<Tr> <Td_colspan="5"> This episode begins with a flashback to when June was first captured and sent to the red center, receiving her first indoctrination lesson from Aunt Lydia . Serena discovers the trips to Jezebel's and strikes Offred in anger before forcing her to take a pregnancy test, which is positive . Serena then directs her anger at her husband, telling him about the pregnancy and that the child is not his . She also says he is weak and that God would never allow him to pass on that weakness . On learning the news, Nick shares a brief, tender moment with Offred . Serena and Offred visit the house that Offred's daughter, Hannah, now lives; Offred can see her daughter through a gate . While Serena does not allow Offred to reveal herself to Hannah, she assures her that she is doing fine . Serena also warns Offred that as long as nothing bad happens to her child, nothing bad will happen to Hannah . Offred furiously curses Serena in a breathless rant, only to be told to be quiet; yelling is not good for the baby . Fred participates in Commander Putnam's trial: he himself is all for leniency but is told there have been too many occurrences of this kind of sin recently and an example has to be made . Mrs. Putnam herself has asked that her husband receive the harshest punishment possible, as she fears for his immortal soul . Ultimately, Putnam's left hand is amputated . In the evening, Offred pleads with Fred to protect her daughter . He asks if he is the father of her child and she says "of course", to which he replies "you do that so well ." Later, Fred is seen being quite gentle and conciliatory towards Serena . The package from Jezebel's is revealed to contain letters from women who have lost family members and been enslaved in the Gilead takeover . Later, a somewhat emotional Aunt Lydia gathers the handmaids for an execution: they are to stone someone who has endangered a child . The convict turns out to be Janine / Ofdaniel . The handmaids hesitate and Ofglen #2 is brutally beaten when she breaks rank and voices her angry refusal . The other women, beginning with Offred, drop their stones, each saying "I'm sorry, Aunt Lydia" (a phrase they were taught early in their indoctrination). The guards are ready to kill them all, but Aunt Lydia frantically tells them that the handmaids are her responsibility . She tells the women to go home, assuring them that there will be consequences . Not long after, a black van comes for Offred, much to Fred and Serena's surprise and indignation . Nick quietly urges her to trust him and go with them . As she is being led out, Offred whispers to Rita where to find the hidden letters . In a side story, Moira makes it to Canada and is reunited with Luke . </Td> </Tr> <P> A straight - to - series order by Hulu of The Handmaid's Tale was announced in April 2016, with Elisabeth Moss set to star . Based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood, the series was created by Bruce Miller, who is also an executive producer with Daniel Wilson, Fran Sears, and Warren Littlefield . Atwood serves as consulting producer giving feedback on some of the areas where the series expands or modernizes the book,, and also had a small cameo role in the first episode . Moss is also a producer . In June 2016, Reed Morano was announced as director of the series . Samira Wiley, Max Minghella, and Ann Dowd joined the cast in July 2016 . Joseph Fiennes, Madeline Brewer and Yvonne Strahovski were cast in August 2016, followed by O.T. Fagbenle and Amanda Brugel in September 2016 . In October 2016, Ever Carradine joined the cast, and Alexis Bledel was added in January 2017 . </P> <P> Filming on the series took place in Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton, and Cambridge, Ontario from September 2016 to February 2017 . The first full trailer of the TV series was released by Hulu on YouTube on March 23, 2017 . The series premiered on April 26, 2017 . </P> <P> On May 3, 2017, The Handmaid's Tale was renewed for a second season to premiere in 2018 . Moss told the news media that the subsequent episodes will cover further developments in the story, filling in some of the unanswered questions and continuing the narrative already "finished" in the book . The second season will consist of 13 episodes and will begin filming in fall 2017 . Alexis Bledel will return as a series regular . Showrunner Bruce Miller stated that he envisioned ten seasons of the show, stating "Well, you know, honestly, when I started, I tried to game out in my head what would ten seasons be like? If you hit a home run, you want energy to go around the bases, you want enough story to keep going, if you can hook the audience to care about these people enough that they're actually crying at the finale ." </P>

When does a handmaid's tale come out