‘The Testaments’ Showrunner Lifts the Lid on That Main Reveal

The Testaments has arrived, choosing up about 4 years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale with a (largely) new cast and a recent story set inside the familiar evils of Gilead. Hulu dropped the primary three episodes , “Treasured Flowers,” “Excellent Tooth,” and “Daisy,” which implies viewers have now been let in on one thing that The Testaments has been rigorously retaining below wraps.

Clearly, flip again now if you happen to haven’t watched the primary three episodes! However if you happen to’re all caught up in your Gilead re-entry and wish to see what The Testaments and The Handmaid’s Story creator Bruce Miller needed to say concerning the reveal, learn on.

She’s proper there on the very finish of the primary episode, in the course of the flashback to Daisy’s (Lucy Halliday) pre-Gilead life in Toronto: yep, that’s certainly June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss), the primary character in The Handmaid’s Story. Last we saw her, she was within the war-ravaged stays of the mansion the place she was compelled to be a Handmaid, getting began on writing down her unbelievable story.

There was very a lot a way of the struggle not being over for June, and as The Testaments progresses, we get extra glimpses of June and her persevering with work with the resistance group Mayday. Her look within the sequel sequence may really feel inevitable, however Miller and his staff didn’t wish to publicize June’s return forward of time and intentionally strove to maintain it secret.

“I used to be attempting to a minimum of retain among the enjoyable of the shock,” Miller instructed io9 at a current Testaments press day. “For the remainder of time, the spoiler shall be on the market. That is the one likelihood individuals have to look at it recent. And in order that’s a enjoyable factor … I don’t assume it is advisable to have watched The Handmaid’s Story in any respect or know what a Handmaid is to get pleasure from [The Testaments], hopefully. And I believe the character that June performs in The Testaments would even be a personality that might be very intriguing you probably have no concept who she is [at first].”

The June we meet in The Testaments has modified a bit since The Handmaid’s Story ended. “We’re attempting to construct up a ‘the place is she now’ [for June],” Miller defined. “She’s sort of a affected person individual when [before] she was so impatient. She doesn’t wish to have any battle; she’s conflict-averse, whereas earlier than she was very [conflict-driven]. So I didn’t wish to have you ever think about her story all collectively earlier than you noticed it. I’m simply hoping that I can provide individuals sort of a enjoyable reveal and a enjoyable story within the first three episodes. After which to really feel like she’s working from the skin, [once] you truly know who June is and what she can be doing as she’s pulling strings off display.”

With out moving into any spoilers for the yet-to-air episodes, the primary season feels very very like a gap chapter with extra story to comply with. Up to now, Hulu has solely confirmed one season of The Testaments, however Miller has hopes that gained’t be the tip.

“I’m attempting to be very sensible. In fact, on the artistic [side], I believe these guys are spectacular actors, and the performances are nice, and the tales are so wealthy that I may go on so long as they may hold the lights on,” he mentioned. “However I additionally really feel a accountability to attempt to make an ending for the story … I’m hoping that I’ve sufficient time to assume it via, however my sense is that—given the vagaries of tv—I’m considering between three seasons and 5 seasons and attempting to be versatile inside that creatively to construct an ending that individuals can really feel glad with.”

He’s additionally, he emphasised, nicely conscious that may not occur. “The enterprise simply doesn’t work that approach—they don’t inform you normally till it’s too late to pivot. However with that in thoughts, I’ll attempt very onerous to make it as satisfying as doable.”

The primary three episodes of The Testaments are streaming now on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.

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