‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ EPs Say Series Didn’t Caution Enough People Before Trump’s Return

While opening up about saying farewell “The Handmaid’s Tale” after six seasons, the show’s creative team said it felt the series didn’t warn people enough about the dangers of authoritarianism amid President Donald Trump’s contentious return to the White House.

“It’s shocking to me, when I think about when I joined the show, I had more rights as a woman than I have now,” co-showrunner and executive producer Yahlin Chang told TheWrap. “Leaving the show, we created this sort of cautionary tale, and I think we kind of failed, or we didn’t caution enough people, because we’re in even darker days now, which is unbelievable.”

It’s been nearly three years since Season 5 of “The Handmaid’s Tale” aired in November 2022. In the midst of that time frame, many fans and public figures feel the series, which features a totalitarian society that used to the United States wherein women are oppressed, abused and used to populate the nation, has become even more societally relevant. On June 24, 2022, the majority-Republican and partially Trump-appointed U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe. v. Wade legal fixture, wiping aways women’s federal constitutional right to an abortion.

In the first few months since returning to the Oval Office for a second term, Trump has launched a war on traditional, publicly and government funded media/news platforms, targeted DEI programs and has ordered the dismantling of the Department of Education, among several other controversial decisions as commander-in-chief.

While Chang says the crew wrapped up their writers room long before the 2024 Presidential Election, she says the growing possibility of a Trump 2.0 was felt across filming.

“As we got closer and closer to the election, the risk and the threat of something happening changed, and I think that affected everyone on production and the way we were making the show, and the seriousness with which everyone — from the gaffer to the prop master to the editors — felt working on this show,” Chang said. “It’s unmistakable that there are resonances, but what we try to do is tell stories about real people, and real people have flaws and they can act out of selfishness and cowardice and avarice… If you put the wrong people in power, you’re going to see that happen to a huge extent. That is also the story that we’ve been telling, and it is a very honest story.”

Though the series highlights themes that many feel are relatable today in American society, show creator Bruce Miller says he didn’t make any plans to tackle the show any differently after Trump’s second win.

“I think we tried not to approach it differently. I think we, as the people who are making it, are trying to be consistent, and what other people do with it after it comes into their house and into their lives is really up to them,” Miller explained.
“So what I try to do is really follow June and follow the characters, follow their story: what’s the next interesting thing that they would do? And not think about, what does the audience think? … I think one of the big things for me, personally, and my role in the show, is to keep my head down and not pay attention to any of that, and keep rereading “Handmaid’s Tale,” talking to Margaret, talking to Elizabeth Moss, making a TV show, and keeping my mind on that.”

Over the seasons, Moss’ responsibilities with “The Handmaid’s Tale” have expanded from star, to director to executive producer. But in Season 6, she gained a new title in her personal: mom. The actress says it was a “privilege” to be able to bring her child on set with her, and adds that she still hasn’t quite gathered her thoughts about saying goodbye to the series.

“We are very, very lucky that we are able to, and it’s very important to us, the family environment on set, making sure that the crew gets to go home to their family … Going back and looking at some of the earlier clips from earlier seasons, and going, ‘Wow, like, that person didn’t have kids. That person didn’t have kids. That person had kids,'” Moss shared, mentioning that she doesn’t “know yet” how it feels to be departing. “I don’t know a version of my life without this show. I’ve been doing this for nine years, and it’s been such a big part of my life. It’s been more of my time than people are aware of … It’s like the prep process, the post process … So I don’t know. I do think that I have things to look forward to that I’m excited about creatively and personally.”

The crew calls the farewell “sad and emotional,” and sparks memories of the show’s earliest beginnings for producer Warren Littlefield.

“It’s a show that’s been a part of my life for 10 years now, and the relationships, the bonds that we’ve formed are lifetime — they’re quite remarkable. I had never met Lizzie Moss. I was a fan, because she had done some really outstanding work in her career; I’d never met her,” Littlefield explained. “In a two hour phone conversation, when she was in New Zealand, we talked about the material and I said, ‘Look, I’m kind of busy. I’ve got stuff going on, and so do you. But this feels like it could be pretty powerful.’ Now, by the way, that was in Obama years, but it’s still— we were seeing in the world around us, the rise of the far right, the radical right, and we understood that human rights, women’s rights, were being compromised so many people’s rights, and we felt that it could be a thrilling, and maybe even an important show. So those relationships have been tremendous and then to have gone beyond, ‘Hey, we’re making a good TV show, we’re proud of it. We think it’ll stand the test of time,’ and then to carry that mantle of the resistance and being such a symbol of it, like…whoa.”

As the final season is set to land on Hulu on Tuesday, co-showrunner Eric Tuchman says he hopes it will inspire viewers to keep on in their fight for liberation

“I think the show has said what it needs to say,” Tuchman said. “But I do believe this season, especially I and I hope the audience really draw inspiration from the way that June and the other characters show such resilience and such courage and commitment to fight for their freedom to take down this oppressive system. If we leave people with that feeling of, never give up, keep fighting, I think that’s really a great legacy for the show.”

“The Handmaid’s Tale” premieres Tuesday, April 8, on Hulu.

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