Hulu Released The Handmaid’s Tale Season Two Trailer, And Things Are Looking Grim

The show that just took home the Golden Globe for Best Drama TV Series doesn’t come back until April, but Hulu recently dropped a teaser trailer for season two of The Handmaid’s Tale. Here’s a breakdown of what might be to come for Offred and company in season two, based on a cruel, less-than-90-seconds of footage. As is to be expected, below are spoilers for season one.

Some were skeptical that there was even going to be a season two of this series, because season one concluded roughly where Margaret Atwood’s incredible 1985 novel ended: With our main character, June/Offred (played in the series by Elisabeth Moss), being rescued (maybe?), and possibly pregnant. The ending is ambiguous, and don’t even get me started on the book’s epilogue, because there’s a lot of speculation around its meaning, too.

Like the book, season one of the show ended with June in the van, and it’s strongly implied that she’s carrying the chauffeur Nick’s (Max Minghella) baby. This brings us to season two, and some speculation about what we might expect, based on its new trailer.

Unsurprisingly, things in Gilead are looking dark. To set the tone, the trailer plays into the trend of using a melancholy rendition of an upbeat song (after Deadspin pointed it out, I can’t un-hear it everywhere). We get a slowed-down cover of Buffalo Springfield’s “Stop Children What’s That Sound” over haunting images of June in a scary face mask like we saw Alexis Bledel’s character wearing last season.

We also see a bleeding dude in the woods with the Commander (Joseph Fiennes), someone running through a field of dead crops (looks like the environment hasn’t improved), and a shot of Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) sitting in the window in a way that exactly mirrors how June sat in season one. Is she trapped, too? What does it all mean?

This season two promotional materials leave me with a lot of questions: Why is June covered in blood in this promo shot and possibly setting something on fire in the trailer? Who’s that guy in the woods at whom the Commander is pointing a gun? What did HE do? What’s the Martha in the Commander’s house going to do with the pile of letters June left her in season one?

There’s also a preview of what’s happening with June’s friend, Moira (Samira Wiley), and her husband, Luke (O. T. Fagbenle), up in Canada. While those two are in safe territory, they look pretty distraught, so I wonder if they’re going to get some bad news in the second season.

I won’t say I’m looking forward to season two, because it’s a hard watch, but season one fascinated me throughout. Too bad we’ll have to wait until April 25 to get some answers to these questions and more.