with the fall of Gilead in Boston. The Guardians had to pull back, meaning that the state of Massachssets was free from Gilead control and back under American law. This allowed one character who hasn’t been seen since the end of the fourth season make a return.
There were two characters last seen earlier in The Handmaid’s Tale season 4 that were more of a surprise in the series finale. After all, these two cameos, which you may have overlooked at first, were of deceased characters!
Emily returns to Boston in The Handmaid’s Tale series finale
One of the returns that was surprisingly kept a secret was that of Alexis Bledel. The last we saw of her was in The Handmaid’s Tale season 4 finale, learning in the season 5 premiere that she had gone back into Gilead. Emily joined May Day — which she had always been a part of so that shouldn’t have been too surprising — and appeared in the series finale to share some updates.
She’d been working as a Martha in a good Commander’s house. You see, Gilead did have some Commanders who wanted to take down the regime from the inside, but didn’t have the make the same sacrifice as Gilead. Emily shared that she had been able to Facetime her wife and child, offering hope that June will be able to keep in touch with people as she continues her fight to bring down Gilead forever.
2 surprising cameos via a dream sequence in The Handmaid’s Tale
The most surprising cameos came in a dream sequence. June shares with us as viewers that she dreams of a world if Gilead never happened. It’s a fantasy, where those she formed a connection with in Gilead are surrounding her in a bar. They’re all enjoying Karaoke, and we quickly spot Janine, Moira, and Emily with June.
Then we get a flash of two people we haven’t seen since their traumatic end in The Handmaid’s Tale season 4, episode 3. Alma and Brianna were there, making it clear that June still thinks of them after they failed to make it over the train tracks as the two, June, and Janine tried to flee Boston for Chicago.
The two characters didn’t say anything, but that’s okay. We just know that they haven’t been forgotten about considering the impact their deaths made in The Handmaid’s Tale.
Overall, The Handmaid’s Tale series finale brought some powerful punches, as it offered both closure to June’s story but a continuation of the fight to bring down Gilead coming in The Testaments.
The Handmaid’s Tale is available to stream on Hulu.