‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Drops First Three Episodes of Season 4 Early on Hulu

Ellise Shafer
·2 min read

Surprise! The first three episodes of Season 4 of “The Handmaid’s Tale” have released early on Hulu.

Originally planned to release on April 28, the first three episodes of the fourth season — “Pigs,” “Nightshade” and “The Crossing” — are now available to stream on Hulu. The rest of the 10-episode season will be released weekly on the streaming service, episode by episode.

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“The Handmaid’s Tale” made the announcement with a video featuring its cast. “I know you’ve been waiting patiently for Season 4. Well guess what, I have some good news. The first three episodes of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ are available right now,” the cast says in tandem.

Season 4 continues to follow rebel leader June (Elisabeth Moss) as she pushes back against the government of Gilead. However, June faces new and unexpected challenges as her journey for freedom and independence threatens her most important relationships. “Pigs” and “Nightshade” are both directed by Colin Watkinson, while Moss steps into the directing chair for “The Crossing.”

In addition to Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale” stars Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley, Alexis Bledel, Ann Dowd, Max Minghella, Madeline Brewer, O-T Fagbenle, Amanda Brugel, Bradley Whitford and Sam Jaeger. The season is executive produced by Moss, Bruce Miller, Warren Littlefield, Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears, Eric Tuchman, John Weber, Frank Siracusa, Sheila Hockin, Kira Snyder and Yahlin Chang. The series was created by Miller, and is based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. “The Handmaid’s Tale” has won eight of its 13 Emmy nominations.

During a Television Critics Association panel in February, Miller, who is also the showrunner, previewed the show’s fourth season.

“I am more focused right now [on] how the show relates to the post-Trump era,” Miller said. “A lot of the show this season is about waiting for things to snap back to normal, and expecting things to snap back to normal and why aren’t they snapping back to normal and when am I going to feel normal and they were supposed to be normal?!”

Deadline Hollywood was the first to report the news.

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