Hulu has just released a new still of Alexis Bledel in The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2 — and here’s a run-down of everything we know about the season so far, including the plot, air date and trailers.
The image shows Bledel as problematic Handmaid Ofglen, who was befriended by Offred, after being sent to the Colonies as punishment.
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2 plot: What is it about?
In one word: Resistance. The award-winning drama series’ second season is underscored by Offred’s [Elisabeth Moss] pregnancy and her fight to free her unborn child and reconnect with her family as they wage a war on the religious theocracy and dystopian horrors of Gilead.
In Season 2, after pollution has decimated fertility rates all over the world, a very fertile and now pregnant Offred and other characters introduced in Season 1 will try and fight against the powers that be.
In an interview with EW, executive producer Bruce Miller said that Season 2 “will explore the lives of the refugees from Gilead and those who have been banished to the polluted and contaminated colonies across North America”.
Kelly Campbell, chief marketing officer at Hulu, told Adweek: “Resistance is a key theme in the second season of the series. The activations are meant to illustrate one of the most powerful scenes of this season, in a way that will inspire emotion and understanding. We feel this representation is authentic and true to the world of Gilead.”
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2 trailers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxQhWrAcQnE
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2 release date: When is it back on TV?
The Handmaid’s Tale will launch on Hulu on April 25th with two episodes, and continue thereafter with one episode a week for a total of thirteen episodes.
What happened at SXSW with The Handmaid’s Tale?
The marketing activation for The Handmaid’s Tale Season 2 during SXSW included seven “#ResistSister” art installations across Austin, Texas. As shown in this video, a defiant Season 2 is clearly being set up.
What is Gilead in The Handmaid’s Tale?
The Republic of Gilead is the authoritarian regime that takes over the former United States of America. A theocratic state, Gilead is the creation of an ultra-right-wing group of religious fanatics [The Sons of Jacob] spurred by a worldwide decline in human births.
They conspired to assassinate Congress, blamed foreign terrorists, and suspended the United States Constitution with draconian rules placed on women and forced martial law.
The USA government as we know it was effectively removed in their coup. Now, the Republic of Gilead makes sure women cannot manage money, travel alone, have jobs or any autonomy, and are imprisoned chattel of the state.
How are the women categorized in The Handmaid’s Tale?
Women are consigned to be Wives, Daughters, Marthas (domestic workers), Aunts (minders of the Handmaids), Econowives (low-ranking men’s wives), or Handmaids (forced concubines).
Also, there are Unwomen (lesbians, sterile, unmarried, widows, feminists, nuns, or any woman in opposition to the establishment) and Jezebels, who are solely entertainment as prostitutes for higher ranking men.
Handmaids are instructed to perform an anecdotal “Ceremony” from a bible story with the Commander and his wife.
The Handmaid must lay silently between the two, receiving intercourse from the man. Her sole purpose is to be the vessel to carry their child to term.
If a Handmaid fails after a certain number of “Ceremony” sexual events, she may be sent to the Colonies as punishment. Even if men are sterile in Gilead (many are), women are the ones who shoulder the blame and are punished.
What happens if you disobey in Gilead?
Punishments for not following the new laws of Gilead include public execution, being sent to the Colonies to clean up toxic waste or being consigned as a Handmaid and made to bear a child for a couple of stature in the new Republic.
Handmaids are required to kill (en masse) any Handmaid who betrays their sacred oath of childbirth.
Who are the creatives behind The Handmaid’s Tale?
The Handmaid’s Tale stars Elisabeth Moss, Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley, Alexis Bledel, Ann Dowd, Max Minghella, Madeline Brewer, O-T Fagbenle and Amanda Brugel.
It was initially a novel written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. The series comes to Hulu and television from MGM Television and is created, executive produced and written by Bruce Miller.
Warren Littlefield, Elisabeth Moss, Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears, and Ilene Chaiken are also executive producers. MGM serves as the international distributor for the series.
How does The Handmaid’s Tale TV series differ from Atwood’s book?
The TV series on Hulu has veered clear of the race war and racial overtones in Atwood’s 1985 book. In an interview with Deadline, EP Bruce Miller shared that they decided to focus on the fertility crisis and on the curtailments of human rights based on rigidly enforced gender roles.
Atwood’s novel played up a strong white supremacist element in the creation and enforcement of the Republic of Gilead. Women were stripped of all rights including the right to read, and the darker skinned minorities (Sons of Ham), their women included, were sent away to “homelands” in the Midwest.
Of this decision to focus solely on gender inequality and abuse, Miller said: “The evangelical movement has gotten a lot more integrated…I made the decision that fertility trumped everything.”
Read our interview with The Handmaid’s Tale’s ‘Serena Joy’, Yvonne Strahovski, here