The Biggest “Handmaid's Tale” Season 5 Predictions
Spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale follow.
The highly anticipated season five of The Handmaid’s Tale will premiere on September 14 on Hulu. From the looks of the trailer, season five is shaping up to be a showdown between June and Serena Joy, but if The Handmaid’s Tale has taught us anything over the past four seasons, it’s to not get our hopes up.
Interestingly enough, the trailer focuses heavily on June and Serena Joy individually, which tells us that we’ll be seeing a lot more character growth in Serena Joy now that Commander Fred Waterford is dead. His death at the end of season four felt like a big, cathartic success for the handmaids, but killing Commander Waterford could have huge ramifications and set them back even further.
It’s certainly beginning to feel like we’re reaching a breaking point for Gilead and the handmaids alike. Learning more about life on the outside has been interesting, but it’s painful to think about how starkly different it is from the reality handmaids face every day. That’s why it’s understandable to see June struggle to adapt to living in Canada. Her battle has hardened her into someone who can’t revert back to the mother and wife she once was. By season four, she had reached a point of no return. She’s steadfast in her decision to take Gilead down, once and for all. Let’s hope The Handmaid’s Tale season five (and possibly season six) provides some of the closure we’ve been waiting for.
So what should fans expect from the fifth season of The Handmaid’s Tale? Based on how season four turned out, we made some informed guesses as to what’s in store.
June faces consequences for killing Commander Fred Waterford.
“A handmaid killing her commander—Gilead is not going to let that stand,” U.S. Representative Mark Tuello can be heard saying in the trailer. It later cuts to a scene that shows June and Luke talking through what appears to be a screen or a cage, heavily hinting at the idea that June will be captured and will have to answer for what she did.
It’s possible June will be extradited to Gilead to stand trial. Gilead would certainly demand it, although one would assume Canada wouldn’t risk releasing her because of the work she’s done in freeing women and children from Gilead. But previous international affairs on the show have proven to be dicey.
On the other hand, the trailer makes it seem like June may not be in Gilead much this season at all, as we see her mainly in Canada with Luke. However, if Gilead can’t get their hands on her, they will find a way to hit her where it hurts. In the fourth season, Commander Joseph Lawrence made it clear that they were willing to hurt her daughter, Hannah, if she continues what she’s doing.
Commander Lawrence betrays June.
Chances are that Commander Lawrence will play a role in June’s punishment. And with Aunt Lydia by his side as he tries to “reform Gilead” (whatever that means), that trial and punishment could be very ugly for June and the other handmaids.
Commander Lawrence proved to be a useful ally time and time again in previous seasons. Who would have expected a stoic commander like him would willingly help a group of handmaids escape? But by the end of season four, it’s clear that Commander Lawrence is taking his role as a Gilead leader more seriously since he understands he doesn’t have a future outside the republic. Escaping to Canada isn’t an option for him because he would be tried for war crimes for his role in creating Gilead. He’ll possibly be working to dismantle Gilead from the inside, but with Aunt Lydia by his side as a new ally, who knows what could happen? She may have dirt on the other commanders, but she’s also a threat to the resistance.
Will he completely abandon June’s cause? Probably not, but we will certainly see his character struggle with playing both sides. After all, he played a key role in developing Gilead’s economy and ideals. Fans will recall the moment in season 4 when Commander Lawrence and Nick meet and Lawrence asks whether it might be time for everyone to move on from June. He’s sympathetic to their cause, but he also clearly doesn’t think June is an integral part of the resistance. There’s no telling where season five could take these characters.
Serena Joy becomes a pro-Gilead leader in Canada.
June and Serena will go head-to-head as they become the faces of their respective movements. June established herself as the face of the resistance after successfully freeing 86 children from Gilead, killing a leading commander, and escaping to Toronto, where she reunited with her family. But Serena Joy is getting her own taste of fame as Gilead’s influence creeps into Canada.
The teaser shows Serena looking rather smug under her funeral veil, which proves one thing: Serena’s always been an opportunist. At this point, she has almost everything she wants. She’s pregnant, and her estranged, controlling husband is dead. There seems to be a pro-Gilead movement brewing in Toronto that looks like it needs a leader. This might finally be her chance to gain power in the republic she played a role in building.
Rather than aligning herself with the handmaids’ cause, which she sometimes seemed sympathetic to, she prefers to side with Gilead. It’s difficult to understand what her overall goal is since she will never be given the power and rights she wants in a republic that subjugates her and her gender. Her becoming a martyr for their cause will only empower them at her expense.
Being such an active Gilead supporter and participant will surely backfire on her. The question is when and how. Some fans speculate that it could lead to her getting separated from her baby after they’re born. And if there’s one thing The Handmaid’s Tale loves, it’s poetic justice.
With season five on the way, there’s a good chance we’re approaching a series finale, which brings in the question of “How will this end?” Happy endings are few and far between in a place like Gilead—and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to imagine a happily ever after in a world like this.
However they decide to end it, we’re hoping it’s not another Game of Thrones fiasco that makes even the most loyal fans wish they never tuned in. Commander Waterford’s death was a surprising act of fan service, but what are the chances that something that drastic will happen again? For a show like The Handmaid’s Tale, anything can happen!
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