The Handmaid's Tale will return to Australian screens on Thursday night and it appears that fans have a lot of preparation to do.

The trailer promises a big season of revolution, retribution and a whole lot of red dresses.

But after about a year between drinks, are we ready for another punch to the guts that is a season of The Handmaid's Tale?

*SPOILER WARNING: This article includes plot points from the season two finale of The Handmaid's Tale, and some speculation about season three based on teasers and trailers.*

Fans are eager for its release but, at the same time, many of us are approaching it with the same anticipation of an overdue dentist's visit.

It's incredibly stressful viewing and something that you cannot exactly say you actually enjoy watching. But it's something you must watch, all the same.

There are a few elements to this: the first is obviously the social currency of it — it will be the subject of many a think piece and all over social media. And, let's face it, the real appeal of watching TV shows these days is understanding the memes.

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There's also what almost feels like a moral responsibility to be terrified by the show.

The promos telling viewers to "wake up" are especially chilling as women's rights activists in the US use handmaid's costumes from the show in protests against a host of new anti-abortion laws sweeping America.

Plus, there's also the cliffhanger effect of the unanswered questions from that stunning season 2 finale that gnaw at your curiosity.

Aunt Lydia was stabbed. The Marthas have a secret network. Serena let June take baby Nicole to smuggle her to freedom. Emily and baby Nicole go off in a van while June willingly remains in Gilead. Nick faced off with Fred.

There are absolutely going to be consequences and not matter how brutal we anticipate they may be, we have to know what happened.

So what can we expect for this season?

June and Serena appear to be teaming up

As we've seen in the trailer, the pair's stories will further intertwine this season.

Serena Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski), now minus a baby and a pinky finger, is a different woman to the one we met in Season 1 and a shot of her smoking with Offred/June (Elizabeth Moss) by a pool gives off a "destroy the joint" kind of vibe.

June and Serena reunite in Season 3. ( Hulu )

She is shown sitting at a round table with the commanders and in what looks like her husband's burning office and, given she made a stand by reading a bible passage last season, we assume she is part of the revolution.

But we probably won't see Serena becoming besties with June.

"They know one another too well," Strahovski ominously told EW.

Moss did not help. "Together? Oh my God, they could topple the whole thing," she said. "Unfortunately, nothing is that simple."

In the lead up to Wednesday's US premiere, the show has been dropping hints for what is to come, showing Serena waist-deep in the ocean.

Somehow, we don't think this will be just a pleasant trip to the beach.

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Nick may be in trouble

Showrunners have dropped ominous hints about the future of Nick Blaine's character. ( Supplied: Hulu/MGM Television )

The last time we saw Nick (Max Minghella), he was pointing a gun at Fred (Joseph Fiennes), who had just realised that baby Nicole was missing.

This will no doubt make things awkward for the commander's driver when he turns up for work the next day.

While we have seen him in what looks like a position of elevated rank in the trailer, this warning from showrunner Bruce Miller has us worried.

"There will be repercussions for Nick," he said in an interview with TV Guide after season 2 wrapped up.

However, Nick has a lot of dirt on Fred — namely his many sinful trips to the Jezebels — which may save his skin.

"I don't think it's a hammer that the commander can bring down so easily on Nick, or would want to," Miller said.

The Marthas are organised

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While we were focusing on the May Day movement within the handmaids, we didn't notice the Marthas scheming away in the background.

Rita (Amanda Brugel), the housekeeper in the Waterford house, showed that these forgotten domestic workers actually have quite a powerful network.

Miller says we have not seen the last of Rita.

"We're going to see some of the results of her coming out of her shell and becoming a little more visible," he said.

"But I think the key for me is that she is a very smart survivor, and that's what she's going to continue to be."

The short scene at the end of this promo hints that the ladies in light green are going to become even bolder as the season continues.

What doesn't kill Aunt Lydia only makes her scarier

We've seen her in the trailers, so we know she survived and we can imagine how someone like Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) respond to being literally stabbed in the back.

"In her case, it makes her double down that she feels like she just wasn't strong enough in her discipline," Miller was quoted as saying in Forbes.

He warned that she now thinks it's time to "get tough", which is a terrifying thought considering she once cut out someone's eye for interrupting in class.

We're also going to delve more into Aunt Lydia's backstory at some point this season, which will hopefully explain how she came to be a cattle-prod-wielding midwife.

Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia. ( Hulu )

Commander Lawrence will return

Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) was the person who set Emily on her journey to possible freedom. However Miller's comments suggest his actions this season might not lead to the best outcomes for his character.

"His adventure to keep himself alive certainly is not always an adventure that's going to keep the people around him alive," he said.

Miller said Commander Lawrence will cross paths with June, but did not give many details on what that will mean.

And just like you can't shake the memory of Whitford as Adam Sandler's arch-rival in Billy Maddison, it's difficult to forget that Commander Lawrence was also one of the architects of Gilead's economy and, by extension, its many horrors.

Commander Lawrence will be an interesting character this season. ( Hulu )

"He's certainly not an angel, and we don't know very much about him," Miller said in an interview with Hollywood Reporter.

"He can be helpful, or not so helpful. That's the kind of character we like, someone who is interesting and consistent, but in the end, unpredictable in some really basic and important ways."

It seems like there's a chance this eccentric, art-appreciating commander has become so repulsed by his creation that he brings down the oppressive system, but we're wary of whether his turnaround will make things better.

"Better", as we know, does not mean better for everyone.

The Handmaid's Tale arrives on Thursday, June 6: SBS will air the first two episodes from 8.30pm; the first three episodes will be available for streaming on SBS On Demand.