With The Testaments will adapt the 2019 novel, picking up where season 6 left off as a new trio of characters set out to bring down Gilead.
In The Testaments, fifteen years have ed since June Osborne (Elizabeth Moss) first arrived at the Waterfords' home, as Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) continues her duties, using her position to become the Mayday resistance's latest agent after realizing the error of her devotion to Gilead's ways. As her mission continues, the children of June, Nichole (Lucy Halliday) and Hannah, now named Agnes (Chase Infiniti), find their way into the fight. However, with where The Handmaid's Tale season 6 left Nichole, the series may already have to write a new story.
The Handmaid's Tale Didn't Set Up Nichole's Story In The Testaments
Nichole Is Left In A Very Different Setting
The Handmaid's Tale season 6's ending saw June decide to continue the fight against Gilead within the nation itself, leaving Nichole in the care of her mother, Holly (Cherry Jones), who is making her way to the recently-liberated Boston with the child. Both she and Luke (O-T Fagbengle) are dedicating themselves to the cause, wanting to ensure that the regime can never harm another woman ever again. As a result, the series has already deviated significantly from The Testament's originalstarting point.
In The Testaments novel, Gilead is still in control of Boston, and Nichole is being raised in Toronto by an adoptive family of Mayday operatives under the alias of Daisy. When her adoptive parents are assassinated by Gilead operatives, Mayday operatives quickly usher her into hiding and reveal her true identity, before tasking her with a mission to journey into Gilead and recover vital intel. This mission brings the young girl into with her half-sister, as they both commit to ending the horror and carrying on their mother's work.
How The Handmaid's Tale's Season 6 Finale Sets Up The Testaments
The Handmaid's Tale has come to an end with the season 6 finale, with the finale setting up The Testaments sequel series in several major ways.
However, while The Testaments was set up partially through Lydia's fate, there are already many major discrepancies between the novels. Alongside Nichole's guardianship and whereabouts, the US Government's attempts to reclaim the country pushed Hannah's adoptive family to D.C., rather than their remaining in Boston. As such, the two new characters will be beginning in far different circumstances.
Nichole, AKA Daisy, Is Confirmed For The Testaments
The Series Is Upfront About The Character's Identity In Promotion
From casting confirmations for The Testaments, it is clear that the series will likely not rely on the hidden identity plot point. When Halliday was cast as Nichole, her identity was clearly given in the announcement, rather than obscuring her identity under the Daisy alias. From this, it is clear that the showrunners and Atwood will not be relying on the mystery of the protagonists during the television adaptation, instead jumping in where the original series left off.
How Nichole's Testaments Story Could Work After The Handmaid's Tale
New Television Series Developments Could Add New Context To Explain Certain Book Plot Points
While there are major differences from the novel it is based on, the development of The Testaments novel was handled in coordination with the then-ongoing The Handmaid's Tale TV series. Because of this, likely, the showrunners have already been able to for how it will approach The Testaments within their radically reshaped setting. However, there are still several ways that the series may be able to for this status quo.
The Handmaid's Tale season 6 also established a potential additional reason for Nichole's targeting through the fate of her biological father Nick Blaine
Though Holly's last interaction with June suggests that her mother will make sure that her daughter knows about her mother's bravery, something may happen to Holly that leaves her in the care of Mayday agents Neil and Melanie. With June an active participant in the campaigns against Gilead, it is possible the Daisy alias may be employed to keep her safe from vengeful Gilead agents, even if she already knows about her true self, with Holly's potential absence leading to this decision.
Every Handmaid's Tale Character Who Returns In The Testaments
The Testaments is Hulu's spin-off of The Handmaid's Tale, and here are all the characters that return in the novel (and hopefully the show).
The Handmaid's Tale season 6 also established a potential additional reason for Nichole's targeting through the fate of her biological father Nick Blaine (Max Minghella), who boarded the ill-fated Commander's flight after siding with Gilead. Before he left, Nick was an expecting father with Rose Blaine (Carey Cox), and had been urging her husband to be more active against June after almost losing their child. As such, with her losing her husband and father, Rose may have the perfect motivations for vengeance against her husband's former lover's child in The Testaments.
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The Handmaid's Tale
7/10- Release Date
- 2017 - 2025-00-00
- Network
- Hulu
- Showrunner
- Bruce Miller
Cast
Elisabeth MossJune Osborne / Offred / Ofjoseph
Serena Joy Waterford
WHERE TO WATCH
StreamingBUYThe Handmaid's Tale is a television adaptation of Margaret Atwood's novel, released in 2017. It is set in a dystopian future where a woman is compelled to live as a concubine under a strict fundamentalist theocracy.
- Directors
- Mike Barker, Kari Skogland, Daina Reid, Reed Morano, Floria Sigismondi, Jeremy Podeswa, Kate Dennis, Richard Shepard, Amma Asante, Christina Choe, Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Bradley Whitford, Dearbhla Walsh, Liz Garbus
- Writers
- Kira Snyder, Eric Tuchman, Yahlin Chang, John Herrera, Jacey Heldrich, Dorothy Fortenberry, Marissa Jo Cerar, Lynn Renee Maxcy
- Creator(s)
- Bruce Miller
- Producers
- Elisabeth Moss, Bruce Miller, Warren Littlefield, Daniel Wilson
- Seasons
- 6
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The Testaments
- Network
- Hulu
- Showrunner
- Bruce Miller
- Directors
- Mike Barker
- Writers
- Margaret Atwood
Cast
Ann DowdAunt Lydia
Rowan BlanchardShunammite
Mabel LiAunt Vidala-
Chase InfinitiAgnes
The Testaments explores the lives of young women in Gilead, a dystopian society, as they confront the oppressive conditions they were born into. With little memory of the world outside, they seek alliances to challenge their fate of servitude and fight for freedom and self-determination.
- Creator(s)
- Bruce Miller
- Producers
- Bruce Miller, Elisabeth Moss, Fran Sears, Shana Stein, Sheila Hockin, Steve Stark, Warren Littlefield, John Weber, Maya Goldsmith, Priscilla Porianda
- Seasons
- 1
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