This article contains spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale novel.
Blessed Be the Fruit Loops!
Ever since the series first premiered, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ worked to foster a silent language between June and the audience. Every glare and awkward pause gave us another glimpse into her psyche, immersing us deeper and deeper into her thoughts–until we were so in sync that she could relay everything she was thinking with a single look.
She spoke directly to us, allowing us to participate in events as they unfolded. We weren’t watching her. We were right beside her, sitting in the window seat in her room upstairs, or on the floor of the closet, tracing our fingers along the floorboards.
We felt her suffering, her fear, and isolation. When she was tense, we were tense. When she was crying, many of us cried too. We invested so much of ourselves into that role it became difficult to tell where June ended and we began.
Imagine having that connection severed mid-conversation, like suddenly losing a limb; she was there one moment and gone the next, and there was nothing we could do about it. That is the situation the fandom is facing right now.
At the time of writing this, it has been two full years–23 months, to be exact–since season 5 was released, and everywhere fans gather, it is obvious that they are feeling robbed. Everyone wants to know, where is the sixth season? What is the release date? Is it even coming?
Rest assured, we will see that glorious finale, but not until 2025.
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Fans Deserve Closure
There’s no sugarcoating it, people are upset, and they’re right to be. Some fans have been waiting for closure for more than 30 years. Margaret Atwood, the author of the original novel, is partially to blame for that.
It’s been said that Atwood has the power to see into the future. She doesn’t use tarot cards or crystal balls. Instead, she relies on her superior insight into human nature and how we interact with the world. She sees things for what they are rather than what we’d like them to be. Her novels are a warning, telling us that if we continue down the path that we’re on, we’ll dig our own graves.
The situations she’s foretold can take decades, even centuries to be resolved. A brave heroine simply isn’t enough. That’s why she has such a messy relationship with endings.
She’ll torment us, toss us into a hell of our own creation, and force us to live every single second of that pain–then, when we’re thoroughly traumatized by the experience, she’ll throw us a bone. Maybe, just maybe, if the stars align in perfect formation, things might get better.
It’s not fair. We need Gilead to burn. We cannot get comfortable in our skin until Offred is safe. But we never got to see that happen. Instead, she was abducted and forced into the back of a van, never to be heard from again.
Bruce Miller, showrunner of the series, took on ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ so he could rectify that issue. Now here we are, seven years since the release, stuck in an unbearable limbo.
Why is ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 6 Taking So Long?
We knew that season 6 would be delayed even before the season 5 finale. Both Moss and Miller have spoken about ending the show on their terms. They didn’t want to be pushed, and they felt lucky that they weren’t being forced to work around an impromptu cancellation.
They also spoke about wanting to take their time in production. ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ isn’t just another show. It’s a masterpiece homage to a literary classic with massive historical and political implications. Everything has to be perfect.
Initially we expected a release in the fall of 2024. But production was hit with a perfect storm–one thing after another–requiring them to push back filming.
Guild Strikes
The first delay began on May 2, 2023, when the Writers Guild of America, the group responsible for writing all major Hollywood productions, decided to go on strike.
Budgets were being cut, forcing writers to work twice as hard for less pay. Many were unable to earn a living wage; they were doing side gigs to make ends meet.
To make matters worse, executives were bent on replacing them with semi-coherent chatbots, ultimately eliminating the need for writers altogether. The technology was not viable–and it might never be–but they didn’t know that, and when they found out, they ultimately didn’t care. They just wanted to save money.
They seemed to believe they could wait the guild out. Their plan was to force them to go without work until they were so desperate that they had no choice but to come to the table.
Not long after that, SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) signaled that they were also unhappy with negotiations on their contracts.
SAG-AFTRA represents all actors and actresses that work on major Hollywood productions. When they announced that they were striking on July 14, they shut the industry down.
This was the first time that both guilds had gone on strike simultaneously since 1960. It was a historic event, and while it did have a major economic impact, many saw it as necessary to maintaining the integrity of the medium.
It was easy to see why. Executives insisted on replacing the vast majority of the guild with artificial inteligence. They planned on scanning their faces, paying them a one-time fee, and sending them on their way.
The guild is made up of thousands of members, including extras, and many of them–even faces we’d recognize–were already going without healthcare and a living wage.
During her speech announcing the strike, Fran Drescher, the guild’s president, spoke about a conversation she had with the AMPTP, which handled the other side of the negotiations process. They acknowledged that most of the actors guild would lose their jobs if their terms were met. They were also aware that a significant portion of the guild’s members would be unable to pay for housing if they were forced to strike, but they didn’t care.
Drescher saw the issue as a common man’s struggle, comparing the guild to the starving peasantry at the gates of Versailles. People were rightfully scared.
Even after hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, Hollywood executives held their ground, proving that they were willing to do anything–regardless of who they hurt–to prove a point and save a few pennies.
Both strikes went on for four months before reaching an agreement. But the guilds did manage to obtain sweeping protections from artificial intelligence as well as a satisfactory pay package, among other things. It was massive triumph for workers in the industry.
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ openly supported the strikes. They recognized that in order for production to continue ethically, the guilds would have to fight it out. But many members of the fandom were not so understanding.
Rumors Surrounding Elisabeth Moss
Elisabeth Moss completely dropped off the map while the strikes were underway. She was spotted briefly while filming her mini-series, ‘The Veil,’ in May of 2023. After that, she wasn’t seen until December when Page Six posted the following photographs.
She was filming on the set of her new thriller, SHELL, and rubbing her belly, which was visibly enlarged. It caused a stir.
In order to understand the impact of these photos, it’s important to understand Hollywood’s history with pregnancies. For decades, television shows would do anything and everything they could to keep filming without interruptions. Actresses would hide behind refrigerator doors. They’d dawn ridiculous outfits, or simply disappear.
Filming around them isn’t easy. There’s also the health of the actress to take into account. A pregnant woman can’t be expected to perform stunts or undergo the physical and emotional toll of playing their part.
More than a few shows have been canceled over this, so fans were understandably worried. There was always the chance that Elisabeth Moss would drop out altogether.
The rumors were quickly countered with news that Moss was wearing a pregnancy suit. Her character in the film was supposed to be pregnant as well, and she was said to have been in costume.
But that wasn’t true. Moss was in fact pregnant with her first child, and after the photos came out, there was no denying it. That’s probably why she agreed to do an interview on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live,’ where she spoke about the pregnancy and the direction of the series.
Naturally, everyone wanted to know the identity of the father. Nobody was even aware that Moss was in a relationship, especially since she was outside the public eye for so long. For all we knew, she could’ve been married, and she very well could be.
But Moss is very tight-lipped about the details of her life. The few times she has been pressured to talk about sensitive topics, she’s made her discomfort known. She doesn’t want to be subjected to scrutiny and gossip, and Hollywood has a way of tearing couples apart. She wasn’t about to drop names. We may never know who the father is.
Away in a Manger
Moss was not the first member of the cast to give birth. The actress who plays Serena Joy Waterford, Yvonne Strahovski, has three children, one born in 2018, another born in 2021, and another born on December 30, 2023–all during breaks from filming.
She did ask to take time to bond and cherish the first few months with her newborn. It’s uncertain whether or not this was cause for delay, but it is quite possible.
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 6 is Coming
The creators of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ have always drawn correlations between current events and the events in the series. They know it’s relevant, and just like Margaret Atwood, they see it as a warning. That’s why they’ve dedicated themselves to furthering the cause and promoting equality and freedom.
They’re not going anywhere. They’ve continued to field interviews and release news about the series. When it’s finished, they also plan on releasing a spin-off based on Atwood’s sequel, The Testaments. The franchise will continue to be a part of our lives for years to come.