The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Release Date, Plot, Cast, and More

If you loved The Hunger Games, Divergent, Black Mirror, The Wilds, and other dystopian adaptations, you will love this one. We introduce you to The Handmaid’s Tale, dystopia like you’ve never watched it before. Here is everything you need to know about this vivid TV adaptation of a novel.

The Handmaid’s Tale is a television series based on the book published in 1985, and written by Canadian author, Margaret Atwood. There have been several adaptations of the novel in the past, but the series seems to be the only one that has stuck with the public. The 2017 series adaptation was created by Bruce Miller, an American television writer and producer.

Bruce Miller was already known for two other shows, Eureka (2006), and The 100 (2014), before The Handmaid’s Tale premiered as a Hulu original in 2017. Although parts of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 3 were shot in Washington DC, the major production locations of the show are Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. So far, 5 seasons and 49 episodes of the show have been released.

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Plot

The Handmaid's Tale Season 5 Plot
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Plot

The Handmaid’s Tale is a complex dystopian drama series set in the Republic of Gilead, a brutal version of America after a military coup. Gilead is built on dictatorial government, extreme religious beliefs, homophobia, and severe categorization of women based on their reproductive abilities. Gileadan women wear dresses in colors that define their status in the society. The highest-ranking women are the barren wives of Commanders.

They wear blue to symbolize their connection to the Virgin Mary from the Bible. Handmaids are the lowest-ranking women, who wear long red dresses and white coifs, and are forced to endure rape and bear children for ruling families. Marthas, who work as maids in the homes of the elite, wear green. Aunts are brown-wearing women who reeducate fertile women to perform the duties of Handmaids, as ordered by the Gileadan government. The little girls wear pink with baby bonnets. Purple is another color newly introduced in the Handmaid’s Tale Season 5. It is worn by girls starting to hit puberty.

The Handmaid’s Tale begins with June Osborne, the female lead character, living as a Handmaid in the home of the Gileadan Commander, Fred Waterford and his wife, Serena Joy Waterford. This happens after June was caught trying to flee the country with her husband, Luke, and her daughter, Hannah after the Gileadan government took over. Hannah is taken away and given to another family. She is also renamed Agnes Mackenzie.

June is sent to the Rachel and Leah Center for her Handmaid education, which is where she meets Aunt Lydia and an old friend named Moira, both of whom will play important roles later in the show. After her education, she ends up living with the Waterfords. Handmaids can only be called names coined by adding the prefix of- to the name of their masters so June is now known as Offred. The story is centered around Offred navigating a poisoned society while enduring the cruelty of Serena Waterford, so she can reunite with her daughter, Hannah. As the TV series progresses, we are also introduced to a secret revolutionary group.

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 ended with Offred and other handmaid’s beating Commander Fred Waterford to death. Newly released Season 5 of The Handmaid’s Tale picks up with June (now reassigned to another commander and called Ofjoseph) dealing with the consequences of her actions. In the third episode released on September 21, 2022, we see June’s fight to be reunited with her daughter, Hannah (or Agnes), continue as she and Moira join a small camp of rebels. Serena Waterford is left trying to find her footing as a pregnant widow.

The Handmaid’s Tale Cast

The Handmaid's Tale Cast
The Handmaid’s Tale Cast

The female lead, June Osborne is played by American actress, Elisabeth Moss. Yvonne Strahovski plays Serena Waterford, and Joseph Fiennes plays Commander Fred Waterford. June’s daughter Hannah, and her husband, Luke, are played by Jordana Blake and O-T Fagbenle respectively. Here is a list of other main and recurring characters from The Handmaid’s Tale:

Main Actors and Actresses of The Handmaid’s Tale

  • Ann Dowd
  • Madeline Brewer
  • Max Minghella
  • Alexis Bledel
  • Samira Wiley
  • Amanda Brugel
  • Sam Jaeger
  • Bradley Whitford (as Commander Joseph Lawrence, June’s new master in The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5)

Supporting Actors and Actresses of The Handmaid’s Tale

  • Stephen Kunken
  • Jenessa Grant
  • Ever Caradine
  • Nina Kiri
  • Christopher Meloni
  • McKenna Grace, and more.
  • In the first ever episode of The Handmaid’s Tale, the author, Margaret Atwood herself made a cameo appearance as an Aunt, who slaps June in the face. Margaret Atwood said she wasn’t comfortable acting out the scene, which is a bit ironic since she technically wrote it.

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Release Date

The Handmaid's Tale Season 5 Release Date
The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 Release Date

The Handmaid’s Tale was renewed for Season 5 on December 10, 2020, and it premiered in the US on September 14, 2022. The last episode of this season is scheduled to be released on November 9, 2022. On September 8, 2022, before Season 5 premiered, The Handmaid’s Tale was renewed for Season 6.

The Handmaid’s Tale Ratings

When it comes to ratings, The Handmaid’s Tale has done very well for itself. The dystopian TV series is rated 8.4/10 on IMDb, 82% on Rotten Tomatoes, 63% on Metacritic, 2/5 on Vulture, and 92% on Google. The Handmaid’s Tale Season 1 is the top-rated season out of all five seasons. The show saw a decline in views across Season 2, 3, and 4 as people started to think it excessive and stretched-out. However, Season 5 is doing better than the last season. We like to think it’s because a revolution, and a happy ending seem to be closer than ever.

The Handmaid’s Tale Awards

The Handmaid’s Tale has received 22 awards and lots of nominations in prestigious award shows like Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, Writers Guild of America, Critics Choice, BAFTA and many others. Here are some of the awards that have been received by The Handmaid’s Tale and members of its cast:

  1. Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series 2017
  2. Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series 2017 – Elisabeth Moss
  3. Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama 2018
  4. Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series 2019 – Bradley Whitford
  5. Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Drama Series 2018
  6. Writers Guild of America Award for Best New Series 2018
  7. Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series 2019 – Elisabeth Moss
  8. Satellite Award for Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries & Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television 2018 – Ann Dowd
  9. British Academy Television Award for Best International Programme (BAFTA Awards) 2018

Where to Watch The Handmaid’s Tale

The Handmaid’s Tale streams exclusively on Hulu.

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