Brace thyself for we bring you a piece of great news. The Handmaid’s Tale is back at it again for a whole new season. In December 2020, the show was officially renewed for season 5. Excited? You ought to be.
“We’re very grateful to Hulu and MGM that the show will be returning for a fifth season, and especially to our loyal fans for their support,” said showrunner Bruce Miller. “We are thrilled to be able to continue to tell these stories, with our incredible cast and crew.”
After a shocking ending from the fourth season finale and with so much story to tell, the story is far from over for June (Elizabeth Moss). Whether she made it to Canada or the aftermath consequences of her choices in Gilead will undoubtedly continue in the upcoming set of episodes. Meanwhile, one major character’s journey in the show has now been completed, but many are still left at a loose end at the finale of season 4.
What’s going to happen next? Will season 5 continue the story where the previous season left off? That’s an obvious yes! The Handmaid’s Tale season 5 will continue to follow Margaret Atwood’s follow-up book. Let’s take a look at what the cast, and showmakers have to say regarding season 5.
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5
The Handmaid’s Tale season 5 doesn’t have a release date yet as there is no official announcement at the moment. The filming for the upcoming season is still ongoing.
In June 2021, the show’s creator Bruce Miller said, “We’re just starting to kind of gather our wool and gather our writers and gather up people to pull them back together.” That would suggest that it will take a considerable amount of time for filming to finally wrap up though the show was renewed by Hulu way back in December.
Filming for season 5 began in February 2022 and is scheduled to end by July 2022.
Hopefully, we’ll get to see The Handmaid’s Tale season 5 before the end of 2022 or maybe sooner, but then again it all depends on the production process. So fingers crossed!
The Handmaid’s Tale season 5 cast
Almost all of the major characters are expected to return for the fifth season of The Handmaid’s Tale to play their respective roles. Here are the names of the stars returning to reprise their roles are June Osborne (played by Elizabeth Moss)
Aunt Lydia (played by Ann Dowd)
Serena Joy (played by Yvonne Strahovski)
Luke Bankole (played by O.T Fagbenle)
Moria Strand (played by Samira Wiley)
Jannie Lindo (played by Madeline Brewer)
Nick Blaine (played by Max Minghella)
Emily Malek (played by Alexis Bledel)
Rita Blue (played by Amanda Bledel)
Mark Tuello (played by Sam Jaeger)
Commander Joseph Lawrence (played by Bradley Whitford)
Unfortunately, one character Fred Waterford (played by Joseph Fiennes) won’t be coming back for the fifth season.
What’s the storyline for The Handmaid’s Tale season 5?
In season 4 of The Handmaid’s Tale, we witnessed that June has fled to Canada, what awaits is the price that she has to pay for the actions that brought her there.
Speaking to EW star Madeline Brewer stated “As per usual, Janine is a cat with nine lives,” she told. “And if you’ve been watching the show, you know she used up several of them already. And I’m going to just say this season is no exception to that.” The actor also discloses that viewers will “see a side of Janine this season that we haven’t seen before,” which she’s delighted for viewers to experience.
Brewer was also asked to narrate the forthcoming season, she explains that there’s one particular word. “The word wild is in my brain. It’s wild. It’s a little wild. I truly don’t know how to describe it… I mean, we’re so much out of Gilead. And everyone is experiencing things that they have not yet experienced. Everyone’s going through a transformative period.”
She proceeds with a chuckle, “You know, everybody’s experiencing their Saturn return, okay? Right now all of these characters, their Saturn is returning.”
Showmaker Bruce Miller recently revealed to EW that the show will be a bit similar to “Sophie’s Choice: The Series..” “You’re moving on with someone who’s made these terrible choices. And unlike a movie version, we know what her choices were; we’re in her pain and her trauma. So that’s really interesting,” he told, putting in, “the story moving forward is about the long fight, and how do you keep up energy, enthusiasm, sanity, all of those things, while you’re trying to fight for something that you may never see the end of, or you may never see the good from it?”
The series’ upcoming season will pick up the story from where the fourth season left off, and season 5 will mainly focus on her arc and what will happen after that? We’ll have to find out once season 5 is out.
The official date for season 5 of The Handmaid’s Tale is yet to be announced. We’ll keep you updated!
