The ever-defiant June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) has come a long way since The Handmaid’s Tale premiered in 2017, shifting from a concubine-like handmaid in the fascist Christian state of Gilead to potentially playing a key role in a revolution there — at least if is any indication.
To remind you how she got there, here’s a rundown of the key events of the first five seasons in Gilead.
Season 1
The show’s first season closely follows Margaret Atwood’s plot from the original Handmaid’s Tale novel, introducing Gilead as a successor to the USA. Gilead was founded after a violent religious revolution, with women forced into sexual servitude to increase birth rates after an unspecified ecological disaster left many women infertile. After being separated from her daughter during the revolution, June is assigned to the home of Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes), a high-ranking official, and his cold, cruel wife, Serena (Yvonne Stahovski), who is fixated on June becoming pregnant. June (who is also called “Offred”, due to her status as Fred’s “property”) starts to rebel, courting Fred’s driver, Nick (Max Minghella), who also works for the Eyes, Gilead’s secret police. June eventually falls pregnant to Nick and discovers that her daughter Hannah is alive and in school in Gilead, while her husband Luke (O-T Fagbenle) had escaped to Canada as a refugee.
Alexis Bledel and Elisabeth Moss in 'The Handmaid's Tale'. Source: SBS
Season 2
Breaking away from the original Atwood book, season 2 gives an expanded look at Gilead, showing elements like the Colonies (a toxic wasteland where women are sentenced to work to death), Mayday (an organised resistance against Gilead) and refugee life in neighbouring Canada. Pregnant June escapes, hiding out among the Econopeople – average, everyday workers in Gilead – before she’s captured and tortured by hardcore Gilead devotee and handmaid overseer Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd). Later on, a handmaid sets off a bomb at the opening of a new birthing centre, severely injuring Fred and leading Serena to illicitly start taking on some of his work, for which he later beats her. Meanwhile, he arranges for June to visit daughter Hannah in secret, promising future visits if she stays on as their handmaid after she gives birth. However, June escapes with the help of Serena, Nick and housemaid Rita (Amanda Brugel), handing off her newborn, Nichole, to another woman escaping into Canada, before deciding to stay in Gilead to rescue Hannah.
Ann Dowd and Elisabeth Moss. Credit: SBS
Season 3
Picking up right from the end of season 2, Nichole is handed off to June’s husband Luke in Canada, while June is captured, and assigned as a handmaid to Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford), the highly intelligent politician who designed much of Gilead’s oppressive social structure. Lawrence seems willing to look the other way while his servants (a class of women called “Marthas”) enlist June into the resistance — but after the loss of Nichole, she and the Waterfords are enlisted as propaganda tools by Gilead, with the government claiming the baby was kidnapped, demanding her return. Later on, after the violent maiming of handmaid Natalie in front of her, June promises to avenge her by smuggling children out of Gilead. She pulls this off after calling in a favour from Lawrence after saving his life from his mentally disturbed wife. Meanwhile, Fred and Serena are lured into Canada with the promise of a diplomatic meeting about returning Nichole to Gilead. Fred is arrested for war crimes, while Serena remains free to visit the baby at Luke’s house until Fred betrays her crimes to the Canadian government, resulting in her arrest.
RECAP WITH 'EYES ON GILEAD'
Eyes On Gilead: A Handmaid's Tale Podcast
Season 4
After flying a plane full of children out of Gilead, June remains in the country, but is seriously wounded and taken to a Mayday safehouse. She eventually escapes towards Chicago, where Gilead’s government has less control, eventually crossing into Canada – and while she’s reunited with Luke, she’s wracked with guilt over leaving Hannah behind. At the same time, Luke struggles to reconnect with traumatised June, who seems fixated on revenge. To that end, June visits a now-pregnant Serena in jail to abuse her, and testifies against Fred in court, while also sourcing more information about Hannah from Nick. When Fred strikes a deal for immunity from prosecution, an outraged June lures him to the No Man’s Land between Canada and Gilead, where handmaids beat him to death.
Nick (Max Minghella).
Season 5
The most Canada-centric season of the series. June oscillates between feelings of satisfaction at Fred’s murder and PTSD, with hints that she’s becoming enamored with the idea of extreme violence in retaliation for her treatment in Gilead. It doesn’t help that Serena antagonises her by opening a ‘Gilead Cultural Centre’ in Toronto, inviting June to visit.
'The Handmaid's Tale' season 5 (Photo by: Sophie Giraud/Hulu) Credit: MGM
returns for its sixth and final season on Tuesday 8 April with three episodes fast-tracked to SBS On Demand for Australian audiences.
The full season will premiere exclusively on both SBS and SBS On Demand with new episodes weekly, until the gripping series finale on Tuesday 27 May.
Stream free On Demand
The Handmaid's Tale
series • drama
MA15+
series • drama
MA15+
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