THE HANDMAID’S TALE
June’s on a mission to take Gilead down from the inside, but this time she’s not alone. tara bennett talks The handmaid’s Tale season three with executive producer kira snyder. praise be!
The third season of the adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s tale is here.
For two seasons, Bruce Miller’s television adaptation (and expansion) of Margaret atwood’s seminal novel, The
Handmaid’s Tale, has earned its status as pinnacle dystopia. while zombie plagues, unsustainable planets and technological subversion are all chilling, there’s nothing quite like the horror of Gilead made real.
the exceptional cast, led by elisabeth Moss as offred/June, and Miller’s harrowing contemporary riffs on atwood’s three-decadesold narrative have made the series a global must-watch. It’s become watercooler television so bleak and absorbing that most viewers find themselves emotionally spent by the end of a typical hour, which is why season three’s new tagline of “Blessed be the fight” feels like it’s coming at a time when the women of Gilead, and the rest of real humanity, need it most.
the season two finale sets up that shift in mood as offred/June hands over her new baby to emily (alexis Bledel), an escaping
Handmaid, so she can stay in Gilead to search for her other older daughter, Hannah (Jordana Blake), who is still trapped in this totalitarian society. It was a choice that polarised fans who couldn’t believe June would stay in the nightmare of Gilead for any reason. But for Miller and his writers, including co-executive producer, Kira snyder, June’s choice represents her watershed moment.
“when you see [June] raise her head at the end, and the look in her eyes, and the way [talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House”] kicks in, that is the mindset that drives her, definitely, through the whole season,” snyder
She has been reborn. She’s going back to strike back however she can, and that starts off with a bang
tells SFX. “she has been reborn. she’s going back to strike back however she can, and that starts off with a bang at the very beginning of the season.”
snyder says the writer’s room went into the season researching heavily the experiences of free women from Isis-held territories and how women existed in occupied France during world war II. “[we asked] how do you push back when you have a brutal, pervasive and very present force there? In episode two, you see what it looks like, both on the positive side and on the dangerous side.”
over two seasons, the writers have meticulously laid breadcrumbs that there are other dissenters in Gilead, and with the reveal of the Martha network – women in service positions in the homes of powerful men – June is going back to find a pool of potential allies. snyder says the new season is about June pursuing those allies and figuring out how to become a hero. “she’s coming to understand that this is her Handmaid’s tale, and lots of people in this world have their own stories.
How to be heroic in other people’s stories is a large part of her drive.”
while June has often been internally defiant, snyder says she comes back informed “with a sense of resistance and rebellion” that defines her arc this year. “’Blessed be the fight’ is not a notional fight. It’s her striking back however she can. But she is not an action hero. she’s still operating within this very restrictive, very powerful totalitarian regime. Her journey this season is finding where, and how, to push back.”
Blessed Be The fruiT
as viewers know, June, and all of the women in Gilead, have plenty of enemies and subjugators to navigate. Primarily for June, it’s been the commanders and aunt Lydia (ann Dowd). But there’s a blurring of the lines now as expected antagonists like serena Joy (Yvonne strahovski) and a founder of the colonies, commander Lawrence (Bradley whitford), have shown themselves willing to push back against the system they created.
under the waterfords’ roof, June will mourn with serena Joy over the loss of their beloved baby, nicole, but that doesn’t mean their dynamic will experience a sea change. “Because serena made this big move in helping nicole get out, that doesn’t mean there isn’t regret or second thoughts, because this is a bell that you can’t un-ring,” snyder explains. “the repercussions ripple through in a lot of different aspects. she has been changed in some very fundamental ways, but it’s never as simple as a ‘redemption arc’.”
as in season two, it will follow events outside Gilead, especially regarding the fate of emily and the baby, and survivors in canada like Moira (samira wiley) and June’s pre-Gilead husband, Luke (o.t. Fagbenle). snyder says, “If you think of Gilead as a cancer, just because you cut the cancer out of yourself, did you get it all? we ask in what ways does this system impact you even if you think you’re free?”
But the biggest piece of the puzzle will be June herself, as her own awakening for change will infect everyone around her. snyder details, “It all comes back to June, because she makes the people around her see themselves more clearly, and they don’t always like what they see. one of June’s superpowers is making people really see themselves, and that’s definitely a piece of what is going on with Lydia [and the waterfords] this season.”
all of this serves to present a more hopeful season for June and her allies as they take a more proactive role in the battle against their oppression. “the odds are overwhelming, but she’s changed,” snyder says of their heroine. “she is not the same June you see in season one. there are a lot of stand up and cheer moments in season three, and we’re super excited for the audience to see those.”
The Handmaid’s Tale season three airs on Hulu in the US from 5 June. Its UK broadcast is currently TBC.