The Handmaid's Tale is over. After six seasons of disturbing yet compelling storytelling, the final episode aired on Crave this Tuesday. But the series' legacy — and its bleak reflection of society — is far from finished.
Viewers followed June Osborne, played by Elisabeth Moss, through the rise and fall of Gilead. The final episode brought her back to where it all began — the burned ruins of the Waterford home. She has not yet reunited with her daughter, Hannah. But she’s resolved to keep fighting, even if it means working undercover to dismantle what remains of the totalitarian regime.
“It’s been a very, very, very luxurious time that I’ve had to think about what happens at the end of this story and exactly how we’d like to get there as a company,” said Bruce Miller, creator and showrunner, in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Dropping the curtain the way you want is such a huge privilege.”
No Season 7, but a sequel is coming
Despite online curiosity around Handmaid's Tale Season 7 and questions like “Is The Handmaid’s Tale over?”, the answer is yes — the series officially concluded with Season 6. Hulu confirmed back in September 2022 that the sixth season would be the final chapter.
But the Gilead saga will continue. The Testaments, based on Margaret Atwood’s 2019 Booker Prize-winning sequel, is currently in production. It is being developed by Hulu with Miller returning to lead the new project. The upcoming series is set 15 years after The Handmaid’s Tale, tracking a new generation of young women navigating the oppressive state.
The Testaments: new faces, new rebellion
While The Handmaid’s Tale concludes, The Testaments promises a new angle. Hulu has greenlit the spin-off with Bruce Miller — showrunner of the original — at the helm.
The cast includes:
Filming began in Toronto in April 2025. A release date has not yet been announced.
"The Testaments," described by Hulu as "a coming-of-age story that finds a new generation of young women in Gilead grappling with the bleak future that awaits them," will pick up more than 15 years after the events of "The Handmaid’s Tale."
It will follow the story of Agnes/Hannah, June's daughter and a new generation of young women in the dystopian Gilead.
"For these young women, growing up in Gilead is all they have ever known, having no tangible memories of the outside world prior to their indoctrination into this life," Hulu says about the series. "Facing the prospect of being married off and living a life of servitude, they will be forced to search for allies, both new and old, to help in their fight for freedom and the life they deserve."
The Handmaid's Tale: A story that refused closure
The finale didn’t tie everything up. Janine (Madeline Brewer) has a touching reunion with her daughter, Charlotte, thanks to a softened Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd). Serena Joy’s fate remains uncertain, again left as a refugee with her son. Boston, where Gilead’s power collapsed after a plane bombing orchestrated by Commander Lawrence, is just the beginning. As June’s fight continues, so does the fall of Gilead. Her husband Luke (O-T Fagbenle) is determined to rescue Hannah from Colorado.
“A chair, a table, a lamp.” That’s how the final season came full circle — a stripped-down visual echo of June’s earliest moments of trauma and resistance.
Why Dystopian TV still grips us
Though The Handmaid’s Tale has ended, its genre is thriving. In times of political instability and cultural tension, dystopian fiction finds new audiences. These stories don’t offer comfort — they hold up a mirror.
"It's a way that we begin to kind of work out our fears as a collective," said Shana MacDonald, associate professor at the University of Waterloo. “We get to talk about it at the water cooler.”
MacDonald studies misogyny and popular culture but admits the series is hard to watch. “It’s the canary in the coal mine, for me,” she said. In her view, parallels between Gilead and real-world events — such as the rollback of reproductive rights in the U.S. — are chillingly close.
Jen Chaney, a TV critic for Vulture and The Washington Post, noted how these shows let viewers prepare for dark possibilities. "It's almost as if we're preparing ourselves for some hypothetical — and now that seems much less hypothetical than it used to," she said.
Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale in 1985, inspired by the religious conservatism of the Reagan era. In 2017, she told CBC that the rise of the religious right in America influenced her vision of Gilead. "People, even back then, were saying what they would like to do, should they ever have a chance to take power. Now that faction is in power in the United States,” she said, referencing the presidency of Donald Trump.
An iconic image from the real world — women dressed as handmaids protesting outside the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 after Roe v. Wade was overturned — highlights how the story blurred with reality.
Escapism or exposure therapy?
Other dystopian series like Severance, The Boys, and The Last of Us are also enjoying strong viewership. Though their settings may be more stylised, the emotional weight is similar.
According to Dr. Lynn Zubernis, a psychologist and fan culture researcher, there’s something therapeutic about confronting fears in fiction. “You can build up your emotional regulation skills and sense of resilience by immersing yourself in a world that is disturbing and frightening,” she said.
However, she adds a note of caution. “If you're missing that message of hope and you're just feeling completely overwhelmed by all the darkness or the violence, then it's not good for you and you should not be watching it.”
“You have to keep fighting over and over and over again,” said Chaney, when asked about Gilead’s lingering presence even after the finale. “It doesn’t just go away magically.”
MacDonald agrees that dystopian shows aren’t supposed to offer neat conclusions. “It never really has a happy ending because the society we know has collapsed and we’re in a new place,” she said. But that, in itself, holds value. “They plant the seed that there are still possibilities of a better future.”
With The Testaments on the way, Gilead’s grip hasn’t loosened just yet. And neither has our need to understand the world through stories that warn, provoke, and resonate.
Viewers followed June Osborne, played by Elisabeth Moss, through the rise and fall of Gilead. The final episode brought her back to where it all began — the burned ruins of the Waterford home. She has not yet reunited with her daughter, Hannah. But she’s resolved to keep fighting, even if it means working undercover to dismantle what remains of the totalitarian regime.
“It’s been a very, very, very luxurious time that I’ve had to think about what happens at the end of this story and exactly how we’d like to get there as a company,” said Bruce Miller, creator and showrunner, in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Dropping the curtain the way you want is such a huge privilege.”
No Season 7, but a sequel is coming
Despite online curiosity around Handmaid's Tale Season 7 and questions like “Is The Handmaid’s Tale over?”, the answer is yes — the series officially concluded with Season 6. Hulu confirmed back in September 2022 that the sixth season would be the final chapter.
But the Gilead saga will continue. The Testaments, based on Margaret Atwood’s 2019 Booker Prize-winning sequel, is currently in production. It is being developed by Hulu with Miller returning to lead the new project. The upcoming series is set 15 years after The Handmaid’s Tale, tracking a new generation of young women navigating the oppressive state.
The Testaments: new faces, new rebellion
While The Handmaid’s Tale concludes, The Testaments promises a new angle. Hulu has greenlit the spin-off with Bruce Miller — showrunner of the original — at the helm.
The cast includes:
- Mavis played by Reneé Elise Goldsberry, described as a fiercely intelligent woman navigating Gilead’s power games.
- Becka played by Sophia Reid-Gantzert, a young girl caught between obedience and truth.
- Agnes Jemima played by TBA, daughter of a Gilead Commander who begins to question the regime.
- Daisy, raised in Canada, becomes a key player after learning of her true heritage.
Filming began in Toronto in April 2025. A release date has not yet been announced.
"The Testaments," described by Hulu as "a coming-of-age story that finds a new generation of young women in Gilead grappling with the bleak future that awaits them," will pick up more than 15 years after the events of "The Handmaid’s Tale."
It will follow the story of Agnes/Hannah, June's daughter and a new generation of young women in the dystopian Gilead.
"For these young women, growing up in Gilead is all they have ever known, having no tangible memories of the outside world prior to their indoctrination into this life," Hulu says about the series. "Facing the prospect of being married off and living a life of servitude, they will be forced to search for allies, both new and old, to help in their fight for freedom and the life they deserve."
The Handmaid's Tale: A story that refused closure
The finale didn’t tie everything up. Janine (Madeline Brewer) has a touching reunion with her daughter, Charlotte, thanks to a softened Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd). Serena Joy’s fate remains uncertain, again left as a refugee with her son. Boston, where Gilead’s power collapsed after a plane bombing orchestrated by Commander Lawrence, is just the beginning. As June’s fight continues, so does the fall of Gilead. Her husband Luke (O-T Fagbenle) is determined to rescue Hannah from Colorado.
“A chair, a table, a lamp.” That’s how the final season came full circle — a stripped-down visual echo of June’s earliest moments of trauma and resistance.
Why Dystopian TV still grips us
Though The Handmaid’s Tale has ended, its genre is thriving. In times of political instability and cultural tension, dystopian fiction finds new audiences. These stories don’t offer comfort — they hold up a mirror.
"It's a way that we begin to kind of work out our fears as a collective," said Shana MacDonald, associate professor at the University of Waterloo. “We get to talk about it at the water cooler.”
MacDonald studies misogyny and popular culture but admits the series is hard to watch. “It’s the canary in the coal mine, for me,” she said. In her view, parallels between Gilead and real-world events — such as the rollback of reproductive rights in the U.S. — are chillingly close.
Jen Chaney, a TV critic for Vulture and The Washington Post, noted how these shows let viewers prepare for dark possibilities. "It's almost as if we're preparing ourselves for some hypothetical — and now that seems much less hypothetical than it used to," she said.
Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale in 1985, inspired by the religious conservatism of the Reagan era. In 2017, she told CBC that the rise of the religious right in America influenced her vision of Gilead. "People, even back then, were saying what they would like to do, should they ever have a chance to take power. Now that faction is in power in the United States,” she said, referencing the presidency of Donald Trump.
An iconic image from the real world — women dressed as handmaids protesting outside the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 after Roe v. Wade was overturned — highlights how the story blurred with reality.
Escapism or exposure therapy?
Other dystopian series like Severance, The Boys, and The Last of Us are also enjoying strong viewership. Though their settings may be more stylised, the emotional weight is similar.
According to Dr. Lynn Zubernis, a psychologist and fan culture researcher, there’s something therapeutic about confronting fears in fiction. “You can build up your emotional regulation skills and sense of resilience by immersing yourself in a world that is disturbing and frightening,” she said.
However, she adds a note of caution. “If you're missing that message of hope and you're just feeling completely overwhelmed by all the darkness or the violence, then it's not good for you and you should not be watching it.”
“You have to keep fighting over and over and over again,” said Chaney, when asked about Gilead’s lingering presence even after the finale. “It doesn’t just go away magically.”
MacDonald agrees that dystopian shows aren’t supposed to offer neat conclusions. “It never really has a happy ending because the society we know has collapsed and we’re in a new place,” she said. But that, in itself, holds value. “They plant the seed that there are still possibilities of a better future.”
With The Testaments on the way, Gilead’s grip hasn’t loosened just yet. And neither has our need to understand the world through stories that warn, provoke, and resonate.
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