After months of speculation, The Handmaid’s Tale confirmed a major fan theory regarding one of its characters. The series returned to Hulu for Season 4 Wednesday with not just the season premiere, but three full episodes documenting life in Gilead and Canada following the events of Season 3, and the episodes ended not only with tragedy, but also a surprise pregnancy. Warning: This story contains major spoilers for the first three episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale Season 4 – “Pigs,” “Nightshade,” and “The Crossing.”
Towards the end of the second episode, “Nightshade,” it was revealed that Serena Joy Waterford is pregnant. The reveal came as Serena and her husband, Commander Fred Waterford, remain in a detention center awaiting possible trial for war crimes. During the episode, Serena underwent a medical examination, during which she was questioned if Fred abused her, a defense that could work in her favor for getting the charges against her dropped, though Serena was reluctant to say what she endured was abuse. At the end of the episode, as she enjoys a cigarette outside, Mark Tuello dropped the news, telling her, “You’re pregnant, Serena. Congratulations.”
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As fans know, throughout the course of the first three seasons of the Hulu original series, Serena has been desperate for a child, though has believed having a baby of her own was not possible. Showrunner Bruce Miller told Variety that “we always had discussions about whether Serena was fertile because the fertility crisis really focused so much on men.” He said “there’s always been an idea of, ‘What happens if you give characters what they want more than anything?’ and when you start out a show like this, that’s the first conversation we had.” According to Miller, those in the writers room began discussing the possibility of having Serena became pregnant and ultimately decided to run with the storyline.
“But also, Yvonne’s an incredible actress and it’s something I was absolutely fascinated to see that character go through, both because I want her to feel all the good feelings, but also I want her to feel what it feels like to have that baby away from her and to not have control over that child,” he added. “But, I think in a lot of ways it’s the worst case scenario for the audience because they’re going, ‘Oh s–, Gilead works.’”
The fallout of that surprise pregnancy reveal did not playout in Episode 3, which found June enduring hours of torture and again making an escape, meaning fans will have to tune into Hulu to see how Serena and Fred react to the news. New episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale drop Wednesdays on Hulu.
