The Handmaid’s Tale returned with season 4 to Channel 4 last night (Sunday June 20, 2021) after almost two years away – and we have some burning questions after watching episode one of series four.
The dystopian drama inspired by Margaret Atwood’s novel picked up where series three left off.
The finale of the third season saw June, the hero of the resistance, take a bullet to the stomach after helping 86 children to escape Gilead.
Here’s what we want to know after watching The Handmaid’s Tale series four episode one entitled Pigs.
***Warning: contains spoilers from episode one ahead***
Read more: The Handmaid’s Tale: The meaning behind Gilead’s most common phrases
1. What’s June’s next move?
Series four kicked off with typically palpitating scenes – June bleeding from the stomach, being ‘operated on’ to try to stop infection.
Of course, these are Handmaids on the run without any medication or means to help her.
Hence, hero June (Elizabeth Moss) has her wound cauterized – not for the squeamish!
Luckily, June and her Handmaids manage to reach a safe house at a farm.
But it soon becomes clear they aren’t as ‘safe’ as they hoped…
After a period of well-needed convalescence and a near escape from death after developing sepsis, June resolves her plans to attack the heart of Gilead.
But how? And will she get caught?
2. Who is Commander Keyes?
Mrs Esther Keyes (Mckenna Grace), the wife of Commander Keyes, welcomes June and the other Handmaids to a safe house in episode one of series four.
When June is finally able to get out of bed while slowly recovering from her injury, she speaks to teenage Mrs Keyes for the first time, realising just how young she is.
Several men have abused and raped her under the orders of her elderly husband, she reveals.
Commander Keyes seems to be oblivious to the fact he is harbouring the resistance movement.
Does he have dementia? Is he a threat to June – or the other way around?
Read more: The Handmaid’s Tale season 4: How many episodes and will there be a fifth series?
3. What will happen to Fred and Serena Waterford?
Fred and Serena are currently in the custody of Canadian authorities after being arrested.
US government official Mark Tuello (Sam Jaeger) informs them about the successful plan to transport over 80 children from Gilead to Canada.
Will Canada punish Fred and Serena for the atrocities they committed in Gilead?
Or will they find a way to break free and pursue revenge on June?
4. Is it torture porn?
Some American viewers accused the series of veering into torture porn territory.
Although a man (a rapist) is murdered in episode one, it is not shown.
Viewers know The Handmaid’s Tale is savage…
Eyes have been plucked, tongues cut out, and genitals mutilated.
We’ve watched a pregnant June be shackled and electrocuted following multiple rapes.
And in one traumatic sequence, a woman watched her lover hanged.
The fact is, the plot tells the fictional tale of a cruel patriarchy in America.
It has to be brutal in its very nature.
5. Is Esther going to become June’s surrogate daughter?
At the end of series four episode one, one of Esther Keyes’ rapists trespasses on the farm.
June gives orders to tie him up in the farmhouse.
She encourages Esther to kill him.
Covered in blood, Esther later curls up with June in bed.
It’s unclear whether June is hallucinating about her estranged daughter when she tells Esther “I love you too Banana” – a nickname she had for her own daughter Hannah.
Is June making Esther a surrogate daughter or is she delirious?
6. Will June ever be reunited with her daughters?
June’s youngest child, Nichole, has been taken to Canada away from Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) and Serena Waterford (Yvonne Strahovski).
Her eldest daughter Hannah (Jordana Blake) remains in Gilead, having been adopted by another family and given a new name.
We know Nichole is safe.
But will June ever get close enough to Hannah to save her? And will she want saving?
7. What side is Nick on?
June’s former lover Nick reappears in episode one.
But he is in a more favourable position that June – being a man and all.
He is now higher up in the vile patriarchy – and one of the men who imprisons Commander Lawrence.
However, viewers will be hoping that Nick is working under duress.
Will he come good in the end?
8. Will there be war?
Fred discovers more than 80 children have escaped Gilead.
He warns Mark that the children being taken from Gilead will start a war between the nation and Canada.
Would would a war do to Gilead?
The Handmaid’s Tale continues on Sundays at 9pm on Channel 4.
What do you think of The Handmaid’s Tale season 4 so far? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.