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‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 2: 5 Things to Expect

June’s story is far from over. The second season of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale will start shooting next month — but before the actors return to set, they joined together for a pre-Emmy panel in NYC on Monday, August 14. 

The stars — including Elisabeth Moss, Alexis Bledel, Ann Dowd and Samira Wiley — sat down with executive producers Warren Littlefield and Bruce Miller and director Reed Morano to tease what’s to come for the handmaids.

Samira Wiley, Elisabeth Moss, Ann Dowd, Alexis Bledel and director Reed Morano attend the after party for the FYC event for Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale" on August 14, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.
Samira Wiley, Elisabeth Moss, Ann Dowd, Alexis Bledel and director Reed Morano attend the after party for the FYC event for Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” on August 14, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

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Here, Us Weekly has rounded up what to expect:

1. There is a main theme
“At the end of season 1 we find out June was pregnant. The theme of season two is motherhood and what it means to be a mother,” Bruce Miller explained at the DGA Theater. “It’s the way we mother our good friends and the people in our lives.”

2. The Colonies will be unveiled — where Ofglen resides
The Republic of Gilead sends those who have committed crimes to the polluted area as punishment to live under ruthless living conditions. “We get to see the colonies. It’s a terrible place where they send unwomen to work them to death,” Miller said.

Bledel, who was promoted to a series regular, added: “I think I knew that I might come back but I didn’t know for how many episodes. You might be able to see it [the Colonies] in her future,” the Gilmore Girls alum, 35, said. “I’m very interested to see what that looks like because it’s a completely different world we haven’t seen on the show yet — and I’m scared.”

Related: Gilmore Girls Cast: Then and Now

3. Luke and Moira will try to rescue June
“The season ends exactly where the book ends and to be able to go in season 2 not knowing what’s going to happen and to be in this completely new country with Luke who’s the only family I have, it’s exciting to see what’s going to happen,” Wiley, 30, said.

“All across the country you see women who are making or finding this wardrobe and they’re in protest,” Littlefield chimed in. “Here we are in 2017 where Roe v. Wade is no longer a constitutional guarantee, Planned Parenthood is being defunded. We’re part of the resistance and that’s a really satisfying thing.”

Related: Costars Reunited!

4. More of Aunt Lydia’s backstory will be shown in flashbacks
“[Bruce] said she was a teacher, which made all the sense in the world. I bet she was fabulous,” Dowd, 61, said. “I can see her in an all-girls school with all the promiscuity.”

5. Nothing is as it seems
“I tell people just give up trying to guess, which is what I wanted. Even my guesses weren’t the case,” Moss, 35, revealed. “Wherever you think [it’s] going to go, it’s just not going to go that way.” 

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