All tales must come to an end, and that's true even for The Handmaid's Tale. The long-running dystopian show will officially be returning for a sixth season but it will also be the drama's last.
But as we reckon with the idea of saying a final goodbye to June and co, we can also look forward to The Testaments spin-off show, which will be based on Margaret Atwood's recent sequel to the source material.
So what's in store for The Handmaid's Tale season six? Join us here at Digital Spy as we reveal everything you need to know about the final season of The Handmaid's Tale.
The Handmaid's Tale season 6 potential release date: When will it air?
After a delayed shooting schedule on account of the Hollywood strikes last year, we finally have a production start date for season six. With filming set to begin this summer, Hulu has told fans to expect a 2025 release.
So we have some time before the shiny new episodes arrive, but we've had every assurance that the wait will be worth it.
Elisabeth Moss has confirmed the final season of the show will be a blockbuster outing, telling Elle in a 2022 interview: "It feels like it's going to be so long until you guys get to see anything else.
"And I apologise personally for that, but every season we do gets bigger, and it takes longer to make every time. And because it's the final season, we really want to make sure that it's exactly what we want to do."
We will keep you updated once we have a firmed-up release date for the show's final chapter next year.
The Handmaid's Tale season 6 cast: Who's in it?
The Handmaid's Tale wouldn't be The Handmaid's Tale without any of the following cast members, so expect to see them all return in some capacity for season six:
- Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne
- Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy Waterford
- Madeline Brewer as Janine
- Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia
- O-T Fagbenle as Luke
- Max Minghella as Nick
- Samira Wiley as Moira
- Bradley Whitford as Commander Lawrence
- Amanda Brugel as Rita
Unfortunately for longtime fans of the show, Alexis Bledel won't be joining them for this final outing. After Emily's screen time was reduced somewhat in season four, the character was written out completely in the season-five premiere, where it was revealed she had gone back to Gilead.
Alexis issued a statement to Entertainment Weekly at the time, which said: "After much thought, I felt I had to step away from The Handmaid's Tale. I am forever grateful to Bruce Miller for writing such truthful and resonant scenes for Emily, and to Hulu, MGM, the cast and crew for their support."
No explanation was given for this sudden departure, so we can assume for now that Bledel will not be returning for the show's swansong.
Hopefully, Rita and Moira's roles will be expanded again. Across the first three seasons, in particular, they both played a key part in the show, but their presence was reduced dramatically for season five. And it turns out that the reason has a lot to do with Bledel's exit.
During his exclusive chat with Digital Spy, showrunner Bruce Miller shed some light on this unfortunate development. He said: "Honestly, Moira's story and Rita's story, which were tied up with Emily's story, they really did suffer this season.
"I love all of our characters. I could do a series... The Moira Show, I would watch. I would write it deliciously. Oh my God, I could do it. And Rita's show.
"So we always have huge amounts of story that we're not allowed to do. Huge flashbacks that we just don't have real estate for. The network would give us an extra episode or two or three. But it's the stories – we have to make this distilled."
The Handmaid's Tale season 6 plot: What will happen?
The Handmaid's Tale season 5 spoilers follow.
Fans of the show may be surprised to learn that The Handmaid's Tale is saying goodbye to Miller for the final sixth season.
Despite having worked on the series from the beginning, Bruce is hanging up his cloak as he turns his attention towards the spin-off series Testaments.
If you find yourself worried about the direction of the show as it nears the end, you can breathe easy. Miller has left the final series in the capable hands of Eric Tuchman and Yahlin Chang, who are the current writers and executive producers of the dystopian drama.
If that's not enough assurance for you, Miller spoke to Digital Spy about the plans for a possible endgame – although he did caveat these by saying initial outlines will likely evolve as the writing process continues.
"We're going to wrap it up on our own terms," said Miller. "It's something we never get with just the way the business is set up. And also, more importantly, not something everyone would give to the audience.
"The book is so frustrating at the end, because the book just ends. And everybody's like, 'How could you, Bruce Miller… Who do you think you are, writing more?' I'm like, 'Oh my God, it's all I've ever wanted to do, to write the rest.' Because it's like: what the hell happened?! Oh my God – it's the most infuriating ending."
Focusing on June's end specifically, Miller said: "We have so many women through history who didn't have names, who were never identified. They were there for a while. They told their story, and this is The Handmaid's Tale – she told it.
"And then they disappear, faceless, into the mist of history. And that's what the problem is: there are too many women out there who are just Offred and are just the Handmaid.
"But that's the story we're telling. In order to make it really this story, it starts when that kid is taken from her. And that's when she turns into a Handmaid. And it ends when she disappears off of our radar. But she doesn't disappear from the world. She's a real human woman. Just because she's not on our radar, doesn't mean she doesn't exist."
It also looks like June and Nick still have some unfinished business to explore in season six, with Miller saying that towards the end of season five they were unable to "think about anything" other than their love for one another.
"I feel like this is the most romantic Nick/June season ever because they spend the whole time trying to convince themselves that they don't need to be together," he told Entertainment Weekly.
"And by the end, they are not successful at all, they fail entirely. They don't even see each other in the last episode, and they're so in love they can't think about anything else," he added.
Further teasing what we can expect to see from June in the final season, Moss told Elle: "I think that it's going to be a season where June is going to figure out who she is and who she's going to be for the rest of her life.
"The fight is not just about one individual; it's much larger than that. And I think she is, in season five, getting to that place where she's realising that. And then season six is going to be very much about that, and then about all the characters figuring out whose side they're on and what their next move is."
And looking ahead beyond season six even, Handmaid's Tale fans still have that spin-off to look forward to. Without spoiling too much here, Aunt Lydia plays a central role in that book, so it's possible Ann Dowd may return to reprise the role in this new show.
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When the book was published in 2019, Dowd said she was "thrilled" by what Aunt Lydia does and how she does it. She said: "What surprised me – and didn't – is how [she] got involved in Gilead in the first place.
"When you play a role such as Lydia in The Handmaid's Tale, you search for a human connection that somehow explains why she would make the choices she makes.
"Now, you read The Testaments, and Lydia, being a family court judge, realised really quickly, 'If I want to live and survive this world, this is what you have to do', she continued.
"'Not only am I going to do it, I'm going to do it better than anybody so I'm going to be ruling the other Aunts'."
But will Ann Dowd reprise the role of Aunt Lydia in this upcoming sequel? It's hard to imagine anyone else in the role at this point, and Dowd absolutely agrees on that front.
Related: Handmaid's Tale boss responds directly to biggest June criticism
On The Ellen DeGeneres Show in June 2021, the Emmy Award winner joked about her job security with the part moving forward, saying: "And the other thing I have, and I'm just going to say it right now, I thought to myself I hope they're going to let me play her.
"The problem is that if they don't, the actress who would have been chosen should watch her back because I would hunt her until she gives it up."
Clearly, she's joking, but also, maybe not?
"I have done the audiobook of The Testaments," Dowd told EW. "So I am familiar with it. It's brilliantly written, as is everything Margaret Atwood does – it's quite extraordinary. To speak broadly, she's moving into far more awareness of her own complicitness, if that is a word, and actually what's going on underneath all of the pretend stuff at Gilead.
"Pretend meaning, what commanders say is going on, what the values of Gilead are supposed to be, but aren't. The blinders are coming down, the walls are coming down."
Dowd continued: "She's a very smart woman, she knows men have the power at the moment. And so what she needs to do is be alert, aware, keep track, and keep it hidden. And just to make her moves slowly.
"She has tremendous patience. It's just a wonderful progression into herself, and also into what she wants to now do with what she knows. And I find her very inspiring as time goes on."
Miller isn't wasting time – he's already hard at work on the spin-off show. He told Deadline: "It's so lovely to have another book to go to.
"I think the people [who] watch the TV show have to be comfortable with the fact that just like Handmaid's didn't follow the book, The Testaments is a sequel to this TV show.
"So I'm not necessarily shooting for those things the way that they are in The Testaments but everybody is growing in those directions.
"Margaret [Atwood] and I had lots of conversations about the character [of June]. She watched some of the show before she even started to write The Testaments. I think that the characters have a lot of similarities, which is wonderful – and they are definitely falling into place for The Testaments."
The Handmaid's Tale season 6 trailer: When can I watch it?
When The Handmaid's Tale cast and crew start promoting season six, Digital Spy will have you covered with all the latest teasers and trailers for the final season.
The Handmaid's Tale streams on Hulu in the US and both Channel 4 and Prime Video in the UK.
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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
