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If you thought season 1 of The Handmaid’s Tale was depressing, we have some news for you: Season 2 looks even more harrowing than the first, thanks to what appear to be protests, mass killings, and utter desperation in the new full-length trailer released today by Hulu.
“Is this what freedom looks like?” asks Offred (played by Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss) at the start of the trailer.
“What will happen when I get out? There probably is no out,” she says in the voiceover, ominously. “Gilead is within you.”
What we see next is a flurry of images: the Waterfords arguing, with Commander Waterford accusing his wife, Serena Joy, of being too kind to Offred, giving her the impetus to run away; an unknown man threatening punishment on people who have been involved in the exodus; two people sinking in a pool with kettle bells shackled to their feet; a tense standoff in a forest; the wives of Gilead in a prayer along with their Handmaids; and a mass hanging of more than a dozen of the maids.
We also get a glimpse of Nick telling Offred that he is working to protect her and their unborn baby while Offred says she has to leave her previously thought-dead daughter behind while she flees. There’s a lot more to unpack (including finding out what happened to certain characters after their indiscretions in season 1), and it’s clear that season 2 is not only a departure from the Margaret Atwood-penned novel, but that it will be tackling bigger topics, perhaps even relating them to modern political issues.
“My name is June Osborne,” says Moss at the end. “And I am free.” Just how free, however, remains to be seen.
The Handmaid’s Tale returns — with appearances by Marisa Tomei, Cherry Jones, Bradley Whitford, and Clea DuVall — on April 25.
Will you be tuning into The Handmaid’s Tale next month? Let us know @BritandCo!
(photos via Hulu + Take Five/Hulu)
