The Handmaid's Tale was one of the most talked-about new shows of 2017 thanks to its dark subject matter, stellar cast, and incredible cinematography. The first season ended on a cliffhanger that left a whole lot of questions unanswered about the future of June and all the other characters stuck in that totalitarian society. Luckily, a second season is on the way to deliver more of the story, which will likely go in directions that even readers of the Margaret Atwood source material can't predict. We're still a few months away from the Season 2 premiere, but Hulu has released first-look images that tease some bloody plot twists. Take a look at the first:
In this first image, we have June standing alone, stripped of the red garments and cap that have become iconic to the series. She's also drenched in blood on one side, but she doesn't seem to have a wound that could have led to that much blood loss. The angle of the blood spatter may indicate that somebody next to and taller than her was terribly injured. Then again, maybe she finally snapped and let loose on somebody, which would be totally understandable after her experiences in Season 1. Alternately, this photo could be of June prior to her final transformation into a Handmaid.
If this photo does depict June sometime after the Season 1 finale in the timeline, then she may not be in much physical danger. She was pregnant by the end of the first season, and children are prized above just about everything in the Gilead age. Pregnancy is the one thing that could reasonably keep a Handmaid safe on The Handmaid's Tale. Depending on where June is taken after the Season 1 finale, perhaps she won't be forced into Handmaid garb all over again.
Unfortunately, there will still be plenty of Handmaids suffering in GIlead, as we can see in another photo:
The Handmaids in this image are not wearing their regular red clothes and white bonnets. According to EW, these women are attending the funeral of another Handmaid, which does explain both the black garb and the fact that they were allowed to attend. Interestingly, the Aunts (as seen in the bottom right corner) seem to be dressed in their regular daywear, indicating that only the Handmaids are expected to change what they wear for the funeral. The presence of a drummer and the crosses in the ground may point to funerals on The Handmaid's Tale actually not being so different from real-life funerals nowadays, although we'll obviously have to wait and see.
These two pictures are only the beginning. If you'd like to see an image of a whole other region in the Handmaid's Tale universe, head on over to the next page!
In this image, we have our first glimpse of the Colonies that had been mentioned in Season 1. The Colonies are the polluted and contaminated areas of North America, and we learned in Season 1 that those who break rules in Gilead may face the sentence of exile to those terrible places. When given the choice of becoming a Jezebel in a brothel or being sent to the Colonies, Moira decided to become a Jezebel, which is a big sign of just how awful life in the Colonies must be.
We only have a few more months to wait before we find out. The Handmaid's Tale Season 2 will premiere at some point in April. For your other viewing options, take a look at our midseason TV premiere guide. For more of what you can look forward to on the streaming circuit this year, take a listen to the episode of The Cord Cutter Podcast all about what's streaming in 2018.
