Blessed be the fruit, ’cause Hulu has set the premiere date for Season 3 of “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
The Elisabeth Moss-led drama will return with three new episodes at once on Wednesday, June 5, the streamer announced during the Television Critics Association press tour Monday. Subsequent episodes will be released every Wednesday.
After the premiere date announcement was made, Hulu’s Senior Vice President of Originals, Craig Erwich, told reporters during his executive session the decision to push the start of Season 3 to June — which will make it ineligible to compete in the 2019 Emmys — has nothing to do with when “Game of Thrones” comes back with its final batch of episodes — which will be eligible. You can read his explanation of Hulu’s choice here.
Per Hulu, the 13-episode third season of “The Handmaid’s Tale” is driven by June’s (Moss) resistance to the dystopian regime of Gilead and her struggle to strike back against overwhelming odds. Startling reunions, betrayals, and a journey to the terrifying heart of Gilead force all characters to take a stand, guided by one defiant prayer: “Blessed be the fight.”
The Season 2 finale of the Bruce Miller-created drama, titled “The Word,” ended with Offred/June making a giant sacrifice, by giving her baby girl Holly/Nicole to Emily (Alexis Bledel) to look after, rather than joining the two on their free ride out of the dystopian society. Instead, the mother of two decides to go against the plan carried out with help from a ton of Marthas on Wednesday’s episode and stay behind.
Along with Moss and Bledel, the series stars Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Madeline Brewer, Ann Dowd, O-T Fagbenle, Max Minghella, Samira Wiley and Bradley Whitford.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” is created, executive produced and written by Bruce Miller. Moss, Warren Littlefield, Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears, Ilene Chaiken, Eric Tuchman and Mike Barker also executive produce the MGM Television series.
Watch the trailer for Season 3 here.
Here are the 2019 premiere dates Hulu unveiled Monday at TCA:
“Shrill” – Wednesday, March 15
“The Act” – Wednesday, March 20
“Into the Dark: I’m Just F—ing With You” – Friday, April 5
“Ramy” – Friday, April 19
“Into the Dark: All That We Destroy” – Friday, May 3
“Ask Dr. Ruth” – Friday, May 10 (20+ market theatrical release on Friday, May 3)
“Catch-22” – Friday, May 17
“The Handmaid’s Tale” Season 3 – Wednesday, June 5