Spoiler Warning: The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4

The fifth season of The Handmaid’s Tale is among one of the most anticipated television series of the year if it streams in 2022. Especially after the grisly and satisfying ending of season four and one Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes). Details on the fifth and potentially final season of the hit Hulu dystopian series have been scant, with not much more than an announcement that it is happening soon.

The Handmaid’s Tale was renewed for a fifth season back in 2020, months before season four premiered on Hulu. Like many series and films, The Handmaid’s Tale languished in a COVID-induced state of limbo as the world waited the virus out. A fourth season was delivered that felt like it was building to something big, especially with the gruesome dispatching of a key figure of the totalitarian regime of Gilead.

Shows like Breaking Bad ended while they were still in peak form and left audiences on a high, if not frustrated and wanting more. On the other hand, shows like Dexter plodded on past their expiration date, with some mediocre seasons and episodes dragging down the legacy of the series. Hopefully, season five is it for The Handmaid’s Tale. Between Waterford’s demise and the war of Chicago, they’ve left the series primed to culminate and end with a bang for the upcoming slate of episodes.

Here’s everything we know so far about what’s to come.

Season 5: The Plot

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There are next to no details on the plot of season five of The Handmaid’s Tale. But some key events from season four will likely roll over to flesh out the latest slew of episodes. Namely, the group beating death and wall hanging of Fred Waterford.

After the murder of Waterford, there’s no going back for June and company. The plot of season five will hopefully revolve around rising tensions boiling over between Gilead and the refugee haven of Canada in the wake of Waterford’s murder. Diplomacy between the countries is shaky at best, so taking Waterford off the board in such a bloody and humiliating fashion won’t lead to peace among nations.

Then there’s the ever-raging and escalating conflict between freedom fighters and Gilead’s army in the former city of Chicago. A final showdown between both factions has been in the cards for a while, with the ill will mounting more as each episode went by.

The Chicago conflict has been increasingly featured on the show, which may suggest it could play a prominent role in the finale of The Handmaid’s Tale. It started with just references to “what’s going on in Chicago” and the Chicago conflict, jumping to June being pulled from the campaign’s rubble in season four. Adding in more of the existing battle could shift the series to a more action-oriented tone, possibly giving us an all-out war to finish off the show and determine the fate of Gilead and everyone currently trapped within its fascist borders.

Serena Joy could play into the story heavily as her situation is all kinds of precarious. She’s pregnant, alone, and adrift in Canada with nothing left of her husband but Fred’s severed, wedding ringed finger in the mail. She’s facing possible deportation back to Gilead and whatever awful plans the regime has for her.

Season 5: The Cast

The core cast is expected to return for the fifth season of The Handmaid’s Tale. This includes lead Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne, Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy, and Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia. Rounding out the returning cast will be Madeline Brewer as Janine, Samira Wiley as Moira, Max Minghella as Nick, O-T Fagbenle as Luke, and Bradley Whitford as Commander Lawrence. Joseph Fiennes is expected to make a comeback via flashback scenes, according to series showrunner Bruce Miller.

In an Entertainment Weekly interview, Miller said, “…certainly I think we’ll see Fred again. I mean, I would die if I didn’t see Joe [Fiennes] again. He’s the most lovely man, generous actor, such a professional. He is the nicest man stuck playing the most horrible person.”

Additional cast members include characters introduced in season four of the series, Zawe Ashton as Oona and McKenna Grace as Mrs. Esther Keyes.

A notable departure comes with Alexis Bledel exiting the series ahead of its fifth season. In a statement, Bledel said, “After much thought, I felt I had to step away from The Handmaid’s Tale at this time. I am forever grateful to [creator] Bruce Miller for writing such truthful and resonant scenes for Emily, and to Hulu, MGM, the cast and crew for their support.”

Bledel had portrayed the handmaid Ofglen (Emily pre-Gilead) from the start of the series. Bledel’s absence will be tough to overcome as her harrowing journey from brutal servitude in Gilead to escapee with freedom in Canada provided a chunk of the series’ emotional punch. The departure of Emily will leave a large void for The Handmaid’s Tale to fill in its fifth season and going forward, should a season six come into play.

Release Date

There is no release date set for season five of The Handmaid’s Tale. The series is currently filming and was “halfway through” in early May, according to Elisabeth Moss. “It’s going really well, we’re halfway through,” Moss told Drew Barrymore in a recent interview. “I will say that it’s a very big season. We’ve been on location a lot. We’ve been in studio very little…” The best we can hope for is late 2022 for a release, but we can’t rule out early 2023.