Last Season of The Handmaid's Tale

When The Handmaid’s Tale premiered in 2017, I couldn’t imagine a world like Gilead. I watched the pilot with horror, thinking, “Well, this is terrifying—but thank goodness it’s fiction.”

Eight years later, I can imagine it. I can imagine it far too well.

That’s the most terrifying part. And that’s why I still can’t look away.

This show isn’t entertainment—it’s a warning. And I believe if it were premiering a year from now, we might be having a very different conversation about whether it would even be allowed to air.

I’ve followed every moment of The Handmaid’s Tale, not just because of the plot twists or production value (which are excellent), but because I’ve needed it. I’ve needed to see women resist, survive, and yes, sometimes lose. I’ve needed to see the fight play out onscreen, because it so often feels like it’s playing out in real life.

And I’ve needed Elisabeth Moss.

She has carried this show. Carried it with a face that never gives too much, but never gives too little. The role of June Osborne has to be one of the most emotionally demanding I’ve ever seen, and Moss has met it—scene after scene, year after year—with power, restraint, rawness, and sometimes, terrifying stillness. There’s so much happening behind her eyes that sometimes I’ve had to pause the episode just to breathe.

As we head into the final season on April 8, I went back—not to rewatch the whole thing, but to revisit the moments that brought us here. The scenes that shifted the story, and the scenes that shifted me. If you’re planning to watch Season 6 (and I hope you are), here are ten episodes worth revisiting. Not because they’re the flashiest. But because they mattered most in getting us to this moment.

No spoilers. Just the why.

My 10 Essential Episodes

Season 1, Episode 1: “Offred”

This is where it starts. Gilead is introduced not with fire and fury, but with quiet dread. Watching it again, I’m struck by how normal it all looks. That’s the point. That’s the danger.

Season 1, Episode 3

“Late”

This one haunted me. It shows us how Gilead came to be—not suddenly, but step by step. Rights taken away slowly, almost politely, until they were gone. It’s hard to watch now without seeing reflections of real life.

Season 2, Episode 6

“First Blood”

Here, the cracks start to show. It’s the beginning of something bigger—something harder. You can feel the pressure building. The idea of resistance becomes more than just a hope.

Season 2, Episode 13

“The Word”

This finale doesn’t wrap things up. It opens something new. I remember feeling angry and confused when I first watched it—and then realizing that was the point. It asked more of me. It asked me to keep going.

Season 3, Episode 6

“Household”

This one is about power. Who has it. Who pretends to. Who keeps it behind closed doors. It’s also visually stunning—Gilead’s architecture, both literal and symbolic, laid bare.

Season 3, Episode 13

“Mayday”

This is the plane episode. The children. The act of courage. The cost. It was the first time I let myself hope that the story might turn. It reminded me what sacrifice looks like—and why it matters.

Season 4, Episode 3

“The Crossing”

This episode is hard. It’s psychological torture. But it’s also a test of will, of truth, of self. It reminded me that pain doesn’t always look like bruises.

Season 4, Episode 10

“The Wilderness”

This is the commander’s scene. The one I’ve never stopped thinking about. It’s about revenge, yes—but also release. It’s about what happens when the system refuses to give you justice, so you take it.

Season 5, Episode 2

“Ballet”

There’s so much unsaid in this one. So much politics happening between women who know better than to speak plainly. It’s choreography in every sense—and it’s quietly devastating.

Season 5, Episode 7

“No Man’s Land”

This might be the most intimate episode of the series. Two women. One moment. Everything stripped away except the truth of female strength and vulnerability. It broke me—and then put something back in place.

So here we are. At the edge of the final chapter.

If The Handmaid’s Tale has taught me anything, it’s that democracy, freedom, and bodily autonomy don’t vanish with a bang—they vanish with silence. And this show refused to stay silent.

That’s why I’ve kept watching.

That’s why I will keep watching.

Because stories like this remind me how close we are.

And how much we still have to fight for.