As you may or may not be aware, a sequel series to The Handmaid's Tale called The Testaments has arrived on the 2026 TV schedule, with part of Season 1 now available to anyone with a Hulu subscription (and more episodes on the way). As I wasn't quite finished with the original series, I'd been putting off the new show until I could get caught up, which I now am. I've also since watched all six released episodes of The Testaments, and it got me thinking about people who might be hesitant to check out this show.
Maybe you've hesitated because you never watched The Handmaid's Tale, or because you fell behind on the Hulu series and aren't sure if you can jump into this new one without getting caught up. Heck, maybe you are caught up on all six seasons of THT, but this is the first you're hearing about The Testaments. If you fall into one of those three camps, I still think you can jump right into this show, though there are a few basic things you'll want to know.
I will be aiming to avoid major spoilers from both The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments, up until the final section, where you'll see a warning.
If You've Never Seen The Handmaid's Tale
Before we get into The Testaments, for those who haven't seen The Handmaid's Tale, here are a few key things to know about the setting and story.
- The Handmaid's Tale is based on a novel by Margaret Atwood
- THT takes place in the not-so-distant future where fertility rates are drastically down.
- Most of America has been overthrown and turned into a totalitarian nation called Gilead.
- Patriarchy is an understatement here, as men hold all of the power. Even the Wives and Daughters of the most elite families are forbidden to do things like read and write, or be included in the running of things outside of their own household.
- Religion and politics are all twisted together in pretty much every part of Gilead life.
- Married couples seeking and unable to conceive will regularly rape their Handmaid in a ritualistic ceremony in hopes of making her pregnant. If she bears a child, they keep the baby and raise it as their own.
- Unable to escape to Canada with her husband and their daughter, June (Elisabeth Moss) is forced to be a Handmaid. The series begins with her already serving this role, but it gradually shows us events leading up to it.
- There are people on both sides of the Gilead-Canada border working to try to dismantle Gilead, including the resistance group known as Mayday.
THT is rated TV-MA and includes some extremely disturbing and violent scenes, including gun-related violence and sexual assault.
What The Testaments Is About
While the original series focuses on June and the other characters in her life, including her fellow handmaids, the people working in secret to try to take down Gilead, and the people in charge of Gilead, The Testaments jumps forward in time to focus on Chase Infiniti's character -- June's daughter Agnes (née Hannah) -- who has been raised almost entirely in this new society. Though Agnes is still very young, she's on the brink of being married off, which is the goal for a woman of her age and status.
Lucy Halliday plays Daisy, who comes into the story as a "Pearl Girl," a teen who's joining Gilead's society as an outsider (in Daisy's case, she's a Canadian claiming to seek a better life for herself in Gilead).
The Testaments Will Spoil You On Events From The Handmaid's Tale
One spoiler from The Handmaid's Tale that's impossible to avoid is the fact that Gilead still exists, but there are other things in The Testaments that unavoidably give away events and outcomes from the original series, simply by the existence of returning characters and the things we learn about their backstories.
As of this writing, we're six episodes into The Testaments (a new episode drops each Wednesday), and there are already key characters from the original series that appear, Agnes among them. I can't say with certainty that this will continue to be the case, or that the THT spoilers will get even bigger with more returning characters, but it seems highly likely. In short, this show is going to spoil you on The Handmaid's Tale, which only really matters if you plan to go back and watch the original series.
While I think The Testaments would be more satisfying from the start if you've seen the original series, the new show is doing a good job so far of reintroducing us to this world at a new starting point. So if it sounds like your kind of show, you should be able to start here. Like THT, The Testaments is also rated TV-MA and contains some very disturbing and violent content.
If You're Not All The Way Caught Up On The Handmaid's Tale
This was me up until recently, when I finally watched the last season of The Handmaid's Tale. I had seen most of the series but fell behind on Season 6 until last week. Though I was already spoiled on the fate of a few characters due to reading The Testaments, I couldn't bring myself to skip the end of The Handmaid's Tale just to start the new series. I'm glad I didn't, too, because I ended up really enjoying the final season of THT, and feeling my appreciation of the show refreshed in anticipation of The Testaments. So if you're mostly caught up on the original series, I do recommend finishing it.
If you're not interested in returning to The Handmaid's Tale, and if you're ok with being spoiled on some things about how THT ends, you should be able to jump right into The Testaments. As I mentioned in the previous section, so far, the new series has been a reintroduction to the world.
If You're All Caught Up On The Handmaid's Tale
Obviously, there's no reason you can't dive right into The Testaments if you've seen all of THT. (Vague Handmaid's Tale spoilers ahead!) If you're on the fence about watching it, I'll get a bit more specific here, as a fan of the original series.
The Testaments is more than just a continuation of June's story through the perspective of her daughter; it's also a look inside the state of Gilead in the aftermath of the events of THT.
The original series focused mainly on June as a Handmaid, while this one really dives into what it's like for the young women being raised and trained to be good wives of Gilead. We got a glimpse of that with Sydney Sweeney's character Eden in Season 2 of THT, when she was married to Nick, despite their disturbing age difference. June and Luke's daughter Hannah is right on the brink of being of age to be married -- well, of age by Gilead's low standards, anyway. As unsettling as it is to get a closer look at this corner of Gilead's society, the stakes here seem especially high when considering we're seeing Agnes/Hannah coming of age in a world her parents tried to save her from.
We knew from the end of The Handmaid's Tale that this story wasn't finished. If you're ready to see what happens next, check out The Testaments on Hulu.
If you're still on the fence about watching The Testaments, check out what the critics have said about the new series.
