Though it was conceived in the Obama era, “The Handmaid’s Tale” arrived on Hulu in the early months of the first Trump presidency. Eight years later, it is concluding at the dawn of the second as an enduring, if initially accidental symbol of feminist resistance.
Like the 1985 Margaret Atwood novel it is based upon, “The Handmaid’s Tale” focuses on the violence inflicted on women in Gilead, a place plagued by low birthrates and environmental disasters that divides women, based on age and fertility, into Wives, Handmaids, Marthas, Aunts, Econowives and Unwomen.
From the beginning, the show has invited interpretation as a running commentary on real-world gender politics — female activists nationwide wore the Handmaid’s uniform of red cloaks and stark white bonnets in protests, and “The Handmaid’s Tale” made history as the first streaming series to win the Emmy for best drama, in 2017. And its dystopian conceit of a nation claiming complete control over women’s reproductive rights became only more ominous as more U.S. state legislatures passed abortion restrictions, culminating in the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” will end on May 27. (A spinoff series called “The Testaments” is currently in production.) The sixth and final season is focusing on the power of collective action, including unanticipated collaboration between the former enemies June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) and Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) in attempting to destroy Gilead and restore American democracy. (As a former Handmaid, June was routinely sexually assaulted by Serena’s husband, a high-ranking official.)
Multiple members of the creative team talked about “The Handmaid’s Tale” in recent video interviews, including Strahovski and Moss, who is also a producer and director on the series; Bruce Miller, the creator; Warren Littlefield, a producer; and Yahlin Chang and Eric Tuchman, the Season 6 showrunners (both were writers in earlier seasons).
They discussed the enduring legacy of Atwood’s novel, the show’s connection to current political events and the deep love that June and Serena share for each other. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
When you originally conceived of this show, how faithful to Margaret Atwood’s novel did you feel like you had to be?
BRUCE MILLER I first read “The Handmaid’s Tale” in college. I’m dyslexic, so I tend to read the same books over and over. Since it became one of my favorites, I didn’t want to mess it up in an adaptation. The key, for me, was not fealty to the book or Margaret as an artist — it was born out of the storytelling in the novel that had already stood up to a whole bunch of readings. There are parts in it that I have never understood.
ELISABETH MOSS Margaret’s tone is so specific to her voice and writing that it was really important for that to be part of the show. As a producer, if I’m sent something and someone says, “I don’t see how you make this into a film or a show.” I’m like, “Have you read ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’?” It’s a first-person narrative that follows one person’s perspective the entire way, has a ton of loose ends and ends abruptly with no explanation.
Like the book, the show often feels politically prophetic, but it is much more racially and culturally diverse. What were some of your priorities when it came to adapting the novel?
MILLER: I decided at the beginning that fertility would trump everything. That once the fertility rate went down by 95 percent, people’s racism, sexism and whatever-ism would slide. I was completely wrong, based on what happened in the last 10 years. That stuff is more intractable than I ever thought it was. But on a much more practical level, it didn’t make sense for me to, by following the book, keep a whole bunch of actors of color from working.
WARREN LITTLEFIELD We wanted it to be relevant. But if we’re going to resonate, then why not reflect the world we live in?
The show was developed during the Obama years and even then, we could see the radical right rising throughout the world and in the United States. Did we think that was going to settle into the White House? We didn’t. But when we were about to shoot Episode 4, we realized that No. 45 was going to be Donald J. [Trump], so we found ourselves doing this show at that time. Months later, Hulu purchased an ad spot for the show during the Super Bowl, it played twice, and then suddenly we were claimed as part of the resistance.
Did you have specific political goals?
YAHLIN CHANG If this show could inspire even one person to keep fighting and not give up, we’d be really happy. In Season 2, I wrote this episode where June and Hannah [June’s daughter, who was taken from her parents when the government of Gilead took over] get to reunite for 10 minutes, and then they’re torn apart again. And that episode happened to air the week that Trump was separating parents and children at the border. We also did an episode in which women were put in cages, which was also happening on our border.
Our show is prophetic because when we imagine characters who have power in Gilead, they are human beings who are extremely flawed, driven by insecurities, resentments, grievances, malice and selfishness. When you imagine what those people would do, given the reins of power, you get close to what people like that would do in the real world. That is a very unfortunate thing, but it does make us understand them.
Speaking of power dynamics, the show begins with Serena as the Wife and June as her former Handmaid. How has their relationship evolved over six seasons?
MOSS To me, they are the great love story of the show. Serena represents June’s greatest and worst quality, which is this belief that people will do the right thing. June is right a lot of the time. But when she’s wrong, it’s damaging, because there are people who are just evil and don’t do the right thing. With Serena, June doesn’t forgive her, but she knows Serena better than anyone and accepts her flaws and dark side. We all hope that’s what a relationship is like: full acceptance of who you are. That’s why they represent the love story of the show; June will never give up on Serena making the right choice, and it remains to be seen whether or not she does.
YVONNE STRAHOVSKI The deeper we got into our relationship as the seasons went on, the more it became apparent how complex they are. Specifically for my part, there is a lonely island that Serena has been on this entire time, and she is desperate for a connection in life. She’s drawn to June because that’s the deepest history and the deepest intimacy she has had. June puts a dent in Serena’s armor and makes her see that her choices are hurtful and have terrible consequences. Whether or not she changes her entire belief system remains to be seen, but the dent is really important.
ERIC TUCHMAN It is a testament to Yvonne’s performance that the audience cares about Serena and often roots for her. She started Season 1 as a brutal monster, and look how much she has evolved. Yvonne has played her with such nuance and complexity and so many layers. She’s never just a pure villain.
How did you want the audience to experience this final season?
CHANG As showrunners this year, we could run amok, unchecked. We didn’t have to get approval for anything; we just did what we wanted. We were liberated, and so we liberated the women of Gilead, right? We liberated the Handmaids, we liberated Serena. We liberated all the women of Gilead. Since the opposite is happening in real life, at least you can do that on television.
TUCHMAN As far as a takeaway from the season, there is no doubt the show has been dark and bleak at times. But the heart of the show is where you find hope, courage and resilience. People come back to the show because they see ordinary people and women doing extraordinary things. It’s a place to feel inspired and empowered, not depressed and disturbed. Especially this season, I think people will feel hopeful by the end.
