Burning Questions From Season 1 of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

The multi-award winning Hulu original series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” based on the novel by Margaret Atwood, is scheduled to return with its second season on Wednesday, April 25, and I am counting down the days.

The world is plagued by infertility in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” America is dismantled, taken over by a radical government, and renamed the Republic of Gilead. In Gilead, fertile women are forced to be handmaids for the commanders and their infertile wives, meaning they are raped and serve as surrogates. The story follows June, named Offred in Gilead, and her journey as a handmaid to Commander Fred Waterford and his wife Serena Joy.

The first season finale stayed true to the ending of the book, meaning anything is fair game in the second season. Below are the five most pressing questions I have after re-watching the first season of “The Handmaid’s Tale” in preparation of Season 2. Warning: watch Season 1 before you read ahead.

1. Where are they taking June? – Season 1 ended with June, played by the brilliant Elisabeth Moss, being taken away from the Waterford home in a scary black van. Audiences are left to assume that she is being punished for her refusal to ceremoniously stone another handmaid. We know, of course, that they can’t kill June – seeing as she’s the main character of the series – but we also know that the f***ed up rulers of Gilead are not beyond torture. The trailer for the second season teases at her freedom, but how she will break free from that kidnapping van? I’m hoping it happens in a Charlie’s Angels-esque montage where her girl gang spontaneously shows up in their red cloaks, revamped and sexy, and mow their oppressors down with machine guns.

2. Is June actually pregnant and is her baby daddy really Nick? – The only thing that saved June from Serena’s wrath at the end of Season 1 was her surprise pregnancy, the only proof of which was an at-home test purchased from the black market. Suspicious, I think yes. The humane part of me hopes to God that June isn’t pregnant and that a child won’t be brought into this dumpster fire of a dystopia. But the part of me that lives for drama hopes that she is pregnant and will have three daddies (Waterford, Nick, and Luke) fighting to raise that child. Secondly, I DEMAND A PATERNITY TEST. Toward the end of the season, the suspicion that Waterford was sterile became so intense that Serena “forced” June to have sex with Nick, Waterford’s driver and her secret lover, with the hope that maybe he could get the job done. However, this suspicion was never confirmed, meaning Waterford could actually be the father. Let’s be real, June was getting busy a ton during those last few episodes with both men.

3. Will there be a love triangle in Season 2? – We discover that Luke, June’s husband who we thought had been killed at the beginning of the season, is alive and well in Canada. June and Luke are made aware of each other’s continued existence, rekindling a hope that was for so long dead. Unfortunately, this news reaches June in the midst of her hot, heavy, and forbidden romance with Nick, whom she is *supposedly* now expecting a child with. If a reunion is in store for June and Luke in Season 2, I expect and strongly hope that there will also be a gladiator-style battle to the death between Luke and Nick, the kind that involves both gorgeous men to be greased up and half naked.

4. How will June be involved in Mayday? – June first hears about the rebellion group called Mayday from her first shopping partner, Emily. Toward the end of the season, June mustered up enough courage to get involved and was given the mission of transporting a package. The package contained letters, pleas for help, from handmaids across the new nation. But being involved in a rebellion is dangerous, and the penalty for being discovered is torturous death. The end of the first season left us with so many questions about Mayday – who’s in charge, who’s involved, and has June’s involvement been found out?

5. What will happen to Emily, Janine, and Moira? – One of the common themes in “The Handmaid’s Tale” is sisterhood and girl power. June’s friendship with these three women is her main source of support while living in Gilead, and their lives are in a constant state of danger. Audiences are left to assume that both Emily and Janine, both handmaids, will be put to death for their crimes at some point or another, yet the Season 2 trailer shows them working in what I assume are The Colonies, where problem people are sent to die by cleaning up radioactive waste. Moira, her friend from before Gilead was formed, was able to escape into Canada and was reunited with Luke at the end of Season 1, but something tells me she’ll be returning to Gilead on a rescue mission.

These questions that have haunted my dreams for nearly a year are burning to be answered, and I’m hoping that Season 2 of “The Handmaid’s Tale” will deliver. Until Wednesday, nolite te bastardes carborundorum. In other words, don’t let the bastards grind you down.