Latest news with #Handmaid
Cosmopolitan
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
Alexis Bledel made a surprise return to The Handmaid's Tale for the series finale, ICYMI
Spoilers for The Handmaid's Tale series finale ahead!! Under his eye no more. The Handmaid's Tale came to an end this week with an explosive series finale, aptly titled 'The Handmaid's Tale.' The series finale was full of last minute twists and turns, including the surprise return of fan favorite Emily or Ofglen. After two seasons away, Alexis Bledel returned for the Handmaid's Tale series finale, giving fans a much-needed update on her character and helping bring June's story to a close. "It was an immediate yes," Alexis told The Hollywood Reporter of her return to the dystopian series. "It felt right to bring closure to Emily's journey and offer the audience a sense of completion." The actor left the series after four seasons of playing Emily, a Handmaid who helps June, played by Elisabeth Moss, join the rebellion in Gilead. Her character was written off in season 5, when it was explained that Emily had decided to continue fighting in Gilead. Many, including Emily's partner, believed her to be dead. But in the series finale, Emily runs into June in a now liberated Boston and reveals she's been working as a Martha for a sympathetic Commander while continuing the resistance. She also confirms that she's been in contact with her partner and son, tying up a loose end fans have been wondering about since season 5. Alexis appears again in a dream sequence alongside co-stars Madeline Brewer, Nina Kiri, Amanda Brugel, Samira Wiley, and Bahia Watson, where June imagines the Handmaids meeting under different circumstances, if Gilead never existed, singing karaoke without a care in the world. "I hope viewers take away to keep hope alive when things seem impossible," Alexis told THR of Emily's reappearance. "Even if it seems like seeds you plant couldn't possibly grow, plant seeds of hope anyway. You never know; they might find a way." Elisabeth, who directed the episode, was especially excited to reunite with her co-star. "My first official scene day one [on set] was with Alexis," she told THR. "So it meant a lot to get to work with her again." Showrunner Bruce Miller echoed that sentiment, saying, "It was wonderful to see her and Lizzie get right back into it after all that time. It's like watching the fucking Yankees bullpen every day with these guys. They're so good." The Handmaid's Tale is available to stream on
Elle
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Elle
'The Handmaid's Tale' Season Six Ending, Explained
After six harrowing seasons, Hulu's adaptation of Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale has finally come to a close, and it's left audiences' hearts collectively broken as it lay the scene for the show's prequel The Testaments. The most tearjerker moment came when audiences learned that June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) is not reunited with her daughter Hannah, but the closing episode was peppered with Easter eggs of what's to come and full-circle closures for other lingering storylines. FIND OUT MORE ON ELLE COLLECTIVE This is the finale of The Handmaid's Tale de-coded. The episode picks up where it left off in episode nine, which focused on the demise of resistance sympathiser Commander Joseph Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) and June's longtime lover Commander Nick Blaine (Max Minghella) along with their fellow Commander Gabriel Wharton (Josh Charles) after a bomb was planted on a plane full of Commanders and Gilead leaders. With Gilead's oppressive leadership decimated, and Massachusetts is freed, the Mayday group sets its sights on liberating New York City — and, eventually, June's daughter Hannah. Later in the episode, Serena Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski), who has been stripped of her power and exiled to a refugee camp with her child, has a moment of reckoning after helping June take down the Commanders in the previous episode. While saying goodbye, U.S. Government agent Mark Tuello (Sam Jaeger) promises Serena that he'll 'find her' no matter where she ends up, nodding to the simmering romantic tension between the two. Serena tearfully apologises to June, telling her she's 'ashamed' for her past behaviour, prompting June to ultimately tell her, 'I forgive you, Serena.' Elsewhere in the episode, June also reunites with Janine (Madeline Brewer) who was taken by the Eyes in episode nine. In an uncharacteristic act of mercy, Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) and Mrs. Putnam (Ever Carradine) return a battered Janine to June in the woods, allowing Janine to be reunited with her daughter, Angela. And then, in the final moments of the episode, June starts to reflect on her past, walking through the shattered remains of the Waterford home where she was held captive as a Handmaid for so many years. June, who starts voice recording her experiences to write a book about Gilead — encouraged by Luke and her mother who tells her earlier in the episode that June's daughter Holly 'should know her mother is a warrior' — sits on the same windowsill in the Waterford home where she sat in the series' first-ever episode and recites the same monologue from the first season's first episode. 'A chair, a table, a lamp, there's a window with white curtains,' June begins, 'the glass is shatterproof but it isn't running away they're afraid of. A Handmaid wouldn't get far.' She delivers her final line with her trademark smirk, 'My name is Offred,' before the screen turns black. That's not all though: in this final scene, June is seen wearing a green overcoat that nods to the uniforms worn by the Wives throughout the series instead of the red Handmaid robe she'd worn for so many years. In the final moments of the series, it becomes clear — not only did June survive Gilead; she now has all the power. The Handmaid's Tale season six can be streamed on both Prime Video and Channel 4. ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE. Naomi May is a freelance writer and editor with an emphasis on popular culture, lifestyle and politics. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard as its Fashion and Beauty Writer, working across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Acting News Editor at ELLE UK and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others.
Time Magazine
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
Where All the Key Players on The Handmaid's Tale Wind Up in the Series Finale
W arning: Spoilers ahead for the series finale of The Handmaid's Tale It's hard to believe it, but one of television's most eerily prescient and challenging series has come to an end. Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, based on the novel by Margaret Atwood, stars Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne, a woman enslaved as a Handmaid in an alternative America taken over by Gilead, a totalitarian theocracy. The show's themes around women's rights and bodily autonomy became distressingly more timely with each passing season, and while anecdotally it felt so bleak as to become unwatchable for many, it continued to set viewership records throughout its eight-year run. But for those who found the show too painful to continue, rest assured that the sixth and final season was markedly less tragic—though not without some heart-shattering moments. The final season focuses largely on the rebellion movement, and June and company's efforts in taking Gilead down for good. Admittedly, the most explosive moments of The Handmaid's Tale come in the two episodes before the finale. In Episode 8, 'Exodus,' the Handmaids lead a massive rebellion during the wedding of Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) and Commander Wharton (Josh Charles), killing dozens of Commanders and creating a massive vulnerability in Gilead. And Serena's marriage ends as soon as it begins, when she gets home and discovers Wharton has enlisted the services of a Handmaid, despite Serena's fertility. In Episode 9, 'Execution,' Gilead retaliates, capturing June and dozens of other Handmaids, attempting to hang them in the gallows in a public execution. But the rebellion emerges again, led by the rebel group Mayday, as they free the Handmaids and kill more commanders and many members of Gilead's army in the process. After she's freed, June works with Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) to kill the most powerful remaining commanders with a bomb that blows up their plane. June and the Handmaids have finally won. Still, the finale of The Handmaid's Tale has plenty of revelations and reveals as it wraps the series on a surprisingly hopeful note. Here's where each of the series' key characters stands after the series finale. Commander Joseph Lawrence Commander Joseph played a vital part in establishing Gilead as a major force, becoming the prime architect of the economy. But throughout the series, he became increasingly repulsed by these actions, which included enslaving thousands of women. In Season 6, he works with Mayday to take down Gilead from the inside. He's tasked with planting a bomb on a plane full of high-level commanders, and leaving before they get on the plane. It winds up being a suicide mission; the other commanders see Joseph before he can leave. Joseph sacrifices himself in an effort to undo the horror he helped bring onto the world. Commander Nick Walker Nick (Max Minghella) had quite the journey in the final season of The Handmaid's Tale, balancing his love for June with his life as a father and high-level commander in Gilead. He sells out June's plan to take out a group of commanders at Jezebel's, which shatters her trust in him. Nick's dedication to the commanders proves to be his undoing. At the encouragement of his wife Rose (Carey Cox), he gets on the plane with the other commanders—the same one Lawrence has planted a bomb on. He dies alongside Joseph and the other commanders. Rita A Martha (an infertile woman who works as a domestic servant) who befriended the Handmaids, Rita (Amanda Brugel) played a significant role in the Mayday rebellion. Despite escaping to Canada, Rita returned to New Bethlehem for the chance to reunite with her sister. Mercifully, the two are brought back together after years apart. In New Bethlehem, Rita bakes the cake for Serena's wedding to Commander Wharton. She laces the cake with a sedative, which leads to the Handmaids killing 37 commanders in one evening, turning the tide against Gilead. She saves June from the gallows, shooting the crane operator who attempted to hang her. Rita was a symbol of quiet valor throughout The Handmaid's Tale, and without her, the liberation of Boston would have never happened. Emily The most shocking appearance in this season of The Handmaid's Tale goes to Emily (Alexis Bledel), a former series regular who left the show after Season 4. We last heard of Emily in Season 5, when her wife Sylvia (Clea DuVall) told June that she'd returned to Gilead (after escaping to Canada) to fight with Mayday. Emily finds June in a now-liberated Boston, where the former reveals that she was in Bridgeport, Conn., working as a Martha for a Commander for seven months. But he was a friend, allowing Emily to keep in touch with Sylvia and her son Oliver. 'So you weren't just gone?' June asks her. 'Of course not, they're the reason I'm fighting,' Emily responds. Moira Moira (Samira Wiley) was one of June's best friends before the Gilead takeover, and remained a close ally through their time in Gilead. Moira escaped to Canada in Season 4 and has worked with June's husband, Luke (O-T Fagbenle), to help secure homes for Gilead refugees. In Season 6, she fights against Gilead as part of Mayday with June and Luke. Though she's absent from the finale (flashbacks excluded), she continues to work for Mayday in the quest for liberation of America under Gilead. Janine One of the biggest question marks in the final season of The Handmaid's Tale was the fate of Janine (Madeline Brewer). Few endured more than Janine, who remained in Gilead through the entire series, while seeing many of her friends escape for a better life. Janine has been separated from her daughter Charlotte, and forced into sex work as a Jezebel. She then becomes a handmaid again under Commander Bell (Timothy Simons), who is extremely abusive and controlling. She plays a role in the rebellion, and she luckily escapes death by hanging, but unfortunately, in the ensuing firefight, she is taken by Gilead once again, and her status is unknown. But in the finale, her extreme suffering finally comes to an end. Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd), who has been determined to save Janine, finally comes to her senses about Gilead. Alongside Naomi (Ever Carradine), who was raising Janine's daughter, Lydia frees Janine, handing her off to June. In an extremely welcome surprise, Naomi gives Charlotte back to Janine, finally giving Janine the long-awaited happy ending she so richly deserves. Serena Serena's (Yvonne Strahovski) life is left in flux after the liberation of Massachusetts. After being a key member of New Bethlehem, she's been stripped of her passport and has been refused entry by Canada and the European Union. Now a refugee, Mark (Sam Jaeger) gets her a temporary place in a UN settlement. She's last seen with her son in the refugee camp, holding him close and telling him he's all she's ever wanted. But it's hard to shake the feeling that it's just something Serena is telling herself to make peace with her new, uncertain life. Before she leaves for the refugee camp, she does get the opportunity to properly apologize to June for everything she's put her through. June sincerely forgives her, which comes as a relief to a woman who's gone through a significant evolution throughout The Handmaid's Tale. They were forced to work together numerous times this season, and you get the sense that if circumstances were different, the two may have been friends. June After leading the Mayday rebellion in Boston, June has successfully liberated the city of Boston and the state of Massachusetts. The Handmaid's Tale truly puts June through the wringer at every opportunity, yet she comes out victorious, obliterating the Gilead that once controlled her and so many other women. She's reunited with her mother and daughter, Holly, and she's fought alongside Luke with Mayday throughout the season. While they may not be together anymore, they still care deeply for one another, and they're united by their shared goal: to get their daughter Hannah back. Though audiences wanted nothing more than to see June find Hannah, the mission to get her back is still ongoing. She leaves her family behind and continues to fight to get Hannah. Both her mother and Luke suggest that June write a book about her experiences. She's hesitant at first, but at the end of the finale, she takes a long walk through what was once Gilead. She returns to the Waterfords' home, where she once served as Handmaid Offred, the beginning of her horrific, life-altering experience. She begins to record, making note of her experiences. It's the same dialogue from the very first episode. In close-up, she looks at the camera and smiles, cutting to black and ending the series. While the finale of The Handmaid's Tale is largely a celebration of the rebellion's success, the fact that June and Hannah are yet to reunite is a reminder of how far they have to go. Massachusetts may be free, but most of America still lies under Gilead's rule. For now. With the show's sequel series, The Testaments, now in production, and set 15 years in the future, we know there's more to Gilead's story to unfold on-screen in the years to come.
Cosmopolitan
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
Alexis Bledel's ‘Handmaid's Tale' Series Finale Cameo
Spoilers for The Handmaid's Tale series finale ahead!! Under his eye no more. The Handmaid's Tale came to an end this week with an explosive series finale, aptly titled 'The Handmaid's Tale.' The series finale was full of last mimute twists and turns, including the surprise return of fan favorite Emily or Ofglen. After two seasons away, Alexis Bledel returned for the Handmaid's Tale series finale, giving fans a much-needed update on her character and helping bring June's story to a close. 'It was an immediate yes,' Alexis told The Hollywood Reporter of her return to the dystopian series. 'It felt right to bring closure to Emily's journey and offer the audience a sense of completion.' The actor left the series after four seasons of playing Emily, a Handmaid who helps June, played by Elisabeth Moss, join the rebellion in Gilead. Her character was written off in season 5, when it was explained that Emily had decided to continue fighting in Gilead. Many, including Emily's partner, believed her to be dead. But in the series finale, Emily runs into June in a now liberated Boston and reveals she's been working as a Martha for a sympathetic Commander while continuing the resistance. She also confirms that she's been in contact with her partner and son, tying up a loose end fans have been wondering about since season 5. Alexis appears again in a dream sequence alongside co-stars Madeline Brewer, Nina Kiri, Amanda Brugel, Samira Wiley, and Bahia Watson, where June imagines the Handmaids meeting under different circumstances, if Gilead never existed, singing karaoke without a care in the world. 'I hope viewers take away to keep hope alive when things seem impossible,' Alexis told THR of Emily's reappearance. 'Even if it seems like seeds you plant couldn't possibly grow, plant seeds of hope anyway. You never know; they might find a way.' Elisabeth, who directed the episode, was especially excited to reunite with her co-star. 'My first official scene day one [on set] was with Alexis,' she told THR. 'So it meant a lot to get to work with her again.' Showrunner Bruce Miller echoed that sentiment, saying, 'It was wonderful to see her and Lizzie get right back into it after all that time. It's like watching the fucking Yankees bullpen every day with these guys. They're so good.'
Elle
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
Max Minghella on What Happens to Nick in That Jaw-Dropping 'Handmaid's Tale' Episode
Major spoilers ahead. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that any fan of Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale could guess that certain characters were never long for this dystopian world. When you spend your entire time on a television show playing with fire, chances are that you're going to burn. All of which is to say, I wasn't surprised that both Nick Blaine (Max Minghella) and Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) die before the series' finale as much as I was shook at the way it unfolded. In season 6, episode 9, Mayday is desperate to kill the remaining extremist commanders, and Lawrence agrees to help by leaving an altitude-triggered bomb on the airplane said commanders about to take to D.C. Meanwhile, Rose Blaine (Carey Cox) is healing from pregnancy complications caused by the sedatives Mayday used to put the commanders and their wives to sleep in episode 8. In her recovery, she tells her husband, Nick, 'You need to show your allegiance to Gilead and God and me and our son.' We already know which side Lawrence is on—now it's Nick's turn to make a final choice. This all leads to one of Handmaid's greatest denouements: As Lawrence approaches the plane, with June (Elisabeth Moss) watching, the rest of the commanders show up and assume Lawrence is proving his solidarity by joining them on their trip. If Lawrence walks away, the commanders win, and everything will be for naught; if Lawrence walks onto the plane, he'll be signing his own death certificate, but he'll go a hero. He chooses the latter. Not moments later, Nick arrives and takes his place on the plane as a true Gilead commander—unaware of the consequences—and June watches as the men who kept her alive all these years die in front of her. It's a fitting end for two of Handmaid's most interesting and morally complicated characters. It was also literally the end for Minghella, who filmed those scenes on his very last day on set. 'You dream of that stuff,' he tells ELLE. Below, the actor unpacks Nick's tragic fate but not before delivering a message to fans: 'I'm really grateful to everyone who's stuck by us,' he says. 'I hope they're happy with what happens. And remember: It's all fiction.' Well, I had a heads-up on what the arc of the year was going to be for a while. [Laughs] No, no, no. I was working with Lizzie [Moss on a different project], so she just told me a lot about what was happening in the various scripts as they were figuring them out. So I'd known for quite a while what was going to happen in the show for everybody. I really enjoy the show when it leans into the melodrama and the soapier elements. So I thought it was really fun. And sentimentally, I was happy that I was doing the scene with Brad [Whitford] and Josh [Charles, who plays Commander Wharton]. Brad has become a dear friend of mine outside of the show, so finishing with him felt really special to me. And then Josh was a new friend this season and somebody I also became super close with. So getting to wrap with those guys, and with Lizzie, just on a spiritual level felt really great. It's built to do what, hopefully, it achieved, for you anyway. It's a moment of tension that we milk. Lizzie [who directed this episode] is a brilliant filmmaker and really knows how to underline the suspense elements in the show. Yeah, there's that. There's also [him] sort of sensing Lizzie's presence in that way that lovers from afar can feel one another. It's supposed to have that kind of insinuation, I think. Maybe this is too nuanced an interpretation—I could have played that line a lot of different ways—I think that he's trying on a suit. I don't think it's one that fits very well, even by the time he's finished that scene. You're just seeing somebody explore whether this is a direction he wants to take. I don't know that it's a journey he would've stayed on had he not blown up in a plane. But we'll never fucking know. It's Eric [Tuchman] and Yahlin [Chang], who were our showrunners this year, did such an amazing job of finding a really unexpected, surprising way to wrap all this stuff up. I was really amazed by what they did. It was, which was so amazing. You dream of that stuff. Being with Bradley, Josh, and Lizzie at three in the morning, or whatever it was, in Toronto in the winter felt exactly right. It was a great experience in my life making this show, and I can't believe we did it for so long and everyone stayed on such great terms and enjoyed going to work every day, the whole time. That doesn't happen all the time. That was really rare. I'll treasure it forever. It felt right. I think we've done the show for the exact right amount of time. People use the word bittersweet; I think bittersweet is exactly right. It's so much fun to make this show. It's such a comfortable thing to do that I'm sure we would've all gone on for far too long trying to tell the story. When we went to the premiere of the show this year, there was a tremendous sense of pride amongst the whole team that we finished the show so strongly. I think it's one of our best seasons, and that doesn't happen all the time. I'm really happy that we got to finish up in a way we can all feel really proud of. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
