'Handmaid's Tale' creator Bruce Miller and star Elisabeth Moss on what to expect next season
If, like us, you have no idea what to do with your feelings about the Season 2 finale of The Handmaid's Tale, do not despair.
The creators and actors behind the hit Hulu show are already contemplating what lies ahead for Season 3. And if you thought this one was too grim to bear at times, there seems to be hope on the horizon.
"Next season is about fighting back," said showrunner Bruce Miller at a Q&A on Monday, July 9, following a finale event at the historic Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles. "She goes back to hurt Gilead as much as possible and to get her daughter back. I don't know if it's exactly in that order."
Miller also addressed some of the general criticisms the show has received over Season 2 for being too gratuitous. But he believes the trauma depicted in the series was necessary to get June to the emotional arc she leaves on in the finale:
"In the beginning of the year we had an episode where there was a mock execution. If you had started that with them walking into the Red Center saying, 'Wow we really thought they were going to hang us but they didn't.' It doesn't really have the same effect. You don't know what they've been through. So you have to show it or you don't understand why June feels the way she feels. There's nothing gratuitous about it. I'm very sensitive about that kind of stuff. But honestly this stuff is happening all around the world and just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not happening."
Elisabeth Moss, whose performance not only remains the cornerstone of the show's emotional impact, also became an executive producer in Season 2. When asked about her hopes for future seasons, she captured the sentiment we were all feeling by the end of the finale.
"I hope [June's] gonna go back and fuck some shit up. For real this time," she said to the sound of resounding applause from everyone in the audience. "I think she's had enough. I've had enough. We've all had enough."
You can say that again, Lizzie. I don't think any of us could survive much more unrelenting dread.
Topics Hulu
Jess is an LA-based culture critic who covers intimacy in the digital age, from sex and relationship to weed and all media (tv, games, film, the web). Previously associate editor at Kill Screen, you can also find her words on Vice, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Vox, and others. She is a Brazilian-Swiss American immigrant with a love for all things weird and magical.
