Premiering on Hulu in April 2017, The Handmaid’s Tale Season 1 adapts Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel into a chilling contemporary narrative, centered on June Osborne’s (Elisabeth Moss) struggle within the totalitarian state of Gilead. Bruce Miller’s critically acclaimed vision swept the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards with eight wins, including Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actress for Moss, earning praise for its timely exploration of reproductive rights, religious fundamentalism, and female agency.
Set in a world ravaged by a global fertility crisis, the story unfolds in what was once the United States, now reshaped into the theocratic nation of Gilead, where June—renamed Offred as a Handmaid—navigates a brutal new reality. Through her eyes, the series weaves Gilead’s oppression with flashbacks to society’s violent collapse, expanding beyond Atwood’s novel to include parallel storylines and secondary characters that deepen its portrayal of systemic control, the rise of totalitarianism, and the stirrings of resistance. Critics and audiences lauded its haunting relevance to modern political discourse, cementing its place as a cultural touchstone.
Gilead’s New Normal
The narrative The Handmaid’s Tale season 1 opens with Offred, a Handmaid named after her assigned Commander, Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes). Her primary role in the household is to bear children through a ritualistic process called “the Ceremony,” during which Serena Joy Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski), the Commander’s wife, symbolically participates by holding her down while Fred attempts to impregnate her. The household also includes Nick Blaine (Max Minghella), Fred’s driver and secretly an Eye (a member of Gilead’s secret police), and Rita Blue (Amanda Brugel), a Martha who serves as a domestic servant.
In this society, Handmaids must travel in pairs, and Offred’s assigned partner is Ofglen (Alexis Bledel), who initially appears deeply devout. During one gathering, the Handmaids are compelled to participate in the execution of a man accused of raping a pregnant Handmaid and causing the death of her unborn child. Later, Ofglen secretly warns Offred about the presence of an Eye within the Waterford residence.
Through flashbacks, we learn that Offred was once June Osborne, who was captured while attempting to escape to Canada with her husband, Luke Bankole (O-T Fagbenle), and daughter, Hannah (Jordana Blake). She was taken to the Red Center, where Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) indoctrinated her into becoming a Handmaid. During this time, another prisoner, Janine Lindo (Madeline Brewer), defied authority and suffered severe punishment: the removal of her right eye. In the present, June silently reinforces her determination to survive and rescue her daughter.
During a shopping trip, June and Ofglen begin speaking candidly about their pre-Gilead lives. Ofglen reveals her true identity as Emily Malek and her involvement in a resistance movement called Mayday. She encourages June to join but is later replaced by another Handmaid after being arrested for “gender treachery.” Nick warns June about associating with Emily, implying she could bring danger to June through her resistance activities.
The narrative then shifts to a birth ceremony at Commander Warren Putnam’s (Stephen Kunken) house, where Janine delivers a baby girl named Angela (though Janine insists on calling her Charlotte). Naomi Putnam (Ever Carradine), the Commander’s wife, performs a symbolic birthing ritual behind her. After the healthy infant is immediately given to Naomi, Janine weeps in the company of her fellow Handmaids.
Resistance Begins to Emerge
June attends a private meeting with Fred, which surprisingly involves nothing more than a game of Scrabble before his departure for a Washington meeting. The next morning, June’s eagerness to share information with Emily turns to dismay when she discovers her partner has been replaced by another Handmaid. She learns that Emily was charged with “gender treachery” for having a romantic relationship with a Martha. While Emily’s fertility spares her life, leading to reassignment, the Martha is executed by hanging. Emily underwent forced female genital mutilation (FGM) as Gilead’s punishment for same-sex relationships, designed to remove physical pleasure.
June faces interrogation by an Eye and Aunt Lydia regarding her connection to Emily. Aunt Lydia administers shock punishment for June’s defiance and quoting scripture, but Serena intervenes, believing June might be pregnant. Once June reveals she is not pregnant, Serena locks her in her room for two weeks. During this isolation, June becomes disoriented and retreats to a closet where she discovers the Latin phrase Nolite te bastardes carborundorum scratched into the wall. Rita later finds June unconscious on the floor and, concerned about the upcoming Ceremony, reports the incident.
Serena arranges a medical examination for June before the Ceremony, but Fred proves unable to perform, rejecting even Serena’s attempts to assist. That evening, during another Scrabble session, June questions Fred about the Latin phrase and learns it was carved by the previous Offred, who had died by suicide. June strategically uses this information to imply she might follow the same path if her confinement continues, which successfully leads to her release.
After repeated failed conception attempts, Serena suggests an alternative: June should perform the Ceremony with Nick instead of Fred. With both June and Nick’s agreement, Serena escorts June to Nick’s quarters and waits outside while they complete the act. During a subsequent official Ceremony, Fred’s inappropriate touching of June’s thigh prompts her to confront him in his office. Fred apologizes but justifies the suffering of people like Emily as necessary sacrifices for their “better world”.
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June confronts Nick, who confirms he is indeed working as an Eye. At a bustling market, June observes Emily’s striking and bold defiance as she swiftly commandeers an unattended vehicle, fatally striking a guard before being apprehended and swiftly taken away in a ominous black van. Having recently learned about Emily’s involvement with Mayday, June finds herself inspired by this courageous act of resistance. Later that night, seeks out Nick for an intimate and passionate encounter.
Beyond Gilead’s Borders
In the following weeks, Gilead prepares to host Mexican trade delegates, and June receives strict instructions to present her best behavior during their visit to the Waterford home. She is startled to discover that the Mexican ambassador, Mrs. Castillo (Zabryna Guevara), is a woman. When questioned about her experiences, June fabricates contentment in her role. During the same visit, the ambassador questions Serena about her beliefs, revealing that Serena had authored a book titled A Woman’s Place on domestic feminism—an ideology now ironically forbidden in Gilead, where women are prohibited from reading.
June’s horror mounts as she realizes the true purpose of the trade negotiations: the export of Handmaids themselves as commodities. The following morning, June desperately reveals Gilead’s brutal reality to Mrs. Castillo, pleading for assistance. Though the ambassador expresses sympathy for June’s plight, she explains that Mexico is also suffering from a fertility crisis and views Gilead’s Handmaids as a necessary solution despite its ethical implications. Her pragmatic stance highlights the global desperation surrounding fertility. However, her assistant, Mr. Flores (Christian Barillas), provides June with life-changing news: her husband, Luke, is alive and safe in Canada. He offers to deliver a message from her to Luke.
Through flashbacks, the rise of Gilead unfolds. Serena and Fred were early participants in the movement, with Serena serving as a passionate conservative activist who contributed significant ideas through Fred’s voice. Despite her intellectual contributions, she was discouraged from speaking publicly due to her gender. The transformation began with women’s systematic disenfranchisement—mass firings and frozen bank accounts—followed by armed militants occupying cities. Despite helping engineer this oppressive society based on her conservative ideology, Serena struggles with her prescribed role as a Wife, revealing her disillusionment with the reality of living under the very system she helped create.
The narrative reveals June’s violent separation from her husband Luke Bankole and their daughter Hannah during their escape attempt. Though shot during their capture, Luke survived with help from resistance fighters heading to Canada. During their boat evacuation, Gileadan forces opened fire, killing several members of their group; however, Luke narrowly escaped and eventually found refuge in Toronto’s Little America district. At the U.S. Consulate in Toronto when Luke receives June’s handwritten message: “I love you so much. Save Hannah.” The confirmation of his wife’s survival overwhelms him with emotion.
Defiance and Final Consequences
One evening, while Serena is away, Fred visits June’s room, dressing her in cosmetics and fine clothes before taking her to Jezebel’s under the pretense of rewarding her loyalty. His actions reveal his desire to assert control while blurring boundaries between power and intimacy. There, June is shocked to encounter her old friend Moira Strand (Samira Wiley), whom she had presumed dead. Their friendship predated Gilead, and both had been captured and sent to the Red Center for Handmaid training.
Moira had previously escaped the Red Center using a sharp object to threaten an Aunt and fled to a Boston safe house but was eventually caught and forced to work at Jezebel’s. Despite June’s encouragement, Moira appears resigned to her fate. The following morning, Nick ends his clandestine relationship with June, citing the danger of their involvement. Determined to show solidarity with future occupants of the room, she etches “You are not alone” into the closet wall despite Nick’s rejection.
June expresses interest in the resistance movement Mayday to Rita, who she discovers is connected to the underground network, and receives instructions from them to retrieve a package containing communications or supplies essential for the resistance movement from Jezebel’s bar. Though she convinces Fred to return to Jezebel’s, they head straight to a room, preventing her from completing the task. Fred invites Moira to join them, and despite her initial resistance, she later agrees to retrieve the package, which June eventually receives through the butcher.
After being separated from her daughter during the formal handover ceremony, Janine becomes increasingly unstable. She later takes Angela from the Putnam home and threatens to jump from a bridge with the baby in her arms. Though persuaded by June to surrender Angela safely, Janine ultimately leaps into the water herself. She survives but falls into a coma. Warren faces punishment for his inappropriate relationship with Janine and is publicly sentenced to have his left arm amputated. Sometime later, after Janine recovers from her coma, Aunt Lydia orders the Handmaids to stone her for endangering Angela’s life.
After reconnecting with June at Jezebel’s and reflecting on her past life, Moira finds renewed determination to escape. Reinvigorated by this encounter, she kills a client at Jezebel’s, steals his clothes and car, and escapes Gilead, crossing into Canada where she receives asylum and reunites with Luke. Back in Gilead, Serena discovers Fred’s visits to Jezebel’s with June and lashes out violently.
Several weeks after her encounters with Nick, a pregnancy test reveals June is expecting, and Serena confronts Fred, telling him he is too weak to be the father and revealing that she arranged for Nick to impregnate June. She then forces June into a car to see Hannah from a distance, a chilling threat to ensure the baby’s safe delivery, while Nick shares a tender moment with June over her pregnancy.
Later, Aunt Lydia orders the Handmaids to stone Janine for endangering Angela’s life, but June drops her stone first, sparking a collective defiance as the others follow suit. The failed execution results in the Handmaids being sent home without immediate punishment, creating an uneasy tension as they await potential consequences. Following the Handmaids’ collective defiance at the stoning, armed guards arrive at the Waterford home for June, though it remains unclear whether their arrival is connected to the failed execution or for another purpose entirely. Nick urges her to comply, assuring her safety as she steps into the black van, reflecting: “I have no choice and so I step up into the darkness within.”
