Warning: This article contains MANY spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale season 3, episode 13, Mayday (and the rest of the season!) If you’re not caught up yet, bookmark us and come back once you’re ready to properly debrief. Ready? Let’s go!
Okay, okay, we know The Handmaid’s Tale season 3 finale was only last week but we’ve semi-recovered (just don’t bring up that Luke-searching-for-Hannah-on-the-plane thing) and are looking to the future.
A future where we get to find out what happens to June, Hannah, Luke, Rita, Emily, Moira, Aunt Lydia and, ugh, I guess the Waterfords too, in season 4.
Oh. Did you know Margaret Atwood based The Handmaid’s Tale customs on real life? Post continues below video.
Thankfully, a fourth season of our favourite dystopian drama was announced a few weeks ago (so hopefully another season of whatever show you use as your ‘palate cleanser’ is also in the works).
Season 3’s ending was definitely satisfying, but it also left us with a lot of questions.
And because we’re not yet ready to let go, we’ve spent our time devouring every little detail we could find about what’s going to happen in season 4.
Mamamia recaps The Handmaid’s Tale season 3 finale, Mayday. Post continues below audio.
Here’s what we found out.
It will be back… at some stage.
We know there will definitely be a season 4, but at the time of the announcement in late July nothing had even been written for it.
At this stage no timeline has been announced but it’s most likely to be released sometime between April and June 2020. Season 1 and 2 began in April 2017 and 2018, while season 3 started in June this year.
Mamamia will update this article once we know more.
Nick will return.
That’s according to showrunner Bruce Miller, who admitted to Entertainment Tonight that just like so many fans, he too didn’t get enough of Mr Eyebrows during season 3.
When asked if we’d be seeing Nick, who was sent off the the front lines of the war in Chicago midway through season 3, back on screen in season 4, Miller said “Oh, absolutely”.
“I don’t think I saw enough of him this year either. Max [Minghella] is terrific and we love having him in the show… Yes, both Nick and Max are a favourite of ours too.”
Gilead’s reaction to the children’s escape will depend on UN advice.
Children are Gilead’s most valuable resource and it won’t be just infuriating that they lost so many but also really… embarrassing.
Showrunner Miller agrees, telling Harper’s Bazaar the Handmaid’s team will turn to the UN for advice on how to play it.
"How weak does it make you look to the world if you can't even keep track of what ends up being probably 165 children? It might be beneficial for them to try to keep it quiet.
"Whenever we think about Gilead and what their government would do, we start with conversations with the UN about how decisions are made in pariah nations and enclosed nations that control all the information coming out of them," he explained. "We'll start by talking to people who actually know the answers to those questions, and then we can fictionalise from there."
There will be a focus on the refugees in Canada.
Producers turned to the United Nations for advice on refugees and how international courts handle sex crimes ahead of season 3, and they'll probably be asking the UN for advice again in order to show a genuine refugee experience.
Miller told ET that since so many characters are now living in Little America, it will be important to show them and their experience accurately.
"The show has an obligation to represent an accurate refugee experience because so many of our characters are either trapped or they're going to be refugees... So you really have to portray that option as a true option and what it's really like."
We haven't seen the last of Commander Lawrence.
...Maybe.
Commander Lawrence did not go with June and the children to escape on the plane, saying he needed to stay behind and "clean up his mess". It seems weird that they'd be no suspicion on Lawrence when Gilead discovers the children were smuggled out, but showrunner Miller teased to AM New York that Lawrence could remain one of June's key allies next season.
"Lawrence is very, very impressed [with June]. He's a very powerful guy who knows how to survive. No one pays attention to him, no one socialises with him, and they're scared of him. That's my feeling moving forward. That's what you should be thinking about."
Hmm.
Well if you need us, we will just be here dissecting all of the above for the next 8-10 months.
For more on this topic:
- The 9 things you may have missed in The Handmaid's Tale season 3, episode 13, Mayday.
- The 9 things you may have missed in The Handmaid's Tale season 3, episode 12, Sacrifice.
- The 9 things you may have missed in The Handmaid's Tale season 3, episode 11, Liars.
- The 5 things you may have missed in The Handmaid's Tale season 3, episode 10, Witness.
- The 5 things you may have missed in The Handmaid's Tale season 3, episode 9, Heroic.
- The 8 things you may have missed in The Handmaid's Tale season 3, episode 8, Unfit.
- The 7 things you may have missed in The Handmaid's Tale season 3, episode 7, Under His Eye.
- The 7 things you may have missed in The Handmaid's Tale season 3, episode 6, Household.
- The 7 things you may have missed in The Handmaid's Tale season 3, episode 5, Unknown Caller.
- There's a new Handmaid's Tale fan theory that claims Nick is a rebellious American spy.
- "36 minutes into the new Handmaid’s Tale, I saw how refugees could be treated. It left me in tears."
- Just a bunch of juicy fan theories about the Handmaid's Tale in one convenient place.