This article contains spoilers forThe Testamentsseason 1, episodes 1-3.
Gilead is back. But not for long, if June Osborne has anything to say about it.
Elisabeth Mossmakes a stunning surprise appearance at the end of the first episode ofThe Testaments, the sequel to the series that made her an Emmy winner,The Handmaid's Tale.
But that's not all — her inveterate freedom fighter June, who was nearly killed countless times plotting the demise of the series' central fascist republic, returnsagainfor a thrilling two-hander with newcomer Lucy Halliday in episode 3, both of which debuted on Hulu on Wednesday.
Before the premiere, Halliday, her co-stars, Chase Infiniti, Ann Dowd, and Mabel Li, as well asThe Handmaid's TaleandThe Testamentsshowrunner Bruce Miller, tookEntertainment Weeklyinside Moss' grand return to Gilead. That is, her return to theHandmaid's-verse, more hell-bent than ever on bringing Gilead down.
The long road toThe Testamentsbegan even before acclaimedHandmaid's Talesource author Margaret Atwood published her sequel novel of the same name in 2019. "She started to work on the book and I had these little hints," Miller recalls of which characters to keep alive... or not.
The Handmaid's Taleseries was only in its third season, and June (spoiler alert for a seven-year-old novel) barely appears in Atwood'sTestaments. Still, Miller cites "many factors involved" when ultimately getting hisTestamentsoff the ground. The first he names — "whether Elisabeth Moss is available that week or not, decides whether she's in the show or not."
The Testamentsswitches focus from the abject degradation of the handmaids stratum of Gilead's repressive society, where misogyny is codified as law, to the rarefied echelon of the Commanders' daughters. These children of privilege, led by Infiniti's Agnes MacKenzie, haven't a clue what June's ilk endured four years before, where the events ofThe Handmaid's Taleended inThe Testaments' timeline.
But still, "having the journey of June felt — it could not end until certain things fell into place," Miller says. "That character really felt like she needed, still needs — she had work to do."
The Testamentstells the tale of Agnes' entwined fate with Daisy (Halliday), a rebellious young woman from Toronto who is spirited into Gilead as an agent of subversion after her parents are killed by republic operatives in a targeted bombing.
June, of course, does the spiriting.
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Daisy's parents are eventually revealed as part of Mayday — the resistance network that June joins and ultimately leads significant portions of by the close of theHandmaid's Tale. June is briefly seen at the end of episode 1, lingering in Daisy's parents' shop before the bombing. After the fallout from their deaths in episode 3, she takes Daisy under her wing, making her essentially into a mini-June.
"Elisabeth Moss is the embodiment ofThe Handmaid's Tale. So getting to share the screen with her is a privilege. I was acutely aware of that," Halliday says with earnest conviction. "I think I just found myself watching her a lot. Like, I'd sit in silence between takes, just watching her, because she knows everything about this world.
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"The more time I spent watching Elisabeth Moss, the more I realized just how important that feature of your work ethic actually is," she continues. "I'm realizing just how important it is as an actor to be fully prepared, and fully immersed in an environment and in a world and asking every question that you can ask. Because that's your duty in undertaking a role, to be as well-informed in portraying someone's life, and doing it to the best of your ability, and doing it justice."
If anyone knows how Moss works on camera, it's Dowd. For six seasons she played the imperious Aunt Lydia, head of the Aunts, the only faction of women in Gilead with any power, and with no compunction against turning it on their fellow woman. And for six seasons June gave it right back to her.
June ultimately prevails, which Dowd describes in characteristically riveting fashion: "We see her at the end ofThe Handmaid's Taleon her knees in full remorse, begging for forgiveness. In other words, what June Osborne has done is crush her, and Lydia does not push back and say, 'No, uh-uh, you don't understand me.' She allows herself and the walls around her to crumble."
Unfortunately for June, and honestly for Lydia too, they're built back up, fortified, and painted shades of blush and bashful inThe Testaments.Unlike Lydia, however, Dowd absolutely beams when discussing her old sparring partner.
"Oh God, that was such terrific news," the actress says, reflecting on learning of Moss' return. "I love Elisabeth. She has been the heart and soul ofThe Handmaid's Tale, and when she came to be our director, that was so extraordinary. She was hands-down remarkable. So Lizzie has a very special place in my heart, and always will. Any chance to reunite with her is a beautiful one."
Lydia's new whipping post, her second-in-command at Agnes and Daisy's elite girls' school, is Mabel Li's vicious Aunt Vidala. Li reflects that "as someone who was a fan ofThe Handmaid's Tale, when I watched [The Testaments] for the first time and Lizzie turns around, I was like, 'Oh, God.' Her presence is so palpable. It's so powerful. And we know what it means when she shows up somewhere — that resistance is happening."
"Yes," Dowd says, knowingly. "Mayday is there."
The Testamentspremieres new episodes Wednesdays on Hulu.
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