The Handmaid's Tale season 2 Supplied

You could argue scenes like this are on the verge of becoming torture porn; the series has a seemingly endless list of ways that men—and Aunt Lydia— subject women to violence and misery. (We promise you’ll never look at a kitchen stove the same way.)

But while The Handmaid’s Tale drags its female characters through hell in season two, these brutal moments ring true within the oppressive, totalitarian Gilead. And June, of course, remains a furious mouthpiece for resistance. In short, she’s our feminist hero.

Alexis Bledel in The Handmaid's Tale season 2 Suppliled

The devastatingly good Alexis Bledel also returns this season as Emily, a college professor separated from her wife and young son. Through Emily’s eyes we learn about life in the colonies, the radioactive wasteland where handmaids and other prisoners are sent as punishment. Who knew there was an even worse fate than becoming a handmaid?

In the colonies, prisoners are forced to shovel toxic waste, day in, day out, only stopping to pray to the god that has long abandoned them. There, we also meet the excellent Marisa Tomei—one of many new guest stars this season.

Through flashbacks, we see how the rights of women were slowly stripped away in America before Gilead. One day, contraception was made more difficult to access (sound familiar?). The next, a woman's ability to function as a mother while also working was questioned. Needless to say, these flashbacks hit very close to home in 2018.

The colonies in The Handmaid's Tale Supplied

In summary, you will need both a hug and a huge glass of wine after The Handmaid's Tale premieres on SBS. And you'll be left with even more questions than when you started watching.

Elisabeth Moss herself best sums up what to expect. “There is literally no way that anyone can guess what happens. You can try, but you won’t do it. It’s incredible,” she told EW.

“We’re really looking to blow people away, and we have every intention to break [the story] open and go even further in all directions. We have no intention of doing anything else than being even more balls to the wall than we were in season 1.”

Praise be!

Episodes 1 & 2 of The Handmaid’s Tale will air in a double episode premiere on SBS and SBS On Demand at 8.30pm on April 26.

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