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THE HANDMAID’S TALE Season 2 Trailer Shows Offred Burning Down the Patriarchy

THE HANDMAID’S TALE Season 2 Trailer Shows Offred Burning Down the Patriarchy

If The Handmaid’s Tale season two first look photos appeared apocalyptic, the first trailer for the new season of Hulu’s award-winning drama is actually weirdly giving us a little bit of hope for Offred/June (Elisabeth Moss).

The streaming site debuted the first new footage of season two during the 2018 Winter Television Critics Association press tour early Sunday morning, and while the trailer opens with Offred looking absolutely emotionally destroyed with a muzzle over her mouth, it’s the end of the harrowing video that is actually kind of optimistic (in a very bleak way, of course, since this is The Handmaid’s Tale). The last shot of the trailer shows Offred literally burning something down with the most intense look of angry determination on her face that’s basically saying she’s done taking this shit laying down. Let’s just assume what she’s burning down with a match is the patriarchy, because honestly it’s about time she got her revenge for everything Gilead put her through: tearing her away from her family, forcing her into sex slavery, and taking away all of her basic human rights.

But there’s so much more in the trailer to parse other than our hopes for Offred. The footage also gives viewers their first in-depth look at the oft-mentioned but never-before-seen Colonies, the polluted and ravaged land to where people are exiled for punishment. If you thought Gilead was bad, it turns out there is a fate much worse out there, and Janine (Madeline Brewer) looks like she’s going to experience it all firsthand.

At least Moira (Samira Wiley) managed to get out. She’s seen in the trailer with Luke Bankole (OT Fagbenle), having escaped Gilead and reunited with him in Canada. But while relieved to finally have made it to freedom, she breaks down in tears, presumably thinking of all the other women who can’t and won’t be able to escape like she did.

As for the Waterfords, they’re only seen quickly in flashes at the beginning of the trailer, and their situation is chilling. Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) is shown first, alone and looking downright traumatized. Commander Waterford (Joseph Fiennes), however, looks so pleased with himself in a room full of men applauding, and that can’t mean anything good. What is he so happy about? And is that Commander Waterford about to execute a beaten, bloody and terrified man out in the woods? The man with the gun is blurry but it definitely looks like him.

The trailer also shows some more flashes of what life was like before Gilead came to be, with June happily with Luke and their child, a protest with someone holding up a “RESIST” sign (which is too real, y’all), as well as a shot of Offred and Nick (Max Minghella) stealing a moment to just hold each other in secret. And the fact that Ofglen (Alexis Bledel) is nowhere to be seen in the trailer at all is more than a little worrisome.

The Handmaid’s Tale season two will be 13 episodes long and will be shaped by Offred’s pregnancy and her ongoing fight to free her future child from the dystopian horrors of Gilead. “Gilead is within you” is a favorite saying of Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd). This season, Offred and all the characters will fight against–or succumb to–this dark truth. The Handmaid’s Tale will return for season two on April 25 with two new episodes, and subsequent episodes will be released every Wednesday on Hulu.

Based on the new season two trailer, who or what are you most worried about on The Handmaid’s Tale? Tweet me at @SydneyBucksbaum and let’s discuss!

Images: Hulu

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